Stevns is 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

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 ...

on the southeast coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in south

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 covers an area of , and has a population of 22,782 (1 January 2019). The municipality covers most of Stevns Peninsula. The third largest town and the site of its municipal council is the town of

Hårlev Hårlev is a railway town with a population of 2,865 (1 January 2022) ...

. On 1 January 2007 Stevns municipality, as the result of ''Kommunalreformen'' ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with

Vallø Vallø was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in the former Roskilde County on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in East Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 84 km2, and had a total population of 10,337 (200 ...

municipality to form an enlarged Stevns municipality.

Locations

The ten largest locations in the municipality are:

The town of Store Heddinge

The town of Store Heddinge came into existence during the 13th century, and Saint Katharina Church (''Sct. Katharina kirke'') is also from that time. The town received privileged status as a merchant town in 1441. A Latin preparatory school was founded in the town in 1620, but was closed down in 1739.

Politics

Municipal council

Stevns' municipal council consists of 19 members, elected every four years. Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

Attractions

The area is known for its white

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

cliffs, which are quite rare in Denmark. Stevns Klint (Stevns' Cliffs), a popular tourist attraction, is one of these. The old town church by the small village of Højerup collapsed partially over the cliffs in 1928 due to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

. The cliffs at Højerup are also the place where the father-and-son team of scientists

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

and

Walter Alvarez Walter Alvarez (born October 3, 1940) is a professor in the Earth and Planetary Science department at the University of California, Berkeley. He is most widely known for the theory that dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid impact, developed in ...

measured the highest level of

iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of ...

in the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary layer, which led them to propose their

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

that the

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction) was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the ...

was caused by an

impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...

of a large asteroid 66 million years ago. By 2014 Stevns Klint was listed on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

List of World Heritage Sites in Northern Europe. In 2008 the Cold War Museum Stevns Fortress opened to the public. It features a large exhibition of military equipment and a 1.5-hour guided tour in the large underground system of the fortress. The underground system of the fortress features of tunnels, living quarters, command centers, hospital and even a chapel. And in addition two ammunition depots for its two cannons. The tunnels are below surface excavated in the chalk of Stevns. This top secret fortress was built in 1953 and remained operational until 2000. Stevns is also home to Elverhøj (Elves' Hill), while not much of an attraction, it is famous for the fairy tale The Elf Mound by H.C. Andersen and the Danish national play Elves' Hill, both of which in Danish share the name ''Elverhøj''.

Notable people

* Peder Syv (1631–1702), philologist, folklorist and parish priest at Hellested from 1664 until 1702 *

Berte Skeel Berte Skeel (26 March 1644 – 5 July 1720) was a Danish noble, philanthropist and estate owner. She was the owner of Selsø Manor and co-founder of the '' Roskilde Adelige Jomfrukloster'' at Roskilde Kloster. Early life and marriage Berte S ...

(1644 in

Vallø Castle Vallø Castle ( da, Vallø Slot) is a manor house located 7 km south of Køge, in Stevns Municipality, on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It now serves as a residence for Vallø stift, a home for unmarried, widowed and divorced women of no ...

– 1720), noble, philanthropist and estate owner of Selsø Manor *

Jens Juel-Vind Jens Juel-Vind (1694 – 20 December 1726), baron of Juellinge, was a Danish chamberlain and landowner. Early life Juel-Vind was born in 1694, the son of Friderich Vind of Harrested and Baggesvogn, and Sophia Catharina, Baroness Juel of Juellinge ...

(1694 in Huellinge – 1726), baron of Juellinge, chamberlain, and landowner. * Christen Lindencrone (1703–1772), landowner and

supercargo A supercargo (from Spanish ''sobrecargo'') is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship. The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the merchand ...

, owned Gjorslev Manor 1743-1772 *

Severine Casse Severine Andrea Casse née Engelbreth (1805–1898) was a Danish women's rights activist and an influential member of the Danish Women's Society. Intent on social and political reforms for women, she successfully fought for a wife's right to dispo ...

(1805 in Lyderslev – 1898), women's rights activist and an influential member of the Danish Women's Society * Hans Peter Johan Lyngbye (1834 in

– 1920), businessman, dealing with timber and salvage * Gunnar Asgeir Sadolin (1874 in Valløby – 1955), businessman and manufacturer of dry pigments and

Aniline dyes Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an industrially significant commodity chemical, as well as a versatile startin ...

Martin A. Hansen Alfred Martin Jens Hansen (20 August 1909 – 27 June 1955) was a Danish writer who wrote under the name Martin A. Hansen. He is known for his writings as a member of the Danish resistance movement during the German occupation of Denmark in WWII ...

(1909 in Strøby – 1955), author and member of the Danish resistance during WWII * Gitte Karlshøj (born 1959 in Lyderslev), long-distance runner, ran the 3000 metres at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Image gallery

Image:Sankt Katharina kirke store heddinge.jpg, St. Catherine's Church, Store Heddinge Image:GjorslevSlotDK.jpg, Gjorslev Castle Image:ValloeStift.jpg,

File:Boesdal Kalkbrud 3.jpg, Boesdal Kalkbrud

References

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

External links

*
East Denmark tourism information

Cold War Museum Stevns Fortress
{{Municipalities of Denmark Municipalities of Region Zealand Municipalities of Denmark Populated places established in 2007