Nordfriesland (; da, Nordfrisland; frr, Nordfraschlönj ), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost district of Germany, part of the state 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 Sc ...

. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the exception of the island of

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

), as well as adjacent parts of the

Schleswig Geest The Schleswig Geest (german: Schleswigsche Geest, da, Slesvigsk Gest, Midtslesvig or Midtsletten) lies between the North Frisian Marsh and Schleswig-Holstein Uplands in the north of Schleswig-Holstein (Southern Schleswig) in Germany. To the south ...

to the east and

Stapelholm Stapelholm was an ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It was situated on the north bank of the river Eider, approx. 25 km southwest of Schleswig. The seat of the ''Amt'' was ...

to the south, and is bounded (from the east and clockwise) by the districts of

Schleswig-Flensburg Schleswig-Flensburg (; da, Slesvig-Flensborg) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Dithmarschen and Nordfriesland, the Region Syddanmark in Denmark, ...

and

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schle ...

, 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 ...

and the Danish county of South Jutland. The district is called ''Kreis Nordfriesland'' in

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 ...

, ''Kreis Noordfreesland'' in

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 ...

, ''Kris Nordfraschlönj'' in Mooring North Frisian, ''Kreis Nuurdfresklun'' in Fering North Frisian and ''Nordfrislands amt'' in Danish. As of 2008, Nordfriesland was the most visited rural district in Germany.

History

The sea has always had a strong influence in the region. In

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times, storm tides made life in what is now Nordfriesland rather dangerous. Only in modern times was the loss of land and lives able to be stopped by building solid dikes. Many villages that once existed are now at the bottom of the sea. The best-known example is the small seaport of Rungholt, which was destroyed by a storm surge in 1362. The island of Strand vanished in the Burchardi flood, another disastrous storm in 1634. Subsequent to this storm surge, there were many small islets instead of Strand. From approximately 1200 until 1864, the area that is now Nordfriesland was a part of 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 ...

, which itself was not directly a part of the Danish Kingdom, but a fiefdom of the Danish crown and linked to the kings of Denmark by personal union as a separate entity. Nordfriesland is still a

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

district: there are people speaking

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 ...

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 ...

, North Frisian and Danish including South Jutlandic. The North Frisian language exists in nine slightly different dialects, yet it is mainly used by older citizens in mainland Nordfriesland. A relatively lively community of Frisian speakers exists though on the islands of Föhr 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 app ...

. After becoming German, three districts were established in the region:

Südtondern Südtondern is an ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. History Its seat is in Niebüll. It was formed on 1 January 2008 from the former ''Ämter'' Bökingharde, Karrharde, Süde ...

in the north,

Husum Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of ...

in the centre, and Eiderstedt in the south. In 1970 these three districts were merged to form the Nordfriesland district.

Geography

The entire coastal region is part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park. Nordfriesland includes the coastal section between Dithmarschen and Denmark. In the south is the Eiderstedt peninsula, where the River Eider meets the sea. The North Frisian Islands are also part of the Nordfriesland district and located inside the national park as well. There are five large islands (

Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; 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 Islands and is the ...

, Föhr,

, Pellworm and Nordstrand) and ten smaller islets known as Halligen.

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

References

External links