Föhr (
''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; da, Før) is one of the
North Frisian Islands
The North Frisian Islands (''Öömrang'' and '' Fering'' frr, Nuurdfresk Eilunen, ''Söl'ring'' frr, Nuurđfriisk Ailönen, link=no, da, Nordfrisiske Øer, german: Nordfriesische Inseln) are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia.
T ...
on 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
**Ge ...
coast of the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. It is part of the
Nordfriesland district in the
federal state
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
of
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 Sch ...
. Föhr is the second-largest North Sea island of Germany and a popular destination for tourists. A town and eleven distinct municipalities are located on the island. The climate is oceanic with moderate winters and relatively cool summers.
Being a settlement area already in neolithic times, Föhr had been part of mainland
North Frisia
North Frisia (; ; ) is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany between the rivers Eider and Wiedau. It also includes the North Frisian Islands and Heligoland. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Nort ...
until 1362. Then the coastline was destroyed by a heavy storm flood known as
Saint Marcellus's flood
Saint Marcellus's flood or (Low Saxon: ; da, Den Store Manddrukning, 'Great Drowning of Men') was an intense extratropical cyclone, coinciding with a new moon, which swept across the British Isles, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark ...
and several islands were formed, Föhr among them. The northern parts of Föhr consist of
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es while the southern parts consist of sandy
geest
Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash pla ...
. From the middle-ages until 1864, Föhr belonged to the Danish realm and to the Duchy of Schleswig, but was then transferred to Prussia as a result of the
Second Schleswig War
The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...
. Seafaring has long been the most popular trade, but farming and eventually tourism became the most important economic factors after the end of the
Age of Sail. The island can be reached by a car and passenger ferry service or via an airstrip.
Apart from German, a dialect of the
North Frisian language,
Fering, is frequently spoken on Föhr. Several authors and poets have also written in Fering.
Geography
Föhr is situated southeast 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 ...
; it is the second-largest German North Sea island. Among those German islands which are accessible only by ship or airplane Föhr is the most populous and has the largest surface.
Föhr is called "The Green Island" due to being sheltered from the storms of the North Sea by its neighbouring islands Sylt and
Amrum
Amrum (; ''Öömrang'' North Frisian: ''Oomram'') is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and has a ...
, so that Föhr's vegetation is thriving compared to other islands. It is 6.8 kilometres wide and 12 km long; the surface measures 82.82 km
2. While the northern parts are
marshland
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
, the south consists of higher
geest
Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash pla ...
land. The highest elevation measures 13 m above mean sea level and is located on the geestland ridge between the villages of
Nieblum
Nieblum (Fering: ''Njiblem'', Danish: ''Niblum'') is a municipality on the island of Föhr, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Geography
Nieblum is located on the southern shore of Föhr, approximately halfways betw ...
and
Midlum. The geest makes up about two fifths of Föhr's total area and most villages are located there. In the marshlands, a number of solitary farmsteads can be found, which were moved out of the villages during the 1960s.
Until the ''
Grote Mandrenke
Saint Marcellus's flood or (Low Saxon: ; da, Den Store Manddrukning, 'Great Drowning of Men') was an intense extratropical cyclone, coinciding with a new moon, which swept across the British Isles, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark ...
'' flooding in 1362, Föhr had been part of the mainland, connected by deep
tidal creeks.
Föhr, like its neighbour islands, is a popular tourist resort. From the ferry terminal a sandy beach of about 15 km length extends all along Föhr's southern shore and halfway up the western coast. North and northwest of Föhr the Reserved Area I of the
Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park (german: Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer) is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 O ...
is located.
![Aerial photograph 400D 2013 09 29 9551](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Aerial_photograph_400D_2013_09_29_9551.JPG)
Föhr's population counts 8,592 (as of 1 December 2010). The only town on the island is
Wyk on its south-eastern coast which is a popular seaside resort. In addition there are sixteen small villages on Föhr which are distributed among eleven municipalities. They adhere to the ''Amt''
Föhr-Amrum:
*
Alkersum (Fering: ''Aalkersem'')
*
Borgsum (''Borigsem'')
*
Dunsum (''Dunsem''), comprising Lesser and Greater Dunsum
*
Midlum (''Madlem'')
* ''Nordseebad''
Nieblum
Nieblum (Fering: ''Njiblem'', Danish: ''Niblum'') is a municipality on the island of Föhr, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Geography
Nieblum is located on the southern shore of Föhr, approximately halfways betw ...
