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 ...

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Svendborgsund Svendborgsund is a strait that separates Funen from Tåsinge. In the west it flows into the South Funen Archipelago by the island Skarø, and in the east it ends in Thurø Sund and Skårupøre Sund, almost separated by Thurøbro, which is mostly ...

South Funen Archipelago The South Funen Archipelago ( da, Det Sydfynske Øhav) is the popular name for the part of the Baltic Sea south of the ports of Faaborg and Svendborg on the Danish island of Funen. The depth of the sea is typically between 20 and 30 meters. The ...

Danish national road 9 Danish national road 9 ( Danish: Primærrute 9) is part of the Danish national road network. It runs between Odense on Funen and Nykøbing Falster on Falster by way of Svendborg, Tåsinge, Siø and Langeland, and involves a ferry crossing betw ...

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 ...

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 ...

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

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 ...

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Vindeby and from Vemmenæs to

Rudkøbing Rudkøbing is a town in Denmark, 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 through the Siø ...

respectively. Until 2011 the public schools on the island consisted of two separate entities, ''Lundby Skole'' and ''Sundhøjskolen'', but in 2011 they were merged into a single structure called ''Tåsingeskolen'' with close to 800 pupils, by far the largest school in the entire municipality. The inhabitants of the island refer to themselves as ''Tøsinger''. The local

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

called ''tåsingsk'' is still in use on the island, though not as common as in the past.

Etymology

The meaning of the island's name (Tåsinge) has been a matter of debate throughout the past couple of hundred years. The

Knýtlinga saga ''Knýtlinga saga'' (''The Saga of Cnut's Descendants'') is an Icelandic kings' saga written in the 1250s, which deals with the kings who ruled Denmark since the early 10th century.Ármann Jakobsson, "Royal biography", p. 397-8 There are good rea ...

mentions as a place name "þórslundr" ('Thor's Grove') in its description of Denmark (chap. 32) and though it might refer to the island of Tåsinge, it could also well be referring to another place near

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

The first time Tåsinge clearly appears in the sources is in the

Danish Census Book The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation ( la, Liber Census Daniæ), ( da, Kong Valdemars Jordebog) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Da ...

from around 1231, where it is called Thosland, and this designation seems to have been in proper use for a very long time, until the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

, when

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

s of the day because of the rudimentary state of

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

reinterpreted the name as 'Thorseng' or 'Thorsing', believing the name to mean 'Thors seng' or 'Thors eng' (lit.

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

s bed/Thors meadow). This particular change in the island's name was seen in use for more than a century until gradually it changed into the now used form. Etymologists presently consider the

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particul ...

to be a root of

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

'Thōs', meaning 'melting', 'thawing' and alike, possibly referring to the narrow strait of

Svendborgsund Svendborgsund is a strait that separates Funen from Tåsinge. In the west it flows into the South Funen Archipelago by the island Skarø, and in the east it ends in Thurø Sund and Skårupøre Sund, almost separated by Thurøbro, which is mostly ...

which separates the island from

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 ...

. The suffix '-land' is likely referring to the island itself (ref. the village name of Landet, central on the island), often used in Danish place names to characterize 'larger islands' (e.g. neighbouring

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

).

Geography and settlements

Tåsinge is historically divided into three

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

es, corresponding to the three main villages on the island,

Bregninge Bregninge may refer to: * Bregninge, Svendborg Municipality Bregninge is a village on the island of Tåsinge Tåsinge () is a Danish island immediately south of Funen, opposite and facing Svendborg, divided from Funen by Svendborgsund.See d ...

, at the northern part of the island,

Landet Landet is a small town located on the island of Tåsinge in south-central Denmark, in Svendborg Municipality. It is one kilometer west of Lundby, five kilometers south of Vindeby and nine kilometers south of Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on ...

at the central and Bjerreby at the southern part. The largest settlements besides these are Vindeby,

Troense Troense is a town on the island of Tåsinge in south-central Denmark, in Svendborg Municipality. Notable people * Elvira Madigan (1867 – July 19, 1889 in Nørreskov) & Sixten Sparre Bengt Edvard ''Sixten'' "Sigge" Sparre af Rossvik (Septe ...

