Haslev is a station town on South Zealand in Faxe Municipality.
The city, located in Region Zealand, has 11,973 inhabitants (2020).
Haslev is located 60 kilometers southwest of Copenhagen, 20
kilometers southeast of Ringsted, 23 kilometers southwest of Køge
and 25 kilometers northeast of Næstved. The city is one of the
largest non-market towns in Denmark, as it has never had market town
status. Haslev is Faxe Municipality's largest city, and Faxe
Municipality's town hall is located in Haslev.
On Haslev's
main street, Jernbanegade, you will find shops on the stretch from
Haslev Church to the station. In Vestergade and on Torvet there are
also a number of shops. Faxe Municipality's main library is also
located in the city: Haslev Library (former name Haslev Public
Library).
The village
Haslev is first mentioned on 3 February
1328 as Haslæ and in Roskildebispens Jordebog 1370-80 as Hasle and
Haslæ.
Haslev village consisted in 1688 of 26 farms and 3
houses with land. The total cultivated area was 637.3 barrels of
land owed to 137.97 barrels of hart grain. The form of cultivation
was triangular use with the rotation 2/1 + 1 vang sown annually.
The station town
With the construction of Haslev Station,
Haslev became a station town in 1870, when the Zealand south line
(from around 1924 Lille Syd) between Roskilde and Masnedsund was
inaugurated. Until 1924, when the section between Næstved and
Ringsted on the Zealand midway was opened, the railway via Haslev
was a main transport route between Copenhagen and the European
continent.
Around 1870, the town was described as follows:
"Hasle with the Church, Præstegaard, School ... Hasle (Haslev)
Railway Station, whereby Gjæstgiveri, Kjøbmandshandel and
Postexpedition (Telegraph Station in connection with the Railway
Station)."
Around 1900 the town was described as follows:
"Haslev (Hasle; gml. Form Haslef, Haslewæ), by the railway, a
market-town-like village with many rather considerable, several
storeys high, brick-hung houses and macadamized streets, thus the
street leading from the church to the station , and which has a
market town character with large shops, several of which with
electric lighting, Vestergade, Østergade, Nørregade and Ulrichsgade.
Its origins date from the opening of the railway in October 1870,
before which time it was only an ordinary village. The town has a
church, vicarage. ., large Municipal School (built 1896), several
Private Schools, including an Indre Missionshøjskole, owned by a
Aktieselskab (founded 1891), and a Realskole (founded 1895), a
Mission House (built 1894; the former Mission House is now
Højskolens Gymnastikhus), Fattiggaard for Haslev-Frerslev
Municipality (built 1869, Place for 29 Members), Pharmacy, 2 Medical
residences, Savings Bank for the County of Bregentved and
Surroundings (founded 12/7 1882; 31/3 1895 417,011 Kr., R entefoden
34 / 5—4 pCt., Reservefonden 6674 Kr., Antal af Konti 1144), Haslev
Bank (opr. 1894, share capital DKK 40,000), railway station (in the
operating year 1895–96 32,984 arrived and 33,201 passengers
departed; the total weight of goods etc. was 337,077 and departed
112,016 cntr.), Post office and telegraph station (1 postmaster and
1 clerk). , Telephone connection with Copenhagen. og Fakse
Ladeplads, er Toldkontrolsted (fra 1/1 1897) under Kjøge Toldsted,
har Markedsplads med 4 Kreaturmarkeder aarl. and weekly Market Day,
Gæstgivergaard, several industrial facilities and many shops,
including Cooperative dairy, Joint dairy, Cooperative pig
slaughterhouse, Brewery, Bakeries, Mill, Machine factories,
Bookshop, Book printing, Grocery stores, etc. "
Haslev was
already a large city at the turn of the century: in 1901 it had
1,394 inhabitants in 169 households and this number grew to 2,772
inhabitants in 1906, 3,668 inhabitants in 1911 and 3,727 inhabitants
in 547 households in 1916.
Haslev continued its rapid
development in the interwar period: the town had 4,132 inhabitants
in 1921, 5,162 inhabitants in 1925, 5,064 inhabitants in 1930 and
5,302 inhabitants in 1935. In 1940, the resident population was
4,735 inhabitants in 1,415 households; the apparently sharp decline
is due to the fact that Statistics Denmark up to and including 1935
had calculated the present population and as a significant school
town, Haslev therefore had a large temporarily present population of
pupils. But despite the change, Haslev was the country's largest
station town calculated by population. Distributed by industry in
1930: 309 lived off agriculture, 1,605 on handicrafts and industry,
683 on trade, 324 on transportation, 1,069 on intangible business,
505 on housework, 492 were out of business and 77 had no source of
income.
After World War II, Haslev continued its development:
the city had 5,020 inhabitants in 1945, 5,468 inhabitants in 1950,
5,680 inhabitants in 1955, 6,155 inhabitants in 1960 and 6,421
inhabitants in 1965. In 1960, the population was distributed by
industry: 225 lived by agriculture, 2,491 of crafts and industry,
727 of trade, 318 of transport, 891 of administration and liberal
professions, 202 of other enterprise, 1,217 of wealth or support and
84 had not indicated source of income.
Inner mission
For many years, the city was an Inner Mission
Fortress. One of the leading figures in the Inner Mission was
Christian Bartholdy, who was parish priest in Haslev and Freerslev
parish from 1943 to 1954.
Local government reforms 1970 and
2007
The town formerly belonged to West Zealand County and before
that Sorø County. Haslev Municipality arose on the basis of the
municipal reform in 1970 and consisted of the parishes Bråby,
Teestrup, Øde Førslev, Freerslev, Terslev, in addition to Haslev.
With the municipal reform in 2007, Haslev Municipality was merged
with the former Fakse Municipality and Rønnede Municipality.