Rudkøbing is the largest town on Langeland and the island's
capital with 4,565 inhabitants (2020), located 16 km southeast of
Svendborg, 9 km west of Spodsbjerg, 26 km north of Bagenkop and 30
km south of Lohals. The town is located in the middle of the west
side of the island facing the South Funen Archipelago. Rudkøbing,
like the rest of Langeland, belongs to Langeland Municipality and is
located in the Region of Southern Denmark.
The town is
characterized by an old market town with cobbled streets and
well-preserved townhouses. The city used to have a lot of industry,
while tourism today is an important profession.
Large parts of Rudkøbing's town center are well preserved, as the
municipality has done a lot to preserve the town's old houses and
gardens. The town is therefore characterized by crooked cobbled streets
and narrow lanes with older merchant farms and small houses, of which
Sidsel Bagersgade 11 is the oldest from the end of the 17th century.
Langelands Museum was founded in 1900 by merchant Jens Winther and
still has its headquarters in his yellow house. The museum also has
exhibitions in Det gamle Apotek and several other places in Langeland.
Originally a summer restaurant built in 1908 with a later added
theater hall and party room.
On Gåsetorvet stands a statue of the
famous Danish physicist H.C. Ørsted, who grew up in the city together
with his brother, the politician Anders Sandøe Ørsted, of whom there is
a statue in Ørstedsparken in the middle of the city. The two brothers
were born in the Old Pharmacy, which has been well preserved and
functioned as a pharmacy until 2017. In the garden of the apothecary
farm stands a 300-year-old chestnut tree surrounded by the garden's
herbs.
In Rudkøbing, the Langelandsfestivalen is held every year,
a popular family festival that usually lasts 8 days with a large number
of artists from home and abroad. Experiences, fun and music are on offer
at Rue Mark, just south of Rudkøbing's city limits.
Sports
Langelandshallen forms the basis for sports activities in Rudkøbing
Handball Club, Rudkøbing Badminton Club, Rudkøbing Ball Club and
Rudkøbing Gymnastics Association.
Churches
Rudkøbing Church is
located in the middle of the city. Its original part, the nave and the
choir, probably dates from the first half of the 13th century. The
transept is from the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the
17th century. The tower from 1621 rises above the city's roofs with four
curved Renaissance gables and an octagonal copper-plated spire.
The old cemetery around the church was closed down in 1812, and the new
one was built further south-west outside the then town.
Rutkjøbing and Rudtkjøbing are old forms of the town's name. From rutha, which in Old Danish means 'clearing'.
Rudkøbing's oldest known privilege was issued in 1287 at Tranekær Castle by Duke Valdemar 4th of Southern Jutland, while he was governor of Denmark, and confirmed in 1296 by his brother Erik Langben, lord of Langeland. In his privilege, it is stated that the freedoms and legal statutes of all the inhabitants of Rudkøbing are affirmed, "as they are found to have had in the time of our ancestors, the time of our beloved father and our beloved uncle's son". Later they were confirmed and expanded by Duke Valdemar V in 1355, by Queen Margrethe I in 1410, by Christopher of Bavaria in 1447, by King Hans in 1500, by Christian II in 1517 and 1522, by Frederik I in 1528, by Christian III in 1538, by Frederik II in 1565, by Christian IV in 1597, etc.
In the following centuries, Rudkøbing was hit by several wars:
Count's Feud (1534-36) and the war against Sweden (1658-60), where the
town's ramparts twice acted as a defense against the Swedish soldiers
before the town was captured. In these centuries, plague made a big dent
in the city's population, and two major city fires in 1590 and 1610 put
the small market town to the test. When the princess tax was calculated
in 1596, it was only valued at 25 reigsdalers, while, for example,
Odense was valued at 13,700 and Svendborg at 4,010 reigsdalers.
The Great Nordic War at the beginning of the 18th century meant that the
city's merchant fleet was destroyed, and the market town therefore found
it difficult to function as a trading community for a long time. In 1672
it had 478 inhabitants, in 1769 814. The town had a small Latin school,
which was closed in 1740.
At the end of the 19th century, there were factories and industrial
facilities: a steam mill, two iron foundries and machine factories,
which together employed approximately 34 workers, several breweries,
including "Langeland", a mineral water factory, a margarine factory,
several printing houses, etc. 3 newspapers were published: "Langelands
Avis", "Langelands Tidende" and "Ølandenes Dagblad". Three markets were
held annually, in March with horses and cattle, in June with horses and
in November with horses, cattle and sheep. There was a market day every
Tuesday and Saturday.
