Will Skåne disappear?

Kroppkakor from Skåne, spiddekage from Småland? Växjö in Skåne and Malmö in Småland?  

  • Spiddekagan in Skåne. Or does it not make a difference?

  • Does it seem a bit upside down? It could become a reality.

  • “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” wrote Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). Let kroppkakor (pork filled potato dumplings) remain in Småland and …

  • Days ago, Region Skåne (Skåne Regional Council) took the first step in re-drawing the map, by removing the border and creating a larger region with Kronobergs län (Kronoberg County) .

  • Kroppkakor (pork filled potato dumplings) are traditionally made in Småland, in a slightly different way on the island of Öland and yet again up north, in the Piteå area where it's called pitepalt.

  • “This sort of region can strengthen the possibilities in developing the infra structure, it can also lead to more work and so on. Seen from a European and global perspective, Skåne isn’t that big,” says Pia Kinhult, a politician from the Moderate Party and chairwoman of the Region Skåne. The Kronoberg County Council and Regionförbundet Södra Småland (Regional Council of Southern Småland) have for a while shown interest in uniting with Region Skåne, which has just said “yes” to the proposal. The plan is to create a regional union no later than 2019 – however all parties aren’t that ecstatic.

  • "A foolish idea; The cultural differences are huge and there’s an old antagonism between Skåne and Småland, which lives on to this day,” says Jan-Öjvind Swahn, Professor Emeritus at the Dept. of Ethnology at Lund University. (The Skåne coat of arms in the form of an eagle was reversed in this photo montage)

  • “We want to continue being ‘skåningar’,” says Lennart Pettersson, chairman of the Center Party in Skåne. “Skåne is a strong brand name and if we let it go we will lose a lot. Add to that the fact that the distance between Växjö and Malmö is fairly long.”

  • (The Skåne coat of arms in the form of an eagle was reversed in this photo montage)

  • Jan-Öjvind Swahn, Professor Emeritus at the Dept. of Ethnology at Lund University, is also critical: “It’s a very foolish idea; the most foolish idea I’ve heard in a long time. The cultural differences are huge and there’s an old antagonism between Skåne and Småland, which lives on to this day,” Swahn says.

  • For more info on Skåne, see SKÅNE
    For more info on Småland, see SMÅLAND