The Darß or Darss is the middle part of the peninsula of

Fischland-Darß-Zingst Fischland-Darß-Zingst or Fischland-Darss-Zingst''Fischland-Darss-Zi ...

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

state of

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

. The peninsula's name is of Slavic origin. There is a large forest in the Darß. In recent times, the name "Darß" has also been used to refer to the entire peninsula. The Darß is famous for being a resting place for tens of thousands of migrating cranes and

geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...

. Tourism has long been a source of income and has increased since

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, but the Darß is still far from being a crowded tourist place.

Location and character

The Darß lies northeast of

Fischland Fischland (literally "fish land") is an isthmus on the southern Baltic Sea coast on the Bay of Mecklenburg in northeastern Germany. It is part of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst. Fischland was an island until the 14th century and was bound ...

and west of the peninsula of

Zingst Zingst ( Polabian ''Sgoni'') is the easternmost portion of the three-part Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula, located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, between the cities of Rostock and Stralsund on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. Th ...

, its boundary with the latter being formed by the inlet of the

Prerower Strom The Prerower Strom, Prerow Strom
at www.ostseeferieninfo.de. Retrieved 27 Jun 2019. or ...

. To the north lies the

; to the south the lagoons of

Saaler Bodden The Saaler Bodden forms the southwestern part of the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain and lies east of the Fischland peninsula about 30 kilometres northeast of Rostock.''Die General Karte No. 1 - Schwerin-Rostock-Rügen'', 1:200,000 scale, Mairs Geogra ...

and

Bodstedter Bodden The Bodstedter Bodden is a lagoon, of the type known as a ''bodden'', that is part of the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain and the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park in northeastern Germany. It lies south of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zing ...

, which belong to the

Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain The Darss-Zingst Bodden ChainMüller, Felix et al. (2010). ''Long-Term Ecological Research: Between Theory and Application'', ''Coastal Lagoons - Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain'', Sect. 12.3.3, Springer, Heidelberg, London, New York, p. 173. (german: ...

. The Darß measures between from north to south and from east to west and is home to the villages of Born a. Darß,

Prerow Prerow is a municipality in the district of Vorpommern-Rügen in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This Baltic seaside resort on the Darß peninsula is located about halfway between the historic Hanseatic towns of Rostock and Stralsund. ...

and Wieck. The village of Ahrenshoop in the municipality of

Ahrenshoop Ahrenshoop is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula of the Baltic Sea. It used to be a small fishing village, but is today known for its tourism and as a holi ...

belongs to Vordarß, whilst the southern villages in Ahrenshoop,

Althagen The village of Althagen on the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has been a part of the municipality of Ahrenshoop since 1950. Until 1945, the border between Mecklenburg and Pomerania ran between Alt ...

and Niehagen, are part of Fischland. Most of the Darß is covered by the woodland of the

Darß Forest The Darß Forest (pronounced "Darss", german: Darßwald) is a wooded region on the western coast of the peninsula of Darß on Germany's Baltic coast. There are no settlements in the forest. Villages on the outskirts are Ahrenshoop and Born in ...

, in area. On the northern tip of the Darß, at Darßer Ort, is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

of the same name. The National Park exhibition in Wieck a. Darß provides information about the geological development as well as the flora and fauna of the

Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park The Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park
at www.naturefund.de. Ac ...

, as does the Natureum in Wieck a. Darß attached to the Darßer Ort Lighthouse, as outstations of the

German Oceanographic Museum The German Oceanographic Museum (german: Deutsche Meeresmuseum), also called the Museum for Oceanography and Fisheries, Aquarium (german: Museum für Meereskunde und Fischerei, Aquarium, links=no), in the Hanseatic town of Stralsund, is a muse ...

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

. Darßer Ort is an extended chain of sandbanks running in a northeasterly direction. The entire area around Darßer Ort as well as the northwestern part of the Darß Forest is part of Protection Zone I of the National Park and may only be visited on marked paths. The rest of the forested region is also part of the National Park.

External links

official site

Darß Auf der Sonnenseite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darss German islands in the Baltic Peninsulas of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Fischland-Darß-Zingst