Skanör med Falsterbo ( da, Skanør og Falsterbo) is a statistical locality (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''tätort'', locality code 3672), situated in Vellinge Municipality,

Skåne County Skåne County ( sv, Skåne län, link=no ), sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the most southern county, or , of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronobe ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with 6,937 inhabitants in 2010. It consists of the two old towns of

Skanör Skanör is a town in Vellinge Municipality and part of the conurbation Skanör med Falsterbo in southwestern Scania, Sweden. City facilities include hotels, restaurants, a harbour, a medieval church and an elementary school. A greenbelt called ...

and Falsterbo which have grown together and were unified in 1754, but are still regarded as different communities by locals. The

preposition Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...

''med'' means ''with''. Thanks to its southerly and maritime position, the locality is the mildest in Sweden, with winter lows barely averaging frosts.

Background

It is a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

consisting of the two medieval towns of

and Falsterbo. Both towns are located on the elongated reef-like western part of the Falsterbo Peninsula, (''Falsterbonäset''), Falsterbo to the south and Skanör to the north. The towns are separated by a several kilometers long bank built of earth and seaweed, and have never geographically been considered the same town. The peninsula forms the southwesternmost tip of the

Scandinavian Peninsula The Scandinavian Peninsula ( sv, Skandinaviska halvön; no, Den skandinaviske halvøy (Bokmål) or nn, Den skandinaviske halvøya; fi, Skandinavian niemimaa) is a peninsula located in Northern Europe, which roughly comprises the mainlands ...

. It marks the border between the Baltic Sea and the Øresund, the sound that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania.

Geography

The locality is situated south of the city of Malmö, 28 km from

and 30 km from Falsterbo, based on the local distance signs along the motorway. During the 20th century the towns have become affluent

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s for people working in the Malmö-

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

region, as well as a popular site among older people who have retired from higher positions abroad or in the capital. The peninsula is divided by the Falsterbo Canal, a waterway at the base of the Falsterbo Peninsula that shortens the route between the Øresund and the Baltic Sea, which was built to avoid mines laid in Øresund during WWII. The canal goes between the bays Höllviken (north) and Kämpingebukten (south).

Climate

The Swedish meteorological institute SMHI operates a weather station in Falsterbo. Like the rest of Scania, it has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

( Cfb), but with greater maritime effects than in Malmö for example, due to its unsheltered position on the peninsula. It is also the southernmost official station in Sweden. This combination renders it have a January mean for 1961-1990 above freezing, a very unusual occurrence in Sweden. Falsterbo is often cooler than Malmö during the day and milder during the night due to the low diurnal temperature variation. The great maritime effects as well as the ice-free winters of the region contributes to both yearly heat and cold records being subdued by Swedish standards, however specific climate events have shrunk the temperature to and raised it to . In 2006, Falsterbo had an absolute December minimum of , exceptionally mild by Swedish standards. The precipitation normal value from 1961-1990 is , making it a very dry climate considering it being oceanic. Due to the very marine nature, Falsterbo is the mildest weather station in Sweden, in spite of summer highs being far below surrounding areas. It also makes it sunnier than inland Lund, with 1902 hours of bright sunshine annually compared to the 1801 hours of Lund in the 2002-2016 period, this due to less convection build-up during spring and summer. Even being part of the Nordic mainland, Falsterbo also has a similar annual temperature to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

in hypermaritime coastal England in spite of being slightly further north.

History

Origin

The origin of

can be traced back to the end of the 12th century and Falsterbo is believed to have arisen shortly before. In around 1220 the Danish king built the

fortress. S:ta Gertrud church in Falsterbo dates back to the 13th century, possibly the 12th. ''History of Skanör-Falsterbo'' (hotellgasslingen.com)

Growth

During the late middle ages both towns grew in importance and wealth as during late summer and autumn the peninsula was an important centre of trade and

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

fishing in the annual Scania Market (''Skånemarknaden''). The market was held on the beach stretch between

and Falsterbo and was dominated by the north German Hanseatic cities, primarily Lübeck. The Danish king delegated specific areas along the beach to these cities, so called "fit" or "fed", where they had the right to carry out trade during the Scania Market. A large fishing village was located along the beaches of Øresund. Soon thereafter a castle was raised in Falsterbo. In 1311 the castle was destroyed by the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

(specifically the trade towns of Rostock, Wismar and Greifswald) in the war between these and the Danish king

Erik Menved Eric VI Menved (1274 – 13 November 1319) was King of Denmark (1286–1319). A son of King Eric V and Agnes of Brandenburg, he became king in 1286 at age 12, when his father was murdered on 22 November by unknown assailants. On account of his age ...

. After the war the king raised a new and larger castle in 1318 called Falsterbohus. The old castle in

thus lost its importance thereafter.

Olav IV of Norway no, Olav Håkonsson , house = Bjelbo , father = Haakon VI of Norway , mother = Margaret I of Denmark , birth_date = , birth_place = Akershus Castle, Oslo , death_date = , death_place = Falsterbo Ca ...

, son of queen

Margaret I of Denmark Margaret I ( da, Margrete Valdemarsdatter; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was ruler of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian k ...

, died in 1387 in Falsterbohus. After the

population declined during the 16th century the Scania Market was dismantled and subsequently the two cities lost their former importance, but retained the town privileges, with joint administration.

Recent history

The two medieval towns

and Falsterbo were united economically under the same mayor in 1754. Even so, they have geographically never been considered the same town, and they did not grow into a contiguous settlement until the late 1960s. Falsterbo and Skanör remained small fishing towns until the rail line from Malmö to Falsterbo via Vellinge was built in 1904. Between 1904 and 1971 Skanör and Falsterbo each had their own railway stations. New residential areas grew up along the railway. Due to its small size Skanör med Falsterbo was the last city in Sweden to get a City Council (1934), but it had its own jurisdiction and a City Court (''rådhusrätt'') up until 1947. It is now a locality within Vellinge Municipality and has no administration of its own. The railway closed in 1971 and was dismantled the following year.

Skanör Cement factory

During the first world war a track was laid to the new cement factory located in the

harbour. There are rumours that the cement factory was used as a depot for military equipment in case the war reached

. Others claim that the factory was built under German influence only to serve as a disguise for a giant artillery foundation and that the bricks in the walls were placed upright to save costs. The cannon together with its counterpart in Køge in Denmark had as a purpose to guard the Øresund. In any case the cement factory was dismantled a few years thereafter. Of the cement factory only the foundation still exists today.

Notability

Falsterbo is known for th
Falsterbo Bird Observatory
since most migratory birds leave the

via the 5 km long reef south of Falsterbo. The very same reef, and the fine sand beaches on the peninsula, offers some of the best sea bathing of

. Falsterbo also has an annual horse show (show jumping and dressage), the

Falsterbo Horse Show Falsterbo (, outdatedly ) is a town located at the south-western tip of Sweden in Vellinge Municipality in Skåne. Falsterbo is situated in the southern part of the Falsterbo peninsula. It is part of Skanör med Falsterbo, one of Sweden's historica ...

. Skanör used to host the annual market, Skanörs sillamarknad.

Gallery

File:Skanör med Falsterbo.JPG, Aerial view File:Windmill in Skanör.jpg, Windmill in Skanör. File:Fiskarstugan i Skanör.JPG, Old fishing cottage, later the first library, in Skanör. File:Skanörs station idag.jpg, Railroad Station in Skanör. File:Skanörskyrkabak.jpg, S:t Olofs church in Skanör.

References

External links

FalsterboFalsterbo – Skånemarknaden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skanor Med Falsterbo Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Populated places in Vellinge Municipality Populated places in Skåne County