Nordfriesland

Nordfriesland
—  District  —
Country	Germany
State	Schleswig-Holstein
Capital	Husum
Area
- Total	2,047 km2 (790.4 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
- Total	165,480
- Density	80.8/km2 (209.4/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration	NF
Website	nordfriesland.de

Marshland in Eiderstedt, typical of the North Frisian coast

Horsecart coming from a Hallig island in the mudflat at low tide

Nordfriesland, English "Northern Friesland" or "North Frisia", is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia along with adjacent areas to the east and south and is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Schleswig-Flensburg and Dithmarschen, the North Sea and the Danish county of South Jutland. The district is called Kreis Nordfriesland in German, Kreis Noordfreesland in Low German, Kris Nordfraschlönj in Mooring North Frisian, Kreis Nuurdfresklun in Fering North Frisian and Nordfrislands amt in Danish.

Nordfriesland is the most visited rural district in Germany.

History

There has always been a strong influence of the sea in the region. In medieval times storm tides made life in what is now Nordfriesland quite dangerous. Only in modern times the loss of land and lives could be stopped by building solid dikes. Many villages that once existed, are now at the bottom of the sea. The best-known example is the small seaport of Rungholt, which was destroyed by a storm surge in 1362. The island of Strand vanished in the Burchardi flood, another disastrous storm in 1634: subsequent to this storm surge, there were many small islets instead of Strand.

From approximately 1200 until 1864, the area that is now Nordfriesland was a part of the Duchy of Schleswig, which itself was not directly a part of the Danish Kingdom, but a fiefdom of the Danish crown and linked to the kings of Denmark by personal union as a separate entity. Nordfriesland is still a multilingual district: there are people speaking standard German, Low German, North Frisian and Danish including South Jutlandic. The North Frisian language exists in nine slightly different dialects, yet it is mainly used by older persons in mainland Nordfriesland. A relatively lively community of Frisian speakers exists though on the islands of Föhr and Amrum. After becoming German, three districts were established in the region: Südtondern in the north, Husum in the centre, and Eiderstedt in the south. In 1970 these three districts were merged to form the Nordfriesland district.

Geography

The entire coast is part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park. Nordfriesland includes the coastal section between Dithmarschen and Denmark. In the south there is the Eiderstedt peninsula, where the River Eider meets the sea.

The North Frisian Islands are part of the district and located inside the national park as well. There are five large islands (Sylt, Föhr, Amrum, Pellworm and Nordstrand) and ten small islets known as Halligen.

Coat of arms

The official flag of the district Nordfriesland

The coat of arms displays three golden ships on a blue background. These arms have been used by the Eiderstedt peninsula since the 17th century. When the district was established in 1970, the arms of Eiderstedt were applied to the entire district. Differing from the old arms, though, there are three images visible on the ships' sails: a plow, a herring and a bull's head.

Towns and municipalities

Independent towns and municipalities
Friedrichstadt Husum Tönning Reußenköge

Ämter
1. Eiderstedt Garding1, 2 Garding, Kirchspiel Grothusenkoog Katharinenheerd Kotzenbüll Norderfriedrichskoog Oldenswort Osterhever Poppenbüll Sankt Peter-Ording Tating Tetenbüll Tümlauer-Koog Vollerwiek Welt Westerhever 2. Föhr-Amrum Alkersum Borgsum Dunsum Midlum Nebel Nieblum Norddorf Oevenum Oldsum Süderende Utersum Witsum Wittdün Wrixum Wyk auf Föhr1, 2 3. Landschaft Sylt Hörnum Kampen List Sylt1 Wenningstedt-Braderup	4. Mittleres Nordfriesland Ahrenshöft Almdorf Bargum Bohmstedt Bordelum Bredstedt1, 2 Breklum Drelsdorf Goldebek Goldelund Högel Joldelund Kolkerheide Langenhorn Lütjenholm Ockholm Sönnebüll Struckum Vollstedt 5. Nordsee-Treene Arlewatt Drage Elisabeth-Sophien-Koog Fresendelf Hattstedt Hattstedtermarsch Horstedt Hude Koldenbüttel Mildstedt1 Nordstrand Oldersbek Olderup Ostenfeld Ramstedt Rantrum Schwabstedt Seeth Simonsberg Süderhöft Südermarsch Uelvesbüll Winnert Wisch Wittbek Witzwort Wobbenbüll	6. Pellworm Gröde Hooge Langeneß Pellworm1 7. Südtondern Achtrup Aventoft Bosbüll Braderup Bramstedtlund Dagebüll Ellhöft Emmelsbüll-Horsbüll Enge-Sande Friedrich-Wilhelm-Lübke-Koog Galmsbüll Holm Humptrup Karlum Klanxbüll Klixbüll Ladelund Leck Lexgaard Neukirchen Niebüll1, 2 Risum-Lindholm Rodenäs Sprakebüll Stadum Stedesand Süderlügum Tinningstedt Uphusum Westre 8. Viöl Ahrenviöl Ahrenviölfeld Behrendorf Bondelum Haselund Immenstedt Löwenstedt Norstedt Oster-Ohrstedt Schwesing Sollwitt Viöl1 Wester-Ohrstedt
1seat of the Amt; 2town

References

1. ^ "Statistikamt Nord: Bevölkerung in Schleswig-Holstein am 31. Dezember 2010 nach Kreisen, Ämtern, amtsfreien Gemeinden und Städten" (in German). Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik-nord.de/uploads/tx_standocuments/A_I_2_vj104_S.pdf. 

External links

• Official website (in German)

Coordinates: 54°35′N 9°00′E / 54.58°N 9.0°E / 54.58; 9.0