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Archaeology of Northern Europe

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85-650: The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain , roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden , Norway , Denmark , northern Germany , Poland , the Netherlands and Belgium . The region entered the Mesolithic around the 7th millennium BC. The transition to the Neolithic is characterized by the Funnelbeaker culture in

170-567: A Germanic people who were settled in the Rhone region by the Romans, and who the region of Burgundy in France is named after. Bornholm was pawned to Lübeck for 50 years starting in 1525. Its first militia, Bornholms Milits , was formed in 1624. Swedish forces conquered the island in 1645, but returned the island to Denmark in the following peace settlement. After the war in 1658, Denmark ceded

255-414: A Social Democrat, spoke out against the merger. It was required that each municipality had more "Yes" votes than "No" votes. Otherwise the merger would have to be abandoned altogether. The six municipal entities had up to 122 councillors (of which county clls were 18, from 1998 15), reduced to 89 in the municipalities from the 1990s, in the 1970s and the new regional municipality would have 27 councillors from

340-470: A declaration of war against the Soviet Union, and that Denmark should keep troops on it at all times to protect it from such foreign aggression. This policy remained in force after NATO was formed, with Denmark as a founding member. The Soviets accepted the stationing there of Danish troops, which were part of NATO but viewed as militarily inferior elements of the alliance, but they strongly objected to

425-513: A dramatic change in the flora and fauna. In Scandinavia, this period is often called the "Findless Age", due to the lack of archaeological finds. While the archaeological record from Scandinavia is consistent with an initial decline in population, the southern part of the culture, the Jastorf culture , was in expansion southwards. It consequently appears that climate change played an important role in this southward expansion into continental Europe. It

510-471: A listening tower near Østermarie , almost 90 meters high, to intercept radio communications across the Baltic Sea and in parts of Russia. Bornholm Regional Municipality is the local authority ( Danish , kommune ) covering the entire island. Its formal name is Bornholm Municipality. It is given the right in the law establishing it to be called Bornholm Regional Municipality. (For explanation read on). It

595-466: A local development from Bronze Age culture. Another Iron Age nucleus considered to represent a local development is the Wessenstedt culture (800–600 BC). The bearers of this northern Iron Age culture were likely speakers of Germanic languages. The stage of development of this Germanic is not known, although Proto-Germanic has been proposed. The late phase of this period sees the beginnings of

680-544: A majority of the houses in Nexø , fully destroying roughly one-tenth. Ten Danes were killed and thirty-five wounded, considered a low number, owing to the fact that many civilians were evacuated to shelters outskirts of the respective towns beforehand before the worst raids hit. After the evacuation of their forces from Bornholm, the Soviets took the position that the stationing of foreign troops on Bornholm would be considered

765-680: A sailing sport where two identical yachts are raced in one-on-one events on the water. The Danish Open event was held in Bornholm in September 2010 at the port town of Rønne on the western coast of Bornholm. The five-day Danish Open is a key event in the World Match Racing Tour calendar which is one of only 3 events awarded 'special event' status by the International Sailing Federation . The Tour

850-507: A sum of 56 million DKK (US$ 8.76 million (29 June 2018)) to the project. Among Bornholm's chief industrial activities are dairy farming and arts and crafts industries such as glass production and pottery using locally worked clay. Jensen-Group , an industrial washing and folding machine company, was founded on the island and has a factory in Rønne. It is headquartered in Belgium . Tourism

935-446: Is Rønne ; it is the seat, in the southwest on the westernmost point of the island. The other main towns (clockwise around the island) are Hasle , Sandvig, Allinge , Gudhjem , Svaneke and Nexø . Monday morning 22 September 2014 it was documented by Folkeregistret in the municipality that the number of people living in the municipality that day were 39,922, the lowest number in over 100 years. As of 2018 , Statistics Denmark gave

