Until January 1, 2007 Korsør Municipality was 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 the former

West Zealand County West Zealand County ( da, Vestsjællands Amt) is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') in the west-central part of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising a few former counties. Th ...

, on the southwestern 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 ...

, in 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 ...

. The municipality covered an area of 74.25 km², and had a total population of 20,873 (2006). Its last mayor was Flemming Erichsen, a member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

. Korsør Municipality bordered Skælskør Municipality to the south, Hashøj Municipality to the east and

Slagelse Municipality Slagelse Municipality is a municipality ( Danish: '' kommune'') in Region Zealand on the west coast of the island of Zealand (Danish: ''Sjælland'') in Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 571 km². The municipality borders Kalundborg ...

to the north. It connected to Nyborg Municipality through the Great Belt ferries. To the west was the

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 B ...

(''Storebælt''), the strait that separates 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 ...

peninsula. The municipality ceased to exist as the result of ''Kommunalreformen 2007'' (the Municipality Reform of 2007). It was merged with Slagelse, Hashøj and Skælskør municipalities to form a new

Slagelse municipality Slagelse Municipality is a municipality ( Danish: '' kommune'') in Region Zealand on the west coast of the island of Zealand (Danish: ''Sjælland'') in Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 571 km². The municipality borders Kalundborg ...

. The new municipality belongs to

Region Zealand 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 ...

History

Korsør was likely built in the 1100-1300s, and was granted the status of a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

(Danish: ''Købstad'') in 1425 - possibly earlier. Korsør became a prominent transit town between Zealand,

and

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

. In the Middle Ages, when Denmark was divided into hundreds, the area of Korsør Municipality was under Slagelse Hundred. Slagelse Hundred came under Korsør County when it was established in 1662. In 1798 Korsør County was merged with Sorø County and Antvorskov County. This county lasted until the

1970 Danish Municipal Reform The 1970 Danish Municipal Reform was an extensive administrative reform in Denmark which on 1 April 1970 reduced the number of Danish municipalities from 1,098 to 277 and the number of counties from 25 to 14. The reform also abolished the last le ...

where it merged with Holbæk County to create

(Danish: ''Vestsjællands Amt''). After the 2007 municipal reform this changed to

. From 1842, where parish municipalities were created, and until 1970 consisted of two parish municipalities. From 1875 it also consisted of Korsør Market Town Municipality. In the Municipality Reform of 2007 Skælskør Municipality was merged with Hashøj, Slagelse and Korsør Municipality to form a new Slagelse Municipality.

Historical divisions

Mayors

Since the creation of the municipality in 1970 and until it was dissolved in 2007, the mayors of Korsør Municipality were:

Towns

The largest town of the municipality was Korsør, where more than two thirds of the municipality's population lived. The remaining population lived in rural areas, as well as the two larger settlements of Forlev and Svenstrup. Notable villages in the municipality include Frølunde Fed. Korsør was located in the western part of the municipality. Until the construction of the

Great Belt Bridge The Great Belt Bridge ( da, Storebæltsbroen) or Great Belt fixed link ( da, Storebæltsforbindelsen) is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension ...

Korsør was largely a transit town. Below are the populations from 2006 of the three larger settlements of the municipality.Statistikbanken.dk
"BEF44: Folketal 1. januar efter byområder, landdistrikter (AFSLUTTET)" Retrieved 9 October 2020

Politics

Municipal council

Below are the municipal council elected from the municipality's creation in 1970 and until 2001, which was the last election before the municipality was dissolved.

Parishes

The municipality consisted of five parishes and five churches. * Halskov Parish ( Halskov Church) * Hemmeshøj Parish ( Hemmeshøj Church) * Saint Paul's Parish (Danish: ''Sankt Povls Sogn'') ( Saint Paul's Church) * Tårnborg Parish ( Tårnborg Church) * Vemmelev Parish ( Vemmelev Church)

Symbols

The coat of arms of Korsør is a blue cross on golden background.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korsor Municipality Former municipalities of Denmark