Ven (, older Swedish spelling ''Hven''), is a Swedish island in the Öresund strait laying between

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

. A part of Landskrona Municipality,

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

, the island has an area of and 371 inhabitants as of 2020. During the 1930s, the population was at its peak, with approximately 1,300 inhabitants. There are four villages on the island: Bäckviken, Tuna By, Norreborg and Kyrkbacken. The island is best known as the location of the observatories

Uraniborg Uraniborg was an astronomical observatory and alchemy laboratory established and operated by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. It was the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe, and the last to be built without a telescope as its pr ...

and Stjerneborg, both of which were established and operated by the Danish

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

astronomer

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

Geography

The island is a single plateau that rises up to 45 meters above sea level. This highest point is located in the middle of the island, where the remains of Tycho Brahe's castle and observatory are now located. The landscape is fertile thanks to the soil and the mild climate for Nordic conditions. The soil is moraine clay and therefore well suited for agriculture. It is one of the northernmost places in Europe where it is possible to grow durum wheat (''Triticum durum''), which is used to make pasta. Unlike the relatively flat islands

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

and Saltholm, Ven rises from the Öresund with steep and dramatic coastlines. This makes the island easily visible from both Zealand and Scania, as well as from all ships that sail in and out of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Its southern coastline resembles the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...

, Møns Klint and Cape Arkona, but owing to a higher degree of sand and lower of chalk, the cliffs are more yellow than white. Along the entire coast, the island drops steeply towards the sea where the Öresund meets a rocky beach. This steep coast is called Backafall. Ven's backafall is a nature reserve established in 1990. There are no large forests, but smaller stands of trees occur closest to the coast the slightly higher altitude, the climate on the island in general is similar to that of the lower terrain coastal areas around Öresund. The island has three smaller fishing ports: ''Bäckviken'' (where small ferries depart to Landskrona), ''Norreborg'' and ''Kyrkbacken''. The last is located on the south-western coast just beneath the old church ''Sankt Ibb''. This coast is known as ''Backafall.''

History

Map of Hven from copper etching of Blaeu Atlas 1663

The island was historically under Danish rule. Danish astronomer

(1546–1601) built two

observatories An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

there,

and Stjerneborg, during 1576–1596. The observatories were built by the inhabitants of the island with Tycho Brahe as their Lord. The Swedish took over control in 1658, as the rest of

was ceded to Sweden by the

Treaty of Roskilde The Treaty of Roskilde was negotiated at Høje Taastrup Church and was concluded on 26 February ( OS) or 8 March 1658 ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish ci ...

. The island was not specifically mentioned in the treaty, and according to the Danes it was not part of Scania, but part of Zealand and therefore still under Danish rule. The Swedes did not agree with that interpretation, and sent troops to occupy the island on 6 May 1658. The transfer to Sweden was confirmed in 1660 by the Treaty of Copenhagen. The 350th anniversary of this transfer was commemorated on the island in 2010. Two churches are located on this island. The older one, St Ibb's Church, is located at the top of a hill in the churchyard close to the west coast of the island, overlooking the Danish town of Rungsted. It was built in the 13th century and is a popular church for weddings. The younger church, which has been converted into a museum, is located in the middle of the island, near

, one of the two observatories built by the astronomer Tycho Brahe. The asteroid 379 Huenna, which orbits halfway between

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, is named for Ven. Ven has ferries to Landskrona, and, in the summer only, to

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The ferries dock at Bäckviken. The island is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer. It is sometimes called "The pearl of Öresund". As the earth is rich in

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

, it is good for agriculture. Durum wheat and grapes are grown there.

Representation in culture

Backafall on Ven is named in Gabriel Jönsson's poem ''Vid vakten''. He also wrote the song ''"Flicka från Backafall"'' ("Girl from Backafall").

Golf course

The island is home to the St Ibb Golf Club, founded in 1972 by Gösta Carlsson, who also operated nearby Barsebäck G&CC. The nine-hole par-68 course hosted the St Ibb Open, a professional tournament on the Swedish Golf Tour 2000–2010.

Sights

File:Southern_peak_of_Ven_(Hven)_island.JPG, The dramatic southern coast. The yellowish rather than white colour of the cliffs indicates more sand than chalk. File:Ven.jpg, ''Backafall'', the south-west coast of Ven File:Ven Field.jpg, One of the fields of Ven File:St Ibbs church.jpg, St Ibb's Church File:The New Church of Ven.jpg, The New Church of Ven, currently a museum

References

External links

{{Authority control Geography of Landskrona Tourist attractions in Landskrona Islands of Skåne County Landskrona