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1020-463: Is a merger formed in June 2010 consisting of Bornholms Erhvervsskole (youth and adults), Bornholm High School (youth) and VUC Bornholm (adults), then occupying separate addresses. Learning institutions not part of this formalised collaboration will also be housed at Minervavej in Rønne. The building costs were over 300 million DKK (US$ 46.9 million (29 June 2018)). The A.P. Møller Foundation contributed

1105-584: Is a part of the Iron Age . The name comes from the hold that the Roman Empire had begun to exert on the Germanic tribes of Northern Europe . In Scandinavia, there was a great import of goods, such as coins , vessels , bronze images, glass beakers, enameled buckles , weapons, etc. Moreover, the style of metal objects and clay vessels was markedly Roman. Objects such as shears and pawns appear for

1190-474: Is also important during the summer months. Bornholm is also home to a large internationally funded demonstration project to test the viability of novel energy market mechanisms to regulate energy networks with a high prevalence of renewables (such as wind turbines and photovoltaics). 50% of the EcoGrid project is EU-funded, with the remainder coming mainly from large corporations. Almegårds Kaserne on Bornholm

1275-473: Is an island that rises high from the sea. Other names known for the island include Burgendaland (9th century), Hulmo / Holmus ( Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum ), Burgundehulm (1145), and Borghandæholm (14th century). The Old English translation of Orosius uses the form Burgenda land . There are scholars who believe that the Burgundians are named after Bornholm. The Burgundians were

1360-497: Is called Bornholm Regional Municipality". The island had 21 municipalities until March 1970, of which 6 were market towns and 15 parishes. In addition to supervising parish municipalities, which was the responsibility of the counties in all of Denmark, the market town municipalities of Bornholm were supervised by Bornholm County as well and not by the Interior Ministry as was the case in the rest of Denmark. The seat of

1445-588: Is debated why cultural innovation spread geographically during this time: whether the new material culture reflects a possibly warlike movement of Germanic peoples (" demic diffusion ") southwards or whether innovations found at the Pre-Roman Iron Age sites represent a more peaceful trans-cultural diffusion . The current view in the Netherlands is that Iron Age innovations, starting with Hallstatt (800 BC), did not involve intrusions and featured

1530-496: Is defined by Statistics Denmark as a settlement with less than 200 inhabitants. On 22 September 2014 population numbers showed fewer than 40,000 inhabitants on the island for the first time in over 100 years. The Folkeregister in the municipality could document 39,922 inhabitants in the municipality on that date. Many inhabitants speak the Bornholmsk dialect , which is a dialect of Danish . Most inhabitants are members of

1615-666: Is from the Conservative party . This was after an agreement ( aftale om konstituering ) between the Red-Green Alliance, amongst whom Morten Riis will be deputy mayor, and the Danish People's Party with the Conservatives. Bornholm's municipal council today consists of 23 members, elected every four years. In the first four local elections in the newly created municipality there were 27 members elected to

1700-533: Is home to 15 medieval churches , four of which are round churches with unique artwork and architecture. The ancient site of Rispebjerg has remains of sun temples from the Neolithic and earthworks from the Iron Age . There are 14 European bison near Åkirkeby , attracting 100,000 visitors a year. Because of the dilapidated state of their buildings, all secondary educational facilities in Rønne, including adult evening classes, are being transferred to new facilities at Campus Bornholm in 2018. Campus Bornholm

1785-586: Is home to the III Reconnaissance Battalion (III/GHR) from the Guard Hussar Regiment . Bornholm has an oceanic climate relatively similar to southern Sweden and mainland Denmark, whose summer highs and winter lows are heavily moderated by its maritime and isolated position. Though intense heat is rare, the climate is sunny during summer and rainfall is generally sparse for a climate of this type. The winter of 2010 – 2011

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1870-412: Is the result of a merger of the five former (1 April 1970 until 2002) municipalities on the island ( Allinge-Gudhjem , Hasle , Nexø , Rønne and Aakirkeby ) and the former Bornholm County . Bornholm Regional Municipality was also a county in its own right during its first four years from 1 January 2003 until 31 December 2006. From 1 January 2007 all counties were abolished, and Bornholm became part of

