Rügen was a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northeastern part 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 ...

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 ...

. The district was bordered entirely by the Baltic Sea. The nearest districts were

Nordvorpommern Nordvorpommern ("North Western Pomerania") was a '' Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea, where it enclosed the city of Stralsund. Further to the northeast, sep ...

and the district-free city

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 ...

. The district covered the islands

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

and

Hiddensee Hiddensee () is a car-free island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Germany's largest island, Rügen, on the German coast. The island has about 1,000 inhabitants. It was a holiday destination for East German tourists during German Democratic ...

, and several small islands like

Ummanz The island of Ummanz lies in the Baltic Sea, off the west coast of the island of Rügen, and belongs, like the latter, to the county of Vorpommern-Rügen in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Ummanz is around 20 square kilom ...

and

Vilm The Baltic Sea island of Vilm lies in the bay south of the much larger island of Rügen, and is one of Germany's most remote and tranquil spots. Covering less than , Vilm is the remnant of a moraine left as the glaciers retreated about 6000 ye ...

. It was thus the only district of Germany which consists solely of islands.

History

The district of Rügen was established in 1806 by the Swedish administration of

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...

. At first it was named ''Amt Bergen'', in 1810 it was renamed to ''Kreis Bergen''. On 4 September 2011, Rügen was merged to

Vorpommern-Rügen Vorpommern-Rügen is a district in the north of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the Baltic Sea and the districts Vorpommern-Greifswald, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Rostock. The district seat is ...

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

The subdivisions of the district were (situation August 2011):

References

External links

Official website
(German)
Tourism website
(German, English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rugen Former districts of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Districts of Prussia 2011 disestablishments in Germany States and territories disestablished in 2011