During the 19th century, the city's
population tripled, not least as a result of better harbor and road
connections. Rudkøbing got the trade going again. Its population was
2,333 in 1850, 2,540 in 1855, 2,719 in 1860, 2,785 in 1870, 3,179 in
1880, 3,484 in 1890, 3,462 in 1901, 3,447 in 1906 and 3,766 in 1911.
The composition of the population by means of livelihood was in
1890: 279 lived from non-material activities, 1,416 from crafts and
industry, 819 from trade and turnover, 370 from shipping, 54 from
fishing, 78 from agriculture, 333 from various day laborers, 88 from
their means, 45 were under the poor service and 2 were in prison.
According to a census in 1906, the population was 3,447, of which 254
supported themselves by non-material activities, 128 by agriculture,
forestry and dairying, 159 by fishing, 1,565 by crafts and industry, 740
by trade and more, 351 by transport, 132 were shopkeepers, 103 lived on
public support and 15 on other or unspecified business.
The first proper harbor was completed in 1826. Until then, there was
only a ship's bridge, which was replaced by a larger one in 1776, but
the ships had to spend the winter in the natural harbor Lindelse Nor. In
1847, a new and larger harbor was built on the north-eastern side of the
bridge. Later, the harbor was deepened and improved several times. In
1883-87, a small boat harbor was built. On the center pier was a white
lantern. A pilot was employed at the harbor who piloted to Svendborg
Sund and Marstal. In 1898, 152 vessels were resident in Rudkøbing,
including 4 larger ships of over 200 tons. 428 ships arrived from abroad
with 10,092 t of cargo. 412 ships went abroad with 3,114 t of cargo.
From the interior, 2,139 ships arrived with 7,944 t of cargo. 2,441
ships with 8,569 t of goods went inland.
In 1866, a ferry service
was established between Rudkøbing and Ærø's south-eastern harbor town
Marstal. Rudkøbing also had regular steamship connections with
Copenhagen, Korsør and Svendborg.
Industrial development continued in the early 1900s, but it was
never overwhelming. A railway line, several food industries and a
small shipyard were established. The town continued to have the
character of a trading town.
The railway
Rudkøbing was the
main station on the Langelandsbanen (1911-62), which had lines down
through the south island to Bagenkop and across the island to
Spodsbjerg. In 1926, the line was supplemented with the
Svendborg-Rudkøbing railway ferry route, so that goods wagons could
be sailed to and from Langeland.
The monumental and richly
decorated station building has been preserved at Havnegade 7. The
line ran along Havnegade out of the city towards the northeast, and
its route can be followed on Banestien and Banevænget.
The
occupation
During the occupation, the former theater and dance
venue Ørstedpavillonen was taken over by the German occupying power
and used for various military purposes.
On 4 May 1945, a
floating dock with 1,400 French and Soviet prisoners of war on board
ran aground on Påø at the Skovsgård manor. The Soviet prisoners of
war were accommodated at Rudkøbing municipal school before being
sent home on 17 August 1945.
Throughout the interwar period, Rudkøbing's population was almost
stagnant (see the table below). At the census in 1930, Rudkøbing had
4,129 inhabitants. Of these, 315 supported themselves by non-material
activities, 1,421 by crafts and industry, 760 by trade, etc., 514 by
transport, 290 by agriculture, forestry and fishing, 325 by housework,
423 were out of business and 81 had no stated source of income.
Post-war and modern times (1945-)
In the period after World War II,
Rudkøbing and Langeland became landlocked with Funen in three stages:
Siø became landlocked with Tåsinge when the Siøsund Bridge was put into
use in 1959. The old ferry route Rudkøbing-Vemmenæs between Langeland
and Tåsinge was shortened to Rudkøbing-Siø.
When the Langelands
Bridge was put into use in 1962, Langeland became landlocked with
Tåsinge, and the ferry route Rudkøbing-Siø was closed. At the same time,
the Langelandsbanen and the railway ferry route were closed down.
Finally, the Svendborgsund Bridge, which connected Funen and Tåsinge,
was completed in 1966 after four years of hard pressure on the old
Svendborg-Vindeby ferry route.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the city was
expanded to the east with detached houses and commercial areas.
In 1991, the family-friendly music festival Langelandsfestivalen was
founded.
