Bågø
Encyclopedia
Bågø is a small Danish
island located in the Little Belt
5 km north-west of Assens
on the island of Funen
belonging to Assens Municipality
. With an area of 6.2 km2, as of 1 January 2010 it has a population of 35. The island is divided into three low slopes reaching a maximum height of 8 meters above sea level. Essentially an agricultural community, the island's population has decreased drastically since 1950. The village, Bågø By, with its large farm houses lies at the centre of the island. There is a ferry connection with Assens.
to the south, Årø
and Bastholm to the west and Brandsø
to the north. Funen
lies to the east and Jutland
to the west.
as flint tools have been found in the fields and there is evidence of a number old burial mounds. Side-by-side with farming, the island also had an active fishing community but this died out in the middle of the 20th century.
The large, well-kept farms in the centre of the island suffered a major disaster in 1880 when three of them were destroyed by lightning. Bågø Church in the northern part of the island was built in 1861 by the Count of Wedellsborg from the nearby Wedellsborg Estate on Funen. The lighthouse on the island's southern tip was built in 1816 and is now a listed building. In 1872, flooding from a storm caused the island to be divided into three smaller sections.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
island located in the Little Belt
Little Belt
The Little Belt is a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.The belt is about 50 km long and 800m to 28 km wide, the maximum depth is approximately 75 m, and contains numerous small Danish islands....
5 km north-west of Assens
Assens
Assens may refer to:* Assens, Denmark** Assens Municipality* Assens, Switzerland* Rafael Cansinos-Asséns , a Spanish poet, essayist, literary critic...
on the island of Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
belonging to Assens Municipality
Assens municipality
Assens Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the island of Funen in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 513 km² and a total population of 42,054...
. With an area of 6.2 km2, as of 1 January 2010 it has a population of 35. The island is divided into three low slopes reaching a maximum height of 8 meters above sea level. Essentially an agricultural community, the island's population has decreased drastically since 1950. The village, Bågø By, with its large farm houses lies at the centre of the island. There is a ferry connection with Assens.
Location
On a clear day, a number of other islands can be seen from Bågø: AlsAls
Als is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. It lies east of the Jutland peninsula of Denmark at the town of Sønderborg, and north of the German coast at Schleswig. Covering an area of 321 km² , the island has a total population of 51,322 as of 1 January 2010...
to the south, Årø
Årø
Årø is a small island in the Lillebælt in Denmark. It is due east of Haderslev and just offshore from Årøsund.It should not be confused with Ærø....
and Bastholm to the west and Brandsø
Brandsø
Brandsø is a small, uninhabited Danish island located in Little Belt between Jutland and Funen, 15 km to the north-west of Assens. It has an area of 2.0 km2 it lies in Middelfart Municipality and belongs to the Wedellsborg estate. The hilly island is formed by glacial morains and has a large bog...
to the north. Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
lies to the east and Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
to the west.
History
The island appears to have been inhabited since the Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
as flint tools have been found in the fields and there is evidence of a number old burial mounds. Side-by-side with farming, the island also had an active fishing community but this died out in the middle of the 20th century.
The large, well-kept farms in the centre of the island suffered a major disaster in 1880 when three of them were destroyed by lightning. Bågø Church in the northern part of the island was built in 1861 by the Count of Wedellsborg from the nearby Wedellsborg Estate on Funen. The lighthouse on the island's southern tip was built in 1816 and is now a listed building. In 1872, flooding from a storm caused the island to be divided into three smaller sections.