Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

Sjælland Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020, comprising ...

region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost point of

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

. The town has a population of 670 (1 January 2024). It is an important port town 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 ...

History

Overview

Gedser Church was designed by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint and dates from 1915. Gedser was the first place German troops landed during the

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself Neutral countries in World War II, neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from Military occupation, occupying the country soon after the outbreak of ...

on April 9, 1940, at 3:55 in the morning. A number of armored cars and infantry troops hid in the ferry from

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and advanced into the harbor as soon as the ship docked, soon after followed by another ferry.

Government

Until January 1, 2007, Gedser was a parish of the former municipality of

Sydfalster Until 1 January 2007 Sydfalster was a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the former Storstrøm County on the southern end of the island of Falster in south Denmark. Overview The municipality covered an area of 113 km², and had a total popu ...

(seat :

Væggerløse Væggerløse is a town some south of Nykøbing Falster on the Danish island of Falster. It has large housing developments and until 2006 was the administrative centre for the now defunct Sydfalster Municipality. In January 2024 it had a populat ...

) in

Storstrøm County Storstrøm County () is a former county ( Danish: '' amt'') on the islands of Zealand (''Sjælland''), Møn, Falster, Lolland and some minor islands in southeast Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of Mar ...

. In the ''Kommunalreformen'' ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007) that municipality merged with

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a city on the island of Falster in southern Denmark. It has a population of 16,682 (1 January 2025). Including the satellite town Sundby (Lolland), Sundby on the Lolland side, with a populatio ...

, Nysted,

Nørre Alslev Nørre Alslev () is a town with a population of 2,363 (1 January 2025) ...

Sakskøbing Sakskøbing (), previously spelled Sakskjøbing, is a town on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 4,514 (1 January 2025).Stubbekøbing Stubbekøbing () is a town with a population of 2,196 (1 January 2024) ...

to form Guldborgsund Municipality.

Museum

The local museum i
Det Sorte Museum
he Black Museum with elements of local geology, including Baltic amber, and occasional temporary exhibitions, such as dinosaurs.Mateus, O, Andersen E. 1998. Dinosaurrede i Gedser- portugisisk specialitet udstilles i Gedser. GeologiskNyt. 3/98:7.

Geography

Situated in the southernmost part of Denmark on the island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, Gedser is a port town on the

European route E55 European route E55 is an E-route. It starts in southern Sweden, crosses the Øresund strait to Denmark, and passes through more water (the western Baltic Sea) to reach continental Europe on Rostock, Germany. Thence it continues further southwar ...

(

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

) passes through the town. Kirche in Gedser

Gedser Odde Gedser Odde on the island of Falster in the Baltic Sea is Denmark's southernmost point. The terminal moraine from Idestrup through Skelby to Gedser is part of the maximum glaciation line across Falster, from Orehoved to Gedser. Fronted by low cl ...

is the southernmost point in Denmark.

Transportation

A car ferry route has operated from Gedser to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

since 1995, served by

Scandlines Scandlines is a ferry company that operates the Rødby– Puttgarden and Gedser–Rostock ferry routes between Denmark and Germany. Scandlines owns seven ferries, six of which are hybrid ferries, making Scandlines the owner of the world's large ...

. Formerly, there were also train and car ferry routes to

Großenbrode Großenbrode is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, opposite Fehmarn, approx. 8 km (5 mi) east of Heiligenhafen. Until 1963 it had a ferry connection to G ...

(1951–1963) and

(1903–1995) and a car ferry route to

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

(1963–1990), all in Germany. A bridge linking Gedser to Rostock was proposed, although a decision was made in 2007 to support a planned fixed link across the

Fehmarn Belt Fehmarn Belt () (, former spelling ''Femer Bælt''; ) is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries ...

to the west of Gedser instead.

Photogallery

File:Gedser - udsigt2.JPG, Panorama File:Gedser Kirche.jpg, The church File:Gedser Hauptstraße.jpg, Main street File:Gedser Odde - Sydstenen.JPG,

, southernmost point of Denmark File:Gedser Station.jpg, Railway station File:Gedser Port 2005-09-03.jpg, Ferry terminal

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Guldborgsund Municipality Port cities and towns in Denmark Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea Falster Denmark–Germany border crossings