Borgsum ( Fering: ''Borigsem'') is a municipality on the island of

Föhr Föhr ( ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; da, Før) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest No ...

in the district of Nordfriesland, in

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 ...

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 ...

History

The name means "Settlement at the castle". Said castle is the ''Lembecksburg'', in fact a medieval ring wall with a diameter of 95 meters and a height of ten meters. According to old lore, it was constructed in the 9th century as a stronghold against the

Viking 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 ...

s and is named after the knight Klaus Lembeck who had allegedly been residing there as a steward of king

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...

in the 14th century. After breaking his feudal oath, though, Lembeck is said to have been besieged by the king's host. Ít is disputed though whether Lembeck ever set foot on the island. Archaeological findings on Sylt island in the late 1970s suggest, however, that the Lembecksburg and similar facilities on Sylt date back to the days of the Roman Empire. In 1991 a

wind mill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some par ...

was erected in place of an older, dilapidated mill. Today, Borgsum counts about 350 inhabitants.

Politics

Since the communal elections of 2008, the ''BWG'' constituents' association holds six of nine seats in the municipality council. Another seat is held by the ''ABB''. The ninth seat is vacant, no major German parties are represented in the council.

Economy

Borgsum is dominated by agriculture and tourism. Additionally, there are a few crafts businesses.

References

External links

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Borgsum
{{authority control Municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein Föhr Nordfriesland