Fehmarn (; ; from Old Wagrian Slavic "''Fe More''", meaning "''In the Sea''") is an island in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, off the eastern coast of

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 ...

's northernmost state of

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 ...

. It is Germany's third-largest island, after

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) 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 ci ...

and

Usedom Usedom ( , ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It lies north of the Szczecin Lagoon estuary of the ...

. Fehmarn is separated from the German peninsula of Wagria in

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

by the Fehmarn Sound, and from the southern Danish island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

by the

Fehmarn Belt Fehmarn Belt () (, former spelling ''Femer Bælt''; ) is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries ...

. It is connected to the Holsatian mainland by the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. The island belongs to the district of

Ostholstein Ostholstein (; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Stormarn, Segeberg and Plön, the Baltic Sea and the city of Lübeck. Geographically, the district covers the vas ...

(East Holstein). The closest larger towns on the mainland are Heiligenhafen (''Saints’ Harbor'') and

Oldenburg in Holstein Oldenburg in Holstein () is a German town at the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea. The nearest city is Lübeck. The town belongs to the (historical) region of Holstein, today in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Oldenburg was the chi ...

(founded as '' Starigard''). Right opposite Fehmarn, on the tip of the Wagrian Peninsula, is Großenbrode. The Vogelfluglinie (Danish: Fugleflugtslinjen), an important transport corridor connecting the Danish capital of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

on the island of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

to the second-largest German city of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

via

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

, runs across the island. There are currently two tunnels under construction in the region: the

Fehmarn Belt Tunnel The Fehmarn Belt fixed link (, ) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, crossing the Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea. It will provide ...

between Puttgarden on Fehmarn and

Rødbyhavn Rødbyhavn () is a small town and harbour on the south coast of Lolland, Denmark, with a population of 1,516 (1 January 2024).Fehmarn Sound Tunnel between Strukkamp (Fehmarn) and Großenbrode ( Wagria). The most notable settlements on Fehmarn are Burg auf Fehmarn (

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

: ''Borg op Fehmarn'') and Puttgarden, with the island's ferry port. Fehmarn is allegorically represented by the "Goldene Krone im blauen Meer" (''Golden Crown in the blue Sea''), which can be seen on many flags on the island, making reference to the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Danish Realm, Denmark, Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland, Kingdom of Greece, Greece, Norway, Russian Empire, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, King ...

, the Danish royal house.

History

Earlier names of the island are Femera, Fimbria, Cimbria parva, and Imbra. As a part of Wagria, it was settled by the Slavic Lechitic tribe of Wagri in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. Fehmarn is one of the westernmost places of the former contiguous settlement area of the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

, and the westernmost island with a former Slavic settlement. The name of the island itself derives from the Polabian ''fe more'' (''in the sea''), modern ''v more'', and has the same etymological background as

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

, deriving from ''po more'', ''at the sea''. Puttgarden is also a Slavic name, deriving from ''pod gard'', which means ''under the castle'' (on

exists a village with the same etymological background, evolving into the modern form

Putgarten Putgarten is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The municipality is managed by the '' Amt'' of Nord-Rügen with its seat in Sagard. Putgarten is the northernmost municipality in the state of Me ...

). Other Slavic-founded villages on Fehmarn are Bannesdorf, Dänschendorf, Gahlendorf, Gammendorf-Siedendorf, Gollendorf, Hinrichsdorf, Klausdorf, Kopendorf, Lemkendorf, Meeschendorf, Püttsee, Sahrensdorf, Schlagsdorf, Sulsdorf and Vitzdorf. The villages of Bisdorf, Presen and Staberdorf are either Slavic-founded or founded by Germanic colonists from

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; ; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the ...

Frisia Frisia () is a Cross-border region, cross-border Cultural area, cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, who settled the island from around 1200 onwards. The Slavs inhabiting the island were gradually

Christianized Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

and Germanized. From the Middle Ages till 1864 Fehmarn formed part of the Danish

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been div ...

. When the duchy was partitioned in 1544, it formed part of the duchy of John the Elder. Upon his death without heirs in 1580, Fehmarn became part of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. After the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, Fehmarn, along with the rest of Schleswig was united with the Danish crown. In 1864, Schleswig passed to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

as a result of the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

. On 26 July 1932, the German Navy's training ship ''

Niobe Niobe (; : Nióbē) was in Greek mythology a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa. She was the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Niobe is mentioned by Achilles in Homer's ''Iliad ...

'' sank off the island during a sudden squall, with the loss of 69 lives. At Gammendorfer Strand on Fehmarn, within view of the site of the sinking, the Niobe-Denkmal monument was erected. Since 1963, Fehmarn has been connected to the German mainland by a road and rail bridge crossing the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. It is 963.40 m (3160.76 ft.) long and 69 m high.

Geography

The area is 185 km² and the coastline is 78 km. The highest hills are the "Hinrichsberg" (27.2 m) and the "Wulfener Berg" (26.5 m). The largest community on Fehmarn is

Burg The German word Burg means castle. Burg or Bürg may refer to: Places Placename element * ''-burg'', a combining form in Dutch, German and English placenames * Burg, a variant of burh, the fortified towns of Saxon England Settlements * Burg, Aar ...

