Svendborg

Svendborg is a harbour town on the south coast of the island of Funen and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of around 27,600, it is Funen's second-largest town, located about 44 km south of Odense and 28 km east of Faaborg. Its sheltered position at the head of a bay encouraged seafaring and trade from early on, and the town appears to have been established in the first half of the 12th century or earlier. The first recorded mention dates from 1229, when Valdemar the Victorious referred to the fortification as "Swinæburgh", a name thought to combine "svin" (pig) and "borg" (fortification). A Greyfriars monastery, founded in 1236, was part of the town for some 300 years until the Reformation of 1536. Today Svendborg is a lively cultural and maritime centre: it is home to Danmarks Forsorgsmuseum, a social-history museum, and Naturama, a natural-history museum whose collection ranges from whales and bears to birds. The town also has an important place in Danish business history, as the shipping giant A.P. Møller–Mærsk traces its origins here to the "Villa Anna". Named "Town of the Year" in Denmark in 2000, Svendborg celebrated its 750th anniversary as a market town in 2003 and remains a popular gateway to the South Funen Archipelago.