1955-756: Is the world's leading professional 'match racing' series and features a nine-event calendar which crosses three continents during the series. Points accrued during the Danish Open contribute directly to the World Match Racing Tour championship with the winner of the season finale at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia claiming the ultimate match racing title ISAF World Match Racing Champion. There are two small stadiums: Nexø Stadion , in Nexø , where NB Bornholm association football club play; and

2040-429: Is unknown but sometime between 2000 and 2005. It does not include Knudsker Sogn, which was also part of Rønne Municipality. Other localities (with approximate populations, not updated) include Aarsballe (86), Arnager (151), Olsker (67), Rutsker (64), Rø (181), Stenseby (?) and Vang (92). In 2010 and 2018 10,297 and 9,111 respectively lived in rural districts, and 88 and 71 had no fixed address. A rural district

2125-553: The Alum Shale Formation of Bornholm presented by all six superzones; three agnostoid and fourteen trilobite zones are defined by fossils . 8502 specimens, most of which are disarticulated sclerites , have been collected from these strata. Described gerena include Ctenopyge , Eurycare , Leptoplastus , Olenus , Parabolina , Peltura , Protopeltura , Sphaerophthalmus , Lotagnostus and Triangulopyge . Bornholm's numerous windmills include

2210-593: The Capital Region of Denmark whose main responsibility is the health service. In the bill (Danish forslag ) ( Bill of Law on merger of the municipalities of Bornholm ) presented 30 January 2002 by the Minister of Interior and Health to Folketinget , it says in §1 that (1st sentence) "The 1st of January 2003 Bornholm Municipality is established by a merger of (names of municipalities mentioned, and county's name mentioned), and (2nd sentence) Bornholm Municipality

2295-416: The Iron Age by the 4th century BC, presumably the locus of Common Germanic culture. Northern Europe enters the protohistorical period in the early centuries AD, with the adoption of writing and ethnographic accounts by Roman authors. The following is a refined listing of Northern European archaeological periods, expanded from the basic three-age system with finer subdivisions and extension into

2380-907: The Isle of Man , the United Kingdom and Ireland are included in Western Europe , while Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania are included in Eastern Europe . The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions is a biogeographical system developed by the international Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) organization, formerly the International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases. The WGSRPD standards, like other standards for data fields in botanical databases, were developed to promote "the wider and more effective dissemination of information about

2465-497: The Isle of Man , the United Kingdom and Ireland are included in Western Europe . In the CIA World Factbook , the description of each country includes information about "Location" under the heading "Geography", where the country is classified into a region. The following countries are included in their classification "northern Europe": as well as the dependent areas: In this classification Jersey , Guernsey ,

2550-749: The Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC developed the Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture of Central Europe from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, which was followed by the La Tène culture of Central Europe (450 BC to 1st century BC). Although the metal iron came into wider use by metalsmiths in the Mediterranean as far back as c. 1300 BC due to the Late Bronze Age collapse ,

2635-612: The Lutheran Church of Denmark ( Folkekirken ). Various Christian denominations have become established on the island, most during the 19th century. Geological formations are immediately visible in Bornholm in a way not common elsewhere in Denmark. The still-operated Stubbeløkken and Klippeløkken granite quarries in Knudsker parish just east of central Rønne are among the few remaining of many formerly active quarries on

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2720-735: The Migration Period , starting with the invasions of the Teutons and the Cimbri until their defeat at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, presaging the more turbulent Roman Iron Age and Migration Period. Fortified settlements from this period include Tönsberg , Erdenburg and Grotenburg in Germany, Borremose in Denmark and Atuatuca in Belgium. The Roman Iron Age (1–400 AD)

2805-731: The Nordic countries , often the British Isles and Baltic states , and sometimes Greenland . The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification . The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. In

2890-467: The megalithic Funnelbeaker culture . The Pezmog 4 archaeological site along the Vychegda River ( Komi Republic ) was discovered in 1994. Pottery of early comb ware type appears there already at the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. Pit–Comb Ware culture appeared in northern Europe as early 4200 BC, and continued until c.  2000 BC . Some scholars argue that it is associated with