(''Njiblem'') with its neighbourhood Goting (''Guating'')
*
Oevenum (''Ööwnem'')
*
Oldsum
Oldsum ( Fering: ''Olersem'') is a municipality on the island of Föhr, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Geography
The municipality of Oldsum consists of the three hamlets of Oldsum, Klintum ( Fering: ''Klantem'' ...
(''Olersem'') with the districts of Toftum (''Taftem'') and Klintum (''Klantem'')
*
Süderende
Süderende ( Fering: ''Söleraanj'', da, Syderende) is a municipality on the island of Föhr in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
History
The place used to belong to Oldsum, being its southern edge. After Denmark's ...
(''Söleraanj'')
*''Nordseebad''
Utersum
Utersum ( Fering North Frisian: ''Ödersem'', da, Yttersum) is a municipality on the island of Föhr, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The municipality includes the hamlet of Hedehusum.
Geography
The village is ...
(''Ödersem'') with the hamlet of Hedehusum (''Hedehüsem'')
*
Witsum
Witsum ( da, Vitsum, North Frisian: ''Wiisem'') is a municipality on the island of Föhr, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Geography
Witsum is the smallest village on Föhr. From here one can see the Halligen an ...
(''Wiisem'')
*
Wrixum
Wrixum (; Fering: ''Wraksem'', Danish: ''Vriksum'') is a municipality on the island of Föhr, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Geography and traffic
Wrixum is one of eleven municipalities on Föhr and it is situ ...
(''Wraksem'')
A local peculiarity is that almost all place names end with the
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
-um, which means "home".
Climate
Föhr features a moderate
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
. The beneficial effects of the local climate and seawater on certain medical conditions inspired the physician
Carl Haeberlin (1870–1954) from Wyk to develop treatments for
climatotherapy
Climatotherapy refers to temporary or permanent relocation of a patient to a region with a climate more favourable to recovery from or management of a condition. Examples include:
* The partial pressure of oxygen is lower at high altitude, so pers ...
and
thalassotherapy
Thalassotherapy (from the Greek word ''thalassa'', meaning " sea") is the use of seawater as a form of therapy. Note: Thalasso therapy is a sub-definition under the listing for Thalasso. It also includes the systematic use of sea products and shor ...
at the beginning of the 20th century. He became the pioneer of these disciplines in Germany.
History
The higher geestland cores of the North Frisian islands, scattered between ample marshlands, attracted settlers when the sea level rose at the end of 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 parts ...
. Gravesites and several minor artifacts found on Föhr bear witness to this.
![Lembecksburg auf Föhr Panorama](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Lembecksburg_auf_F%C3%B6hr_Panorama.jpg)
When the
Frisians colonised the area of modern Nordfriesland during the 7th century, their first settlements were erected on Föhr, according to archaeological findings. The formerly sparsely inhabited island witnessed a steep rise of population. A rather large amount of jewellery originating from
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
that was found in graves of the time points out a vivid connection to northern Europe. From the age of the
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
, several ring walls, the ''Lembecksburg'' among them, are preserved.
The ''
Danish Census Book
The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation ( la, Liber Census Daniæ), ( da, Kong Valdemars Jordebog) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Da ...
'' of King
Valdemar II of Denmark
Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241.
Background
He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...
tells of two
''Harden'' on Föhr, which were territorial subdivisions of the time. The Westerharde Föhr was at times the refuge of a
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
serving the Danish. In 1368 the Westerharde, which also included Amrum, was transferred to the Counts of
Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
under the supervision of the knight Klaus Lembeck,
bailiff of
Ribe
Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,257 (2022). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe covering southwestern Jutland. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding Ribe Municipality, municipali ...
. In 1400 the Harde surrendered to Queen
Margaret I of Denmark and remained within Ribe County. Until 1864 the western part of Föhr, together with Amrum, belonged to the Danish Enclaves in North Frisia while Osterland and Wyk belonged to the Duchy of
Schleswig
The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
since it had seceded from the Danish Kingdom in the 1420s. Together with the
Wiedingharde
Wiedingharde ( Wiedingharde North Frisian: ''Wiringhiird'') was an '' amt'' (collective municipality) in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It was situated on the North Sea coast and on the border with Denmark. Its sea ...
, the
Bökingharde
Bökingharde ( Mooring North Frisian: ''Böökinghiird''; ) was an '' amt'' (collective municipality) in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It was situated on the North Sea coast, approx. 35 km northwest of Husum. ...
, the isle of
Strand
Strand may refer to:
Topography
*The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a:
** Beach
** Shoreline
* Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida
Places Africa
* Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa
* Strand Street ...
and Sylt, Osterland in 1426 signed the "Compact of the Seven Hundreds" (German: ''Siebenhardenbeliebung'') with Duke Henry IV of Schleswig, which stated that the Hundreds intended to keep their judicial autonomy.
