Allinge
The small, cosy market town on North Bornholm is a very old town. Long back in history, the city has had other names.
Over 600 years ago the name of the town was Alland, which later became Allandt and Allent. In the early 1600s the town was given the name Alling, similar to what we know today. The first time the name Allinge appears in writing is in the mid-1600s.
In the Middle Ages, Allinge was only a small fishing village consisting of a few fishermen’s cottages and agricultural properties, but the town was nevertheless of great importance to the Hanseatic herring markets on the Baltic Sea. Oceans of herring could be caught in the Baltic Sea, which was mainly sold to Catholics in southern Europe. The Catholic people had a meatless day – a fast day – and they did not consider fish to be meat. During the herring season, the Hanseatic ships sailed back and forth between their towns, herring markets and their customers. During that time, prosperity came to the people of Allinge. But unfortunately this herring adventure stopped in the 1500s.