Uthörn ( da, Udhjørne Holm) is a small

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 ...

island adjacent to the

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 ...

island in the district of Nordfriesland, and as such it is Germany's northernmost isle right after Sylt proper. It belongs to the

List A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

municipality.

Geography

The island is situated in the so-called

Königshafen The Königshafen ("king's harbour") is the northernmost bight of the North Frisian island of Sylt in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein and thus also the northernmost bay in Germany. The bay gets its name from its use as a natural harbour a ...

(King's Harbour), a bay on the eastern shore of Sylt which is facing the shallow

tidal flats 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 f ...

of the Wadden Sea in that area. Uthörn is located north of the town of List, only a kilometre away from the ''Ellbogen'' (Elbow) peninsula of Sylt, which is in fact Germany's northernmost area. Uthörn is almost 800 meters long and up to 240 meters wide, its area amounts to about 13 ha. The island is relatively young, as it developed out of a sand bar, which due to wind drift of sand from Sylt has now grown to a height of approximately 4.10 m above sea level and is no longer submerged during high

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

. It is thought that the growth of Uthörn is likely to continue in the future. The island is overgrown by

pioneer species Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire. Pioneer flora Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so ...

of plants and the common dune vegetation like

marram grass ''Ammophila'' (synonymous with ''Psamma'' P. Beauv.) is a genus of flowering plants consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses. The common names for these grasses include marram grass, bent grass, and beachgrass. These grasses ar ...

Protection

Uthörn is located just a few metres off the shore of Sylt and can be reached on foot through the shallow sea. But as it provides space for the hatching and resting of rare and endangered

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 and is situated inside 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 ...

, it may only be entered with special permission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uthorn North Frisian Islands Islands of Schleswig-Holstein