Hesselø

Hesselø is a small island of Denmark, belonging to

Halsnæs Municipality Halsnæs Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden ("Capital Region"). The municipality covers a total area (land and water) of 122.15 km² (2013), according to Municipal Key Figures (De Kommunale Nøgletal (www.n ...

, in

Region Hovedstaden The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperso ...

. The island is situated in the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

, about 25 nautical miles east of Grenaa on Jutland and 15 nautical miles northwest of Zealand

Sjælland 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 ...

, it has an area of 0.71 km². The island got its name from the

common seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...

(in

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 ...

, ''sæl''), which used to be very common on the island. Hesselø was occupied by the English during

the Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. In fiction, the Norwegian illustrator and author Tor Bomann-Larsen in the comic boo
'1905. The Duel at Hesselø'
wrote that the Swedish and Danish princes duelled here for the unoccupied Norwegian throne. Another 'duel' occurred in 1983 when the Danish government gave permission for test-drilling for oil north-east of the island against protests from Sweden. The island is now privately owned and used as a holiday destination. The lighthouse was automated in 1955, and the island has been uninhabited since 2005. Islands of Denmark Danish islands in Kattegat Uninhabited islands of Denmark Geography of Halsnæs Municipality {{Denmark-island-stub