Page 461 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

NOR THERN GERM AN Y  459

SCHLESWIG-

HOLSTEIN

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost German state, situated
between the Baltic and the North Sea and bordered by the Elbe
River and Denmark. Weather-beaten by the unstable marine
climate, the Gothic brick buildings of Lübeck, queen of the Baltic coast, testify
equally to the turbulent history of this region. Today, tourists visit Schleswig-
Holstein for its wide sandy beaches and impressive lakes.

Originally, this state comprised two Schleswig­Holstein is principally an
territories: Schleswig in the north, which agricultural region, and less densely
was inhab ited by Germanic tribes (Angles, populated than any other state in Germany.
Saxons, Vikings and Danes) in the Middle Art lovers are mainly drawn to Lübeck, the
Ages, and Holstein in the south, mainly most powerful Hanseatic town in the
populated by Slavs, who converted to Baltic during the Middle Ages. Lübeck’s
Christianity as late as the 12th century. Its old town, an architectural gem, has now
more recent history was characterized by been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
struggles between the Hanseatic towns site. Other places offer surprises aplenty –
and the rulers of Denmark. In the 18th cen­ the visitor will be captivated by the
tury, the entire region, from Altona in the Romanesque churches around Flensburg,
south (now part of Hamburg) to Kolding while the magnificent countryside more
in the north, belonged to Denmark, but in than compensates for the lack of major
1866 it was annexed to Bismarck’s Prussia. cultural monuments. A walk through the
In 1920, the political borders that exist national park of Schleswig­Holsteinisches
today were established when Denmark Wattenmeer, the moving sand dunes of
regained the northern part of Schleswig the elegant island of Sylt, or a romantic
after a plebiscite, leaving a significant sunset on the lake shores in Plön will
Danish minority on the German side. leave lasting impressions.

The moated Renaissance Wasserschloß in Glücksburg
Aerial view of a mudflat on Süderoogsand, one of the North Frisian islands

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