Rügen (; Rani dialect: Rȯjana, Rāna; , Ruegen) is Germany's largest island.
The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where it is linked to the mainland by road and railway via the Rügen Bridge and Causeway, two routes crossing the two-kilometre-wide Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea.
Rügen has a maximum length of (from north to south), a maximum width of in the south and an area of . The coast is characterised by numerous sandy , lagoons (Bodden) and open bays (Wieke), as well as and headlands. In June 2011, UNESCO awarded the status of a World Heritage Site to the Jasmund National Park, characterised by vast stands of beeches and chalk cliffs like King's Chair, the main landmark of Rügen island.See inter alia
The island of Rügen is part of the district of Vorpommern-Rügen, with its county seat in Stralsund.
The towns on Rügen are: Bergen, Sassnitz, Putbus and Garz. In addition, there are the Baltic of Binz, Baabe, Göhren, Sellin and Thiessow.
Rügen is very popular as a tourist destination because of its resort architecture, the diverse landscape and its long, sandy beaches.
Rügen has a total area of , or if the adjacent small islands are included. The maximum diameter is from north to south, and from east to west. Of an overall coastline, are sandy Baltic Sea beaches, and sandy bodden beaches. The highest elevations are on the Jasmund peninsula: Piekberg () and Königsstuhl ().
The northern part of the Bay of Greifswald, the Rügischer Bodden, is a large bay in the south of Rügen island, with the island of Vilm lying just offshore. At the western end of the bay, the peninsula of Zudar runs out to the southernmost point of Rügen (Palmer Ort), at the eastern end the highly indented peninsula of Mönchgut projects into the sea. This peninsula ends in the east at the cape of Nordperd near Göhren and in the south at the cape of Südperd by Thiessow. In the west of the peninsula of Mönchgut a narrow, bar, the Reddevitz Höft, separates the two bays of Having and Hagensche Wiek.
In the north-east of the island of Rügen is formed by the peninsula of Jasmund, which is joined to the heart of the island, Muttland, by the bar of Schmale Heide between Binz-Seebad Prora and Sassnitz-Mukran and by a rail and road embankment at Lietzow. The Schmale Heide separates the outer bay of Prorer Wiek from the lagoon of the Kleiner Jasmunder Bodden. On the peninsula of Jasmund are the Piekberg (), the highest point on Rügen, and the Königsstuhl, a chalk cliff in Stubbenkammer, which forms the most striking landmark on the island. Another bar, the Schaabe, links Jasmund to the peninsula of Wittow in the north of Rügen. The Schaabe, in turn, separates the outer bay of Tromper Wiek from the lagoon of the Großer Jasmunder Bodden. The peninsula of Wittow and the long, narrow peninsula of Bug to the west are separated from the main body of Rügen by the Rassower Strom, the Breetzer Bodden and the Breeger Bodden. The Wittow peninsula is adjoined in the north by Cape Arkona. Just under a kilometre to the northwest, located at 54°41' N, is the northernmost point of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Below this coastal cliff (Gellort) on the shoreline is the Siebenschneidersteinthe fourth largest glacial erratic boulder on Rügen.
The northwestern and western sides of Rügen are also highly indented, but a little flatter. Offshore are the larger islands of Hiddensee and Ummanz as well as the smaller islands Öhe Liebitz and Heuwiese. Sand removal and deposition by the Baltic Sea has to be constantly countered by dredging operations to the north and south of Hiddensee, otherwise Hiddensee would merge with Rügen within a few years. Rügen is dotted with many glacial erratic boulders, of which the 22 largest belong to legally-protected (''see also: Erratics on and around Rügen).
Two German national parks are situated on Rügen: the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park, in the west (including Hiddensee), and the Jasmund National Park, a smaller park including the chalk cliffs (Königsstuhl). There is also a nature reserve, the Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve, consisting of the peninsulas in the southeast.
The basis of their military strength was a combination of the Ranian navy and a favourable location. Denmark, which was at that time very successful in Great Britain and Scandinavia, was neither able to match its Ranian rivals in the Baltic Sea region nor protect its coastline from Ranian armies until well into the 12th century. Meanwhile, the Ranians built numerous castles and temples in the Barth-Jasmund-Gristow triangle.
