Until 1 January 2007 Sydlangeland 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

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 Ap ...

, on the southern parts of the island of

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.

. It also included the inhabited islands of Lindø and Langø, as well as a number of smaller uninhabited islands. The municipality covered an area of 120.82 km², and had a total population of 4,034 (2006). Its last mayor was Knud Gether, a member of a local political party. Sydlangeland Municipality bordered Rudkøbing Municipality to the north. Across a small strait to the west was

Marstal Municipality Marstal municipality, is a former municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Funen County on the island of Ærø in southern Denmark. Since 1 January 2006 it has been part of Ærø municipality. Its territory included the islands of Birkholm and Halm� ...

, later

Ærø Municipality 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 ...

. The municipality ceased to exist as the result of ''Kommunalreformen 2007'' (the Municipality Reform of 2007). It was merged with the Tranekær and

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 Siø ...

municipalities to form the new Langeland municipality. The new municipality belongs to the

Region of Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which ab ...

History

In the Middle Ages, when Denmark was divided into hundreds, Langeland was divided into two hundreds. These were Langeland's Northern Hundred (Danish: ''Langelands Nørre Herred'') and Langeland's Southern Hundred (Danish: ''Langelands Sønder Herred''), the latter also including the island of Siø. The two hundreds on Langeland were part of the

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

(Danish: ''len'') of Tranekær Fief, which became Tranekær County in 1662. In 1793 the two counties of Tranekær and Nyborg were merged to form

Svendborg County Svendborg County () is a former province in Denmark, located on the southern half of the island of Funen in central Denmark. Svendborg County was established in 1793 and abolished in 1970 when it merged with Odense County forming the new Funen Coun ...

, which was 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 ...

in 1970 to form

(Danish: ''Fyns Amt''). This county was dissolved in 2007, and the entirety of Funen County became a part of the

. In 1842 Denmark was divided into smaller administrative divisions, namely parish municipalities (Danish: ''sognekommunner''). The borders of these municipalities were largely based on the country's parishes. In the 1970 municipal reform these parish municipalities were dissolved. Four parish municipalities had merged already in 1966 to form Sydlangeland Parish Municipality, which then became Sydlangeland Municipality in 1970. This municipality lasted until 2007 when it was merged with the municipalities of Tranekær and Rudkøbing.

Historical divisions

Towns

Approximately 55% of the municipality's population lived in rural areas or smaller villages. The municipalities two largest towns, Humble and Bagenkop, were each home to around 15% of the municipality's population. The remaining population lived in Lindelse and Tryggelev. Humble was the seat of the municipality. The town was located centrally in the municipality. Below is the populations from 2006 of the four larger settlements of the municipality.

Politics

Municipal council

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

Mayors

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

Parishes

The municipality consisted of five parishes and seven churches. * Fodslette Parish ( Fodslette Church) * Humble Parish ( Humble Church, Kædeby Church, Ristinge Church) * Lindelse Parish ( Lindelse Church) * Magleby Parish ( Magleby Church) * Tryggelev Parish ( Tryggelev Church)

Symbols

Sydlangeland Municipality's coat of arms was three white fish and three yellow leaves of hops on a blue background.

References

{{Langeland Municipality Former municipalities of Denmark