, Lundby and Strammelse. The north and northeasternmost part of the island, comprising Vindeby and Troense, has seen a large increase in demographics since the construction of the Svendborgsund Bridge and has virtually become a suburb of Svendborg, while the rest of the island in large parts has retained its rural and historical boundaries. In the north commuters who work in the Svendborg area and retired senior citizens live, while the rest of the island is mostly occupied by farming and agriculture. Sydfyns Flyveplads (Tåsinge International Airport) , the only major

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...

in the vicinity, is situated on the western part of the island, providing trips for both business and recreational purposes.

History and attractions

Tåsinge has been a tourist destination for more than 100 years, the main attractions being the islands idyllic and surprisingly diverse nature as well as the many preserved historic buildings, often several hundreds of years old. The island itself also had its fair share of historical events. For several decades in the 14th century, the island (along with the whole of Funen and large parts of modern

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 ...

in general) was pawned to

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

nobles, but was reunited with Denmark under the Danish king

Valdemar Atterdag Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance w ...

. During the Dano-Swedish War (1658–60) the island was overrun by Swedish troops, plundering the villages and leaving a devastated population, and still later, during the Dano-Swedish War of 1808–09 the island was frequently used for both camp and as a transport hub for the French-Spanish reinforcements. From the 17th century on, during the

Age of absolutism Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...

, the first

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

on

Valdemars Castle Valdemar's Castle (Danish: Valdemars Slot) is a manor house situated on the island of Tåsinge near Svendborg in southern Denmark. History Valdemar's Castle was commissioned by King Christian IV (1588–1648) and built between 1639 and 1644 ...

(who had won the rights to the castle following the Battle of Køge Bay) and his inheritors soon amassed as much land on the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

as possible, effectively making the ever-sitting baron the de facto owner and feudal lord of almost the entire island, with the farmers remaining as

tenants A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, ...

and copyholders, from the first part of the 18th century and right until the conversion of entailed estates into fee simple (''Lensafløsningen'') 1919. Tåsinge also had its own ''birkeret'', presided by the baron as supreme judicial court as well (also until 1919). The population (3,600 in 1823) was all

peasantry A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

or

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s. A popular local

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

, to put this in perspective, tells of the smith of Troense, who owned a small patch of land next to his house, and proudly announced that ''"Me and the Baron owns the entire island!"'' The male line of the barons Juel were however not necessarily only harsh lords, but introduced several new

occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

and

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed enti ...

s to the island through the years, such as the (later) important

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

farming, attempts at industrial cloth production (a ''klædefabrik'', 1752–58) and public schools (1795) among other things. Today, Valdemars Slot and surrounding area are among the most well known tourist spots on the island. The nearby village of

Troense Troense is a town on the island of Tåsinge in south-central Denmark, in Svendborg Municipality. Notable people * Elvira Madigan (1867 – July 19, 1889 in Nørreskov) & Sixten Sparre Bengt Edvard ''Sixten'' "Sigge" Sparre af Rossvik (Septe ...

, situated slightly opposite Svendborg, picturesque with a view to Svendborgsund and neighboring Valdemars Slot, is particularly famed for its well-dimensioned and idyllic

half timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

houses, build by wealthy

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and effici ...

s and

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s through the golden period in the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of nava ...

s, when large

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

s were being constructed on local

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...

s and manned for faraway destinations. By the end of the 19th century, the Troense area was extremely popular among tourists (and still is), becoming easier to reach with modern transportation such as train and ferry, and with cheap accommodations and activities such as

sea bathing The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Se ...

, excursions, relaxation, social gatherings, etc. In the

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

season, the visitors would typically book one of several private

pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

, a large part of the village effectively becoming a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

in the early decades of the 20th century. Among the more well known visitors were the composer Rued Langgaard and the writer Henri Nathansen. Troense is also known as the last place where

Elvira Madigan Hedvig Antoinette Isabella Eleonore Jensen (December 4, 1867 July 19, 1889), better known by her stage name Elvira Madigan, was a circus performer who performed as a slack rope dancer, artistic rider, juggler and dancer. She is best known today ...

and Sixten Sparre stayed in July 1889, before going on a "picnic with Death" in the nearby Nørreskov forest. This tragic, infamous incident has become an integral part of the island's lore. Today it is a tourist magnet as the couple is resting side by side in the churchyard at nearby Landet Kirke. The precise location of their murder-suicide in the forest of Nørreskov is marked by a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

boulder. About a kilometer west of

Valdemars Castle Valdemar's Castle (Danish: Valdemars Slot) is a manor house situated on the island of Tåsinge near Svendborg in southern Denmark. History Valdemar's Castle was commissioned by King Christian IV (1588–1648) and built between 1639 and 1644 ...

