Rudkøbing is a town in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, on the western coast of the island of Langeland. It is the seat of Langeland Municipality, in the Southern Denmark Region. The town is located southeast of Svendborg and is connected to

Siø Siø is a small Danish island in the South Funen Archipelago between Tåsinge and Langeland. It is part of Langeland Municipality. With an area of 1.3 km2, as of 1 January 2014 it has a population of 16. Since 1681, a system of dykes has expa ...

through the Siøsund Bridge.

History

The first mention of Rudkøbing was in 1287, when it was given market town privileges by Duke Valdemar IV of Schleswig, who held the title of ''rigsforstander'' ( da) under King Eric VI Menved. The original Rudkøbing Church was built most likely in the late 12th century or early 13th century. During the Count's Feud (1534–1536) and again during the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660), Rudkøbing was under siege by Swedish troops. Both times, the town's

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

s prevented Rudkøbing from immediately falling, but the town eventually had to give in to the Swedes. The town was hit by the

Black Plague The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causin ...

during the 16th and 17th centuries, and experienced fires in 1590 and 1610. The Ørsted family, which most notably includes the brothers Hans Christian and Anders Sandøe Ørsted, has its origins in Rudkøbing. Their father was a pharmacist, and the brothers were born in the old

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

on Gåsetorvet. Across from their birth house is a statue of Hans Christian, and a statue of Anders is located at nearby Ørstedsparken, which is named in their honor. The old pharmacy remained in use until 2017. Rudkøbing got its first proper harbor in 1826 (it had previously only had a

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

). In 1898, in a town of about 3,500 people, there were 152 ships based in Rudkøbing. Every year, over 2,500 ships (carrying over 18,000 metric tons of cargo) came in and over 2,800 ships (carrying over 11,500 metric tons of cargo) went out, mostly to and from elsewhere in Denmark. The town was connected by steam ferry routes to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Korsør, Marstal, and Svendborg. The town's population was stable during the

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, hovering above 4,000, with the census in 1930 recording a population of 4,129. The population peaked at 4,541 in 1950, and by 1965, it had fallen to 4,204. Around this time a suburb developed in Skrøbelev Parish ( da), which eventually grew together with Rudkøbing. Each year since 1991, the town has hosted Langelandsfestivalen, a music festival which targets families. Usually lasting 8 days, the festival has performances from both Danish and foreign musicians. Rudkøbing was the seat of the former

Rudkøbing Municipality Until January 1, 2007 Rudkøbing Municipality was a municipality (Danish: '' kommune'') in the former Funen County, on the central parts of the island of Langeland. It also included the islands of Strynø, Strynø Kalv and a number of small uninha ...

in Funen County, and is the seat of the current Langeland Municipality in the Southern Denmark Region. When Rudkøbing was its own municipality, there were often negotiations with the two other Langelandic municipalities of Sydlangeland and Tranekær to merge. These plans were repeatedly abandoned due to a lack of public support. In the

2007 Danish Municipal Reform Denmark is divided into five regions, which contain 98 municipalities ( da, kommuner , sing.: ). The Capital Region has 29 municipalities, Southern Denmark 22, Central Denmark 19, Zealand 17 and North Denmark 11. This structure was establish ...

, the three were forced together, and Rudkøbing has since been the municipal seat.

Transport

Bridges connecting Rudkøbing and Svendborg were built throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, finishing in 1966. The old ferry route between the two towns gradually lost popularity due to the bridges, and the route was eventually ended. The ferry route to Marstal, which had been active since 1866, was closed in 2013, so that the only ferry on this route could be moved to the busy route between Marstal and Svendborg. The ferry route between Rudkøbing and Marstal opened again in December 2019. The

Langeland Bridge Langeland Bridge (Danish, ''Langelandsbroen'') is a road bridge that connects the islands Langeland and Siø. From Siø a connection exists via Tåsinge to Funen. It was built from 1960 to 1962. Dimensions The Langeland Bridge is 771 metres lo ...

