Lundbye's Childhood Home in Skibbrogade

In the heart of Kalundborg's old town, close to the harbour and a short walk from the Church of Our Lady, lies Skibbrogade 8. This is where Johan Thomas Lundbye, one of the best-loved painters of the Danish Golden Age, was born on 1 September 1818. The farmstead is the first stop on Lundbye Landmarks, a series of marked sites in and around the town where you can experience the motifs and surroundings that shaped the artist.

A merchant's farmstead with family history

The four-winged merchant's farmstead was bought in 1801 by Lundbye's maternal grandfather, customs officer Bonnevie. His eldest daughter, Cathrine, married the army officer Joachim Theodor Lundbye in 1810. He had come to the area to build coastal defences on Røsnæs. The couple settled at the farmstead and had seven sons, Johan being the middle one. In 1826 the family moved to Copenhagen, but Kalundborg remained an anchor. His grandparents and other relatives still lived in the town, and Lundbye returned again and again to draw and paint the local landscapes.

Mother in the parlour

After his father's death in 1841, Cathrine Lundbye moved back to the farmstead to care for her elderly parents. Right here, in the parlour on Skibbrogade, Lundbye drew a portrait of his mother in 1845, shortly before leaving for Italy. She is dressed in black after a funeral, and the drawing travelled with him throughout the long journey. From the same year comes a drawing of his grandfather, made in the house a few months before the old man died. The portraits offer a rare, intimate glimpse of the family the painter was so attached to.

What you can see today

The farmstead is not a museum, so the experience takes place from the street. A memorial plaque is mounted on the wall beside the gate facing Skibbrogade. From the opposite side, at the end of Bethesdagade, you can look into the courtyard, which remains fairly well preserved. This is where the seven brothers played, and standing by the gate it is easy to picture life in the busy merchant's yard near the harbour. At the landmark post, a QR code leads to images of Lundbye's works and more about the site.

Further in Lundbye's footsteps

From Skibbrogade it is a short walk to several other Lundbye sites. On the church square by the Church of Our Lady stands a bust of Lundbye after the sculptor H.W. Bissen, and a memorial plaque for the Bonnevie family is set into the churchyard wall. On Klostertorvet you will find the modern bronze sculpture of the painter, and just east of the centre lies Møllebakken, where the brothers also played and which Lundbye later painted. Lundbye died in April 1848 during the First Schleswig War, only 29 years old, but his pictures of Kalundborg and its surroundings live on. Find more experiences in the town and the region at destinationsjaelland.dk.

Who is it for?

The site is for anyone interested in art, cultural history and old townscapes. It makes a good starting point for a town walk that combines Lundbye's story with Kalundborg's medieval old town, the church with five towers and the view across the fjord. Bring a picture of Lundbye's portrait of his mother on your phone before you head to the gate on Skibbrogade.