Svendborg

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Svendborg

Denmark

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Svendborg, city, southern Funen island, Denmark, on Svendborg Sound. Chartered in 1253, it was often plundered in the Middle Ages because of its easily accessible coastal location, and it suffered in the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries. The 13th-century Romanesque-style Church of Sankt Nikolaj survives, and the local museum is in a 16th-century timbered house. Svendborg was formerly known as a shipbuilding city, but the shipyard is now used as a repair yard. A 4,003-foot (1,220-metre) bridge built in 1966 connects Svendborg with the island of Tåsinge to the south. Pop. (2008 est.) city, 27,318; (2005 est.) mun., 58,354.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Funen

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Odense: childhood home of Hans Christian Andersen

Funen

island, Denmark

Also known as: Fyn

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Danish:: Fyn

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Funen, third largest island, after Zealand (Sjælland) and Vendsyssel-Thy, in Denmark. It lies between southern Jutland and Zealand and is bounded by the Little Belt (strait) to the west and the Great Belt to the east. Both straits are crossed by rail and road connections, including the Great Belt Fixed Link, a bridge and tunnel system that joins Funen with Zealand via the island of Sprogø. The fertile clay loams of the rolling morainic landscape support agriculture (grains and sugar beets), gardening, dairy farming, and pig and cattle breeding. Stone Age burial chambers remain on the island, as well as numerous Viking relics, including the famous Ladby-skibet (12 miles [19 km] east of Odense), the burial ship of a Viking chieftain (c. 950), and a “ship monument” (grave enclosed by standing stones in the form of a ship) west of Odense. Always a stronghold of the Danish aristocracy, Funen is rich in old castles and manor houses. Two of the finest are Egeskov (1554) and Brahetrolleborg (1568; incorporating parts of a monastery founded in 1172), both in the south. The island’s chief ports are the manufacturing city of Odense, Assens, Svendborg, Nyborg, Kerteminde, Middelfart, and Fåborg. Area 1,152 square miles (2,984 square km). Pop. (2003 est.) 441,795.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Heather Campbell.