TheVogelfluglinie (Danish: Fugleflugtslinjen), an importanttransport corridor connecting the Danish capital ofCopenhagen on the island ofZealand to the second-largest German city ofHamburg viaLübeck, runs across the island. There are currently two tunnels under construction in the region: theFehmarn Belt Tunnel betweenPuttgarden on Fehmarn andRødbyhavn on Lolland, and theFehmarn Sound Tunnel between Strukkamp (Fehmarn) and Großenbrode (Wagria). The most notable settlements on Fehmarn are Burg auf Fehmarn (Low German:Borg op Fehmarn) and Puttgarden, with the island's ferry port.
Fehmarn isallegorically represented by the "Goldene Krone im blauen Meer" (Golden Crown in the blue Sea), which can be seen on many flags on the island, making reference to theHouse of Oldenburg, the Danish royal house.
"Goldene Krone im blauen Meer" The Golden Crown flag of FehmarnFehmarn Sound Bridge betweenGroßenbrode and FehmarnDetailed map of FehmarnFehmarn and its villagesThe Danish island world
Earlier names of the island are Femera, Fimbria, Cimbria parva, and Imbra.[2] As a part ofWagria, it was settled by the SlavicLechitic tribe ofWagri in theEarly Middle Ages. Fehmarn is one of the westernmost places of the former contiguous settlement area of theSlavs, and the westernmost island with a former Slavic settlement. The name of the island itself derives from thePolabianfe more (in the sea), modernv more, and has the same etymological background asPomerania, deriving frompo more,at the sea.[3]Puttgarden is also a Slavic name, deriving frompod gard, which meansunder the castle (onRügen exists a village with the same etymological background, evolving into the modern formPutgarten).
Other Slavic-founded villages on Fehmarn are Bannesdorf, Dänschendorf, Gahlendorf, Gammendorf-Siedendorf, Gollendorf, Hinrichsdorf, Klausdorf, Kopendorf, Lemkendorf, Meeschendorf, Püttsee, Sahrensdorf, Schlagsdorf, Sulsdorf and Vitzdorf. The villages of Bisdorf, Presen and Staberdorf are either Slavic-founded or founded by Germanic colonists fromHolstein,Dithmarschen,Frisia,Lower Saxony andDenmark, who settled the island from around 1200 onwards. The Slavs inhabiting the island were graduallyChristianized andGermanized.
From the Middle Ages till 1864 Fehmarn formed part of the DanishDuchy of Schleswig. When the duchy was partitioned in 1544, it formed part of the duchy ofJohn the Elder. Upon his death without heirs in 1580, Fehmarn became part of theDuchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. After theGreat Northern War, Fehmarn, along with the rest of Schleswig was united with the Danish crown. In 1864, Schleswig passed toPrussia as a result of theSecond Schleswig War.
On 26 July 1932, the German Navy's training shipNiobe sank off the island during a sudden squall, with the loss of 69 lives. At Gammendorfer Strand on Fehmarn, within view of the site of the sinking, the Niobe-Denkmal monument was erected.
Since 1963, Fehmarn has been connected to the German mainland by a road and rail bridge crossing theFehmarn Sound Bridge. It is 963.40 m (3160.76 ft.) long and 69 m high.
The area is 185 km2 and the coastline is 78 km. The highest hills are the "Hinrichsberg" (27.2 m) and the "Wulfener Berg" (26.5 m). The largest community on Fehmarn isBurg (German pronunciationⓘ) (lit. "the Town of Fehmarn"), with 6,000 inhabitants. In addition, there are many small villages, includingVadersdorf.
TheFehmarn Belt, a strait separating Fehmarn from Lolland, is located on the side opposite the German mainland. It can be crossed by ferries travelling between the seaports ofPuttgarden, Germany, andRødbyhavn,Denmark. The crossing takes about 45 minutes.
On 29 June 2007, the Danish and German authorities gave the go-ahead for theFehmarn Belt Fixed Link tunnel project, planned for completion in 2028.[5]
The aforementioned 963-metre (3,159 ft) longFehmarn Sound Bridge connects the German island of Fehmarn with the German mainland near Großenbrode.
The coasts serve as resting places formigratory birds, and it is thus a popular location forornithologists. The island's bird reserves are looked after byNABU's conservation centre at theWallnau Waterbird Reserve. In Burg there is a largeaquarium with 40 fish tanks.
Fehmarn is famous for its nature and recreation areas, especially during summertime (July–September) and is also well known for itswindsurf andkitesurf spots. Currently there are more than ten surfspots known on the island.
Scharwenzel is a card game for two teams with two to four players on each team. The game is at least three centuries old and is played today only on Fehmarn.
Fehmarn was the location ofJimi Hendrix'sfinal concert, at the Open Air Love & Peace Festival, on 6 September 1970. The concert was held at Flügge Beach in the southwest. There is a memorial stone there and from 1995 through 2010, theJimi-Hendrix-Revival-Festival was celebrated annually in September.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), a German expressionist painter and printmaker, lived on the island 1908 to 1912–1914.
Peter Wiepert [de] (1890-1980), builder and writer; born in the village of Bisdorf. The museum on the island is named after him.
Lina Heydrich (1911–1985), born in the village of Avendorf. Her husbandReinhard Heydrich, (1904–1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official and principal architect of the Holocaust. They had a summer home on the island which she ran as a restaurant after the war, until it burned down in February 1969.[7]
Jürgen Blin (1943–2022), a boxer, born on the island.
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