Lundbye’s Møllebakken in Kalundborg
On Møllebakken behind the Church of Our Lady a row of windmills once stood. Lundbye Landmark 13 stands where the eastern mill was and tells of the pictures J.Th. Lundbye painted and drew here.
Møllebakken (“Mill Hill”) lies behind the Church of Our Lady and the houses of Kalundborg. Landmark 13 of Lundbye Landmarks stands on the plateau where the eastern windmill once stood, and looking west from here gives you roughly the angle Lundbye had in his pictures. From the bench on the path towards the water tower there is still a view across the fjord and Asnæs.
The hill of his childhood
As a child Lundbye often came to Møllebakken, and he returned when visiting his mother in town. As early as 1837 he drew the view from the hill. In September 1846 he was back with his mother, who was caring for her elderly parents, and that visit produced several drawings of the hill and its post mills. The work led to the large oil painting Møllebakken near Kallundborg from 1846–47, with a dog in the middle of the picture, and to an oil study.
In the summer of 1847 Lundbye came back to the Kalundborg area, first spending a few days on Røsnæs, then on Asnæs and finally with his mother. On 3 July 1847 he drew Soldat og Paradiis, Kallundborg, showing children playing on the hill.
The mills and the hill today
There have been windmills on the hill since the Middle Ages, and in Lundbye’s day there were six. Today both the mills and the old ropewalk are gone. The hill is a green retreat behind the old town where you can take a walk and compare the view with Lundbye’s pictures.
From here it is a short walk to the Church of Our Lady, Kalundborg Museum and the other landmarks in town. Find more inspiration for experiences in the area at destinationsjaelland.dk.
Last updated by:Destination Sjællandinfo@desj.dk