was built between 1960 to 1962. It connects Rudkøbing and the rest of Langeland to the island of

. Siø is further linked by the Siøsund Bridge to Tåsinge, and Tåsinge is linked by the

Svendborgsund Bridge The Svendborg Sound Bridge (Svendborgsundbroen) is a bridge that crosses Svendborg Sound between the town of Svendborg on Fyn and Vindeby on the island of Tåsinge in Denmark. It is on the road to the island of Langeland. The bridge is 1220 me ...

to Svendborg on the mainland of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

, making Rudkøbing accessible by road. From 1911 to 1962, Rudkøbing was the main station of the Langeland rail network, called ''Langelandsbanen'' ( da). The network was connected to Svendborg in 1926, when a railway ferry route made it possible to move train wagons between Rudkøbing and the mainland of

Notable residents

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau by Gage Skidmore 2

Artists

Jens Christian Bay Jens Christian Bay (October 12, 1871 – April 11, 1962) was a Danish American writer and librarian. Biography Jens Christian Bay was born in Rudkøbing, Denmark to Lars Hansen Bay (1828–1894) and Doris Oline Jørgine Christiansen (1828–19 ...

(1871–1962), Danish American writer, bibliographer and librarian, who emigrated to the US in 1892. * Preben Lerdorff Rye (1917–1995), actor who appeared in 92 films *

Bjørn Watt-Boolsen Bjørn Watt-Boolsen (20 June 1923 – 28 December 1998) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1998. He was born in Rudkøbing, Denmark and died in Denmark. He was married to actress Lis Løwert. They married on ...

(1923–1998), actor who played several characters in the '' Olsen-banden'' films. *

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (; born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor and producer. He graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen in 1993, and had his breakthrough role in Denmark with the film '' Nightwatch'' ( ...

(born 1970), actor, who played

Jaime Lannister Ser Jaime Lannister is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones'', where he is portrayed by Danish actor Nikolaj Coste ...

in the TV series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

''.

Athletes

* Ingrid Larsen (1912–1997), diver who competed in the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

. * Hans Jørgen Boye (born 1942), retired rower, competed in the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

Politicians and public thinkers

* Erik Bredal (1608–1672), Danish-born Norwegian

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

bishop. * Otto Fabricius (1744–1822),

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, naturalist, ethnographer, and explorer of Greenland. * Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1778–1860), politician and jurist, who served as Prime Minister of Denmark 1853–1854 * Mads Johansen Lange (1807–1856), nicknamed the ''King of Bali'', Danish trader, entrepreneur, and

peace maker Peacemakers are individuals and organizations involved in peacemaking, often in countries affected by war, violent conflict, and political instability. They engage in processes such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration – dr ...

on Bali. Several of his descendants, including Crown Prince Tunku Abu Bakar of

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares mariti ...

, visited Rudkøbing in 2011.

Scientists

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricit ...

(1777–1851), physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, known for Oersted's law * Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1816–1872), botanist,

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

, zoologist and marine biologist.Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, Oersted, Anders Sandöe
retrieved 24 April 2020 * Marianne Schroll (born 1942), specialist in geriatric medicine

Gallery

Image:Rudkøbing - Gåsetorvet ved Brogade.JPG, Statue of

on Gåsetorvet. File:H.C. Ørsted - Rudkøbing.jpg, Closeup of the Ørsted statue on Gåsetorvet. File:Rudkoebing 1900.jpg, Map of Rudkøbing in 1900. Note the archaic spelling of the town's name. File:Rudkøbing - Langelandsbroen.JPG, The

, as seen from Rudkøbing. File:RudkøbingBanegårdVejside.JPG, The old railway station in Rudkøbing. File:Rudkøbing Kirke 2007.jpg, Rudkøbing Church.

External links

Rudkøbing on danmarkshistorien.dk
(in Danish)
Dansk Center for Byhistorie – Rudkøbing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudkobing Municipal seats of the Region of Southern Denmark Municipal seats of Denmark Cities and towns in the Region of Southern Denmark Langeland Municipality