Herlufsholm

Down towards the Suså river, about two kilometres north of Næstved, lies Herlufsholm — a historic complex where a medieval monastery, a manor house and one of the country's oldest schools have grown together over nearly nine centuries. The history begins in 1135, when the nobleman Peder Bodilsen donated a church to a group of Benedictine monks who settled by the river and founded Skovkloster. At the Reformation the Crown seized the monastery's land, and the last monks left in 1559. The following year, the naval hero Herluf Trolle and his wife Birgitte Gøye took over the area in an exchange with Frederik II — the king received Hillerødsholm in return, which later became Frederiksborg Castle. In 1565 the couple converted their estate into a foundation charter and established Herlufsholm School and Estate, a free school "for nobles and the children of other honest men". The school long admitted only boys; the upper secondary school opened to day pupils of both sexes in 1966, and girls were admitted as boarders from 1985. Today Herlufsholm is Denmark's oldest and largest boarding school as well as a day school for pupils from Year 6 through upper secondary, and the foundation is run as a commercial foundation where income from forestry, farming, the church and cemetery goes towards securing the school's continued operation. The complex with its listed monastery buildings, the old church and the surrounding forests stands as a living piece of Danish history — but is also home to pupils and staff, whose privacy guests are encouraged to respect.