2975-547: The post mill of Egeby and the well-kept Dutch mill at Aarsdale . The lighthouse at Dueodde is Denmark's tallest, while Hammeren Lighthouse stands at a height of 85 metres (279 ft) above sea level and Rønne Lighthouse rises over the waterfront. Examples of roads that have (very) steep climbs and descents are: (inland) Simblegårdsvej in Klemensker , which begins by the village inn Klemens Kro , and Slamrebjergvej just outside Nexø extending northward from

3060-510: The 1950s), farmland in the middle and sandy beaches in the south. The island is home to many of Denmark's round churches . Occupying an area of 584.59 square kilometres (225.71 sq mi), the island had a total population of 39,332 as of January 2024 . In Old Norse the island was known as Burgundaholmr , and in ancient Danish especially the island's name was Borghand or Borghund ; these names were related to Old Norse borg 'height' and bjarg/berg 'mountain, rock' because it

3145-702: The 3rd century onwards. Through the 5th and 6th centuries, gold and silver become more and more common. This time saw the ransack of the Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, from which many Scandinavians returned with gold and silver. A new Iron Age had begun in Northern Europe, the Germanic Iron Age. The Germanic Iron Age is divided into the Early Germanic Iron Age (EGIA) and the late Germanic Iron Age (LGIA). In Sweden ,

3230-673: The 4th century in Nydam Mose in southern Denmark. The Gudme Hall complex, a ruling elite residence and cult site, was built in Denmark in the 3rd century. At Uppåkra in Sweden, the largest Iron Age settlement in Scandinavia developed from c. 200 AD onwards. A wooden temple was built at Uppåkra in the 3rd century and continued to be used and rebuilt over 600 years, into the early Viking Age. Gamla Uppsala in Sweden developed into an important religious, economic and political centre from

3315-600: The 4th millennium BC. The Chalcolithic is marked by the arrival of the Corded Ware culture , possibly the first influence in the region of Indo-European expansion . The Nordic Bronze Age proper began roughly one millennium later, around 1500 BC. The end of the Bronze Age is characterized by cultural contact with the Central European La Tène culture ( Celts ), contributing to the development of

3400-875: The 8th century blends into the Viking Age and the proto-historical period, with legendary or semi-legendary oral tradition recorded a few centuries later in the Gesta Danorum , heroic legend and sagas , and an incipient tradition of primary written documents in the form of runestones . Important royal or elite centres from this period include Gamla Uppsala in Sweden, Lejre and Tissø in Denmark, and Borg (Lofotr) in Norway. [REDACTED] Media related to Archaeology of Northern Europe at Wikimedia Commons Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of

3485-766: The British Isles including the Brythonic Welsh and the Goidelic Scots Gaelic and Irish . The Celtic languages Cornish and Manx have been revived since becoming classed as extinct, being now spoken to a limited extent in Cornwall and the Isle of Man respectively. The Norman languages of Jèrriais and Guernésiais are spoken in Jersey and Guernsey, though are listed as endangered due to

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3570-612: The European Union comprises most of the northern European states, plus the Netherlands. Bornholm Bornholm ( Danish pronunciation: [pɒːnˈhʌlˀm] ) is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea , to the east of the rest of Denmark , south of Sweden , northeast of Germany and north of Poland . Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by Denmark, but also by Sweden and by Lübeck . The ruin of Hammershus , at

3655-475: The Iron Age of Northern Europe into distinct pre-Roman and Roman Iron Ages after Emil Vedel unearthed a number of Iron Age artifacts in 1866 on the island of Bornholm . They did not exhibit the same permeating Roman influence seen in most other artifacts from the early centuries AD, indicating that parts of northern Europe had not yet come into contact with the Romans at the beginning of the Iron Age. Out of

