Geopark: Skipperbyen Faldsled
Faldsled was a maritime village in the 19th century that had shipbuilding and became the home of skippers and seamen.
This westerly village of the Archipelago is situated on the distal part of the Weichselian Late-glacial Svanninge-Millinge-Faldsled meltwater plain bordering the waters of Helnæs Bugt (Helnæs Bay) (see also site G23). It was a maritime village in the 19th century that had shipbuilding and became the home of skippers and seamen and had a small fleet of vessels owned by the local people.
Among these was the innkeeper and his sons. Also the sons of local farmers went to sea and thus the maritime profession was well established around 1820. The young skippers built their houses in bricks, at this time unusual, but they bought and transported the bricks from the brickworks in Egernsund, Sønderjylland. Most of the trade from Faldsled was agricultural products, mainly corn, which was sailed to Slesvig and Holsten in Germany or to Norway.
However as the sailing ships were gradually outdated and steam and combustion engines took over at sea, Faldsled lost all importance as a seafaring place. Contributing to the declining maritime activity was the poor harbour conditions. Due to the geological conditions, the harbour is quite shallow and ships had to anchor in the bay. Likewise ships built on the shore had to be rolled out to deeper water – quite a task to be done. The last ship to be built here was a schooner in 1866.
From 1910 Faldsled became a recreational place and the inn welcomed bathers and boarders.
Today there are no signs of shipping in the little harbour, home to yachts and recreational fishing boats, but most of the white skipper houses are still here as well as Faldsled Kro, the inn, which is a fashionable and luxurious restaurant. The houses of the skippers provide a maritime look of Faldsled village.