, next to the road leading there, stands the so-called Ambrosius Oak, which is a 400-year-old giant oak with a circumference of around 7.5 meters. The name refers to the Danish

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

Ambrosius Stub Ambrosius Christoffersen Stub (May 1705 – 15 July 1758) was a Danish poet. Life Stub was born in Gummerup on the island of Funen, but his exact birth date is unknown. He was baptized at Verninge in Odense on 17 May 1705. The son of a tai ...

(whose surname literally means '(tree) stub'), which was serving for more than a decade (1739–52) as a secretary and handyman to the

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

of Valdemars Castle, and who is said to have often been sitting under the tree relaxing or writing. The highest point on the island is ''Bregninge Bakke'' (Bregninge Hill), ca. 70 m.a.s.l. (about 229.5 ft.). Bregninge Kirke is situated on top of the hill, and from its

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

, in clear weather, it is possible to see large parts of the

South Funen Archipelago The South Funen Archipelago ( da, Det Sydfynske Øhav) is the popular name for the part of the Baltic Sea south of the ports of Faaborg and Svendborg on the Danish island of Funen. The depth of the sea is typically between 20 and 30 meters. The ...

. It is said that one can observe 28 islands, 65 churches and 20 manors from here. There is public access to the church in the daytime and (for a modest and optional fee) to the observation deck in the tower. The surrounding of the hill is designated as a protected habitat. In the porch of the church lies a romanesque

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

placed over a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

inscribed with

runes Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

. Situated next to the church is Tåsinge Museum (Museum of Tåsinge), which serves as a local folk museum for the historic life of mainly the

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s of old time Tåsinge, but also houses in a separate building a large collection of music instruments, note sheets etc., pertaining to traditional

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

a

semaphore line An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...

tower, a branch of ''Storebæltstelegrafen'', was placed further to the north on the hill.

Tåsinge and American emigrants

From around 1850 until the first part of the 20th century, the prospects for many young people were to become tenants or copyholders on the island like their parents, without many possibilities of ascending in life. Accordingly, many

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Søren Lolk, an enlightened farmer, educator,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in oth ...

and

vitalist Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

from Tåsinge visited some of the emigrated ''tøsinger'' in the United States over four months in 1903 and photographed and collected evidence from them, before returning. The local archive of Landet keeps both Lolks collections and other evidence of the connections, and regularly receives requests from far and away relatives to once Tåsinge born residents.

1967 film about Elvira Madigan

Elvira Madigan Hedvig Antoinette Isabella Eleonore Jensen (December 4, 1867 July 19, 1889), better known by her stage name Elvira Madigan, was a circus performer who performed as a slack rope dancer, artistic rider, juggler and dancer. She is best known today ...

and Sixten Sparre, whose tragic love affair has been portrayed in several works of art, were depicted in

Bo Widerberg Bo Gunnar Widerberg (; 8 June 1930 – 1 May 1997) was a Swedish film director, writer, editor and actor. Biography Early life Widerberg was born in Malmö, Malmöhus County, Sweden. Career Widerberg was the director of films such as ''Rave ...

's 1967 film ''

Elvira Madigan Hedvig Antoinette Isabella Eleonore Jensen (December 4, 1867 July 19, 1889), better known by her stage name Elvira Madigan, was a circus performer who performed as a slack rope dancer, artistic rider, juggler and dancer. She is best known today ...

''. However, none of the scenes in the film were shot on location on Tåsinge, but rather in

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb to Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an affluent area with man ...

and

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

.

Notes

References

* Denmark detailed roadmap
Tele-DK-Danmark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasinge Islands of Denmark Geography of Svendborg Municipality

Etymology

Geography and settlements

History and attractions

Tåsinge and American emigrants

1967 film about Elvira Madigan

See also

Notes

References