3740-688: The LGIA (550–800) is usually called the Vendel era ; in Norway and Finland, the Merovinger ( Merovingian ) Age. The Germanic Iron Age begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Germanic kingdoms in Western Europe. It is followed, in Northern Europe and Scandinavia , by the Viking Age . During the decline of the Roman Empire , an abundance of gold flowed into Scandinavia; there are excellent works in gold from this period. Gold

3825-761: The Nordic Iron Age into "Pre-Roman Iron Age", "Roman Iron Age" and "Germanic Iron Age" is due to Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius . The Pre-Roman Iron Age (5th/4th–1st centuries BC) was the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia and the North European Plain . Succeeding the Nordic Bronze Age , the Iron Age developed in contact with the Hallstatt culture in Central Europe. Archaeologists first decided to divide

3910-483: The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe covered the 5th/4th to the 1st centuries BC. The Iron Age in northern Europe is markedly distinct from the Celtic La Tène culture south of it. The old long-range trading networks south–north between the Mediterranean cultures and Northern Europe had broken down at the end of the Nordic Bronze Age and caused a rapid and deep cultural change in Scandinavia. Bronze, which

3995-428: The UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as being in northern Europe: as well as the dependent areas: EuroVoc is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union , giving definitions of terms for official use. In the definition of "northern Europe", the following countries are included: as well as the dependent area: In this classification Jersey , Guernsey ,

4080-480: The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, however, the West Germanic language Scots is also spoken as a minority language in parts of Scotland and Ireland. Beyond this, the Finnic languages of Finnish and Estonian are the most common first languages of Finland and Estonia respectively. The Baltic languages of Lithuanian and Latvian are the most common first languages of Lithuania and Latvia respectively. A number of Celtic languages are spoken in

4165-443: The area of the Uralic languages. During the 4th millennium BC , the Funnelbeaker culture expanded into Sweden up to Uppland . The Nøstvet and Lihult cultures were succeeded by the Pitted Ware culture Early Indo-European presence likely dates to the early 3rd millennium BC, introducing branches of the Corded Ware culture (such as the Battle Axe Culture ), later be followed by the Nordic Bronze Age . The tripartite division of

4250-400: The beginning of the 20th century, forming a group now known as the Bornholm school of painters . In addition to Oluf Høst , they include Karl Isaksson (1878–1922) from Sweden, and the Danes Edvard Weie (1879–1943), Olaf Rude (1886–1957), Niels Lergaard (1893–1982), and Kræsten Iversen (1886–1955). On 22 August 1942 a V-1 flying bomb crashed on Bornholm during a test – the warhead

4335-414: The catamaran. There are also flights from Bornholm Airport to Copenhagen and other locations. Because of its remote location Bornholm Regional Municipality has its own traffic company, BAT , and is its own employment region, and also performs other tasks normally carried out by the regions in the rest of Denmark. In some respects the municipality forms a region of its own. Bornholm Regional Municipality

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4420-483: The crow flies) south of Copenhagen, Denmark ; the destination to Køge replaced the nighttime route directly to and from Copenhagen (for both cargo and passengers) from 1 October 2004; and catamaran services to Ystad ( Sweden ). Simrishamn ( Sweden ) has a ferry connection during the summer. There are also regular catamaran services between Nexø and the Polish ports of Kołobrzeg , Łeba and Ustka . There are direct bus connections Ystad-Copenhagen, coordinated with

4505-497: The first time. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, some elements are imported from Germanic tribes that had settled north of the Black Sea , such as the runes . There are also many bog bodies from this time in Denmark , Schleswig and southern Sweden. Together with the bodies, there are weapons, household wares and clothes of wool . The prime burial tradition was cremation, but the third century and thereafter saw an increase in inhumation. Great ships made for rowing have been found from

4590-401: The highest standards of living in the world. They often score highly on surveys measuring quality of life, such as the Human Development Index . Aside from the United Kingdom, they generally have a small population relative to their size, most of whom live in cities. The quality of education in much of Northern Europe is rated highly in international rankings, with Estonia and Finland topping

