Simrishamn is a locality and the seat of

Simrishamn Municipality Simrishamn Municipality () is a Municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the city Simrishamn. The creation of the present municipality took place during the last of the two nationwide muni ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

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 ...

with 6,527 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Simrishamn is, for historical reasons, usually still referred to as a ''city''. Simrishamn is a picturesque coastal town, built around the main street (''Storgatan''), that passes the market square, itself being the centre of the town. The climate of Simrishamn is mild, because it is warmed by the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

and 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 the

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

of Simrishamn is 8a, comparable to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

Simrishamn is first mentioned (as ''Symbrishafn'') in 1161 and as a town in 1361. ''Simris'' has been interpreted as "at the mouth of the slow-flowing (river)" and hamn as "port or harbour", meaning present-day Tommarpsån. It has been speculated that the name has something to do with the

Cimbri The Cimbri (, ; ) were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic, Gaulish, Germanic, or even Cimmerian people. Several ancient sources indicate that they lived in Jutland, which in some classical texts was ...

, a Germanic tribe, as the name also has been "Cimbrishavn". In 1658, when

Scania 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 ...

under the

Treaty of Roskilde The Treaty of Roskilde was negotiated at Høje Taastrup Church and was concluded on 26 February ( OS) or 8 March 1658 ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish ci ...

was permanently transferred from

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 ...

to Sweden, the town had a population of about 200 people. The growth was relatively small until about 1810 when it reached 700 inhabitants, growing to 1,365 in 1850 and 1,966 in 1890. The local government reform of 1971 made Simrishamn the seat of

with about 20,000 inhabitants. Simrishamn received its railway station with the opening of the Simrishamn-Tomelilla Line in 1892. This line connected Simrishamn to the Ystad-Eslöv Line at Tomelilla. In 1997, the Skåne Commuter Rail was extended to Simrishamn, further integrating the town into the regional rail network

Climate

The nearest station to Simrishamn is in

Skillinge Skillinge is a locality situated in Simrishamn Municipality, in Österlen, Skåne County, Sweden, with 859 inhabitants in 2010. The village Skillinge has a combined marina and a fishing port which is the closest one to the north of the treach ...

further down the coastline, also on the open sea. Skillinge has a

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring ...

with a moderated coastline and a slightly warmer interior during summers. Österlen has a drier climate than elsewhere in Southern Sweden, although it has no active weather station measuring sunshine. Even so, the cool temperatures of the

keeps the immediate coastline on average a couple of degrees cooler during July days than in places further north in the country or the western part of Skåne. This is due to the dominance of water in the surroundings, whereas the Mälar valley around

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 ...

is surrounded by more land. Especially during summer,

seasonal lag Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum daylight (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the minimum ...

is strong on the local coastline. This means that August averages the warmest summer nights and that September is a lot warmer than May as the sea water gradually warms. During winter, this maritime proximity of Österlen reverses the climate patterns and leads to average highs above on the coastline and frosts usually being weak even while frequent. Records for Skillinge began in 1995 and as such do not contain likely historical extremes. Simrishamn had an active weather station from 1951 that closed in 1996.

Gallery

File:Karta över Simrishamn före 1917.png, Street plan, before 1917 File:Sankt Nicolai kyrka, Simrishamn 8.jpg, Saint Nicolai Church, a medieval church in central Simrishamn File:Hotell Svea, Simrishamn.jpg, Harbour File:Gamla rådhuset, Simrishamn.jpg, Old town hall File:Nya rådhuset, Simrishamn.jpg, New town hall File:Simrishamns stationshus.jpg, Railway station

References

External links

Simrishamn
- Official site
Österlen
- Official site
Österlen & Ystad
- Official site {{Authority control Populated places in Simrishamn Municipality Municipal seats of Skåne County Swedish municipal seats Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea 14th-century establishments in Scania

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links