Den Gamle Kro (The Old Inn) in the town of Graasten is literally a house of time. Back in the year 1747 the watchmaker Nicolai Hohwü build the house in the Castle Alley where he established his workshop and business. This was at a time, when the Duke Christian August the First of Augustenborg, in spite of being up to his ears in debts, had his best times on his newly acquired castle of Graasten, with wonderful hunting parties and daily banquets with 12-14 courses. Way of life in his class simply was to keep up appearances. In the narrow Castle Alley, the watchmaker, his son Thomas and his son Nicolai were busy. Gradually loosing his eyesight, Nicolai , instead made himself a manager of a brick-work nearby, and the watchmaker Theodor Lorenzen became his successor. After only one year, he got tired of working with tiny cog-wheels and big weights and instead opened a tavern. And since the year of 1852 innkeepers have been taking good care of the hungry and thirsty guests in Den Gamle Kro. Members of the Hohwü family are still to be found in the small city and in the neighbourhood.
Landlord after landlord with their wives and lots of children followed. And for a period the inn had the name of “Juliedal”(Juliavalley) - probably named after the beautiful wife of one of the residing landlords. In the year of 1936 one of the owners, the young woman Kirsten Jebsen, at the age of 23 had to take over as her father, and shortly after her mother, had past away. As she was too young to obtain a license from the authorities, she had to run the inn for two years in the name of her elder brother. But things changed rapidly. After years of travelling around most of the world, Poul Hansen came back to his native town, Graasten. He immediately fell in love with the young single and lonely woman at the inn, and she also lost her heart to him. Again there was a good and happy couple running the inn, and when Poul past away a conductor came by. He played so wonderful on the piano of the inn and he played on the right strings in the soul of Kirsten, so he too became an innkeeper.
Over a period of 31 years Kirsten was the woman of Den Gamle Kro in Graasten. Then Aase and Finn Christensen took over, and since the beginning of 2006, Doris Pørksen Schmidt, as the young and new innkeeper and cook, is carrying on the traditional way of the old inn. Time never stops in Den Gamle Kro. As a matter of facts it is a watchmakers house. So the good work goes on tick-tack-tick-tack.