Geschichte:
Ålholm omtales første gang 1329, da Christoffer II (1320-1326, 1329-1332) til grev Johan af Holsten pantsatte Lolland med den da eksisterende borg, der igen kom til kronen under Valdemar Atterdags (1340-1375) samling af riget, muligvis 1347. Borgen belejredes 1368 under krigen mellem de holstenske grever og Hansestæderne. Herefter fungerede Ålholm som kongelig hovedlensborg; lenet bestod af Fuglse og Musse herreder. Kongerne opholdt sig relativt hyppigt på Ålholm, og her afholdtes flere vigtige møder og forhandlinger. Under grevens Fejde blev Ålholm 1534 indtaget af borgere, sandsynligvis fra Nysted, og var det følgende år underlagt lübeckerne, før det kom tilbage til kronen. Bortauktioneredes af Kronen 1725 og overgik til privat eje.
Ålholm is mentioned in the sources for the first time in 1329 when King Christopher II (1320-1326, 1329-1332) pawned the island of Lolland including Ålholm to Count Johan of Holstein. The castle was taken over by King Valdemar Atterdag (1340-1375) during his recapture of the Kingdom, possible in 1347. Ålholm was besieged in 1368 during the war with Mecklenburg, Sweden and the Hanseatic League. In the late Middle Ages the castle served as the administrative centre of a royal main fief consisting of Fuglse and Musse herred’s. The Kings stayed at the site on several occasions and the castle was the setting of several important meetings and negotiations. During the Count’s Quarrel (1534-1536) Ålholm was captured by the people, most likely citizens from the nearby Nysted. The following year the castle was controlled by forces og Lübeck but soon after taken over by the Crown. In 1725 the estate was sold by auction and Ålholm became private property. (H. M. Møller Nielsen)
Bauentwicklung:
Ålholm blev opført som et rektangulært (74 x 35 m) ringmursanlæg i tegl med kraftige tårne på mindst tre hjørner samt et porttårn midt i sydfløjen. Den overordnede plan er stadig bevaret i den nuværende bygning men senere ombygninger, især en modernisering i 1580’erne samt en gennemgribende nygotisk ombygning og udvidelse i 1880’erne, har skjult eller ødelagt store dele af det middelalderlige murværk inkl. vestfløjen, porttårnet, nordfløjens gårdfacade og sydfløjens østre del. Ålholms komplicerede bygningshistorie er endnu ikke fuldt opklaret eller dateret, men det må formodes, at byggeriet påbegyndtes med den vestre ringmur og det nordvestre hjørnetårn, formentlig i 1300-tallets begyndelse, mens de resterende ringmure og tårne samt bygninger langs ringmurens inderside tilkom gennem 13- og 1400-tallet. En større del af den middelalderlige sydfløj er bevaret, og en middelalderlig nordfløj kan påvises, mens det er uvist, hvorvidt der i middelalderen fandtes grundmurede bygninger langs vestre og østre ringmur.
Ålholm was built on a rectangular plan of about 74 x 35 m with strong towers on at least three corners and a gate tower in the middle of the south wing. The general layout of the brick castle is still preserved in the present buildings but later rebuilding, especially a renovation in the 1580s and a large scale Neo-Gothic rebuilt and enlargement in the 1880s, has hidden or destroyed large parts of the medieval brickwork, including the west wing, the gate tower, the façade of the north wing and the east end of the south wing. The complex medieval building activity of the castle is not yet fully investigated or precisely dated but it seems as building was commenced with the western curtain wall and the northwest tower, probably in the early 14th century, followed in the 14th and 15th century by the remaining towers and curtain wall with buildings inside the courtyard. Parts of a medieval south wing are preserved and a medieval north wing can also be established where as the existence of medieval buildings of stone along the western and eastern curtain walls is uncertain. (H. M. Møller Nielsen)
Baubeschreibung:
