Nakskov

Nakskov lies at the head of a fjord on the western coast of Lolland. Beginning as a fishing settlement in the twelfth century, it became a royal market town whose harbour served the fertile lands of western Lolland and the trade with northern German towns. Its earliest surviving trading privileges date from 1266, in the reign of Erik V.

The town prospered through the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Its House of the Holy Spirit became a monastery in 1470, and a Latin school was probably founded around the same time. Lübeck's forces captured and burned Nakskov in 1510, yet by about 1650 it was counted among Denmark's largest market towns. A long Swedish siege and bombardment ended in occupation in 1659, followed by prolonged decline. A Jewish community took root here from 1674, and the harbour was repaired in 1798.