Welcome to Skillinge

Skillinge Village Association is the voice of villagers in many aspects of community life and its functions. Its most important role is to co-ordinate and drive initiatives to make our village even more attractive for those already living here and in the future development for those to come. It is also the one village voice for contact with different local authorities and government departments.

Nobody really knows when Skillinge became a fishing village but there are strong pointers to around 400-800 AD. Hearsay tells us that the village consisted of seven small farms, which were later partly replaced by new housing and that the surrounding land produced very poor yields. The road network that existed made it difficult for farmers to get their produce to markets and so innovative farmers started to look to the sea as a method of transporting goods more easily. In the late 18th century this type of transportation became more frequent and local farmers sometimes went across to more wealthy markets in Germany.

Commercial shipping, as we know it today, started in Skillinge between 1830-40. In 1846, free trade was introduced allowing fishermen to ship farmers produce to markets along the coast using small fishing vessels (vrakeka). At these markets, fishermen traded their cargo for cash or other produce and as a result, many fishermen became Captains and shipowners of commercial sailing vessels. During the period 1848-1948 at certain peak times, there were 314 commercial sailing vessels registered in Skillinge. At the beginning of the 20th century, Skillinge was the largest port for registered commercial sailing vessels in Sweden.

The increase in both the number of shipping companies and investments in new and larger vessels is probably linked to the foundation of Skillinge Sparbank in 1891. Ships were purchased through shipowner syndicates whereby Captains raised money from relatives and friends, with the bank granting them an equal value loan. With cash in hand, they could then buy ships and the syndicate shipowner company structure was established.

With the era of this type of commercial sailing starting to decline, the focus on fishing returned and commercial vessels were exchanged for wooden built trawlers and during 1970-80, those were replaced by steel hulled trawlers (järnare). Fishing techniques and methods continued to develop into the industry we see today.

Business and commerce in Skillinge currently is spread over many different industries, however, fishing, shipyard and other marine related businesses still create our most valuable assets.

Skillinge offers the perfect base to explore the southeast corner of Sweden known as Österlen. We have our unique seafarers museum; a visit to one of our many exciting and famous artists resident in local galleries and studios; our village theatre may have a play on during your stay and why not do a summer evening cruise on the Bornholm schooner Klara-Marie www.klaramarie.se , the pride of Skillinge. The alternatives are wide-ranging.

The Österlen coastline, with Skillinge at its centre, offers bird lovers a fantastic chance to observe the vast numbers of migrating birds in spring & autumn. In winter, our coastline offers a base for many different species normally living in the far north. Some rare bird observations include; Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus), Yellow-headed Wagtail (Motacilla citreola), the Hoopoe (Upupa epops), Great Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii), and amongst our resident bird population, nesting in Skillinge, we have Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros), Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus).

Ongoing information about our birds can be found on www.artportalen.se/dagensfagelor,  alternatively, www.microbirding.se Not surprisingly, amongst our local bird lovers you will find Swedens most famous bird painting artists.

For lovers of art, a visit here during Easter and Arts Week is a must! Hundreds of artists are exhibiting and selling their works in established or pop up galleries over the Easter break. Art gallery owners from our large cities in the Nordic region are here treasure hunting – usually with great success.

If you plan to stay over during your visit, please book well in advance. To find a bed on the day is mission impossible.

Sea trout fishing along our local coastline is simply the best in Sweden! It is done either in small boats using the trolling method or simply direct from the beach with waders and spinning rods. Information about our local fishing can easily be found using Google, entering sea trout simrishamn or trolling Simrishamn.

If you are really, really unlucky then you can always visit one of the renowned Skillinge FiskImpex outlets to avoid returning empty handed!

Skillinge has its own sports ground, owned and managed by Skillinge Sports Association www.skillingeif.se The club is a typical local football (soccer) club and is very proud of its strong youth academy. The result of which was one of our local girls making it to the top in Swedish female football. In the grounds you will find a training gravel pitch, a full size natural grass pitch and  a full international size astroturf pitch.

If there should ever be a competition for the most picturesque location for football & training pitches then Skillinge will surely be a strong contender – located close to the shoreline and with full sea views!

In addition, there are two well maintained clay tennis courts available for hire. Along in the harbour area, you will find a very nicely positioned boules pitch.

Perfect setting to bring your portable barbecue down in the early evening for a bite after your game.