Rantum

54.8469444444448.29277777777783Koordinaten: 54 ° 50 ' 49 " N, 8 ° 17' 34" E

Location of Rantum in Schleswig-Holstein

Rantum ( Frisian: Raantem ) is a district of the municipality on the island of Sylt Sylt, south of Westerland in the district of North Friesland.

Name

The town's name is often associated with the name of the sea goddess Ran; Rantum as a place of Ran. More likely, however, is the derivation from the old spelling of the place name Raanteem as a place on the edge.

History

The small town Rantum has a checkered history. He is now at the narrowest point of the island of about 550 meters width. Up to six times the place had to be rebuilt because it had been destroyed by storm surges and buried by drifting sand. 1801 had to be demolished, the fourth church. The parish was closed. Until 1964 the village received back their own church.

In the vicinity of the place of Tinnumburg has, according to the 18th century, a similar mound found, but this was even then buried by the dunes and is now probably worn by the North Sea.

The earliest mention of the name Rantum be found on a old sea chart of 1142, which is preserved in Copenhagen. On the chart is the Rantumer church Westerseekirche marked as a navigation mark. The Rantumer church bore the name of St. Peter. Since then, only main churches were dedicated to Saint Peter, one can assume that the place Rantum around 1100 AD was an important place. Evidence on this hypothesis does not exist. Probably had the Rantumer in the Middle Ages fertile marshland, as the island still stretched for several kilometers to the west. But since the place Rantum was twice as heavily damaged by repeated storm surges that he had to be followed up, including the church on another site, there are now only historical documents from the 17th century. After the floods had swept away the marshes and the dunes to the threat, have been impoverished the place. Until the 18th century the city was a stronghold of the beach robbers. The inhabitants plundered ships and disputed with the loot their livelihood. Had there been in 1700 40 houses, was offset to the east of the city in 1903, only five houses. Built only in 1725 third church was already buried in 1757 from the sand. The further east erected in succession to the same fate befell 1801. The parish was abandoned.

While Westerland was long a tourist, a first rest home was established in Rantum only after the First World War. From 1936 barracks were built for the Seefliegerhorst. A large mudflat area that Rantumbecken, was surrounded by an outer dike and should serve as Seeflughafen. After the Second World War refugees moved into the barracks. 1947/48 Rantum was a separate municipality. Today, the Rantumbecken is a bird sanctuary. About 182 bird species have been recorded here. They are looked after by a bird keeper. 1977 developed from the former investors in the Seefliegerhorstes the port Rantum as tidenabhängiger marina.

Today Rantum is considered an idyllic island village in the dunes. East of the village extend the Wadden Sea and the Rantum -Inge - a large-scale salt marsh area. At the west side of the beach is open to the North Sea.

On 1 January 2009 Rantum joined the merger of the town of Westerland and the municipality Sylt-Ost to the new municipality Sylt.

Attractions

Worth seeing is the Eidum - duck decoy that was used to catch ducks. It is named after the place Eidum, which sank beneath the waves in 1436.

The Rantumbecken was created by the Wehrmacht as a landing place for seaplanes. The construction work for the Navy Seefliegerhorst Rantum began 1937. However, this tank was not long enough to provide the seaplanes used at the time an optimal starting point. Today, the Rantumbecken is a bird sanctuary and is supervised as well as the decoy by the Association Jordsand.

Since 1993 is sponsored iodized water from the Sylt- source from several hundred meters depth and bottled. This water is distributed all over the island in the trade. This brand is also available in Germany in the gastronomy. In neighboring art space Sylt Quelle exhibitions, readings, discussion forums, and theater performances. Since 2007 is here also the venue of the " sea cabaret", a yearly during the summer months entertainment show with cabaret artists and comedians.

The National Park Schleswig -Holstein Wadden Sea stretches along the Wadden page in the east of the village. A popular Wattwandern is Rantum south to Hoernum. The Wadden Sea Conservation Station has an office in Rantum. From there, information sessions on coastal defense, the Wadden, the salt marsh and mudflat walks are offered.

In Rantum is a transmitter of the LORAN -C radionavigation system, which used as a transmitting antenna a 193 meter high guyed and self-radiating steel truss mast. December 31, 2005 ended the regular operation.

Tourism as a main source of income

In the dunes to the west there are several transitions beach with a beach chair rentals and tourist cafes with exotic names. This naming had its origins in the 1930s, emerged as a beach section called Abyssinia. As in the 1950s, tourism began to flourish in Rantum, the beach section Samoa, and later Zanzibar emerged.

Many family began in the summer weeks of 1950 with room rental. This thriving and profitable sideline was over the decades into one of the main sources of income of the village. Many new buildings to his credit. Formative was that this is not, was carried out as for example in Westerland, mainly in hotels, inns and restaurants. Many second homes and rental companies have now been added. Locally there, as on the rest of the island, more beds for tourists than for permanent residents. Importantly, the 1990s were, in which an extension of the season succeeded over the few weeks of summer also. Just off the threatened demolition of storm surges dune stands the thatched Sölring yard. The hotel is now awarded for the good kitchen with two Guide Michelin stars. In June 2007, was opened on a former military site north of the town center known as the TUI village hotel with about 600 beds in 159 apartments.

Youth work

In Rantum youth camp White Tent City Rantum is. There, the county offers Sports Association Schleswig -Flensburg during the summer holidays at youth camps.

The Association of German Schleswig operates in the education center "ADS Gerd- Lausen House" a meeting house for young people and a school camp.

In the south of the village is the youth recreation center Puan Klent, which is operated by the Foundation Hamburg youth recreation home Puan Klent.