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Falster () is an island in south-eastern
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 = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
with an area of
and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.
["Danmarks Statistik."](_blank)
Retrieved 28 June 2010. Located in the
Baltic sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, it is part of
Region Zealand and is administered by
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 ...
. Falster includes Denmark's southernmost point,
Gedser Odde, near
Gedser.
The largest town is
Nykøbing Falster
Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Guldbor ...
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
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 inhabitan ...
to the south-west. These links also lead to the smaller islands of
Masnedø and
Farø
Farø () is an island in Denmark, located between the islands Sjælland and Falster. It has an area of 0.93 km2 and has a population of four people (2019). Administratively it is part of Vordingborg Municipality.
Access to the island
The ...
.
European route E47 links
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
to
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
(
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
) 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](_blank)
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
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...
.
Scattered around the island are several minor museum such as
Danish Tractor Museum and
Crocodile Zoo in
Eskilstrup
Eskilstrup is a town some north of Nykøbing Falster on the Danish island of Falster. As of 2022, it had a population of 1,066.
History
Eskilstrup Church built in the Romanesque style dates from the 12th century. In accordance with a local tr ...
, a
motorbike and radio Museum in
Stubbekøbing and a
geological museum in
Gedser, which holds the world's largest polished
garnet
Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different ...
by the name of "Nordstjernen" (the
Northern Star).
[Det Sorte Geomuseum](_blank)
visitdenmark.dk, hentet 29/6-2013 via a tunnel under the
Guldborgsund strait. There are two other bridges connecting to Lolland: the
Guldborgsund Bridge at the northern end of the strait and the
Frederick IX Bridge at Nykøbing Falster.
Nykøbing Falster's railway station is operated by
Danish State Railways
DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, go ...
. There are regular passenger train services to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
via
Ringsted. International trains operating between Copenhagen and
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
(via the
train ferry
A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...
between
Rødby and
Puttgarden
is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland.
Overvie ...
) also call at the station. The company
Lokaltog operates a rail service to
Nakskov
Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the La ...
. The railway takes the Frederick IX bridge to Lolland and the Storstrøm and Masnedsund bridges to Zealand.
There are also frequent bus services linking Nykøbing with other towns and villages on the island as well as with destinations on Lolland, Møn and Zealand.
Cultural references
*
Marie Grubbe, whose tragic life has been the subject of several works of art including most notably
Jens Peter Jacobsen's 1876 novel published in English as ''Marie Grubbe. A Lady of the Seventeenth Century'' in 1917, spent her last years in poverty on Falster.
Notable residents
People who were born, or have lived on Falster include:
*
Marie Grubbe (1643–1718), noble woman, lived Stubbekøbing
*
Hans Egede
Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...
(1686 - 1758 in Stubbekøbing), Lutheran missionary
*
Charles August Selby (1755–1823) English-Danish merchant and landowner, built the
Orupgaard
Orupgaard is a manor house located east of Nykøbing and north of Idestrup on the Danish island of Falster. With a history dating from the 13th century, Orupgaard today manages over of farmland and forest as well as an equestrian facility at Br ...
manor house near
Idestrup
*
Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789 in Torkilstrup – 1862), novelist and poet
* Otto
Valdemar Koch
Otto Valdemar Koch (20 October 1852 – 24 February 1902) was a Danish architect and local politician. He designed a number of churches in Copenhagen.
Early life and education
Valdemar Koch was born in the parish of Sønder Kirkeby on the isl ...
(1852 in Sønder Kirkeby – 1902) architect and local politician
*
Sophus Torup
Sophus Carl Frederik Torup (15 August 1861 – 30 November 1937) was a Danish physiologist who settled in Norway.
He was born in Nykøbing in Falster, Denmark, to Jacob Møller Torup and Gregerssine Juliane Marie Simonsen. He was appointed ...
(1861 in Nykøbing, Falster – 1937)
physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemica ...
who settled in Norway
*
Evald Nielsen
Evald Nielsen (June 5, 1879 in Stubbekøbing, Denmark – May 12, 1958 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and long-standing master of the Goldsmith's Guild of Copenhagen and one of the leading men behind the organizing of the Danish gold ...
(1879 in Stubbekøbing – 1958)
silversmith
*
Rasmus Sigvardt Rasmus Sigvardt (born 26 February 1886) was a mechanic from Orehoved on the Danish island of Falster. In 1904, he opened a cycle repair shop which later developed into an engine factory, specializing in boat motors and mechanized fruit-tree sprayers ...
(1886 in
Orehoved - ??) a mechanic, he opened a cycle repair shop which later developed into an engine factory
*
Peter Freuchen
Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen (20 February 1886 – 2 September 1957) was a Danish explorer, author, journalist and anthropologist. He is notable for his role in Arctic exploration, namely the Thule Expeditions.
Personal life
Freuchen wa ...
(1886 in Nykøbing Falster - 1957), Arctic explorer, author, and anthropologist
*
Peter Laurits Jensen (1886-1961) engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and invented the first loudspeaker
*
Jørgen Hare (1923 in Eskilstrup – 2007) sports shooter, competed at the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
*
Connie Kruckow (born 1953) nurse who headed
The Danish Nurses' Organization
*
Frederik Magle (born 1977 in Stubbekøbing), composer, organist and pianist
*
Mads Rasmussen
Mads Reinholdt Rasmussen (born 24 November 1981 in Idestrup on Falster) is a Danish rower and double World Champion and Olympic Gold winner in the lightweight double sculls, with his partner Rasmus Quist Hansen. Rasmussen and Quist ...
(born 1981 in Idestrup), rower
Gallery
File:Nykøbing Falster - Middelaldercentret.jpg, The Middle Ages Centre near Nykøbing
File:Nykøbing Falster Klosterkirke1.jpg, The Abbey Church in Nykøbing
File:Marielyst.jpg, The beach at Marielyst
File:Corselitze - herregård.JPG, Corselitze Manor in central Falster
See also
*
List of islands of Denmark
*
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 inhabitan ...
*
Langeland
*
Zealand
References
External links
Map of Lolland and Falster
{{Authority control
Islands of Denmark
Geography of Guldborgsund Municipality
Danish islands in the Baltic