Amrum

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Amrum (disambiguation).
Amrum
Native name:
Oomram
Nordfriesland
Demographics
Population2,354 (2013[1])
Pop. density111/km2 (287/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsGermans, Frisians

Amrum (German pronunciation:

Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein
and has approximately 2,300 inhabitants.

The island is made up of a sandy core of

mudflats of the Wadden Sea. Sand dunes are a characteristic part of Amrum's landscape, resulting in a vegetation that is largely made up of heath and shrubs. The island's only forest was planted in 1948. Amrum is a refuge for many species of birds and a number of marine mammals including the grey seal and harbour porpoise
.

Settlements on Amrum have been traced back to the

Öömrang, a dialect of the North Frisian language
, and Frisian traditions are kept alive.

With the island hosting many endangered species of plants and animals, its soil being largely unproductive for agriculture and as a popular seaside resort in general, Amrum's population today almost exclusively lives from the tourism industry.

Geography

Map of Amrum (North Frisian, German and Danish place names)
The Kniepsand beach
Amrum lighthouse

Amrum's area measures 20.4 km2,[2] making it the tenth-largest island of Germany (excluding Usedom which is partly Polish territory).[3] Including the large Kniepsand beach on the western shore to the surface area results in a total area of c. 30 km2.[4] Amrum's surface area has however been subject to constant change due to land loss and gain caused by the sea. During the 19th century, a 20th part of the area recorded in the beginning of the century had been lost, but in 1913, a net gain was again recorded at the Kniepsand.[5]

Amrum is one of three isles with a

marshland, another small marsh area can be found between Süddorf and Steenodde.[4] Both of them are protected from the sea by dikes. During low tide it is possible to reach the neighbouring island of Föhr by mudflat hiking
.

Amrum's population amounts to about 2,300 and the island is divided into three municipalities: Norddorf, Nebel and Wittdün. All are within the Amt Föhr-Amrum.[1]

Villages

Amrum wind mill (2018)

The northernmost settlement is the

wind mill and the Cemetery of the Homeless. Süddorf, today a district of Nebel, is the island's oldest hamlet. The Amrum Lighthouse
is located there. Steenodde, also a neighbourhood of Nebel, had long been Amrum's only port until Wittdün, founded 1890, had taken over as the island's major ferry terminal. Of the three municipalities, Wittdün is most clearly influenced by tourism.

History

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1821578—    
1823575−0.5%
1824586+1.9%
1825589+0.5%
1826595+1.0%
1827593−0.3%
1828589−0.7%
1829592+0.5%
1830595+0.5%
1833580−2.5%
1860642+10.7%
1871572−10.9%
1890698+22.0%
1905990+41.8%
19271,164+17.6%
19511,455+25.0%
20132,354+61.8%
20162,303−2.2%
Source: [7][1][8][9]

The oldest traces of settlements in the area date back to the

Teutones threatened Rome around 100 BC, stemmed from this island which back then was still connected to the mainland by a land bridge. In the early Middle Ages the island was colonised by the Frisians. The oldest known record of Amrum island has been found in the Danish Census Book of King Valdemar II of Denmark from 1231.[10]

Next to

General
until he was allowed to return to his native island in 1736. During the late 19th century, tourism became a rapidly emerging business on Amrum and effectively changed the island's economy.

During the Middle Ages, Amrum, as well as all of North Frisia proper, belonged to the so-called

Schleswig Plebiscites
resulted in a clear majority vote for Amrum staying with Germany, while Tondern fell back to Denmark. Until 1972, Amrum belonged to the Südtondern district which then merged into the newly created district of Nordfriesland.

During the 19th century, Amrum still had a considerably lower population than today. Church records from 1821 to 1833 show an average population of 587, a census in 1860 noted 642 inhabitants, and in 1871, the population had dropped to 571.[11] Among other factors, the decrease owed to the fact that large parts of Amrum's population had emigrated — mainly to the United States. Today, more people with ancestors from Amrum live in the United States than there are on Amrum proper, and the connections between Amrum and the U.S. are still being cultivated.

