The municipality of Österlen becomes a fact in 2026.
192,000 Österlen residents soon!
Tomelilla and Simrishamn municipalities, together with parts of Ystad municipality, have decided to form the municipality of Österlen, with just over 40,000 inhabitants.
Christian Esbjörnsson, leader of the newly formed party Framtid Österlen, took the initiative to merge across municipal boundaries.
- 'We have been working for a long time to connect 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 large municipality of Österlen
- We start with traditional Österlen. But we are already in advanced negotiations with other neighboring municipalities in the southeast. The plans do not only stop at Österlen's traditional borders, as by 2030 it is intended that the neighboring municipalities will also be part of the new large municipality: Österlen. Ystad, Sjöbo, Skurup and even Kristianstad have shown interest in becoming part of the new Österlen municipality.
- "It is so beautiful in Österlen, and everyone wants to live here, so why not spread the graces and let more people be part of the large municipality of Österlen," says party secretary Carlsson.
Glimmingehus: the new home of power
Whether it will be "about the sky and Österlen" by the future municipal resident Michael Saxell or "Open Landscape" (by Kivik resident Ulf Lundell) that will be the official Österlen song, it is intended that the new municipal residents themselves will decide through a referendum in connection with the 2026 election.
In any case, it has been decided that Glimmingehus will regain its old role as the seat of power. Adaptations of the castle's old knight's hall are already in full swing to serve as Österlen's municipal council hall. How, and where, other committees and administrations will be placed is currently only in the planning stage.
Big changes are coming ...
There will be major changes once the new large municipality is in place.
The Municipal Act will be scrapped.
Kommunallagen 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. Significantly 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 in 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 gladiators in 2024, not to mention lions (!?), as far as I know these creatures are only found in the south and Sahara (!) says Noak Karlsson.
Why this merger?
On the one hand, it is well within the time frame of 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 initially have 40,000 thousand inhabitants, but by 2030, when the entire municipal reorganization is completed, no less than 192,000 people in Skåne will be able to call themselves Österleningar (cf. Helsingborg 151,000 and Lund 129,000).
It feels fantastic to be able to offer 192,000 people in Skåne the opportunity to become Österleningar. In addition, the merger will delight the Scanian real estate agents whose borders for Österlen are finally harmonized with their borders for Österlen.
Theodor Osterman
Österlens Allehanda
Ps. Persistent rumors, 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 Act will have 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 autonomy for Österlen/Bornholm can be realized until 2032 at the earliest.
