Until 1 January 2007 Korsør Municipality was a municipality ( Danish: '' kommune'') in the former

West Zealand County West Zealand County () is a former county ( Danish: '' amt'') in the west-central part of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising a few former counties. The county was abolished ...

, on the southwestern coast of the island of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, 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 Januar ...

, in eastern

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The municipality covered an area of 74.25 km², and had a total population of 20,873 (2006). Its last mayor was Flemming Erichsen, a member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

. Korsør Municipality bordered

Skælskør Municipality Until 1 January 2007 Skælskør Municipality was a municipality (Danish language, Danish: ''List of municipalities of Denmark (1970–2006), kommune'') in the former West Zealand County, on the southwestern coast of the island of Zealand, in easter ...

to the south, Hashøj Municipality to the east and Slagelse Municipality to the north. It connected to

Nyborg Municipality Nyborg Municipality () is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Region of Southern Denmark on the east coast of the island of Funen in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 278 km2, and has a total population of 32,329 ...

through the Great Belt ferries. To the west was the

Great Belt The Great Belt (, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries fr ...

(''Storebælt''), the strait that separates Zealand and the island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

peninsula. The municipality ceased to exist as the result of ''Kommunalreformen 2007'' (the Municipality Reform of 2007). It was merged with Slagelse, Hashøj and Skælskør municipalities to form a new Slagelse municipality. The new municipality belongs to

Region Zealand Region Zealand () is an Regions of Denmark, administrative region of Denmark. It is one of the five classified Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-2 statistical NUTS statistical regions of Denmark, regions of Denmark. It was es ...

History

Korsør was likely built in the 1100-1300s, and was granted the status of a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

(Danish: ''Købstad'') in 1425 - possibly earlier. Korsør became a prominent transit town between Zealand,

and

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.

. In the Middle Ages, when Denmark was divided into hundreds, the area of Korsør Municipality was under Slagelse Hundred. Slagelse Hundred came under Korsør County when it was established in 1662. In 1798 Korsør County was merged with

Sorø County Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).Antvorskov County. This county lasted until the

1970 Danish Municipal Reform The 1970 Danish Municipal Reform was an extensive administrative reform in Denmark which on 1 April 1970 reduced the number of Danish municipalities from 1,098 to 277 and the number of counties from 25 to 14. The reform also abolished the last le ...

where it merged with Holbæk County to create

(Danish: ''Vestsjællands Amt''). After the 2007 municipal reform this changed to

. From 1842, where parish municipalities were created, and until 1970 consisted of two parish municipalities. From 1875 it also consisted of Korsør Market Town Municipality. In the Municipality Reform of 2007 Skælskør Municipality was merged with Hashøj, Slagelse and Korsør Municipality to form a new Slagelse Municipality.

Historical divisions

Mayors

Since the creation of the municipality in 1970 and until it was dissolved in 2007, the mayors of Korsør Municipality were:

Towns

The largest town of the municipality was Korsør, where more than two thirds of the municipality's population lived. The remaining population lived in rural areas, as well as the two larger settlements of Forlev and Svenstrup. Notable villages in the municipality include Frølunde Fed. Korsør was located in the western part of the municipality. Until the construction of the

Great Belt Bridge The Great Belt Bridge () or Great Belt fixed link () is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel between Zealand ...

Korsør was largely a transit town. Below are the populations from 2006 of the three larger settlements of the municipality.Statistikbanken.dk
"BEF44: Folketal 1. januar efter byområder, landdistrikter (AFSLUTTET)" Retrieved 9 October 2020

Politics

Municipal council

Below are the municipal council elected from the municipality's creation in 1970 and until 2001, which was the last election before the municipality was dissolved.

Parishes

The municipality consisted of five parishes and five churches. * Halskov Parish ( Halskov Church) * Hemmeshøj Parish ( Hemmeshøj Church) * Saint Paul's Parish (Danish: ''Sankt Povls Sogn'') ( Saint Paul's Church) * Tårnborg Parish ( Tårnborg Church) * Vemmelev Parish ( Vemmelev Church)

Symbols

The coat of arms of Korsør is a blue cross on golden background.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korsor Municipality Former municipalities of Denmark