Falster

Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010."Danmarks Statistik."
Retrieved 28 June 2010. Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Zealand and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality. Falster includes Denmark's southernmost point, Gedser Odde, near Gedser.

The largest town is Nykøbing Falster with over 40% of the island's inhabitants. Other towns include Stubbekøbing, Nørre Alslev and Gedser.

Falster has motor and railway links both to the larger island of Zealand to the north and to the island of Lolland to the south-west. These links also lead to the smaller islands of Masnedø and Farø. European route E47 links Copenhagen to Hamburg (Germany) via Falster.

History

From medieval times until 1766, most of Falster belonged to the crown. King Valdemar's Census Book from c. 1231 lists all the parishes and most of the villages. Falster's two main towns, Nykøbing and Stubbekøbing, were both founded towards the end of the 12th century.

In medieval times, the island was marked by wars with the Wends in 1158 and with Lübeck in 1253. The census of 1509 includes only 90 of the 110 villages mentioned earlier. By contrast, it mentions 29 new settlements mainly along the coast.

In the 16th century, Falster had a number of farms which were owned by the local nobility but, from 1560 to 1630, they were slowly returned to the crown which once again owned the entire island. Therefore, Falster could therefore be used as the dowry for Frederick III's wife, Sophie Amalie but as a result of the high taxes which resulted, many of the farms were deserted.

Falster was managed as a crown estate from 1718 until 1766 when it was sold by auction and divided up into ten large farms, five of which were given large new fields. But as the fields had to be prepared through the serfdom of local peasants, this led to many disputes.

The villages were replaced by the community from 1778 to 1814, and gradually moved to freehold tenants, a process which was only completed in about 1860.

Falster experienced significant economic expansion after 1880 when, with the establishment of cooperative dairies and slaughterhouses, farming was concentrated on livestock production and forage crops. There was also an increase in the cultivation of sugar beet which was processed in factories at Nykøbing and Stubbekøbing between 1890 and 1914. Many seasonal workers, especially women, from Sweden and Poland came to help with harvesting the sugar beet and some of them stayed.

With the new railway from Orehoved to Nykøbing in 1872 and railway ferries to Masnedø (1884) and Warnemünde (1903), Falster slowly became a traffic hub. Its position was reinforced by the construction of the Storstrøm Bridge (1937) and Farø Bridges (1985).

Since 1975, Falster has been marked by high unemployment as a result of harder times for both farming and industry.

Towns and villages

, populations were as follows:

Tourism

With its marinas, sandy beaches and cycle tracks, Falster attracts tourists who wish to have relaxing holidays in unspoilt surroundings. One of the most popular resorts is Marielyst on the east coast.

Nykøbing offers a number of attractions including its old-town atmosphere with narrow streets. Of particular interest are the Middle Ages Centre, which is an open-air museum build as a part of a medieval town around year 1400 and the biggest attraction of the town.Nykøbing Falster Havn
Sejlnet.dk. Hentet 19/11-2014 Among other attractions in Nykøbing are the Abbey Church (''Klosterkirke'') which was built in the 15th century, a City Museum and a zoo.

Scattered around the island are several minor museum such as Danish Tractor Museum and Crocodile Zoo in Eskilstrup, a motorbike and radio Museum in Stubbekøbing and a geological museum in Gedser, which holds the world's largest polished garnet by the name of "Nordstjernen" (the Northern Star).Det Sorte Geomuseum
visitdenmark.dk, hentet 29/6-2013Danish State Railways