The municipality of Österlen will become a reality in 2026.
192,000 Austrians soon!
The municipalities of Tomelilla and Simrishamn, together with parts of the municipality of Ystad, have decided to form the municipality of Österlen, with just over 40,000 inhabitants.
Christian Esbjörnsson, leader of the newly formed Framtid Österlen party, took the initiative to merge across municipal boundaries.
- "We have been working for a long time to link the parts of Skåne that traditionally make up Österlen," says Christian Esbjörnsson. As early as 2003, together with Peter Carlsson and others, he began the preparatory work for the municipal merger in connection with the registration of the domain name österlen.se
The municipality of Österlen
- We start with traditional Österlen. But we are already in advanced negotiations with other neighbouring municipalities in the south-east. The plans don't just stop at Österlen's traditional borders, as early as 2030 it is intended that the neighbouring municipalities will also form part of the new large municipality: Österlen. Ystad, Sjöbo, Skurup and even Kristianstad have shown interest in becoming part of the new Österlen municipality.
- "Österlen is so beautiful, and everyone wants to live here, so why not spread out the neighbourhoods and let more people be part of the large municipality of Österlen," adds party secretary Carlsson.
Glimmingehus: the new home of power
Whether it will be "Om himlen och Österlen" by future municipality resident Michael Saxell or "Öppna Landskap" (by Kiviksbon Ulf Lundell) that becomes the official Österlen song, it is intended that the new municipality residents themselves will decide through a referendum in connection with the 2026 elections.
In any case, it has been decided that Glimmingehus will regain its old role as the seat of power. The adaptations of the castle's old knight's hall are already in full swing to be able to function as Österlen's municipal council hall. How, and where, the other councils and administrations will be located is currently only in the planning stage.
Big changes on the way...
There will be big changes once the new municipality is in place.
The Local Government Act is scrapped.
The Local Government Act will be replaced by Skillingtryck. A somewhat simpler type of constitution, where the focus is on songs of various kinds, aimed at the general public. Considerably more suitable for Österlen.
New currency.
The value of the Swedish krona is far too weak, and no longer a currency that the new municipality wants to be associated with. Therefore, the Österlenska Skillingen will be the new official currency of Österlen.
New municipal coat of arms.
As for the design of the new municipal coat of arms, it has long been clear that it will be the goose Akka and Nils Holgersson that will adorn the new municipality's coat of arms. - "We can't very well display fish and kites in 2024, not to mention lions(!?), as far as I know these creatures are currently only found in the south and the Sahara(!)," says Noak Karlsson.
Why this merger?
On the one hand, it is well in time with municipal mergers. We can't have a lot of small municipalities, it's 2024 after all! And we also feel strongly that the eastern side of Skåne is too often overshadowed by the large municipalities in the west.
Skåne's second largest municipality
The new municipality will have an initial population of 40,000, but by 2030, when the entire municipal reorganisation is complete, no fewer than 192,000 people in Skåne will be able to call themselves Österleningar (cf. Helsingborg 151,000 and Lund 129,000).
It feels great to be able to offer 192,000 people in Skåne the opportunity to become Österlen residents. In addition, the merger is likely to please the Skåne estate agents, whose boundaries for Österlen are finally harmonised with their boundaries for Österlen.
Theodor Osterman
Österlens Allehanda
Ps. Persistent rumours, which have reached the editorial office, claim that representatives of both Österlen and Bornholm are working intensively for the formation of an autonomous self-governing region (compare Åland). However, the autonomy law will need to be regulated in both the Swedish and Danish constitutions. And since constitutional amendments require two similar decisions with a parliamentary election in between, it seems unlikely that self-government for Österlen/Bornholm can be realised until 2032 at the earliest.
