Archsum (North Frisian: ''Arichsem'') is a village on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

island of

Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...

in the district of Nordfriesland in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Today, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the '' Gemeinde Sylt''.

Etymology

Archsum (North Frisian: ''Arichsem'') derives from "settlement of Arke" or "settlement of Erke".

History

Based on burial sites found in the 1930s, the area was settled as early as the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

. ''Arxsum'' was first mentioned in 1462. In 1611, there were 38 farms and the population totalled around 150. In 1709, 25 men out of 53 families were seafarers.

Whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

helped to boost the number of inhabitants to 259 by 1745 (40 mariners). Many ship masters built houses in Archsum after retiring. By 1850, the number of farms had fallen back to 45. By 1952, the population had declined to just 129. Only during the 1930s, when Sylt was fortified by the military, did the number of inhabitants rise briefly (1939: 306, half of which belonged to the ''

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ...

''). Until the ''Nössedeich'' was constructed in 1936/37, the area was liable to flooding which destroyed both harvests and homes.

Geography

Archsum is located roughly 6 kilometres southeast of Westerland, between

Keitum Keitum (Danish: ''Kejtum'', North Frisian: ''Kairem'') is a village on the North Sea island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Today, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the '' Gemeinde Sylt''. Etymology It is unclea ...

and

Morsum Morsum (North Frisian: ''Muasem'') is a village on the North Sea island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Today, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the '' Gemeinde Sylt''. Morsum is located close to the scientifically ...

. The village territory covers 679 hectares.

Demographics

Archsum has a population of around 240 (2013).

Economy

Agriculture and seafaring were long the mainstays of the Archsum economy. Since 1961, Archsum has held the status of ''Luftkurort'' (climatic spa). Today, tourism dominates the local economy.

Attractions

Local Neolithic sites include the ''Merelmerskhoog'', a 4,500-year-old

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...

. Raised areas that served as dwelling sites such as the ''Firstklent'', were excavated in 1969-73 by Joachim Reinstein, yielding findings from the Stone and Bronze Age. Dwellings were discovered that pointed to a 2,000-year-old village, and another settlement likely in use between 700 and 1000 AD. The last visible remains of the so-called ''Archsumburg'' (a

circular rampart A circular rampart (German: ''Ringwall'') is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The ...

with an internal diameter of roughly 65 metres, built around 2,000 years ago) were probably removed around 1860.

Government

In the ''Gebietsreform'' of 1970, Archsum became part of

Sylt-Ost Sylt-Ost (translated, East Sylt) is a former municipality on the island of Sylt, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It used to be the administrative seat of the ''Amt Landschaft Sylt'' and a municipality into which ...

. Sylt-Ost was merged on 1 January 2009 with Rantum and the town of Westerland. In separate referendums in 2008, Westerland (by a large majority) and Sylt-Ost (narrowly) agreed to the merger in May 2008. Rantum followed. In September 2008, the merger contract was signed. Archsum is now an ''Ortsteil'' of ''Gemeinde Sylt''. Since 1 May 2015, the mayor of ''Gemeinde Sylt has been Nikolas Häckel.

Infrastructure

Transport

The K117 road connects Archsum to Morsum as well as to Keitum and Westerland. ' operates buses that provide public transport on the island.

References

External links

Archsum tourist office (German)
{{authority control Villages in Schleswig-Holstein Sylt Nordfriesland