Windmill group Vestas closed its branch in Rudkøbing
with 235 employees in 2010. 2 years later, Andresen Towers started
production of wind turbine towers in the old Vestas tower factory and
employed 35-40 people. Andresen Towers was headquartered in Nyborg and
employed 140 people in the two departments when there were the most. 200
wind turbine towers were delivered to Siemens Wind Power, but Siemens
did not have enough orders for its tall turbines to utilize Andresen's
capacity, so from 2014 Andresen had to look for new customers in vain.
The workforce was continuously reduced and was down to 9 when Andresen
Towers declared itself bankrupt in 2015.
Langelandsbroen and the
well-preserved town center have helped make Rudkøbing a popular tourist
town, which characterizes the town to this day.
Rudkøbing was Langeland's only market town and belonged to
Langeland's Nørre Herred in Svendborg County. The result of the
Municipal Reform in 1970 was three municipalities in Langeland:
Rudkøbing Municipality, Tranekær Municipality and Sydlangeland
Municipality. They negotiated from time to time about merging into one
unified large municipality on Langeland, but historical differences and
great local reluctance between the regions repeatedly put an end to the
project. Only with the Municipal Reform in 2007 were the municipalities
combined to form Langeland Municipality.
Population development
After the Second World War, Rudkøbing continued its stagnant population
development. In 1945 there were 4,308 inhabitants in the market town, in
1950 4,541 inhabitants, in 1955 4,446 inhabitants, in 1960 4,336
inhabitants and in 1965 4,204 inhabitants. In connection with the market
town, a suburb grew up in Skrøbelev Parish.
Rudkøbing Bådebyggeri & Riggerværksted is a shipyard that repairs,
rebuilds and reconstructs sailing ships. It repairs and maintains
fishing and other commercial vessels as well as pleasure boats. The yard
makes new buildings in wood, steel and aluminum and carries out
restoration work on old Danish mills, church steeples and half-timbered
buildings.
Danish Agro's Rudkøbing branch with a grain silo and
other warehouses is located on the harbour.
UgeAvisen Øboen,
owned by Funen Amts Avis, has an editorial office in Rudkøbing.
Some of the larger companies are not located in Rudkøbing itself, but in
small villages outside. The large window and door factory STM is located
in Kassebølle. The bus travel company Bergholdt is located in Kulapile,
which has, however, grown together with Rudkøbing. Stryhn produces
"Langelænder" sausages in Simmerbølle's old dairy, where 8 employees,
who had lost their jobs when the Rudkøbing slaughterhouse closed in
1982, started Pølsefabrikken Langeland. It had to close, but was
continued under the name Ø-Pølser. This company was bought in 1995 by
Stryhn, which in 2008 was bought by the Norwegian group Agra.
Every year, Rudkøbing attracts many tourists, who come from inland
and abroad to experience the old market town's distinctive environment.
Hotel Skandinavien is located at Gåsetorvet in the middle of the
city; its oldest part was built in 1688.
Hotel Rudkøbing
Skudehavn from 2008 has 24 rooms and 16 holiday apartments.
North of the city, primary route 9 goes west over the Langelands
Bridge to Siø and on towards Tåsinge and Fyn. To the east, it runs as a
motorway to the harbor town of Spodsbjerg, from where there is a ferry
to Tårs on Lolland.
Brovejen runs around the city.
Rudkøbing has a ferry connection with Strynø and Marstal on Ærø.
The old Rudkøbing School was closed at the start of the 2010-11
school year, and the students moved to the new Ørsted School in the
south-eastern end of the town. Ørsted School has 741 pupils, divided
into grades 0-10. grade level, where the 10th grades are supplemented
with the flexible offer Theme 10, which is rather the first year of
youth education than the last year at school.
There is also a
municipal school up to 4th grade on the island of Strynø and a full-day
school from 0-7 in Skrøbelev, both of which belong to Ørsted School
Rudkøbing has the island's only independent school, Kassebølle
Friskole, founded in 1877. The independent school has around 100
students in grades 0-9 with its own kindergarten and nursery
Sommerfuglen (built in 2020).
Hans Christian Ørsted(1777-1851), physicist, chemist and pharmacist
Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1778-1860), lawyer, civil servant, and prime
minister (1853-1854)
Mads Johansen Lange (1807-1856), trader in Bali
Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1816-1872), botanist
Ingrid Larsen (1912-1997),
diver who participated in the 1932 Olympics
Preben Lerdorff Rye
(1917-1995), actor
Bjørn Watt Boolsen (1923-1998), actor
Erik
Larsen (1944-), Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party
Nikolaj
Coster-Waldau (1970-), actor