Editing Middelfart (section)

==Economy==
[[File:Middelfart_timber_framing.jpg|thumb|upright|The half-timbered Henner Friiser Hus, now a museum]]
Middelfart Municipality had a population of 37,685 in January 2014.

From the [[Middle Ages]] until the end of the 19th century the local fishermen were also [[whaling|whale hunters]] in winter. The only whale common in Danish waters is the [[harbour porpoise]] (''Phocoena phocaena''). The whale hunters linked their boats across the rather narrow [[Little Belt]] and by beating the sea with sticks and branches they directed the migrating porpoises to low water areas where they could be slaughtered. As the whale [[blubber]] was used for lamps, indoors and outdoors, the arrival of electricity made whale hunting uneconomical. In the winter of 1854–55, 1742 whales were caught, but a normal winter's catch would be half that or even less. In the 20th century the hunt was resumed during the two world wars. Two memorial stones now stand where the hunters landed the whales and where blubber was prepared.