Kettinge is a village and parish in southeastern

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It belongs to

Guldborgsund Municipality Guldborgsund is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Sjælland in Denmark, created on 1 January 2007 from six (6) former municipalities on the two islands Lolland in the west and Falster in the east bordering the Guldborgsund strait. It ...

, in

Region Zealand Region Zealand ( da, Region Sjælland) is the southernmost administrative region of Denmark, established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regi ...

. As of 2023 the village has a population of 506.

Etymology

The name comes from ''kat'' (cat) and the ending ''inge'' and means "place with cats". The ending also indicates the place originated in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

before 600 AD."Historie"
Kettinge Bylav. . Retrieved 30 November 2012.

History

Kettinge Church still bears traces of a Romanesque nave and chancel, showing it was built around 1200. It is best known for its frescos painted by the

Elmelunde Master The Elmelunde Master, Danish ''Elmelundemesteren'', is the designation given to the nameless 16th-century artist who painted the frescos in the churches of Elmelunde, Fanefjord and Keldby on the island of Møn in south-eastern Denmark. The n ...

c. 1500.Kirsten Weber-Andersen, Otto Norn, Aage Roussell, Gertrud Købke Knudsen, "Vegerløse Kirke"
''Danmarks kirker: Maribo amt, Volume 8'', 1951, Nationalmuseet, pages 1087–1100. Retrieved 14 November 2012. The present Kettinge Mølle (Kettinge Windmill) dates from 1891, replacing an even older

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

."Kettinge Mølle"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 30 November 2012. From 1909 until c. 1960, Kettinge was a railway station on the line from

Nysted Nysted is a town in Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Zealand on the southeastern coast of the island of Lolland in south Denmark. Nysted is located on the southern coast of Lolland, and has a population of 1,292 (1 January 2022).Nykøbing. At the beginning of the 20th century, the village flourished with shops, an electric power station, a brickworks and a sawmill.

The village today

Although most of the old businesses have now closed, Kettinge has a day nursery, a sports hall and an open-air swimming pool. "''Kettinge Bylav''" is the name given to the old ''tingsted'' or moot near the windmill, marking the place where the village elders used to meet to take administrative decisions. It has recently been renewed, as has the mill itself."Kettinge-Frejlev"
, Guldborg Kommune. Retrieved 30 November 2012.

Surroundings

Kettinge is only from