In 1523 the northern marshlands of Föhr were shut off against the sea by
dikes
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes ...
and 22
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s of new farming land were won. Beginning in 1526, the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
began to introduce the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
confession on Föhr, which was completed in 1530.
In the 17th century a private
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
school was established in Süderende by pastor Richardus Petri which was the first of its kind on the island. It improved the situation of the seafaring population considerably and soon other navigators opened their own schools across Föhr. Although Petri led the Süderende school successfully for many years he never went to sea himself.
Eschels (1757–1842) writes, however, that in his youth, learning to navigate was still unpopular among many young sailors from Föhr because it smacked of elitism. Eventually though, these navigation schools enjoyed a high reputation far beyond the island. Subsequently,
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 ...
brought about a Golden Age for Föhr. During the 17th and 18th century most
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
whaling ships would have a crew of Frisians from the islands. Around the year 1700 Föhr had a total population of roughly 6,000 people, 1,600 of whom were whalers. At the height of Dutch whaling in the year 1762, 1,186 mariners from Föhr were serving on Dutch vessels at
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
and
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
and 25% of all shipmasters on Dutch whaling vessels were people from Föhr. In the late 18th century a thousand sailors, 150 Commanders among them, were living on Föhr. Still today the exquisitely decorated houses of the Commanders can be seen in Nieblum and Süderende. The so-called "talking tombstones" in the cemeteries of the three churches on Föhr account for their vitae. Yet with the decline of the whale populations ever fewer men would go sailing and the people of Föhr focused on agriculture again. Notable seafarers from Föhr include
Matthias Petersen
Matthias Petersen (born Matz Peters; 24 December 1632, in Oldsum – 16 September 1706) was a sea captain and whaler from Oldsum on the North Frisian island of Föhr. He became known for catching 373 whales throughout his career.
Life
He was born ...
(1632–1706) and
Jens Jacob Eschels
Jens Jacob Eschels (12 December 1757 – 7 June 1842) was a nautical captain and is the author of the oldest known captain's autobiography in German.
Life
Eschels, a great-great-grandchild of whaling captain Matthias Petersen, was born in Nieb ...
.
However, when their farmsteads turned out to provide an insufficient income for a family in the mid-19th century, many people from Föhr chose to emigrate to North America. There they settled mainly in California becoming chicken farmers, and in New York City where they established themselves in the
delicatessen
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
business. Other factors for leaving the island were unemployment, and the mandatory Prussian military service that was introduced after the
Second Schleswig War
The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...
.
![Föhr Postkarte 006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/F%C3%B6hr_Postkarte_006.jpg)
After 1842, when King
Christian VIII of Denmark chose Föhr as his summer residence, the island became popular as a tourist resort.
During the Second Schleswig War, Danish Lieutenant Commander
Otto Christian Hammer
Otto Christian Hammer (18 August 1822 – 10 March 1892) was a Danish naval officer who participated in the First Schleswig War and the Second Schleswig War.
After a successful campaign along the west coast of the Duchy of Schleswig in the Firs ...
, commanding a flotilla in the North Frisian Isles, resided in Wyk auf Föhr and was able to defend the islands against superior Austrian and Prussian naval forces. He was eventually captured by Prussian Lieutenant
Ernst von Prittwitz und Gaffron
Ernst Karl Ferdinand von Prittwitz und Gaffron (20 January 1833 – 24 February 1904) was a Royal Prussian Lieutenant General and Knight of Justice of the Order of Saint John.
Family and private life
Von Prittwitz was born in Posen, Prussia (mod ...
. On 17 July 1864, while Hammer was at sea, 250
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
troops landed on Föhr and occupied the island until November 1864. In the aftermath of that war and the subsequent
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
, Prussia annexed Schleswig-Holstein in 1867 and Föhr became part of the Prussian
Schleswig-Holstein Province
The Province of Schleswig-Holstein (german: Provinz Schleswig-Holstein ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (subsequently the Free State of Prussia after 1918) from 1868 to 1946.
History
It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and H ...
.
The three hamlets of Utersum, Witsum and Hedehusum were the only ones to vote for Denmark in Zone II of the
Schleswig Plebiscites
The Schleswig plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 100 to 115 of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former Duchy of S ...
in 1920; yet as they were not located directly at the border they remained within Germany.
On 1 January 2007 the formerly independent municipal entities of Amt Föhr-Land, Amt Amrum and Wyk auf Föhr were merged into one municipality (''Amt'')
Föhr-Amrum.
