Næstved Museum

About the museum

Næstved Museum was founded in 1917 and was initially housed in rented rooms in the town's old town hall. In 1927 it moved into the Helligåndshuset, which was restored and converted into a museum that year. The building is owned by Næstved Kommune (municipality).

Næstved's Holy Spirit House is documented from around 1390; the present building dates from the 15th and 16th centuries. It was probably originally a row of rented market stalls that was converted in the early 16th century for a planned Holy Spirit monastery. Because the monastery plans were abandoned, it survived as the only Holy Spirit House in Denmark. After the Reformation, the town took over its operation in 1532; the building served as a hospital for the poor until 1883, for a time as a workhouse, and from 1853 to 1903 as a military hospital for the dragoon regiment, and afterward as housing and storage.

The exhibitions lead from the hunters and farmers of prehistory through the Vikings of Vester Egesborg and the medieval trading town to industrialization, including the Kähler ceramics workshop, which the potter Herman Joachim Kähler founded in Næstved in 1839. One room is devoted to the town's executioner. Until the end of 2018, the museum also ran a branch in the Boderne with glass and ceramics; those holdings went to Holmegaard Værk. Today Næstved Museum is part of Museum Sydøstdanmark.

Highlights

• Helligåndshuset from the 15th/16th century, the only surviving Holy Spirit House in Denmark
• Viking Age finds from Vester Egesborg
• Executioner's room with skeletons, axes, and chains
• History of the Kähler ceramics workshop
• Museum garden at the Helligåndshuset

Permanent exhibitions

• Næstveds historie – A walk through the town's history from the Stone Age hunters through the Vikings of Vester Egesborg and medieval Næstved to industrialization and Kähler ceramics.

Founded

1917

Operated by

Museum Sydøstdanmark

Visitors per year

approx. 5,309 (2017)

Admission & discounts

Tickets at the museum desk or online with a date. Members of the Næstved Museumsforening (museum association) free.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The listed Helligåndshuset is wheelchair-accessible only on the first floor. Accessible parking spaces on the street Dania near the pedestrian zone. For special needs, the visit can be adapted by arrangement.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Stroller-friendly: not available

The museum explicitly welcomes families. With a stroller you can only get around on the first floor; for the upper floors the stroller must stay downstairs. Picnics are possible in the museum garden.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in the middle of the pedestrian zone in the large medieval building with its gable facing the street.

Amenities & dining

• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Lockers

Reception with ticket sales and museum shop. Free lockable cloakroom lockers at the entrance; bags must be locked in there. Food you bring may be eaten in the museum garden.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit