Sylt

Coordinates: 54°54′N 8°20′E / 54.900°N 8.333°E / 54.900; 8.333

Sylt (German pronunciation: [ˈzʏlt]; Danish: Sild; Söl'ring North Frisian: Söl) 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 Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia. The northernmost island of Germany, it is known for its tourist resorts, notably Westerland, Kampen and Wenningstedt-Braderup, as well as for its 40 km long sandy beach. It is frequently covered by the media in connection with its exposed situation in the North Sea and its ongoing loss of land during storm tides. Since 1927, Sylt has been connected to the mainland by the Hindenburgdamm causeway. In latter years, it has been a resort for the German jet set and tourists in search of occasional celebrity sighting.

Geography

With 99.14 km², Sylt is the fourth-largest German island and the largest German island in the North Sea. Sylt is located from 9 to 16 km off the mainland, to which it is connected by the Hindenburgdamm. Southeast of Sylt are the islands of Föhr and Amrum, to the north lies the Danish island of Rømø. The island of Sylt extends for 38 km in a north-south direction. At its northern peak at Königshafen, it is only 320 m wide. Its greatest width, from the town of Westerland in the west to the eastern Nössespitze near Morsum, measures 12.6 km. On the western and northwestern shore, there is a 40 km sand beach. To the east of Sylt, is the Wadden Sea, which belongs to the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and mostly falls dry during low tide.

Sylt (municipality)

Gemeinde Sylt is a municipality on the island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It has around 13,000 inhabitants and covers about 60% of the area of the island.

History

The municipality was formed on 1 January 2009 by the merger of the former municipalities Rantum and Sylt-Ost with the town of Westerland. The debate on this move had started in 2003 when a similar merger happened on Fehmarn. However, local rivalries and desire for independence prevented progress for a time. It took the foundation of a citizens' movement Bürger für Sylt als Einheit to advance the plan. In separate referendums in 2008, Westerland (by a large majority) and Sylt-Ost (narrowly) agreed to the merger in May 2008. Rantum followed, but List, Kampen, Wenningstedt-Braderup and Hörnum remained aloof. In September 2008 the merger contract was signed.

Although Westerland used to have the status of Stadt (city), the new municipality so far refrained from applying for this status. One reason is that the Ortsteile do not want to advertise their tourism services as simple suburbs (Stadtteile).

Sylt (disambiguation)

Sylt may refer to:

Places

Businesses

Ships