Eventually, tourism began only to flourish on the island when a seaside resort was established in Wittdün in 1890, which also led to a rapid increase in population.[12]

On 29 October 1998, the cargo ship Pallas ran aground off Amrum, causing a severe oil spill in the region.[13]

Language and culture

The main language on Amrum is

Öömrang dialect is spoken by roughly a third of the population. Those 800 Amrumers are all multilingual. Due to the isolated location of the islands, the North Frisian dialects developed so differently, that Öömrang can be understood by people from Föhr, yet is hardly recognisable for those from Sylt or mainland Nordfriesland. Many Amrumers moreover speak Low German, since it had been the language of the coastal sailors. Only a few people speak the Danish language
.

Amrum's

national costume for girls and women is coloured black and white and is amply decorated with silver ornaments. It is mostly worn on confirmation
services or at tourist events.

There are two peculiar traditions on Amrum. On February 21 the

Cathedra Petri, which was originally celebrated on February 22. The custom is also popular in other North Frisian municipalities. On New Year's Eve the Hulken takes place, where groups of mostly young people dress up in costumes and walk from house to house to let others guess their true identity (similar to Halloween
). Depending on their age, they are either treated with sweets or alcoholic drinks.

Economy

Amrum's main branch of economy is tourism. In 2007 the island could provide 12,000 beds. In 2008 approximately 135,000 tourists and 1.3 million lodgings were registered.[14]

Agriculture is also being practised on Amrum and the port hosts a single fisherman.

Media

The local newspaper is called Der Insel-Bote (The Island Courier) and published by the Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag. It is the common paper for both Föhr and Amrum.

Moreover, Amrum was the set for many German cinematic and TV films, e.g. Tod auf Amrum (1998)[15] or Sommer (2008),[16] as well as numerous crime novels. It is also the location that Netflix filmed Black Island.

Notable people

Transport

The island is connected by ferry services to neighbouring Föhr and to the mainland at the harbour of Dagebüll. During the summer season, a fast passenger boat offers services between the ports of Hörnum on Sylt, the Hallig Hooge and the harbour of Strucklahnungshörn on Nordstrand.[17] Amrum's terminal is located at Wittdün, the ferries are operated by Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei GmbH (W.D.R.). Most tourists will reach Amrum via Dagebüll. From there, the ferry journey takes 90 minutes on a straight route, but the more usual route via a stop at Wyk auf Föhr takes 120 minutes.[18]

The ferry service to the Halligen and the mainland terminal of Schlüttsiel was terminated in 2019 because the port of Schlüttsiel has become too silted up for extended traffic.[19][20]

On the island, the bicycle is the main means of transport next to cars; compared to other areas of Germany, Amrum provides an excellent network of bicycle routes. Numerous bicycle rental services exist for tourists. A bus service connects Norddorf, Nebel and Wittdün on an hourly schedule (every 30 minutes during the summer season). Like the ferries, the bus service is operated by W.D.R..[21] A less common form of transport is mudflat hiking between Amrum and Föhr.

From 1893 to 1939, a railway service was operated on Amrum. There is no

airstrip
on the island because any plans to establish one have so far vehemently been opposed.

Flora and fauna

Plants and wild animals on Amrum are marked by the proximity to the sea, but some also distinguish themselves by extreme rarity and a high ecological value worth of protection. This fact was acknowledged by the establishment of two nature reserves and Amrum's proximity to the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park.

Flora

Common sundew

Amrum's vegetation is determined by the sea and by the different types of landscapes on the island, most of which are low in

marram grass or sea wormwood grow, as well as numerous other sand-loving plants like sheep's bit which will bloom in sheltered areas between the dunes.[22] Also some stunted pines, bent by the sea wind, and Salix repens, the creeping willow can be found there. Until the 1970s, the rare sea holly
could still be seen in the dunes.

East of there are heaths and conifer or mixed forests. In some dune slacks, peat bogs can be found which occasionally host the carnivorous plant common sundew.[22] The once abundant marsh gentian vanished during the 1990s.

The Amrum forest was mainly planted in 1948 on an area of heath. Until then only a few forested regions could be found around the decoy ponds. With 180

hawkweed.[22]

In the small marshlands, some

ragged robin may be seen.[22] Here is the most nutritious soil on Amrum. Even the soil of Amrum's gardens is so low in nutrients that only a few sorts of plants, e.g. hollyhock
, will grow there without fertilising.