4675-433: The increasing prominence of English in the islands. While not the most common first languages in any country, Sámi languages such as North Sámi , Lule Sámi and South Sámi are spoken in the transnational region of Sápmi and are listed as endangered. During the Early Middle Ages , the Roman Catholic Church expanded into northern Europe and spread Christianity among the Germanic peoples . Christianity reached

4760-425: The island to Sweden under the Treaty of Roskilde along with the rest of the Skåneland , Bohuslän and Trøndelag , and it was occupied by Swedish forces. A revolt broke out the same year, culminating in Villum Clausen's shooting of the Swedish commander Johan Printzensköld on 8 December 1658. After the revolt, the inhabitants handed back their island to the Danish kings. Bornholm attracted many famous artists at

4845-466: The island. The island's varied geography and seascapes attract visitors to its many beauty spots from the Hammeren promontory in the northwest to the Almindingen forest in the centre and the Dueodde beaches in the southeast. Of special interest are the rocky sea cliffs at Jons Kapel and Helligdomsklipperne , the varied topography of Paradisbakkerne and rift valleys such as Ekkodalen and Døndalen . Furongian (late Cambrian period) sediments of

4930-462: The last mayor of Rønne Municipality for five years from 1998 until 2002. He became a mayor again in 2021. Bjarne Kristiansen, who was the last mayor of Hasle 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years from the summer of 2000 until 2002, representing the local Borgerlisten political party, served as mayor for four years from 1 January 2006 until 2009. From 1 January 2007, Bornholm became a part of the Capital Region of Denmark . From 1 January 2010 until 31 December 2020

5015-414: The list among the OECD countries in Europe. Germanic languages are widely spoken in northern Europe with North Germanic languages being the most common first language in the Faroe Islands ( Faroese ), Iceland ( Icelandic ), Denmark ( Danish ), Norway ( Norwegian ) and Sweden ( Swedish ). The West Germanic language English is the most common first language in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man,

5100-407: The main road from Rønne . Along the coast there are several steep roads, which is also the case in some parts of Denmark as a whole, for instance in and around Vejle . The island hosts examples of 19th- and early-20th-century architecture, and about 300 wooden houses in Rønne and Nexø , donated by Sweden after World War II , when the island was repairing damage caused by the war. The island

5185-438: The mayor was Winni Grosbøll, a high school teacher and a member of the Social Democrats ( Socialdemokratiet ) political party . The deputy mayor Morten Riis was mayor for a short interlude from 1 January until 4 January 2021. He is from the Red-Green Alliance . Thomas Thors, who was elected again in 2017, became mayor again from 4 January 2021. After the 2021 Danish local elections Jacob Trøst became mayor from January 2022. He

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5270-418: The modern historical period. During the 6th millennium BC , the climate of Scandinavia was generally warmer and more humid than today. The bearers of the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures and the Kongemose culture were mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The Kongemose culture was replaced by the Ertebølle culture , adapting to the climatic changes and gradually adopting the Neolithic Revolution , transitioning to

5355-499: The mountainous western seaboard, Scotland and Scandinavia , and also often includes part of the large plain east of the Baltic Sea . The entire region's climate is at least mildly affected by the Gulf Stream . From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates. In the north and central climates are generally subarctic or Arctic and to the east climates are mostly subarctic and temperate / continental . Just as both climate and relief are variable across

5440-487: The municipal council is the island's main town, Rønne. The voters decided to merge the county with the municipalities in a referendum 29 May 2001, effective from 1 January 2003. The question on the ballot was, "Do you want the six municipal entities of Bornholm to be joined to form one municipal entity as of 1 January 2003?" 73.9% voted in favour. The lowest percentage for the merger was in Nexø municipality (966 more people voting "Yes" than "No"), whose mayor, Annelise Molin,

