Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped 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 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 later years, it has been a resort for the German jet set and tourists in search of occasional celebrity sightings.
Geography
With , Sylt is the fourth-largest German island and the largest German island in the North Sea. Sylt is located from 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 in a north–south direction. At its northern point at Königshafen, it is only wide. Its greatest width, from the town of Westerland in the west to the eastern Nössespitze near Morsum, measures . On the western and northwestern shore, there is a sandy 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.
The island's shape has constantly shifted over time, a process which is still ongoing today. The northern and southern spits of Sylt are exclusively made up of infertile sand deposits, while the central part with the municipalities of Westerland, Wenningstedt-Braderup and Sylt-Ost consists of a geestland core, which becomes apparent in the form of the Red Cliff of Wenningstedt. The geestland facing the Wadden Sea gradually turns into fertile marshland around Sylt-Ost. Sylt has only been an island since the Grote Mandrenke flood of 1362. The so-called Uwe-Düne (Uwe Dune) is the island's highest elevation with above sea level.
The island in its current form has only existed for about 400 years. Like the mainland geestland, it was formed of moraines from the older ice ages, thus being made up of a till core, which is now apparent in the island's west and centre by the cliff, dunes and beach. This sandy core began to erode as it was exposed to a strong current along the island's steep basement when the sea level rose 8000 years ago. During the process, sediments were accumulated north and south of the island. The west coast, which was originally situated off today's shore, was thus gradually moved eastward, while at the same time the island began to extend to the north and south. After the ice ages, marshland began to form around this geestland core.
In 1141, Sylt is recorded as an island, yet before the Grote Mandrenke flood it belonged to a landscape cut by tidal creeks and, at least during low tide, it could be reached on foot. It is only since this flood that the creation of a spit from sediments began to form the current characteristic shape of Sylt. It is the northern and southern edges of Sylt which were, and still are, the subject of greatest change. For example, Listland was separated from the rest of the island in the 14th century and from the later 17th century onwards the Königshafen (King's Harbour) began to silt up as the "elbow" spit began to form.
In addition to the constant loss of land, the inhabitants during the Little Ice Age were constrained by sand drift. Dunes shifting to the east threatened settlements and arable land and had to be stopped by the planting of marram grass in the 18th century. Consequently, though, material breaking off the island was increasingly washed away and the island's extent continued to decrease.
Records of the annual land loss exist since 1870. According to them, Sylt lost an annual of land in the north and in the south from 1870 to 1951. From 1951 to 1984, the rate increased to respectively, while shorelines at the island's very edges at Hörnum and List are even more affected.
Severe storm surges of the last decades have repeatedly endangered Sylt to the point of breaking in two, e.g. Hörnum was temporarily cut off from the island in 1962. Part of the island near Rantum which is only 500 metres (yards) wide is especially threatened.
The Wadden Sea on the east side between Sylt and the mainland has been a nature reserve and bird sanctuary since 1935 and is part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park. The construction of breakwaters in this area will abate sedimentation and is used for land reclamation.
Also the grazing of sheep on the sea dikes and heaths of Sylt eventually serves coastal management, since the animals keep the vegetation short and compress the soil with their hooves. Thus they help create a denser dike surface, which in case of storm surges provides less area for the waves to impact.
Flora and fauna
The flora of Sylt is shaped by the island's original sparseness. Until the mid 19th century, Sylt was an island almost completely devoid of trees except for small areas of forest and bush created by plantations. Today, one can still recognize the man-made origin of the Friedrichshain and Südwäldchen forests in Westerland where many of the trees stand in rank and file. Also, the now widespread rose Rosa rugosa, known as the "Sylt rose" on the island was imported to Sylt. It originates from the Kamchatka peninsula in Siberia. The undemanding rose met ideal conditions on Sylt and spread so quickly that it is now a common sight on the island. Its proliferation is viewed critically from a biological point of view, since it threatens to displace endangered local species, especially on the heaths.
The ample heaths on the eastern side of the island provide habitats for many rare species of plants and animals which are adapted to the extreme conditions such as drought, warmth, wind. About 2,500 animal species and 150 species of plants have so far been recorded. 45% of those plants are on the IUCN Red List. Especially notable are the 600 species of butterflies that live in the heaths, small tortoiseshell, brimstone, painted lady and peacock butterfly among them.
