Storstrøm County () is a former

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

( Danish: '' amt'') on the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

(''Sjælland''),

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg Municipality, Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langeb ...

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

and some minor islands in southeast

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of

Maribo Maribo is a town in Lolland Municipality in Region Zealand, Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It was the municipal seat of the former Maribo Municipality, until 1 January 2007, and then it became the seat of the cur ...

and

Præstø Præstø () is a town with a population of 3,880 (1 January 2024) in Vordingborg Municipality in Region Sjælland on the east coast of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland''). The islands of Maderne, Storeholm, and Lilleholm are ...

. The county was abolished effective January 1, 2007, when it merged into

Region Sjælland Region Zealand () is an administrative region of Denmark. It is one of the five classified NUTS-2 statistical regions of Denmark. It was established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional ...

(i.e. ''Region Zealand''). The county was a somewhat artificial construction as the islands of Lolland and Falster did not traditionally share any institutions with Zealand, but rather with

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. Locally, the adjectives ''nordenstrøms'' and ''søndenstrøms'', i.e. "north" and "south of the Stream" were used to designate the Zealand-Møn and Lolland-Falster parts respectively, as they were separated by the strait Storstrømmen ("The Great Stream") from which the county derived its name.

Insignia

The official

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

featured in chief a goose representing the Goose Tower on Vordingborg Castle in the former Præstø County. The two

sea serpent A sea serpent is a type of sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably in Mesopotamian cosmology (Tiamat), Ugaritic cosmology ( Yam, Tannin), biblical cosmology (Leviathan, Rahab), Greek cosmology (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scy ...

s (''lindorme'') were taken from the arms of the former Maribo County. The stream in the centre represents the Storstrømmen Strait. This coat of arms drifted out of use during the last years of the county's existence, and had effectively been replaced by a logo showing one of the Farø Bridges which span the Storstrømmen Strait, thus linking the northern and southern part of the county.

List of county mayors

Municipalities (1970–2006)

References

# ''Fortællinger fra Storstrøms Amt'' (2006), Storstrøms Amt, most importantly pp. 57–66 {{DEFAULTSORT:Storstrom County Former counties of Denmark (1970–2006) Region Zealand