Rømø

Rømø
Geography
Location Wadden Sea
Coordinates 55°08′N 8°31′E / 55.133°N 8.517°E / 55.133; 8.517Coordinates: 55°08′N 8°31′E / 55.133°N 8.517°E / 55.133; 8.517
Area 129 km2 (50 sq mi)
Administration
Denmark
Region South Denmark Region
Municipality Tønder Municipality
Largest settlement Havneby (pop. 302)
Demographics
Population 650 (2011)
Pop. density 5.3 /km2 (13.7 /sq mi)

Rømø (German: Röm, North Frisian: Rem) is a Danish island in the Wadden Sea. Rømø is part of Tønder municipality. The island has 650 inhabitants as of 1 January 2011[1] and covers an area of 129 km². Rømø is now the southernmost of Denmark's Wadden Sea Islands (the previous being the small uninhabited island of Jordsand which sank in 1999).

History

From 1864 until 1920, Rømø belonged to Germany as part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.

Rømø
Romo Beach

Features

It is linked to the Danish mainland by a road running across a causeway, and the island lies about 3 km from the neighbouring German island Sylt, to which it is connected by ferry. It is home to a number of small communities such as Kongsmark, Østerby, Lakolk, and Sønderstrand.

St Clement's Church

Is the main church in the island. In the 19th century, the church allowed people to buy name plates for the church benches. Here the name of H.P.P. Møller, grandfather of the founder of the famous Danish Maersk shipping company, can still be seen on one of the front benches.

Kommandørgård Museum

The museum contains artefacts from the whaling industry including a whale skeleton. The house is from 1770 and the barn and stable are from 1744. From 1784 to 1874 part of the manor was a school. "Kommandør" (commander) is an older term for a captain of a Whaler.

Ferry to Sylt

The car ferry to the neighbouring (German) island of Sylt is operated by Syltferry [2]. It runs about every two hours and takes about 35 minutes.

The beach

You can drive your car legally onto the beach. On the southern beach you can go kitebuggying - using a small vehicle pulled at high speed pulled by a large, wind-blown kite. On the first weekend on September, one of the biggest kite festivals of Europe is held on Rømø. Rømø is a popular spot for tourists attracted by the nudist beaches.

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Danmarks Statistik." Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Sylt Ferry website retrieved Aug 2017
  3. ↑ Maersk.com website retrieved 2nd October 2017


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