The temple hill of Jaromarsburg, at the northern tip of Rügen and dedicated to the god Svetovid, was significant well beyond the boundaries of the Ranian empire. After the fall of Radgosc it became the chief shrine for the pagan northwestern Slavs. The administrative centre of the empire was Charenza, possibly on the site of the present-day hillfort known as Garz or Venz. The main trading centre of the empire was Ralswiek at the southernmost point of the Großer Jasmunder Bodden.
Under Danish rule the Principality of Rugia changed its character. Danish monasteries were established (e.g. Bergen Abbey in 1193 and Eldena Abbey, today Eldena Abbey, in 1199). German colonists were introduced into the land and soon they became the largest and most culturally influential group within the population. The Slavic cultural element disappeared, mostly due to the lack of their own Slavic church structures, so that the Rani were absorbed in the period that followed into the now German-influenced people of Rügen. In addition to the colonization of the country and the building of new monasteries and churches, towns were also re-established. In 1234, the Rügen Prince Wizlaw I founded the town of Stralsund and granted Greifswald market rights in 1241. The power of the towns grew rapidly, forcing Rügen's rulers to make concessions—for example, the prince's castle at Barth was slighted and Schadegast, the princely "twin" of the municipally-controlled Stralsund, was ousted in favour of the latter.
In 1304 a storm surge, known as the All Saints' Flood, devastated the island and flooded the peninsula between Mönchgut and Ruden.
In 1478, Pomerania-Wolgast and Pomerania-Stettin were united and, 170 years later, the combined state went to Sweden in 1648 as a result of the Treaty of Westphalia (see Swedish Pomerania). Rügen was part of Swedish Pomerania from 1648 to 1815. The largest landowners, owning at least one-fifth of the island until 1945, was the House of Putbus, which was an offshoot of the earlier ruling princes of the Wizlawid dynasty. In 1727, they were created counts of Holy Roman Empire and 1731 counts in Sweden, ultimately Swedish princes in 1807.
Under Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden the town of Gustavia was constructed on the Mönchgut peninsula, but was abandoned during the Napoleonic Wars. In the years 1678 and 1715, Rügen was briefly wrested from the Swedes by the Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William and by the King in Prussia, Frederick William I. For example, a Brandenburg-Danish army landed on the island as part of the invasion of Rügen in 1678. After the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1679 the island passed from Danish to Swedish ownership again. At the time of Napoleonic Wars, Rügen was held by the France from 1807 to 1813. In the Treaty of Kiel of 1814, it was transferred initially from Sweden to Denmark and then fell to Prussia, along with New Western Pomerania (Neuvorpommern), thanks to the Vienna Convention of 1815. In 1818, the island became part of the administrative district of Stralsund and thus belonged to the Prussian Province of Pomerania. Wilhelm Malte I (1783–1854), 1st prince of Putbus, was the last Governor of Swedish Pomerania and the first under Prussian rule.
In 1816, the first bathing resort was founded at Putbus. Later more resorts were established, and Rügen remained the most popular holiday resort of Germany until World War II.
In 1936, the first bridge connecting Rügen with the mainland was constructed (Rügendamm), replacing the former ferry shuttles.
The operation commanded by Wolfram von Richthofen that bombed the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, was named after the island. An Abwehr signals intelligence operation during the same conflict was titled Operation Bodden after the strait separating Rügen from the German mainland.
In the aftermath of World War II, East German and Soviet authorities exiled landholders from the mainland to the island.Exorcising Hitler, The Occupation and Denazifcation of Germany, by Frederick Taylor, Bloomsbury Press
The island was the focal point of Project Rose ( Action Rose) by the GDR government designed to nationalise hotels, taxis and service companies on 10 February 1953. The occasion was supposed to have been a visit by Walter Ulbricht to the island of Rügen, during which he had been annoyed by the many surviving private hotels and guest houses. Many of the hotel owners were convicted by under the pretext of having been engaged in economic crime or as agents working for the West. Their property was then confiscated and they were sent to prison. Many of the owners and small businessmen were incarcerated in Bützow prison. The hotels were supposed to have been expropriated by the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB). In fact, they were used as accommodation for the barracks-based "people's police" (Kasernierte Volkspolizei or CPI). As a result of the confiscation of hotels, tourism on Rügen in 1953 came almost to a complete standstill for a time.
