Ærøskøbing

	Ærøskøbing
	Ærøskøbing
	Ærøskøbing
Basic data
State :	Denmark
Region :	Syddanmark
Municipality ; (since 2006) :	Aero
Municipality / Office : ; (until the end of 2005)	Ærøskøbing Kommune ; Fyns Amt
Harde / Amt: ; (until March 1970)	Ærø Herred ; Svendborg Office
Coordinates :	54 ° 53 ' N , 10 ° 25' E Coordinates: 54 ° 53 ' N , 10 ° 25' E
Population : ; (2020)	942
Postal code :	5970 Ærøskøbing
	;

Ærøskøbing (German also: Ärösköping ) is the historic capital on the Baltic Sea island of Ærø in Denmark and was a municipality in the administrative district of Fyns Amt until January 1, 2006 . Since January 1, 2006, one year before the Danish municipal reform on January 1, 2007 , Ærøskøbing Municipality has merged with Marstal Municipality to form Ærø Municipality . This has 5964 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) and is 90.45 km² in size.

The parish of Ærøskøbing Sogn has 997 inhabitants, the town itself is inhabited by 942 people (as of January 1, 2020). Ærøskøbing has a city harbor and a ferry port as well as a marina to the north of this .

Ærøskøbing is considered the most picturesque town on the island - often nicknamed: fairytale town - and also one of the most beautiful small towns in Denmark. It is located in the middle of the northeast coast of Ærø and is around 750 years old. The city is a listed building and received the Europa Nostra Prize in 2002 .

history

The road system at Ærøskøbing is dated to 1250. However, it is unknown when the city emerged as such. It is not mentioned by name until the 15th century, but in earlier times it was mentioned as a town of Wysbye . This cannot be identified with certainty as Ærøskøbing, but so far no other place than Ærøskøbing has been found where this town could have been.

Ærøskøbing from the seaside

Although Ærøskøbing was the undisputed center of the relatively affluent island as the only town, its importance never went far beyond the surrounding area. After it had always remained royal in the division of the Duchy of Schleswig since 1490, it came under the rule of the divided Duke John the Younger in 1564 . Under this it kept its status, but the rest of the island was combined into three large estate districts. When the Duchy of Sønderborg was divided under Johann's sons in 1622, the town became the center of a duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Ærø. Duke Christian founded a fourth estate (Vodrup) not far from the city and set up another manor house in the city, Köbinghof. After the Duke's death in 1633, the island was divided between the other Sonderburger lines, and Ærøskøbing fell to the Glücksburg family (older line). However, in 1749 it was sold to the king.

After overcoming the division of the island, the administration was reorganized in 1773. Although Ærøskøbing remained a town, it lost its magistrate and de facto sank into a town . The Marstal sea trading center , which was better located for the needs of the time, had long outstripped the city in terms of economic importance and population. Ærøskøbing was the smallest town in the Duchy of Schleswig .

The civil war for the Duchy of Schleswig (1848–50) left Ærøskøbing relatively unaffected. Ærø and Alsen were held by loyal Danish troops and no fighting took place here. The war also passed the island in 1864. But the result had consequences for the city and island: After the Peace of Vienna on October 30, 1864, Ærø became part of the Kingdom of Denmark as part of the border regulation. If the island had previously belonged to the Schleswig Nordborg Office , it has now been assigned to the Svendborg Office . The closer administrative connection with the neighboring islands was offset by the loss of the traditional trading area in the west.

Ærøskøbing remained a small town of only local economic importance and in principle nothing has changed to this day. However, the low growth had the advantage that the small townscape that had evolved over time has been almost completely preserved. The picturesque port city became a tourist magnet. Today tourism is also the main source of income for the city, the population of which is continuously falling. Islands like Ærø are particularly hard hit by the rural exodus that is already very pronounced in Denmark .

Until 1970 Ærø formed its own harde in the Svendborg office . In the municipal reform on April 1, 1970 , the parish ( Danish : Sogn ) Ærøskøbing Sogn was merged with the parishes of Søby , Bregninge , Rise and Tranderup to Ærøskøbing Kommune in Fyns Amt . On January 1, 2006, this was combined with the Marstal municipality to form Ærø municipality , which one year later belonged to the newly created region Syddanmark with the next Danish administrative reform .

traffic

The place is connected to Svendborg by a ferry. Between 1931 and 1995, with the train ferry additional freight cars brought to the island.

Old half-timbered house in Ærøskøbing

Attractions

The picturesque old town with numerous simple half-timbered and brick buildings (mostly one and two-story eaves houses)
City Church
Beach huts
Seven kilometers southeast of Ærøskøbing is one Dolmen and a restored passage grave with two chambers (Lindsbjerg Bakke).