Svendborg County () is a former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

, located on the southern half of 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 ...

in central Denmark. Svendborg County was established in 1793 and abolished in 1970 when it merged with

Odense County Odense County ( da, Odense Amt) is a former province in Denmark, located on the northern half of the island of Funen in central Denmark. Odense County was established in 1806 and abolished in 1970 when it merged with Svendborg County forming the ne ...

forming the new

Funen County Funen County ( da, Fyns Amt) is a former county (Danish: ''amt'') in central Denmark, comprising the islands of Funen, Langeland, Tåsinge, Ærø, and approximately 90 other islands, of which only 25 are inhabited. The county was formed on 1 Apri ...

. The south Funen area was organized as

Nyborg County Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

in 1662, a province also including the

Hindsholm Hindsholm is a peninsula forming the north-eastern extremity of the Danish 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 th ...

peninsula. Hindsholm was incorporated into the new Odense County while the bulk of the former province was merged with Tranekær County and renamed to Svendborg County. This situation lasted until 1970 when Odense and Svendborg merged to form Funen County. Svendborg County featured the

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 ...

s (''købstæder'') of

Faaborg Faaborg or Fåborg () is an old port town located on Faaborg Fjord in Faaborg-Midtfyn municipality on the island of Funen in Denmark. By road, Faaborg is located southwest of Odense, west-northwest of Svendborg, and roughly southeast of Midde ...

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

Rudkøbing Rudkøbing is a town in Denmark, on the western coast of the island of Langeland. It is the seat of Langeland Municipality, in the Southern Denmark Region. The town is located southeast of Svendborg and is connected to Siø through the Siøsun ...

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Ærøskøbing Ærøskøbing () is a town in central Denmark, located in Ærø Municipality on the island of Ærø. The suffix - købing means a trade town in the languages that derive from Old Norse. Ærøskøbing's houses and streets are delicately restore ...

. The latter town became part of the province in 1864. In spiritual matters, the county belonged to the Diocese of Funen.

List of former ''herreder''

*Gudme Herred *Langelands Nørre Herred *Langelands Sønder Herred *Sallinge Herred *Sunds Herred *Vindinge Herred *Ærø Herred

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities o ...

Herred was originally a part of

Augustenborg County Augustenborg may refer to: * Augustenborg, Denmark * Augustenborg Municipality * Augustenborg, Malmö * Augustenburg Castle, eastern Karlsruhe, Germany * Augustenborg Palace Augustenborg Palace (or Augustenborg Castle; da, Augustenborg Slot, g ...

in the Duchy of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

. Although Schleswig was ceded to Austria and Prussia in 1864 following the

Second War of Schleswig The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

, Ærø was allowed to remain Danish and the island incorporated into Svendborg County. ''This article incorporates material from the corresponding article on the Danish Wikipedia, accessed January 14, 2007.''

References

Counties of Denmark dissolved in 1970 {{SouthernDK-stub