 Map of the North Frisian and the Danish Wadden Sea Islands | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Sea |
| Total islands | 13 |
| Major islands | Sylt,Föhr,Amrum,Pellworm |
| Administration | |
Germany | |
| State | Schleswig-Holstein |
| District | Nordfriesland |
| Demographics | |
| Ethnic groups | Germans,Frisians,Danes |
TheNorth Frisian Islands (German:Nordfriesische Inseln,pronounced[ˈnɔʁtˌfʁiːzɪʃəˈɪnzl̩n];Öömrang andFeringNorth Frisian:Nuurdfresk Eilunen;Söl'ring North Frisian:Nuurđfriisk Ailönen;Danish:Nordfrisiske Øer) are theFrisian Islands off the coast ofNorth Frisia.
The term covers both the North Frisian Islands in the narrow sense (inSchleswig-Holstein,Germany) and theDanish Wadden Sea Islands (inDenmark). However,culturally andlinguistically, the Danish islands are usually not reckoned as being part of North Frisia, since they are not inhabited by native speakers of theNorth Frisian language. Occasionally, the remote island ofHeligoland is also included in this group for reasons ofadministrative convenience, despite not being located in theWadden Sea, since the island is home to itsown unique dialect of Frisian.
After the Frisian and Danish colonisation of the islands in the 8th century, the Frisian-populatedhundreds (between Eiderstedt and Sylt) became theUthlande. TheNorth Frisians in the Uthlande were ruled directly by the Danish king and were known asKönigsfriesen or "King's Frisians". Only later did the Uthlande transfer to theDuchy of Schleswig, with the exception of small Danish royal enclaves. Part ofRømø was also ruled by the Schleswig duke. After the German-Danish wars, the islands from Nordstrand to Rømø becamePrussian in 1866. After the referendum in 1920, the current border between the islands ofSylt andRømø was fixed.
A good and thorough overview of the life, work, languages, costumes and customs of the island Frisians is portrayed by the Carl Haeberlin Frisian Museum inWyk auf Föhr.
There are four larger islands and ten tiny islets. The names of the large islands areSylt,Föhr,Amrum, andPellworm. The islets are calledHalligen. Inmedieval times, the present-daypeninsulaNordstrand and Pellworm as well as the Halligen were part of the large island of Strand. This island was torn to pieces in adisastrous storm tide in 1634.
Sylt (Söl'ring North Frisian:Söl';Danish:Sild) is the largest of the North Frisian Islands, consisting of about 100 km². It is accessible by acauseway called theHindenburgdamm; this causeway is only accessible to trains. In the summer months, the island is crowded with tourists, including those who have a preference fornudism. Sylt's image is that of a meeting point for the jet-set. The main town on the island isWesterland. The northern end of Sylt, theEllenbogen ("elbow"), is Germany's northernmost point.Lager Sylt, theNaziconcentration camp onAlderney, was named after the island.
Compared with Sylt,Föhr (Fering North Frisian:Feer;Danish:Før) is a relatively silent island. Its area is 82 km². Sixteen oldhamlets are scattered over the island, some of which already existed in the 13th century. The main town isWyk on the south eastern shore. Wyk is a popular German seaside resort. There is no bridge or causeway connecting Föhr and the mainland, so ferries are the only connection. The ferry port, the harbour and Föhr marina are in Wyk.
Amrum (Öömrang North Frisian:Oomram) is only 20 km², but it is popular with tourists, though less crowded than Sylt. The western half of the island features a beach 12 km in length and 1 km in width. The villages are situated on the eastern shore, with Wittdün being the most important of them.
Pellworm (North FrisianPolweerm;Mooring North Frisian:Pälweerm;Danish:Pelvorm) and the peninsula ofNordstrand (Mooring:Nordströön) are the remains of the submerged island ofStrand. The main town of this sunken island wasRungholt, thought to be the largest town in the surrounding area, but it was totally destroyed and submerged by a storm in 1362, 272 years before another storm destroyed Strand itself. Nordstrand has an area of 49 km², Pellworm 37 km².
Smaller remains of Strand are the ten islets calledHalligen. The houses on these tiny islets are built on artificial hills. In a storm tide only these hills rise above the sea, while the remainder of the islet is flooded. The names of theHalligen are Nordmarsch-Langeness,Norderoog,Süderoog,Nordstrandischmoor,Oland,Südfall, Gröde-Appelland, Hooge,Habel and theHamburger Hallig.
West off the Halligen, three dryingsandbanks form the so-calledNorth Frisian Barrier Islands:Japsand,Norderoogsand andSüderoogsand.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)54°55′N8°20′E / 54.917°N 8.333°E /54.917; 8.333
| West Frisian Islands (Netherlands) |
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| East Frisian Islands (Germany) |
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| Heligoland Bight (Germany) | |||||||
| North Frisian Islands (Germany) |
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| Danish Wadden Sea Islands (Denmark) |
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