On the salt marshes along the eastern shore of Amrum, many salt-tolerant species can be found. Pioneer plants such as Salicornia europaea and alkali grasses, grow on and stabilize the mudflats.[22]

Fauna

Grey seals on a sand bank near Amrum
Rabbit sitting in dunes on Amrum

Like the vegetation, Amrum's wildlife is determined by the island's location within the North Sea. Thus there are only a few species of wild

storm surges and are thereafter nursed by the adults. In January 2010 the seal shelter station at Friedrichskoog announced that more and more female grey seals were "moving away from less favourable birth sites near Amrum and Sylt to Heligoland."[23]

Birdlife is particularly plentiful.

brent goose or sanderling, all of whom are able to find sufficient food along the coasts of Amrum. Moreover, a number of songbirds can be found and pheasants
which were equally introduced as game are common.

vertebrata
.

In the sea surrounding Amrum numerous fish species typical of the North Sea can be found, like

protozoans in the sands of the Kniepsand beach.[26] Since the 1980s, the abundance of harbour porpoises in the sea off Amrum and Sylt has been increasing and a protected marine area was created in 1999 to provide shelter for them.[24][27]

The number of other marine species is equally great, the

lugworm are all among them. Of them, mainly the sand shrimps are commercially used by "harvesting" them from the seabed with cutters
. The shrimps are then wrongly marketed as "crabs" (Krabben).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e "Zahlen, Daten, Fakten" (in German). Amt Föhr-Amrum. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  2. ISBN 978-3-8174-6638-2
    .
  3. ^ "Geografie und Klima" [Geography and Climate]. Statistisches Jahrbuch 2012 - Gesellschaft und Staat [2012 Statistical Yearbook – Society and State] (PDF) (in German). Federal Statistical Office of Germany. p. 17.
  4. ^ a b c "Entwicklung der Insel Amrum" [Development of Amrum Island] (in German). Government of Schleswig-Holstein. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  5. ISBN 978-3-9550-7224-7
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-4020-8638-0
    .
  7. Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein
    .
  8. ^ Rheinheimer 2007, pp. 8, 20
  9. ^ Dircksen, Rolf (1952). Das kleine Amrum-Buch (in German) (2nd ed.). Breklum: Christian Jensen Verlag. pp. 21, 33.
  10. ISBN 3-8001-3350-4
    .
  11. ^ Rheinheimer 2007, p. 20
  12. ^ Rheinheimer 2007, p. 8
  13. ^ Reineking, Bettina (1999). "The Pallas Accident" (PDF). Wadden Sea Newsletter (1). Common Wadden Sea Secretariat: 22–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  14. ISBN 978-3-924422-85-1
    .
  15. ^ "Tod auf Amrum" [Death on Amrum]. Heilbronner Stimme (in German). Teleschau. 25 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  16. ^ "'Sommer' mit Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht ist der schönste Teenie-Film des Jahres" ['Sommer' with Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht is the year's most beautiful teen film]. B.Z. (in German). 21 April 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  17. ^ "Amrum Ahoi". Adler-Schiffe (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Fährfahrplan Dagebüll-Föhr-Amrum 2020" (PDF) (in German). Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  19. ^ Kölschbach, Petra (29 September 2018). "Schlüttsiel versandet: Abgespeckte Fahrstrecke für Halligfähre 'Hilligenlei'". Husumer Nachrichten (in German).
  20. ^ "Fährabfahrten". Langeness.de (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Download Busfahrpläne". Faehre.de (in German). Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  22. ^ a b c d e Groom, "A Checklist of the Flora of Amrum" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Hahn, Melanie (13 January 2010). "Kegelrobben-Geburtenrekord auf Helgoland". Nordseewolf Magazin (in German). Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-3-7701-7312-9
    .
  25. ISBN 3-8001-3491-8
    .
  26. Institute for Marine Science at Kiel University
    : 158–164.
  27. ISBN 0-7603-2567-7
    .

References

External links

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