The Aarestrup Museum
The poet and doctor Emil Aarestrup's house in Nysted is both a contemporary image of a middle-class home in the 1830s and the place where many of his sensual and erotic poems were written.
Emil Aarestrup was born in Copenhagen in 1800, and in the years 1827-1838 he was practising as a doctor in Nysted. Later he became a doctor in Sakskøbing and ended as a medical officer on Funen until his death in 1856.
During his years in Nysted, he both managed to juggle a busy life as a doctor and
father of 5 children, and write a great deal of poems, which are considered some of the most beautiful poems written in Danish, as well as translating foreign poets,
such as Goethe and Heine.
Many of his poems were very love-filled and sensual, and when he published the
poetry collection "Digte" (Poems) in 1838, they were considered by critics to be immoral and too erotic for their time - and therefore silenced! Only 40 copies were sold.
It was only after his death that his style, sense of language and perfect rhythms received the the recognition they deserved.
The museum shows how a bourgeois home in the 1830s was furnished, and the museum owns several of Emil Aarestrup's own pieces of furniture, including his doctor's and poet's chair.
Opening hours etc. can be found on the museum's website.
Guided tours are included in the ticket price.
Aarestrup's 5 km Poetry Route starts at the museum.