5525-510: The municipal council. The 2002 local election only took place on Bornholm. From the election in 2017 the number of councillors elected was reduced to 23 members, serving their term of office from 1 January 2018 until 31 December 2021. Below are the election results to the new merged municipal council beginning with the first election 29 May 2002 . Ferry services connect Rønne to Świnoujście ( Poland ), Sassnitz ( Germany ), Køge , 45 kilometres (28 miles) by road (34 kilometres or 21 miles as

5610-527: The northwestern tip of the island, is the largest medieval fortress in northern Europe , testament to the importance of its location. Bornholm and Ertholmene comprise the last remaining Danish territory in Skåneland east of Øresund , having been surrendered to Sweden in 1658 , but regained by Denmark in 1660 after a local revolt. The island is known as solskinsøen ("sunshine island") because of its weather and klippeøen ("rock island") because of its geology, which consists of granite , except along

5695-414: The other regions The merger was approved in a law by the Folketing 19 (and signature by the head of state 25) March 2002, transferring the tasks of the abolished county and old municipalities to the new Bornholm Regional Municipality. The first regional mayor in the first three years from 2003 until 2005 was Thomas Thors (born 28 July 1949), a physician and member of the Social Democrats and previously

5780-462: The peninsula of Jutland , the Baltic plain that lies to the east, and the many islands that lie offshore from mainland northern Europe and the main European continent. In some cases, Greenland is also included, although it is only politically European, comprising part of the Kingdom of Denmark , and not considered to be geographically in Europe. The area is partly mountainous, including the northern volcanic islands of Iceland and Jan Mayen , and

5865-433: The peoples of Scandinavia and the Baltic region in later centuries. The Latin alphabet along with the influence of Western Christianity spread northward from Rome , leading to written English , German , Dutch , Danish , Norwegian , Swedish , Icelandic , Latvian , Lithuanian , Estonian , Finnish and Sámi languages . The Sámi were the last peoples to be converted in the 18th century. The Hansa group in

5950-412: The populations as follows: The town of Rønne after the merger of the island's administrative entities 1 January 2003 reached a low point of 13,568 inhabitants 1 January 2014. 15,957 people in 1965 (date unknown;number not registerbased) lived in the two parishes that would become Rønne municipality from 1 April 1970. In the table, numbers for Rønne are for the parish of Rønne, Rønne Sogn, alone. The year

6035-415: The presence of other NATO troops on Bornholm, US troops in particular. On 5 March 1953, the day of Stalin's death, Polish pilot Franciszek Jarecki defected from the Eastern Bloc and landed a MiG-15 fighter on the island. He was later granted asylum and rewarded for providing Western intelligence with the then-newest Soviet jet fighter. In 2017, Denmark's Defence Intelligence Service decided to build

6120-483: The region, so too is vegetation, with sparse tundra in the north and high mountains, boreal forest on the north-eastern and central regions temperate coniferous forests (formerly of which a majority was in the Scottish Highlands and south west Norway ) and temperate broadleaf forests growing in the south, west and temperate east. There are various definitions of northern Europe which always include

6205-401: The southern coast of the Baltic Sea , which is about 54°N , or may be based on other geographical factors such as climate and ecology . The climate is mainly Oceanic climate (Cfb), Humid continental climate (Dfb), Subarctic climate (Dfc and Dsc) and Tundra (ET). Northern Europe might be defined roughly to include some or all of the following areas: British Isles , Fennoscandia ,

6290-491: The southern coast. The heat from the summer is stored in the rock formations and the weather is quite warm until October. As a result of the climate, a local variety of the common fig , known as Bornholm's Diamond ( Bornholms Diamant ), can grow locally on the island. The island's topography consists of dramatic rock formations in the north (unlike the rest of Denmark, which is mostly gentle rolling hills) sloping down towards pine and deciduous forests (greatly affected by storms in

6375-560: The start 1 January 2003. They were reduced to 23 from 1 January 2018 ( election November 2017 ). From 1 January 2003 until 31 December 2006 the 27 cllrs were called Regional Council (Danish Regionsråd ), from 1 January 2007 changed to Municipal Board (Danish Kommunalbestyrelse ) as is the usual term in almost all Danish municipalities. This was to avoid confusion with the Regional Council in Region Hovedstaden, and in