With several thousand individuals in the dune belt of Sylt, the natterjack toad, endangered in Germany, has one of Germany's largest populations here. Their spawning places are wet dune slacks and shallow, short-lived pools. For a habitat they prefer sandy areas with vegetation, but the species has also been observed on the top of the Uwe Dune. The main threat for this species on Sylt is road traffic.
The many water birds and other coastal avians that have their hatching grounds on Sylt or use the island for resting on their migrations constitute an ornithological feature. There are two notable hatching areas on Sylt, the Königshafen bay with the small island Uthörn in the north and the Rantum basin in the southeast. Birds that hatch on Sylt include black-headed gull, Arctic tern, pied avocet, common redshank, common gull, oystercatcher, northern lapwing, common shelduck and tufted duck. During the migration, Sylt is a resting spot for thousands of brent geese and shelducks, Eurasian wigeons and common eiders, as well as bar-tailed godwits, red knots, dunlins and Eurasian golden plovers. Ringed plover, common snipe, ruff and other species are less common visitors to the island.
Regarding land mammals, there is no significant difference from the neighbouring areas of mainland Nordfriesland. Primarily European hare, rabbit and roe deer can be found and are also hunted as game on the island. When the island was connected to the mainland by the causeway, red fox and European badger also became common.
West of Sylt a breeding area of harbour porpoises is located. In addition, great numbers of harbour seals and grey seals, the latter being rather uncommon in German seas, can be found on sand banks off Sylt.
Numerous associations and societies that care for the exploration and the protection of endangered animals and plants have branches on Sylt. Among them are the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Verein Jordsand and Wadden Sea Conservation Station. Also the Federal Office for the Environment operates a research station in the dunes at Westerland.
Climate On Sylt, a marine climate influenced by the Gulf Stream is predominant. With an average of , winter months are slightly milder than on the mainland, summer months though, with a median of , are somewhat cooler, despite a longer sunshine period. The annual average sunshine period on Sylt is 4.4 hours per day. It is due to the low relief of the shoreline that Sylt had a total of 1,899 hours of sunshine in 2005, 180 hours above the German average. Clouds cannot accumulate as quickly and are generally scattered by the constant westerly or northwesterly winds.
The annual mean temperature is . The annually averaged wind speed measures 6.7 m/s (15 mph), predominantly from western directions. The annual rainfall amounts to about 650 millimetres (25½"). Since 1937 weather data are collected at Deutscher Wetterdienst's northernmost station on a dune near List, which has meanwhile become automated. A number of commercial meteorological services like Meteomedia AG operate stations in List too.
Sylt features an oceanic climate that is influenced by the Gulf Stream. On average, the winter season is slightly warmer than in mainland Nordfriesland. The summer season, however, is cooler despite longer sunshine periods. The yearly average sunshine period is greater than 4.4 hours per day with some years exceeding the average sunshine for all of Germany. Also precipitation is lower than on the mainland. This is due to the low relief of Sylt's shoreline where clouds are not able to accumulate and rain off.
Climate data for SyltMonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYearAverage sea temperature °C4.73.74.68.012.116.018.419.117.213.510.06.511.2Mean daily daylight hours8.010.012.014.016.017.016.015.013.011.09.08.012.4Average Ultraviolet index0124567642103Source: Weather Atlas
Coastal Protection As early as the 19th century, groynes made of wooden piles were constructed as coastal protection measures against constant erosion. These structures, built at right angles to the coast and extending out into the sea, were later replaced by metal groynes and, eventually, by reinforced concrete groynes. However, in the long term, these structures did not achieve the desired results. They are unable to stop the erosion caused by cross-currents, as the ‘lee erosion’ occurring on the side of a groyne sheltered from the wind and currents prevents sustained sand deposition.
In the 1960s, so-called tetrapods (‘four-legged structures’) were used and were placed along the base of the dunes along the base of the dunes or – much like groynes – out into the sea. However, the concrete elements, weighing around six tonnes, were too heavy for the conditions prevailing on Sylt’s beach and were unable to halt the erosion. Consequently, some of them were removed from the western beach at Hörnum from mid-2005 onwards.