Theme Week Sylt – Westerland
Tuesday, 22 March 2016 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union General
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Westerland Beach © Toksave/cc-by-sa-3.0
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Westerland is the largest resort on the island, the local transportation hub and the centre of Sylt’s tourist industry. Westerland is located on the western shore of the island. It lies 70 km northwest of
Husum , 74 km west of
Flensburg , 134 km northwest of
Kiel and 186 km northwest of
Hamburg . Thanks to its affluent, glamorous lifestyle and thriving tourism industry, Westerland has been called the
Beverly Hills of Germany. Westerland is the central hub for supply, retailing, and numerous services that are provided to the inhabitants and visitors on the island of Sylt. The twin town is
St. Moritz in Switzerland.
Westerland is one of the younger settlements on the island of Sylt. After the All Saints’ Day Flood of 1436 had utterly destroyed the community of Eidum , the survivors built a new community to the northeast on a heath. The new settlement was called Hedigen (heath area). Westerlant (an old field name used by the people of Tinnum ) had its first documentary mention in 1462. In 1695, there were 76 taxable houses. In the 1890s, Westerland replaced Keitum as the preeminent town on Sylt, not just for tourists but also regarding infrastructure and facilities used by the locals.
Beach at Westerland © flickr.com - Lars Goldenbogen/cc-by-sa-2.0
In 1855, the local
Landvogt decided to turn Westerland into a seaside resort. After 1857, the minor village centred on a church began to grow into a larger resort. That year the first hotel opened – the
Dünenhalle . Many others followed, although a number of them have since been torn down to make room for different structures. In 1880, the first solid building was erected on the dunes right at the beach. Electricity was available from 1893. In 1897, a telephone cable to the mainland was laid. In 1888, the
Kurhalle was inaugurated, followed in 1903 by the
art nouveau hotel
Miramar , which still stands on the promenade today.
In 1908, a building for spa applications was built (
Kurmittelhaus ). In 1948 came official recognition as a seaside spa town (
Nordseeheilbad ). The concrete highrises that today dominate the Westerland skyline (and are visible from many places on Sylt) were built in 1966-68 (
Kurzentrum, Metropol ). The major attraction at Westerland is the beach and the 6-kilometre-long promenade with its
Musikmuschel music pavilion. During the season, 4,000
Strandkörbe are placed on the beach. Westerland today has 30 listed historic buildings and another 150 that are considered of special historic or architectural value. These include the
Kurhaus from 1897, now housing the municipal administration and a casino.
Here you can find the complete
Overview of all Theme Weeks .
Read more on
Westerland ,
insel-sylt.de – Westerland ,
insel-sylt.de – Westerland and
Wikipedia Westerland . Learn more about the
use of photos . To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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