Gørlev is a town on the west coast of the island of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

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 has a population of 2,397 (1 January 2022)BY3: population 1. January by rural and urban areas, area and population density
The Mobile Statbank from

Statistics Denmark Statistics Denmark ( da, Danmarks Statistik) is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Housing and which reports to the Minister of Economic and Internal Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating st ...

and belongs to

Kalundborg Municipality Kalundborg Municipality ( da, Kalundborg Kommune) is a municipality in Region Sjælland on the west coast of the island of Zealand in Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 48,368 (1. January 2022). Its mayor i ...

Region Sjælland 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 ...

. To the west are ''Musholm Bugt'' (Musholm Bay), the ''Storebælt'' (

Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Be ...

) — the strait separating Zealand and the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

-, and ''Jammerland Bugt'' (Jammerland Bay).

History

The countryside around Gørlev - and Kalundborg Municipality in general -, is home to a number of notable

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

sites, including

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...

s and various

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

s. The passage grave of ''Rævehøj'' (Fox-hill) near the hamlet of Dalby, is known for its rare rock carvings. As many other Stone Age constructions, it was also used throughout the Bronze Age as well. Rævehøi-6

In Gørlev Church's entryway are two

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

s, ''Gørlevstenene'' (The Gørlev Stones), showing the entire runic alphabet known as the

younger futhark The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The r ...

. The first runestone is dated to the early 9th century, and was found on the spot in May 1921 by a bricklayer working at the church. The second runestone is dated to c. 1000, and was found in 1965 under the church tower. The only runestones in Denmark more significant than these are the

Jelling stones The Jelling stones ( da, Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The large ...

, erected by King

Harold Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson ( non, Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson; da, Harald Blåtand Gormsen, died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. He was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 95 ...

c. 965 in the town of

Jelling Jelling is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 3,658 (1 January 2022), located in Jelling Parish, approximately 10 km northwest of Vejle. The town lies 105 metres above sea level. Location Jelling is located in Vejle municipalit ...

, the old Viking capital of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. The nearby marshlands of ''Maglemose'', also known as ''Mullerup Mose'' (Mullerup Marsh), is a large

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

area, which includes the lake of Tissø. Here, archaeological evidence of international importance was excavated in the years 1900 and 1902, revealing and defining the Mullerup or Maglemosian Culture that roamed Northern Europe in the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

. They used Maglemose and the surrounding area as a summer camp for hunting and fishing. Maglemose is the oldest site of its type in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

, and the findings bettered the understanding of the

Nordic Stone Age The Nordic Stone Age refers to the Stone Age of Scandinavia. During the Weichselian glaciation (115,000 – 11,700 years ago), almost all of Scandinavia was buried beneath a thick permanent ice cover, thus, the Stone Age came rather late to thi ...

cultures and Denmark's earliest history in particular. Two memorials commemorate the discovery site. Other attractions include ''Svellas Mølle'' (Svella's Mill), a restored windmill built in 1870 and one of Denmark's smallest mills; the agriculture museum ''Fløjgården''; Reersø Museum; and ''Den Gamle Biograf'' (The Old Movie House), the municipality's culture center.

Gørlev Municipality

Until 1 January 2007, Gørlev was also a municipality (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

: '' kommune'') in

West Zealand County West Zealand County ( da, Vestsjællands Amt) is a former counties of Denmark, county (Danish language, Danish: ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') in the west-central part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern De ...

. Gørlev Municipality covered an area of 92,06 km², and had a total population of 6,556 (2005). Its last mayor was Jørgen Arnam-Olsen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party)

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. Gørlev Municipality ceased to exist as the result of ''Kommunalreformen'' ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007). It was merged with existing

Bjergsted Until 1 January 2007, Bjergsted was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in West Zealand County on the west coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. The municipality included the islands of Sejrø and Nekselø, and covered an ar ...

Hvidebæk Until 1 January 2007 Hvidebæk was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in West Zealand County on the west coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 98,26 km², and had a total population o ...

Høng Høng is a town with a population of 4,355 (1 January 2022)Kalundborg municipalities to form the new Kalundborg Municipality. This created a municipality with an area of 598 km² and a total population of 48,697 (2005).

Notable people

Kaj Kaj may refer to: Places in Iran * Kaj, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari * Kaj, Hamadan * Kaj, Isfahan * Kaj, Qom * Kaj, Razavi Khorasan * Kaj, Sistan and Baluchestan Other uses * Kaj River, a river of Afghanistan * Kaj (name) * A fictional frog on the D ...

(1916 – 1991) &

Viggo Frederiksen Viggo Frederiksen (21 September 1916 – 11 December 1993) was a Danish boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was born in Gørlev and died in Hillerød Hillerød () is a Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2 ...

(1916 – 1993) twin brothers from Gørlev, Danish boxers who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

* Heino Hansen (born 1947 in Gørlev) a Danish former professional footballer who played 31 games for

References

Sources

* Municipal statistics
NetBorger Kommunefakta
delivered fro
KMD a.k.a. Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
* Municipal mergers and neighbors
Eniro new municipalities map

External links

Kalundborg municipality's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorlev Cities and towns in Region Zealand Former municipalities of Denmark Kalundborg Municipality