Slagelse, Region Zealand, Denmark

🇩🇰 Slagelse is a town on Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Kalundborg and 14 km west of Sorø.

History Slagelse has been inhabited since at least the Viking Age, where it was a Pagan site. Trelleborg, a ring castle, was built near the current location of Slagelse in 980, which made the location strategically important. A church was built at Slagelse's current location in the 1000s. Around this time, coins were minted in Slagelse.

Antvorskov was built in the 1100s by Valdemar I, who had recently acquired Zealand. He built the monastery in an attempt to gain control and favor with the locals. The monastery was used by the Knights Hospitaller.

Slagelse was granted the status of a market town in 1288 by Eric V. This gave the town a series of privileges, though eventually put it in competition with the neighboring market towns of Korsør and Skælskør. In the 1780s a road from Copenhagen to Korsør was built, and this road ran through Slagelse.

Sights Slagelse Park (Slagelse Lystanlæg) is a park located centrally in Slagelse. It is a green recreational area, with lakes, playgrounds and a maze.

Slagelse Museum is located centrally in Slagelse. The museum focuses mainly on trade and artisanry. It includes a reconstruction of a shop from the 1940-1950s, as well as sections on local history. A part of the museum is dedicated to H. C. Andersen, who went to school in Slagelse.

Antvorskov The Antvorskov Monastery Ruins are located in southern Slagelse. They are the ruins of Antvorskov Monastery, a monastery built in 1164 by Valdemar I. It was the first Knights Hospitaller monastery in Denmark, and was used as monastery until 1536 when the crown took over ownership and turned into a castle. Frederik II used the castle between 1580 and 1584. After that it was used by fief lords until 1717, when it became a ryttergods - a location for the Danish cavalry. It was sold in 1774 and most of the castle was torn down in 1816.

Transport: Rail Slagelse is located on the main line Copenhagen–Fredericia railway from Copenhagen to Funen and Jutland, and the Tølløse Line connects Slagelse with Tølløse on the Northwest Line. Slagelse railway station is the principal railway station of the town, and offers direct InterCity services to Copenhagen, Funen and Jutland, regional train services to Copenhagen and Odense operated by the national railway company DSB and local train services to Tølløse operated by the regional railway company Lokaltog.

Economy The largest industry in the private sector is retail and shops, employing around a quarter of the population hired in the private sector. Other large industries are services such as accounting, counseling, real estate and cleaning.

Companies with their headquarters in Slagelse Municipality include printing company Nilpeter. Harboe's Brewery is set in Skælskør. Harboe's Brewery is a brewery and factory that produce beer, soda and energi drinks. The company has been situated in Skælskør since it was founded in 1883.

Arla has a dairy factory in Slagelse. Orkla ASA has a factory in Skælskør.