In the following nearly four decades, the island became one of the main tourist areas in the GDR. The FDGB played a dominant role in tourist accommodation. In 1963 the FDGB had 7,519 holiday places, the Reisebüro der DDR 2,906 places and a further 5,025 were available for businesses and organisations. In addition, there were 12,245 places for children in summer camps and another 20,800 places for campers. The plots were located mainly near the beaches.Dr. Rudolf Petzold, 1964, Die Bäderküste Rügens, Veb Brockhaus Verlag,Leipzig, page 5 Increased holiday capacity was not however generated until the 1970s and 1980s.
In 2007, a second bridge, the Rügen Bridge (Rügenbrücke), was built to replace the first one built in 1936.
Rügen has now surpassed Sylt as the most popular German island again.
The first bathing facility on Rügen opened in 1794 at the mineral-rich spring in Sagard.
The island offers a huge variety of different beach and shore areas. Rügen is often visited by windsurfers and kitesurfers and offers more than fifteen different locations for surfing. The most popular locations are Dranske, Rosengarten, Wiek, Suhrendorf and Neu Mukran.
On the peninsula of Jasmund is the Jasmund National Park, which consists of the beech forest of Stubnitz, including the chalk cliffs of Rügen. On the Königsstuhl itself is the Königsstuhl National Park Centre, which has a multivision cinema and audio-guide exhibitions with information about the national park in several languages.
In addition to regional trains, there are also Intercity services from Binz via Bergen and Stralsund to Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and the Ruhr. Night train services to Munich, Basle and the Ruhr area were deleted from the timetable on 9 December 2007, despite massive protests from the local hotel industry.
The cornerstone for a second crossing over the Strelasund was laid on 31 August 2004. This bridge, the Rügen Bridge, running parallel to the Rügendamm, has a length of about and a vertical clearance for ships of , and was on opened on 20 October 2007. In order to relieve the town of Stralsund, a ring road has been built in the last few years, coming from the southwest. The B 96 federal road between Stralsund and Greifswald is also connected via an access road to the A 20 motorway. The B 96 runs from Stralsund via Bergen to Sassnitz. Here a new route with bypasses is planned (the "New B 96").
The main tourist attractions of Cape Arkona, the Königsstuhl and the Granitz hunting lodge are, however, car-free in order to protect the countryside, as is the island of Hiddensee which belongs to Vorpommern-Rügen district. All these destinations can be reached using public transport, without needing a car.
Another Weiße Flotte car ferry, the Wittow Ferry runs from the heartland of Rügen ( Muttland) to Wittow.
A ferry sails from Sassnitz ferry port in Mukran to the Danish island of Bornholm, to Swedish Trelleborg, to Klaipėda (formerly Memel) in Lithuania, to Baltiysk (formerly Pillau) and to Saint Petersburg.
The island of Hiddensee, which also belongs to the county of Vorpommern-Rügen, is connected by a regular ferry service from Schaprode to Rügen, and is increasingly integrated into the clock-schedule timetable on the main island. In addition, there is a regular ship service from Stralsund, Wiek and Breege to Hiddensee. Tourist services include ferry connections from Lauterbach to Gager, and between Sassnitz, Binz, Sellin and Göhren. There are also round-trips mainly from Sassnitz, but also from Lohme, to the Königsstuhl.
Pleasure steamers also ply between the resorts and Peenemünde on Usedom, where there is a connection to the Usedom Railway (UBB).
Local passenger ferries connect the of Sassnitz, Binz, Sellin and Göhren with the adjacent islands of Hiddensee, Vilm and Greifswalder Oie. Passenger and car ferries connect Rügen's centre of Muttland, to both Wittow in Rügen's north via the Wittow Ferry and to the mainland via the Glewitz Ferry (Glewitzer Fähre) between Stahlbrode near Greifswald and Glewitz on Rügen's Zudar peninsula.
The Baltic Sea Airport Stralsund also offers flights to and from the region of Western Pomerania. The larger Rostock–Laage Airport offers regular international destinations.
Land use
Climate
Administration
History
Pre-history and the Germani
Slavic Rani
Principality under Danish suzerainty
Part of Pomerania
German Empire
Nazi era
GDR era
Reunited Germany
Tourist resorts
Transport
Rail
Bus
Road
Cycling
Ship
Ferries
Sassnitz-Mukran is the largest railway ferry terminal in Germany and the only one in Europe where different tracks allow switching from standard gauge to broad gauge.
Aviation
Notable people
Individuals associated with the island
See also
External links
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