Fehmarn
Encyclopedia
Fehmarn is an island and - since 2003 - a town on this island in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, off the eastern coast of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and ca. 18 kilometers south of the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 island of Lolland
Lolland
Lolland is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of 1,243 square kilometers . Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland...

. It belongs to the district of Ostholstein
Ostholstein
Ostholstein is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Stormarn, Segeberg and Plön, the Baltic Sea and the city of Lübeck.-History:...

.

History

Earlier names of the island are Femera, Fimbria, Cimbria parva, Imbra.

Since 1963, Fehmarn has been connected to the German mainland by a road and rail bridge crossing the Fehmarn Sound Bridge
Fehmarn Sound bridge
The Fehmarn Sound Bridge connects the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea with the German mainland near Großenbrode.-Description:The long road and rail suspended deck arch bridge together with associated earthworks crosses the wide Fehmarn Sound. Construction began in 1958 and the 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, with 6,000 inhabitants. In addition, there are many small villages.

Transport

The Fehmarn Belt, a strait separating Fehmarn from Lolland, is located on the side opposite to Germany. It can be crossed by ferries travelling between the seaports of Puttgarden
Puttgarden
Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the 18 km strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland....

, Germany, and Rødby
Rødby
Rødby is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The former Rødby municipality covered an area of 120 km², and had a total population of 6,590...

havn, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. 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 project, planned for completion in 2020.

Nature

The coasts serve as resting places for migratory birds, and it is thus a paradise for ornithologists. The islands bird reserves are looked after by NABU
Nabu
Nabu is the Assyrian and Babylonian god of wisdom and writing, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk and his consort, Sarpanitum, and as the grandson of Ea. Nabu's consort was Tashmetum....

's conservation centre at the Wallnau Waterbird Reserve
Wallnau Waterbird Reserve
The Wallnau Waterbird Reserve is one of the most important reserves for migratory birds in Germany and the largest of NABU's nature conservation centres. The former pond estate of Wallnau lies on the west coast of the Baltic island of Fehmarn and covers, in its core zone, an area of just under ,...

. In Burg there is a large aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 with 40 fish tanks.

Fehmarn is famous for its nature and recreation areas, especially during summer times (July–September) and is also well known for its Windsurf and Kitesurf spots. Currently there are more than ten Surfspots known on the island.

Culture

Fehmarn was also the location of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

's final concert
Live at the Isle of Fehmarn
Live at the Isle of Fehmarn is a posthumous live album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on December 13, 2005 by Dagger Records. The album documents the band's performance at the Open Air Love & Peace Festival in Fehmarn, Germany on September 6, 1970; Jimi Hendrix's final concert performance...

, at the Open Air Love & Peace Festival, on September 6, 1970.

Notable residents

Lina Heydrich
Lina Heydrich
Lina Heydrich was the wife of assassinated SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, a central figure in Nazi Germany....

 and her husband Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...

 had a summer home here, which after the war Lina ran with her second husband Mauno Manninen, as a restaurant and inn until it burned down in February 1969.

Twin towns

Neringa (Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

) Orth an der Donau
Orth an der Donau
Orth an der Donau is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located on the bank of the Danube River, about fifteen miles east of Vienna.In the 1880s its population was about 3,000....

 (Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

) Rødby
Rødby
Rødby is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The former Rødby municipality covered an area of 120 km², and had a total population of 6,590...

 (Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

)

External links

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