() (lit. "the Town of Fehmarn"), with 6,000 inhabitants. In addition, there are many small villages, including Vadersdorf.

Climate

Transport

The

, a strait separating Fehmarn from Lolland, is located on the side opposite the German mainland. It can be crossed by ferries travelling between the seaports of Puttgarden, Germany, and

Rødby Rødby is a town located on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 1,957 (1 January 2024).Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The crossing takes about 45 minutes. On 29 June 2007, the Danish and German authorities gave the go-ahead for the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link tunnel project, planned for completion in 2028. The aforementioned 963-metre (3,159 ft) long Fehmarn Sound Bridge connects the German island of Fehmarn with the German mainland near Großenbrode.

Nature

The coasts serve as resting places for

migratory bird Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. Th ...

s, and it is thus a popular location for

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

s. The island's bird reserves are looked after by

NABU Nabu (, ) is the Babylonian patron god of literacy, scribes, wisdom, and the rational arts. He is associated with the classical planet Mercury in Babylonian astronomy. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian means 'announcer' or 'authorised pe ...

's conservation centre at the

Wallnau Waterbird Reserve The Wallnau Waterbird Reserve () is one of the most important Special Protection Area, reserves for migratory birds in Germany and the largest of Naturschutzbund Deutschland, NABU's nature conservation centres. The former cultural landscape, pond ...

. In Burg there is a large

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

with 40 fish tanks. Fehmarn is famous for its nature and recreation areas, especially during summertime (July–September) and is also well known for its

windsurf Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

and

kitesurf Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, sn ...

spots. Currently there are more than ten surfspots known on the island.

Culture

Scharwenzel is a card game for two teams with two to four players on each team. The game is at least three centuries old and is played today only on Fehmarn. Fehmarn was the location of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

's final concert, at the Open Air Love & Peace Festival, on 6 September 1970. The concert was held at Flügge Beach in the southwest. There is a memorial stone there and from 1995 through 2010, the Jimi-Hendrix-Revival-Festival was celebrated annually in September. The St. Nicholas Church has a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

that dates from 1391.St Nikolai Kirche
st-nikolai-kirche-burg.de, retrieved 30 March 2014

Notable residents

Johann Horkel Johann Horkel (8 September 1769 in Burg auf Fehmarn – 15 November 1846 in Berlin) was a German physician and botanist. From 1787 he studied medicine at the University of Halle, where in 1802 he was named an associate professor. From 1804 to ...

(1769 in Burg auf Fehmarn – 1846), a German physician and botanist. * Benedikt Niese (1849 in Burg auf Fehmarn – 1910), a German classical scholar. * Charlotte Niese (1854 in Burg auf Fehmarn – 1935), a German writer, poet and teacher. * Frederick W. Schumacher (1863–1957), an American philanthropist and businessman. *

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist Painting, painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expr ...

(1880–1938), a German expressionist painter and printmaker, lived on the island 1908 to 1912–1914. * (1890-1980), builder and writer; born in the village of Bisdorf. The museum on the island is named after him. *

Lina Heydrich Lina Mathilde Manninen (née von Osten, formerly Heydrich; 14 June 1911 – 14 August 1985) was the wife of Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Security Main Office and a central figure in Nazi Germany. The daughter of a minor German aristocrat ...

(1911–1985), born in the village of Avendorf. Her husband

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

, (1904–1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official and principal architect of the Holocaust. They had a summer home on the island which she ran as a restaurant after the war, until it burned down in February 1969. * Jürgen Blin (1943–2022), a boxer, born on the island.

Gallery

File:Fehmarn Flügge 013.jpg, Flügge lighthouse File:Fehmarnsundbrücke 1963 Femernsundbroen Insel Fehmarn Sound Bridge 963 Meters Schleswig-Holstein Germany - Foto 2018 Wolfgang Pehlemann P1260910.jpg, Fehmarn sound bridge – view from east File:Puttgarden-2008.jpg, The seaport of Puttgarden File:BurgruineGlambek-msu-5081.jpg, Ruins of the Glambæk castle File:Fehmarn Nord-Ost-Strand.JPG File:Nordstrand Fehmarn.JPG File:Fehmarn Nordstrand.JPG File:Fehmarn Sonnenaufgang N-O-Strand 1.JPG File:Fehmarn Sonnenaufgang N-O-Strand 2.JPG File:Burg a F Breite Straße.jpg File:2017-08-22-Moewe Strandkorb-4123.jpg File:Fehmarn Südstrand Mädchen am Strand 1975 Karlheinz Goedtke 01.jpg

References

External links

* *
Satellite map from Google Maps

Stadt Fehmarn

Fehmarn Events

Fehmarn Genealogy

Fehmarn Webcam

{{Authority control Islands of Schleswig-Holstein German islands in the Baltic Ostholstein Towns in Schleswig-Holstein Populated coastal places in Germany (Baltic Sea)