Skanör-Falsterbo

Skanör was founded in the 1100s, and Falsterbo in the 1200s. The region around Skanör and Falsterbo was rich with herring, leading to the two towns becoming well established fishing towns. During the Middle Ages, the Hanseatic League established a fish market on the beach between Skanör and Falsterbo, the Skåne Market, and became a Kontor (a foreign trading post) of the Hanseatic League. The market became one of the most important commodity markets in Northern Europe. Cities from all over Europe came and set up fixed markets to trade. Some of the cities that traded include: Anklam, Danzig, Greifswald, Kolberg, Lübeck, Rostock, Stettin (Szczecin), Stralsund, and Wismar. Danzig, Denmark, Lübeck, Stettin, and Stralsund even built their own churches, and the Franciscan Order a chapel in 1352. 300,000 barrels of herring were traded a year. The herring salted with salt from northern Germany, and sold further throughout Europe. The Skåne Market was, at times, the largest source of income for the Danish crown.

During the 1500s, the supply of herring in the region decreased. This diminished the significance of Skanör and Falsterbo, and the Skåne Market ceased. This lead to the rapid economic decline of both Skanör and Falsterbo, and they became subsequently became insignificant small towns. Skåne was ceded to the Swedish Empire in 1658, becoming an offical part of the Swedish Empire in 1720. Skanör and Falsterbo were merged together as Skanör-Falsterbo in 1754. In 1874 and 1885, Skanör was hit by devastating fires that destroyed most of the town. The remaining old buildings and half-timbered houses were destroyed in fires in 1896 and 1911. In the early 1900s, following the opening of the Vellinge-Skanör-Falsterbo Railway, the region become a popular seaside resort area.