Bandholm is a small port town and parish on the coast of northern

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

Region Zealand Region Zealand () is an Regions of Denmark, administrative region of Denmark. It is one of the five classified Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-2 statistical NUTS statistical regions of Denmark, regions of Denmark. It was es ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. On 1 January 2025 it had a population of 440, and is located to the northwest of

Knuthenborg Safari Park Knuthenborg Safaripark is a safari park on the island of Lolland in the southeast of Denmark. It is located to the north of Maribo, near Bandholm. It is one of Lolland's major tourist attractions with over 300,000 visitors annually, and is th ...

and

Maribo Maribo is a town in Lolland Municipality in Region Zealand, Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It was the municipal seat of the former Maribo Municipality, until 1 January 2007, and then it became the seat of the cur ...

. From Bandholm there is ferry service to

Askø Askø is a Danish island north of Lolland. It covers an area of 2.82 km2 and has 55 permanent inhabitants (as of 1 January 2005) as well as hundreds of summer vacation properties. It is connected to the neighbouring island of Lilleø by a 70 ...

and rail link to Maribo, north of Maribo.

Stokkemarke Stokkemarke is a village on the Danish island of Lolland located midway between Nakskov and Maribo. In January 2025 it had a population of 401. Stokkemarke Church, first documented in 1396, originally built in the Romanesque style, has Gothic a ...

is its west and Østofte Parish forms its southwest border. It is served by Bandholm Station. The Maribo-to-Bandholm rail branch is operated by the Museumsbanen Maribo-Bandholm as a preserved railway. In the 1800s, Bandholm was known for a major cholera epidemic, where the fight was led by

Peter Ludvig Panum Peter Ludvig Panum (19 December 1820 – 2 May 1885) was a Danish physiologist and pathologist born on the island of Bornholm in Rønne. He founded studies in exercise physiology at the University of Copenhagen. The Panum Institute in Copenh ...

in 1853.

History

Early history

Bandholm has a history going back thousands of years as can be seen from the burial mounds from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

in the immediate neighborhood. The port seems to have been used for centuries for ships with supplies for Maribo Abbey. The area then developed with warehouses and storage facilities for goods to be sent to Maribo and

Rødby Rødby is a town located on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 1,957 (1 January 2024). Initially, in view of the shallow depth of the inlet, goods had to be taken out to the sailing ships by barge but in 1834 a small jetty was built to facilitate mooring. In the early 1840s, the channel was deepened to , allowing larger ships to enter the port which was soon equipped with quays. The facilities grew further with the arrival of steamships bringing corn and other foodstuffs to be transported to Maribo. The traffic intensified with the railway from Maribo to Bandholm in 1870. The more recent history of Bandholm is linked to the

Knuthenborg Knuthenborg is a manor house located north of Maribo on the Danish island of Lolland. Originally known as Årsmarke, it was first mentioned in 1372. Today's building was completed in 1866 to a design by Henrik Steffens Sibbern. The medieval man ...

estate and the castle, which owned the port and also some of the houses (distinctive in their yellow exteriors) in the town and its extensive surroundings.

20th century

In recent years the

has made the port town a focal point of for over 200,000 tourists a year. The old port has been further improved with a state of the art

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

for

yachts A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

as well as facilities on the west side of the harbor for use by boaters. Bandholm has developed not only into a prosperous port but has also benefitted from the establishment of an iron foundry, hotels and a vibrant commercial life in connection with the railway. However, the city offers plenty of alternate opportunities for enterprising businesses, and local initiatives have ensured restoration of the heritage status of many of the old structures, especially the granaries (for other uses) and the old railway station.

Port

Initially, the channel leading to the port was dredged to allow vessels to pass through to a depth of over a width of with a widened stretch of for vessels to negotiate a turn. A pier was built with a length of and a width of at its head in order to facilitate quick and easy loading of grain; there were also two shorter piers for use by smaller vessels in a draft of . The port served the town of Maribo which is located 4 miles (6 km) away with connections to

Nakskov Nakskov is a market town on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. The town has a population of 12,200 (1 January 2025) and is the largest town on the island of Lolland. It is located in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland. Nakskov is situ ...

Rødby Rødby is a town located on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 1,957 (1 January 2024).Sakskøbing Sakskøbing (), previously spelled Sakskjøbing, is a town on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 4,514 (1 January 2025). Today, appropriate, navigational facilities are operated during the season with red lights, range lights at fixed heights, buoys, and a channel marked out with red spar buoys to facilitate navigation into and out of the harbor. The tidal fluctuation noted every 6 hours is of the order of 1 foot at the harbor. During gales it varies between .

Notable landmarks

Bandholm Church designed by Henrik Steffens Sibbern was completed in 1874. Built of red brick in the

Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Reviv ...

, it consists of a chancel, a nave and a tower with a conical spire."Bandholm kirke"
''Historisk Atlas''. Retrieved 7 August 2013.

A prominent wheat silo, now converted into an exhibition centre, stands on the harbor's east side while a red church with a slender spire is located near the town's west end. Built in 1886, the Bandholm Hotel is situated on the coast road near Knuthenborg Safari Park. The Maribo-Bandholm Museum was founded in 1962; it houses the oldest running steam locomotive in the country and the oldest private railway track (1869).

Notable people

Knud Olsen Knud Olsen (1919 in Præstø – 31 August 2010 in Bandholm) was a Danish builder and designer of boats, who designed one of the most popular sailing dinghies in use over the past 50 years, the OK Dinghy, which became an ISAF International Class ...

(1919 – 2010 in Bandholm) a Danish builder and designer of boats, who designed the OK Dinghy, one of the most popular sailing dinghies; he lived and worked in Bandholm from 1961

References

External links

Bandholm
{{Lolland Cities and towns in Region Zealand Lolland Populated places in Lolland Municipality