Borgen er anlagt på en lav holm i bunden af Nysted Nor vest for Nysted by på Lollands sydkyst. En muligvis oprindelig vejdæmning, der løber syd og øst for borgen, udgør barrieren mellem den ydre salte del af noret mod Østersøen og den inderste ferske del, der i dag er delvist opfyldt mod syd. Adgangen til borgen har altid været i syd, således at en besøgende må passere udækket via dæmningen omkring syd-østhjørnet for at nå porten. Der kendes intet til volde og grave. Middelalderligt murværk fra ringmuren kan spores i den nuværende bygnings ydermure, og det nordvestre (9,6 x 9,6 m) og nordøstre (9,2 x 9,6 m) hjørnetårn står til dels endnu, mens resterne af det sydøstre (ca. 9,4 x 10,8 m) hjørnetårn tydeligt fremgår af det kraftige murværk. Et tårn i sydvesthjørnet omtales i 1600-tallet og fremgår af Resens prospekt fra o. 1670 men har ikke efterladt spor i bygningen, og eksistensen af et regulært tårn her kan diskuteres. Prospektet gengiver i store træk middelalderborgen og viser bl.a. det senere nedrevne porttårn (7 x 8 m), der blev udgravet i 1943. Kun spor af vinduer mm. i den nordre ringmur viser eksistensen af en middelalderlig nordfløj, mens der er bevaret omfattende rester af den vestlige del af sydfløjen (den såkaldte Margrethefløj). Sydfløjen, der udgjorde borgens beboelsesbygning med en sal i tredje stokværk, er blevet tolket som to bygninger, der engang i senmiddelalderen blev sammenbygget ved tilføjelsen af et tredje bygningsafsnit. I den vestlige del (18 x 9,5 m) er fra salen delvist bevaret tre store fladbuede falsede vinduer, der indvendigt har en kalkmalet dekoration fra o. 1400 i form af rankeværk og en konge- ell. helgenfigur med scepter i højre hånd og muligvis et kugleformet objekt i den venstre. Under den nygotiske ombygning i 1880’erne blev den store borggård tredelt ved opførelsen af to nye fløje, vestfløjen blev nedrevet, nordfløjen blev udvidet, og østfløjen blev ombygget og fik et nyt tårn i sydøsthjørnet.
Ålholm is sited on an island at the lower end of a bay to the west of the town of Nysted at the southern coast of the island of Lolland. A possibly original dam to the south and east of the castle forms the barrier between the outer bay facing the Baltic and the now partly drained inner bay. The castle was always accessed from the south so that approaching persons were forced to move along the dam and around the southeast corner of the castle in order to reach the gate. There are no remains of embankments or moats. Medieval brickwork of the curtain wall is seen in the outside walls of the present manor and the towers in the corners to the northwest (9.6 x 9.6 m) and the northeast (9.2 x 9.6 m) are still there while the remains of a former tower in the southeast corner (ca. 9.4 x 10.8 m) are clearly visible in the thick walls. A tower in the southwest corner is mentioned in 17th century records and is depicted in a prospectus of Ålholm from about 1670 but has left no trace in the present building and the existence of a proper tower can be debated. The 17th century engraving gives a rough picture of the castle when its medieval appearance was still relatively unspoiled by later rebuilding and modernisation. This engraving also depicts the later demolished gate tower (7 x 8 m) which was excavated in 1943. Only traces of windows etc. In the northern curtain wall proves the existence of a medieval building inside the courtyard but considerable remains of the western part of the south wing (named Margrethe’s wing) are preserved. The building which constituted the residential part of the castle with a hall on the third floor has been interpreted as two houses which in the late Middle Ages were built together by a third structure. In the western part of the building (18 x 9.5 m) three large flat arched medieval windows of the former hall are partly preserved. They have moulded chamfers decorated with mural paintings from c. 1400 which consist of decorative foliage and a picture of a king or a saint holding a sceptre in his right hand and possibly an orb in his left. During the Neo-Gothic rebuild of the 1880s the large courtyard was divided into three sections by two new buildings, the west wing was pulled down, the north wing was enlarged and the east wing rebuilt with a new corner tower. (H. M. Møller Nielsen)
Arch-Untersuchung/Funde:
Bygningsarkæologiske undersøgelser udførtes af Nationalmuseet ved Chr. Axel Jensen i 1921 og senere af Aage Roussell i forbindelse med udgravninger i 1943 forud for ombygninger af sydfløjen.
Buildings archaeological studies were done by Chr. Axel Jensen (The National Museum of Denmark) in 1921 and later by Aage Roussell who also conducted some smaller excavations in 1943 prior to a rebuild of the south wing.