On our second day on Sylt we wanted to see the northern part of the island. We drove to the Ellenbogen peninsula, and stopped by the List East lighthouse that was built in 1857. Together with its twin-tower List West about 3 km away they are the oldest active lighthouses in Germany made of cast iron.
This part of the northern peninsula is owned by a family that runs a tourist business there, in Üthörn. The whole area is a nature reserve, and it costs 6 EUR to drive there in a car, free for those on foot or on a bicycle.
The List West lighthouse is the northernmost point not only of the island, but also of Germany. It is screwed down to its base by some gigantic bolts. I asked Vagn to pose for me standing on one of them:
Around the lighthouse there were these strange old stones with a cross on top, laid in a circle:
We went to the dunes’ top, and had a cup of tea there, enjoying the magnificent views:
On Sylt, there is only one beach – its 40 km white sand coast line that goes around the island. On the photo below you can see how wisely it is protected by sowing grass in a specific way, in big squares.
We visited List auf Sylt, a small village that was first mentioned in 1292. It was originally a Danish settlement that was destroyed by the great flood of 1364, and later rebuilt. Today, there is a population of about 1500 people living there.
Seal safari tours are offered from its harbour. There is a ferry from List auf Sylt to the Danish island of Rømø which is only
4 km north. Since WWI List was a naval base, and the military presence was first withdrawn in the recent time, thus shifting the focus in List’s economy to the tourism.
Lots of restaurants, cafes and shops in the harbour area with the maritime flair – during the summer season this relatively small island of 99 km2 is visited by 900.000 tourists! Interesting fact I’ve read: 7/8 of the List area is private property owned by a group of 30 descendants of the original landowners, first mentioned in 1608.
All bus stops on the island were made in a Frisian style:
After List auf Sylt we went to Kampen, the most famous village in Germany, small and exquisite, with its elegant art galleries and manicured gardens.
Besides music, literature and cuisine, Kampen is also known for its high end shopping. Whilst I was trying on some pieces, Vagn got attracted to a fur coat that was made in a very special way:
The shops are located in the same thatched-roof houses, and are very cozy.
The only disappointment from Kampen (and from the whole trip) was service at Manne Pahl restaurant where we had lunch. The food was really great, but the waitress forgot to serve the main course to Vagn. It was going to be served together with my desert, she explained when I finally grasped her attention. My desert wasn’t exactly what I ordered, and when I pointed at that, the waitress came with lots of excuses. That’s not very often one can experience such things – but hey! they are so easy to fix! Forgot something – say it and apologize. Offer your customers something else for the waiting time. Served something wrong – again, give a free cup of coffee instead of arguing. Unprofessional.
The weather was nice, and we decided to explore the of the Listland region which a unique conservation area shaped by shifting dunes.
On Listland one will find the Germany’s last and only shifting dune that moves several meters a year. Due to constant westerly winds, the uncultivated dunes were blown further and further into the east. In previous centuries all villages on Sylt suffered under the mountains of sand, which buried arable and grazing land, and sometimes houses. Today, the entire area between List and the Weststrand is protected and nobody is allowed to set foot on it. A few trails set up there are the only exception and lead you directly through the middle of the area.
The views were breathtaking:
We saw this part of the island from the air the day before, and it was also a great pleasure to experience it on foot.
The island’s shape has constantly shifted over time, a process which is still ongoing today. Severe storm surges of the last decades have repeatedly endangered Sylt to the point of breaking in two. The only effective means so far has been flushing sand onto the shore. In this way, the storm floods would only erase the artificial accumulation of sand, whilst the shoreline remains intact and erosion is slowed down. The budget for this work is 10 million EUR annually. The preventive measures have costed more than 134 million EUR in total, but according to scientific calculations they are sufficient to prevent further loss of land for at least three decades, and the benefits for the island’s economic power in general would outweigh the costs.
We were overwhelmed by the beauty of Sylt. It was also easily noticeable, how much the residents care about their land. We looked very much forward to explore other parts of this island.