Print this town walking tour map and explore Assens. See charming old houses and streets.
EXPERIENCE THE TOWN OF ASSENS There many sights of interest to encounter on a stroll through the centre of the unusually well-preserved old provincial town of Assens. A good place to start is the sugar works, one of the region’s most important enterprises since 1884. From here, walk along the milldam, past the Strandmøllen mill and continue down Damgade which has been an important approach road for more than 800 years. In the Middle Ages, the collection of houses around the church and out to the square made up the finest quarter of town. Turn left at the square on Willmoesgade, which was laid out in the 1880s, when the town needed a street leading out to the newly built railway. The railway station and post office still exist, but the buildings are used for other purposes.
Continue down to the waterfront, where ferries still depart for Baagø Island, and turn right. A statue of Danish naval hero Peter Willemoes and a number of listed buildings are found on the waterfront. One is a small cooking house from 1824, where sailors had to cook their meals during the time of the tall ships, as the making of open fires in ships moored at the quay was prohibited.
Turn right at the former Customs House in Strandgade. Until 1859, one of the town’s brick-built gates intersected the street behind the Strandporten–Bådsmandsstræde stretch. The gate building was also equipped with a furnace and was used as a gaol for a number of years. Postgården, where kings and other VIPs waited en route for the next ship to Jutland (Haderslev, Årøsund), was located behind the old fortress ramparts. The Fulton Foundation is housed in the present building, which dates from the 1700s. The Monastery of the Holy Spirit (Helligåndskloster) once stood across the street during the Middle Ages, but was torn down in the 1500s.
Continue straight ahead down charming Ladegårdsgade. As Assens has been spared the ravages of terrible fires, the town has an unusually large number of old houses. Make a detour at Gåsetorvet along Korsgade to no. 11, where you will find one of the oldest houses in Assens, c. 450 years old.
Go back to Ladegårdsgade and continue along Baronvej to Nygade and turn right. Most of the small, well-kept houses in this street were built by artisan families in the 1880s, when the town was outgrowing its old limits, but two buildings at the south end of the street have housed the town’s vocational school and J. Ernst’s Silverware Factory. Turn right on Østergade, the town’s main street for centuries. Here you will find a row of large merchants’ houses. It is often worth your while to get a glimpse of the courtyards, notably Plums Gård, an extensive complex that includes an enormous wooden barn built in 1915. Østergade 36 is Willemoesgården, where naval hero Peter Willemoes was born in 1783. Today it houses a cultural history museum that also includes a substantial art collection, including works by Dankvart Dreyer (an early 19th-century Danish painter), who was born next door in 1816. Continue across the large square to Damgade and turn left on Lille Kirkestræde. It is easy to find your way back to the sugar mill from the church.