Falsterbo (, outdatedly ) is a town located at the south-western tip of

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 ...

Vellinge Municipality Vellinge Municipality () is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in Vellinge. The present municipality is a result of the latest local government reform in Sweden. In 1974 the municipalities of '' Räng'', '' V ...

Skåne 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 ...

. Falsterbo is situated in the southern part of the Falsterbo peninsula. It is part of

Skanör med Falsterbo Skanör med Falsterbo is a statistical locality (Swedish ''tätort'', locality code 3672), situated in Vellinge Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 6,937 inhabitants in 2010. It consists of the two old towns of Skanör and Falsterbo which ha ...

, one of Sweden's historical cities.

Climate

''See Skanör med Falsterbo#Climate for more data.''

History

Falsterbo historically enjoyed trading privileges with the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. During the Middle Ages, it was a rich and prestigious town owing to its location in a center of trade and herring fishery. On the beach between Falsterbo and neighboring town Skanör was the

Scania Market The Scania market (Danish ''Skånemarkedet'', Swedish ''Skånemarknaden'') was a major fish market for herring which took place annually in Scania during the Middle Ages. From around 1200, it became one of the most important events for trade around ...

where merchants from various parts of Europe had fixed market places. Scania Market was a major fish market which took place annually starting about 1200. The market became an important trade center on 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 ...

and remained so for 250 years; it was a major source of the Hanseatic League's wealth. The rich herring fishing around the Falsterbo Peninsula accounted for the market's popularity, but the market declined in importance during the 15th century when herring populations decreased. The cities were politically merged into a single city, Skanör med Falsterbo.

Local attractions

Falsterbo is mostly known as a holiday destination where people go to spend their summer vacations. The beaches of Falsterbo are known for their white sand and family-friendly bathing opportunities. Falsterbo is also known for one of the better golf courses in Europe – Falsterbo Golf Club. Another attraction in Falsterbo is the annual International Horse Jumping Grand Prix (part of the

Falsterbo Horse Show The Falsterbo Horse Show is an annual equestrian event in Falsterbo, Skåne County, Sweden, held in July. It is held as Concours de Saut International, CSIO 5* and Dressage, CDI 5*. It is one of the bigger recurring events in Skåne County. The 2 ...

) every July. Local landmarks include

Falsterbo Lighthouse Falsterbo Lighthouse () . To the north-east of the lighthouse is the city of Skanör-Falsterbo, to the south-east of the lighthouse are some of the finest sandy beaches in Sweden and surrounding the lighthouse is the golf course of the Falsterbo ...

which lies on the site of the oldest known beacon in Scandinavia. Other sites of note include Falsterbo Bird Observatory, Falsterbo Museum and the historic

Falsterbo church Falsterbo Church (, also Falsterbo Gertrude the Great, St. Gertrud church ) is a medieval Lutheranism, Lutheran church at Falsterbo in Skåne County, Sweden. History and architecture The oldest part of the church dates from the second half ...

. Falsterbo is also known for its Bird Observatory, which regularly undertakes

bird ringing Bird ringing (UK) or bird banding (US) is the attachment of a small, individually numbered metal or plastic tag to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification. This helps in keeping track of the movements of the bird an ...

. The bird observatory has ringed over a million birds. Sweden's oldest nature reserve,

Måkläppen Måkläppen is a nature reserve that protrudes from the Falsterbo peninsula in southwestern Sweden. It was created by sandbanks built on top of a moraine core. The Måkläppen nature reserve and nature conservation association was formed in 189 ...

, an important breeding area for shorebirds and seals, is nearby.

Falsterbohus

Falsterbohus was the name of a number of historic castles dating from the mid-13th century. The building now known as Falsterbohus was built in 1908. There have been a number of archaeological excavations where the original castles stood. The first was in the early 20th century by Georg Fredrik Johansson Karlin (1859–1939), founder of

Kulturen Kulturen () is an open-air museum as well as a museum of cultural history in Lund, Sweden. Occupying two blocks in central Lund, Kulturen is Sweden's and the world's second oldest open-air museum after Skansen in Stockholm. It contains historic ...

, the Cultural Museum of Southern Sweden located in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. A second and more extensive excavation was conducted between 1934 and 1935 by Ragnar Blomqvist. Most of the artifacts from the earlier excavations are located in the Cultural Museum in Lund and Falsterbo Cultural Museum. Most of the archaeological finds from the second excavations are in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

References

Other sources

*Blomqvist, Ragnar ''Falsterbohus'' in (Lund, Sweden: Kulturen. 1950)

External links

Falsterbo Golf ClubFalsterbo Horse Show
{{authority control Skanör med Falsterbo Trading posts of the Hanseatic League