Language and culture
Language
A major part of the population in the west of the island speaks, besides German, a local idiom of the
North Frisian language known as ''
Fering'' or ''Föhring''. Fering is again divided into the two dialects of Westerland Föhr and Osterland Föhr, being the western and eastern halves of the island respectively. In Osterland
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
is more popular than Fering and especially in Wyk the traditional language is
Standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
.
During the whaling campaigns from the 17th to the early 19th centuries, many seafarers from Föhr changed their Fering birth names to Dutch names because they were regarded as being more practical for their work abroad and more fashionable at home. Many Dutch
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
s were also introduced to Fering at that time and are still in use today.
There are various interpretations concerning the origin of the name Föhr and its original Frisian name Feer. Current etymological studies suggest that Föhr and also Amrum have names rooted in maritime tradition. A 19th-century author wrote that the name derived from the old ferry between Föhr and
Nordmarsch, which was just a narrow crossing in the Middle Ages. Another likely root is the Frisian ''feer'' which means "barren" and has been attributed to the island's geest core. Until the 19th century, these parts had been heavily
podsol
In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of hum ...
ised.
On the island, there is also a
Danish minority with a Danish school.
Tradition
![Friesentracht](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Friesentracht.JPG)
On special occasions, mainly in the western parts of the island, women may wear their traditional costumes. Several popular customs are kept on Föhr, such as ''
Biikebrennen'' on 21 February with a great bonfire and the ''Tamsen'' (or ''Thamsen'', named after
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...
) on 21 December where young people play pranks on others by hiding things that can spin and turn around.
During the Christmas season a special kind of Christmas tree exists on Föhr and other North Frisian islands, the so-called ''kenkenbuum''. It consists of a wooden frame which is decorated with a wreath of green leaves. The inner parts carry figures made of dough, including animals and
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
. On New Year's Eve, groups of people dress up in costumes and walk from house to house to let others guess their true identity (similar to Halloween). According to their age, they are treated with either sweets or alcoholic drinks. In Fering, this tradition is called ''ütj tu kenknin''; the people of Wyk call it ''Rummelrotje''. It corresponds to the ''Hulken'' on Amrum.
In the times when great parts of the male population on Föhr were seafarers, they would spend the winter at home on the island. In the afternoon the bachelors would meet at twilight (Fering: ''hualewjonken'') for social gatherings. Today ''Hualewjonken'' is a get-together of
confirmed
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
bachelors below the age of 30.
Arts, literature and music
Oluf Braren
Oluf Braren (25 February 1787 – 22 March 1839) was a painter of naïve art from the north Frisian island of Föhr. Some of his works show a strong affinity to his Frisian homeland.
His paintings include portraits and depictions of public life as ...
(1787–1839), a
naïve art
Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...
painter, was born in Oldsum. Although largely ignored during his lifetime, his art became eventually popular in the 20th century. Today there are several professional artists working on Föhr and in Alkersum. There is a museum that exhibits notable international artists such as
Emil Nolde
Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of th ...
,
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...
or
Max Liebermann
Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...
.
There are also various Fering authors, among them
Stine Andresen (1849–1927), who was a poet and writer from Wyk whose literature often refers to her native island. She published her poetry in German but also in Fering. In 1991, Ellin Nickelsen's
novelette ''Jonk Bradlep'' ('Dark Wedding') was published. With it, she won the first ever held North Frisian literature competition.
The internationally successful
Rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Stanfour
Stanfour are a German rock band who formed in 2004. The band was founded on the German island of Föhr where the four core members live. Already prior to the band's formation, brothers Alexander and Konstantin Rethwisch spent years in Los Angeles ...
is based on Föhr.
The island has its own anthem, ''
Leew Eilun Feer
(Föhr North Frisian for "Beloved Isle of Föhr") is the insular anthem of Föhr, in the Fering dialect. The lyrics were written by Knud Broder Knudsen (1864–1917).*
Lyrics
References
*
See also
*Üüs Söl’ring Lön’
European a ...
'' ('Beloved Isle of Föhr').
Traffic
![Nordfriesland-IMG 4943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Nordfriesland-IMG_4943.JPG)
The island is accessible by a car ferry connecting the mainland port of
Dagebüll
Dagebüll () ( Mooring North Frisian: ''Doogebel''; da, Dagebøl) is a municipality located at the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein in the Nordfriesland district, Germany. Today's Dagebüll was created in 1978 as a merger of the municipalities ...
and the town of Wyk (approximately 10-12 sailings a day, crossing time approx. 45 minutes). The ferry port in Dagebüll is connected to the German road and railway networks. There are also frequent car ferry services from Föhr to the neighbouring island of
Amrum
Amrum (; ''Öömrang'' North Frisian: ''Oomram'') is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and has a ...
