Rügen

Rügen is largest German island . It is located at broad coast of the Western Mecklembourg-Poméranie in the the Baltic. Its surface is of 935 km ² and its population was of: 73000 inhabitants in 2001. With its smaller neighbouring islands, Hiddensee and Ummanz, it is managed by the district of Rügen.

The principal cities are Bergen with: 20000 inhabitants and the port city of Sassnitz with: 11000 inhabitants.

In the south-east of the island, the 2 most known seaside resorts, Sellin and Göhren are.

Geography

At the end of the glacial era, there is: 14000 years, the increase of the level of water of the Baltique covered part of the coasts. The high points formed a string of islands that silts connected between them in a few centuries to form the island of Rügen.

The island counts from now on 570 km of coasts.

Rügen is mainly accessible by a bridge connecting the island to the town of Stralsund on the continent. There are also connections by ferry starting from Stralsund, Greifswald and Wolgast. The island has some seaside resorts along the east coast, just as of beautiful quiet and solitary places in the west. There are three natural reserves extending at least partly on the island:

  • Western Zone of the National park of the lagoon of Poméranie ( Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft ); the west coast of Rügen and the island of Hiddensee are the two parts of this large national park.

  • National park of Jasmund; a small park including the famous cliffs limestones which culminate with more than 100 meters to the top of the sea of which the Königsstuhl (literal translation = chair of the king), immortalized by the romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, 1774-1840.
  • Reserve of the biosphere of the south-east of Rügen; a natural reserve made up of the peninsula of south-east.

The Craie of Rügen is famous for its medical virtues. The chalk powder is used by the thermal spas of the island in dermatological or cosmetic application.

History

Rügen was inhabited since: 4000 years before J-C.

The inhabitants of origin of the islands of Rügen and Hiddensee were the German ones, but they left the islands lasting between the second and the sixth century to go to be established in current Italy.

At the 7th century, people Slaves came to be established at this place. Many traces of their life can be found nowadays. Rügen became a Slavic principality with a political and religious center in the tower of the temple of the Kap Arkona, the place more in north of the island of Rügen. The temple is dedicated to the god Svantevit.

In 1160, Valdemar I {{er}} of Denmark, Henri the Lion, duke of Saxony, and the dukes Casimir I {{er}} of Poméranie and Bogusław I {{er}} of Poméranie, concluded a pact to fight the dukes of Rügen. In 1168, the locality was destroyed by the Danish army , led by Valdemar I {{er}} and the bishop of Roskilde Absalon, which occupied Rügen and Hiddensee.

Under the reign of Jaromar I {{er}}, the weakened principality thus became vassal kingdom of Denmark and receptive to the Christianisation. Several convents cistercians are established, in Bergen (1193), Eldena (1199), Greifswald (1231) and Neuenkamp (1231). During the thirteenth century, these convents will send peasants of Lower Saxony, Westphalia and Altmark to colonize the islands of Rügen and Hiddensee.

The successor of Jaromar Ier, Wislaw Ier de Rügen, concquit part of the coast of Poméranie, until Ryckfluss, and founds Stralsund in 1234. Under its reign, many churches are set up.

In 1282, Wislaw II of Rügen accepted the island in stronghold of German king Rudolf. Eleven years later, the town of Stralsund made its entry with the Hanseatic League. In 1296, Wislaw II offered the island of Hiddensee to the convent cistercian of Neuenkamp. This island disappeared partly following a storm, in 1304. During the same year, Wislaw III of Rügen establishes German like official language in the duchy.

With died of Wislaw III, in 1325, the line of the Slavic dukes of Rügen died out and the duchy is given to the dukes of Poméranie-Wolgast by the kings of Denmark, while the religious authorities remained under the authority of évêché of Roskilde for two centuries still. In 1334, the citizen of Stralsund Gottfried von Wickede the Saint-Jürgen convent with Rambin.

About 1400, even the citizens most conscious of their Slavic origin spoke German. In 1401, the pirate of Jarmund Klaus Störtebeker is stopped and taken along to Hamburg. Rügen formed then part of the Swedish Poméranie of 1648 with 1815; after that it became part of the Prussia.

In 1816, the first seaside resort was founded (Putbus). Later, other stations were established, and Rügen remained the most famous station of holidays of the Germany until the Second world war. In 1936, the bridge connecting Rügen with the continent was built. The Nazis added a station especially made up of a uniform building on five km length on the white dunes, behind an alignment of pines: Prora, planned by the organization Kraft durch Freude (“the force through the joy”), the purpose of which was to occupy the spare time of the people by groups of 20  000 people.

Holiday place ideal of old GDR, Rügen knew very strong investment in the infrastructures after the German Réunification. It is become again the vacation resort very appreciated of all German; currently it exceeded again Sylt as being the German island most popular.

Recent events

Notes and references of the article

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