Archsum (North Frisian: ''Arichsem'') is a village on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

island of

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

in the district of

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; ; Low German: Noordfreesland), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost Districts of Germany, district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the e ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Today, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the '' Gemeinde Sylt''.

Etymology

Archsum (North Frisian: ''Arichsem'') derives from "settlement of Arke" or "settlement of Erke".

History

Based on burial sites found in the 1930s, the area was settled as early as the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. ''Arxsum'' was first mentioned in 1462. In 1611, there were 38 farms and the population totalled around 150. In 1709, 25 men out of 53 families were seafarers.

Whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

helped to boost the number of inhabitants to 259 by 1745 (40 mariners). Many ship masters built houses in Archsum after retiring. By 1850, the number of farms had fallen back to 45. By 1952, the population had declined to just 129. Only during the 1930s, when Sylt was fortified by the military, did the number of inhabitants rise briefly (1939: 306, half of which belonged to the ''

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the Economy of Nazi Germany, German economy, militarise the wo ...

''). Until the ''Nössedeich'' was constructed in 1936/37, the area was liable to flooding which destroyed both harvests and homes.

Geography

Archsum is located roughly 6 kilometres southeast of Westerland, between Keitum and

Morsum Morsum (North Frisian: ''Muasem'') is a village on the North Sea island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Today, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the ''Sylt (municipality), Gemeinde Sylt''. Morsum is located close to ...

. The village territory covers 679 hectares.

Demographics

Archsum has a population of around 240 (2013).

Economy

Agriculture and seafaring were long the mainstays of the Archsum economy. Since 1961, Archsum has held the status of ''Luftkurort'' (climatic spa). Today, tourism dominates the local economy.

Attractions

Local Neolithic sites include the ''Merelmerskhoog'', a 4,500-year-old

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europ ...

. Raised areas that served as dwelling sites such as the ''Firstklent'', were excavated in 1969-73 by Joachim Reinstein, yielding findings from the Stone and Bronze Age. Dwellings were discovered that pointed to a 2,000-year-old village, and another settlement likely in use between 700 and 1000 AD. The last visible remains of the so-called ''Archsumburg'' (a

circular rampart A circular rampart () is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The period during which ...

with an internal diameter of roughly 65 metres, built around 2,000 years ago) were probably removed around 1860.

Government

In the ''Gebietsreform'' of 1970, Archsum became part of

Sylt-Ost Sylt-Ost (translated, East Sylt) is a former municipality on the island of Sylt, in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It used to be the administrative seat of the '' Amt Landschaft Sylt'' and a municipality into whi ...

. Sylt-Ost was merged on 1 January 2009 with Rantum and the town of Westerland. In separate referendums in 2008, Westerland (by a large majority) and Sylt-Ost (narrowly) agreed to the merger in May 2008. Rantum followed. In September 2008, the merger contract was signed. Archsum is now an ''Ortsteil'' of ''Gemeinde Sylt''. Since 1 May 2015, the mayor of ''Gemeinde Sylt'' has been Nikolas Häckel.

Infrastructure

Transport

The K117 road connects Archsum to Morsum as well as to Keitum and Westerland. ' operates buses that provide public transport on the island.

References

External links

Archsum tourist office (German)
{{authority control Villages in Schleswig-Holstein Sylt Nordfriesland