Sølvbjerghøj

Facts

Executions with a view

By Karl Peder Pedersen , Arkivar og seniorforsker i Statens Arkiver, ph.d. (7 stories)

At 12 metres above sea level, Sølvbjerghøj is one of the highest points in West Lolland - the perfect location for public executions and punishments. Until the 1880s, almost all the executions in Denmark were carried out in the open air. Often a crowd of many thousands watched the proceedings. So it was important everyone could see. The meaning of this macabre theatre of death was to show people that serious breaches of the law – both God's and society's – carried the ultimate punishment. The executions also scared and deterred potential criminals.

Public place

Selected entry

Denmark's last public execution

Listen to the story

play
pause

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.

Story written by Karl Peder Pedersen

Time / Periode 1882

9 Comments 0 recommendations

Farm worker Anders Nielsen Sjællænder from Lolland was sentenced to death for murder in 1882. As was the custom at the time, he was to be executed at nearby Sølvbjerghøj. On 22 November 1882, the country's sole executioner, Jens Sejstrup, raised his axe and a scandal erupted in the press, especially as he had to swing his axe several times before the head came off. One of the critics, Herman Bang, later a famous writer, ended his report with an appeal for the death penalty to be abolished. Anders was the last person to be publicly executed in Denmark. The next execution in 1892 was carried out behind closed doors at Horsens Prison. The death penalty was finally abolished in 1933.