6460-600: The styles of which were continuous from the Bronze Age. Some of the most prominent finds from the pre-Roman Iron Age in northern Europe are the Gundestrup cauldron and the Dejbjerg wagons , two four-wheeled wagons of wood with bronze parts. The cultural change that ended the Nordic Bronze Age was influenced by the expansion of Hallstatt culture from the south and accompanied by a changing climate, which caused

6545-666: The two main towns on 7-8 May 1945, Danish radio was not allowed to broadcast the news because it was thought it would spoil the liberation festivities in Denmark. On 9 May, Soviet troops landed on the island, and after a short fight, the German garrison (about 12,000 strong ) surrendered. Soviet forces would leave the island on 5 April 1946. Later research found that the Soviet bombing of Bornholm resulted in approximately three thousand Danish civilians in Rønne becoming homeless, while damaging

6630-452: The world's heritage of biological organisms for the benefit of the world at large". The system provides clear definitions and codes for recording plant distributions at four scales or levels, from "botanical continents" down to parts of large countries. The following countries are included in their classification of "northern Europe": as well as the dependent areas: Countries in northern Europe generally have developed economies and some of

6715-492: Was a dummy made of concrete. The wreckage was photographed and sketched by the Danish Naval Officer-in-Charge on Bornholm, Lieutenant Commander Hasager Christiansen. This was one of the first signs British Intelligence saw of Germany's aspirations to develop flying bombs and rockets which were to become known as V-1. The Bornholm rocket turned out to be from Peenemünde . During the Soviet bombing of

6800-432: Was an imported alloy, suddenly became very scarce; and iron, which was a local natural resource, slowly became more abundant, as the techniques for extracting, smelting and smithing it were acquired from their Central European Celtic neighbours. Iron was extracted from bog iron in peat bogs, and the first iron objects to be fabricated were needles and edged tools such as swords and sickles. The rise of iron use in Scandinavia

6885-488: Was exceptionally extreme with snow depth reaching at least 146 cm (58 inches ) and snowdrifts of six meters (20 feet), the highest in Northern Europe. Military assistance was needed to clear roadways. The DMI estimated the weight of snow to be 100 million tons . Bornholm's geography as an island and moderate climate makes Bornholm an ideal location for sailing and other water-based sports. Bornholm has also become an internationally recognised venue for 'match racing',

6970-405: Was not merged with other municipalities on 1 January 2007 in the nationwide Municipal Reform of 2007 . The larger towns on the island are located on the coast and have harbours. There is however one exception, centrally placed Aakirkeby , which was also the name of the municipality from 1970 until 2002, but it included the harbour of Boderne, 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) to the south. The largest town

7055-685: Was now much scarcer and mostly used for decoration. Funerary practices continued the Bronze Age tradition of burning corpses and placing the remains in urns , a characteristic of the Urnfield culture. During the previous centuries, influences from the Central European La Tène culture had spread to Scandinavia from north-western Germany, and there are finds from this period from all the provinces of southern Scandinavia. Archaeologists have found swords, shield bosses, spearheads, scissors, sickles, pincers, knives, needles, buckles, kettles, etc. from this time. Bronze continued to be used for torcs and kettles,

7140-426: Was slow: bog ore was only abundant in southwestern Jutland and it was not until 200–100 BC that iron-working techniques were generally mastered and a productive smithing industry had evolved in the larger settlements. Iron products were also known in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age, but they were a scarce imported material. Similarly, imported bronze continued to be used during the Iron Age in Scandinavia, but it

7225-600: Was used to make scabbard mountings and bracteates . After the Western Roman Empire fell, gold became scarce and Scandinavians began to make objects of gilded bronze, with decorative figures of interlacing animals . During the EGIA, decorations tended to be representational; the animal figures were drawn in more basic forms. In the LGIA, artistic styles became more abstract, symbolic, and intricate, including figures with interlaced shapes and limbs. The LGIA in

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