(approx. 1 hour crossing time) as well as seasonal pedestrian ferries to
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 ...
and the
Halligen
The ''Halligen'' (German, singular ''Hallig'', ) or the ''halliger'' (Danish, singular ''hallig'') are small islands without protective dikes. They are variously pluralized in English as the Halligen, Halligs, Hallig islands, or Halligen islands. ...
.
A bus service connects Wyk to all of the island's villages. Föhr can also be reached by small airplanes via an
airstrip
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
.
Economy
Föhr's economy is mainly dependent on tourism. Moreover, agriculture, mainly pasture farming, plays an important role. The harbour of Wyk hosts several
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
fishing boats.
Attractions
Wyk
Sights include a
bell tower (raised in 1886) as well as the ''Sandwall''
esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
.
Frisian customs and the history of Föhr are displayed at the Dr Carl Haeberlin Frisian Museum, whose entrance is made up of two whale jaw bones.
Church buildings
![Nordenskirker Johanfoehr01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Nordenskirker_Johanfoehr01.jpg)
The island features three medieval churches from the 12th and 13th century. These are St. Nicolas' church in Wyk-Boldixum (also referred to as St. Nicolai), St. John's (St. Johannis) in Nieblum and St. Lawrence's (St. Laurentii) church in Süderende. The adjacent graveyards contain
unusual tombstones which display entire vitae and may show pictures.
Windmills
On Föhr five
windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
s can be found, two of them in Wyk (a Dutch mill called ''Venti Amica'' from 1879 in the old town and a buck mill from Hallig
Langeneß
( da, Langenæs, North Frisian ''Nees'') is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It consists of the halligen (islands) Langeneß and Oland. Before the flood of 1634 the two islands were directly atta ...
at the museum), as well as one in Wrixum (an octagonal Dutch mill), one in Borgsum (Octagonal Dutch mill, rebuilt in 1992 after the previous building was ruined by fire) and one in Oldsum (octagonal Dutch mill from 1901). All of them are privately owned except for the buck mill and the mill at Wrixum.
Duck decoys
In the marshlands six
duck decoys can be visited. First established in the 18th century, these artificial ponds provided a pastime for sea captains and ships' officers during wintertime. Later the ponds were used to trap great numbers of wild ducks. In the pond at Oevenum, more than 3,000,000 ducks have been caught since its installation in 1735, and from 1885 to 1931 a factory in Wyk produced canned duck meat. The preserved meat was exported worldwide.
[Faltings, Jan I., ''Föhrer Grönlandfahrt ...''. pp. 36–37.]
Wadden Sea
![Seehund11cele4 edit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Seehund11cele4_edit.jpg)
The entire sea surrounding Föhr may also be designated an attraction. Mainly the foreland north of the sea dike, but also the
mud flat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...
s provide ample space for all kinds of
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s.
Oystercatcher
The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The ...
s,
common eider
The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breed ...
s,
shelduck
The shelducks, most species of which are found in the genus ''Tadorna'' (except for the Radjah shelduck, which is now found in its own monotypic genus ''Radjah''), are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae subfamily of the Anatidae, the biolog ...
s,
snipes
Snipes may refer to:
* Snipe, a wading bird
* Snipes (surname)
* ''Snipes'' (film), a 2001 film
* ''Snipes'' (video game), a 1983 text-mode networked computer game
* Snipes Mountain AVA
Snipes Mountain AVA is an American Viticultural Area l ...
and
peewits are only a few of them. Moreover, during the season vast swarms of
migratory bird
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between Breeding in the wild, breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Animal migration, Migration carries high costs in predation a ...
s will rest at Föhr and the neighbouring islands. Occasionally, especially after severe winter storms,
harbour seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...
s may be encountered on the beaches.
The beach along the southern shore is popular for swimming. Also, during low tide it is possible to
hike from Amrum to Föhr.
See also
*
Islands of Germany
This is a list of all offshore islands that belong to Germany, which are found in the North and Baltic Seas. In addition, some islands in inland waters are also listed.
Largest islands
72 km² are part of Poland
Islands of the Baltic ...
*
Uthlande
Uthlande, Utlande ( Low German or Old Danish: ''The outer lands'', in Danish also: ''Friselagen'') is a term for the islands, halligen and marshes off the mainland of North Frisia in the Southwest Jutland, modern Nordfriesland district, Germany ...
References
;Works cited
*
*
*
External links
Föhr, die grüne Insel- Information on Föhr
Aerial photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fohr
Islands of Schleswig-Holstein