Uthlande

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Maps of North Frisia in 1651 (left) and 1240 (right) as drawn by cartographer Johannes Mejer (died 1674). Note the change in the coastline with submerged areas being indicated in the 1651 panel. JBAM 068.JPG
Maps of North Frisia in 1651 (left) and 1240 (right) as drawn by cartographer Johannes Mejer (died 1674). Note the change in the coastline with submerged areas being indicated in the 1651 panel.

Uthlande, Utlande (Low German or Old Danish: The outer lands, in Danish also: Friselagen [1] ) is a term for the islands, halligen and marshes off the mainland of North Frisia in the Southwest Jutland, modern Nordfriesland district, Germany.

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History

During the Nordic Middle Ages, the mainland part of Schleswig was divided into three syslur, viz. Barved , Ellum and Isted . The North Frisian Islands were known as Utlande. Sonderjylland i middelalderen.png
During the Nordic Middle Ages, the mainland part of Schleswig was divided into three sýslur , viz. Barved , Ellum and Isted . The North Frisian Islands were known as Utlande.

The name was first recorded in a 12th-century document. [2] At the time, the islands differed considerably from the mainland regarding both their social constitution and political status. Today parts of the former Uthlande are submerged in the Wadden Sea — especially large parts of the island Strand — or have themselves become a part of the mainland by the construction of dikes or land reclamation.

On the Danish mainland the Hundreds later became the largest administrative subdivisions. They were composed of several parishes. In mainland Jutland there were also the syssels which used to comprise a number of Hundreds, but were completely unknown in the Uthlande. The local North Frisians became direct subjects of the Danish king and fought for him against the Holy Roman Empire and Holstein. However they succeeded in gaining a large-scale autonomy in the Middle Ages. They were exempt from the Code of Jutland of 1241 and were allowed to judge according to Frisian law (see also Lex Frisionum).

When Eric IV of Denmark tried to collect the plogpennig, a tax of one penny on every plow, in the Uthlande as well, he was forced to leave the area after having lost a number of knights due to resistance against the new tax law. His brother, killer and successor Abel even lost the greatest part of his army and his life when he tried to again enforce the plogpennig in Frisia in 1252.

In 1261 the city of Hamburg signed a peace treaty with Utlandia but it is unclear whether this meant only the three Hundreds of Eiderstedt or the entire Uthlande. Until 1284, central administrative powers had become established in a way that Valdemar IV, Duke of Schleswig was able to contract a treaty with Bremen in the name of the Frisians.

Hundreds of the Uthlande

During the Middle Ages, the following Hundreds (Harden) were part of the Uthlande:

This list of areas varies according to sources and years and the shape of the coastline has changed considerably during the last centuries. Important sources include the Danish Census Book of king Valdemar II of Denmark, and historicising maps by Johannes Mejer (printed in 1652). In the Census Book there is a separate list of all inhabited islands of the west coast. The three placenames Gaestaenacka, Hwaelae major and Hwaelae minor that are mentioned there cannot be found and confirmed today. The common assumption that these islands lay west off Strand and were destroyed in 14th century storm surges is contested. The names may have resulted from faulty transcriptions by a scribe who tried to translate the names of DeStrand, Eydaerstath and Hewerschop into Latin language. [3]

Uthlande Region

In 2002 the association Regionale Partnerschaft Uthlande e.V. was established which aims to promote the "Region Uthlande" that comprises the islands and halligen of Nordfriesland.

Related Research Articles

Nordfriesland (district) District in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Nordfriesland, also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia, as well as adjacent parts of the Schleswig Geest to the east and Stapelholm to the south, and is bounded by the districts of Schleswig-Flensburg and Dithmarschen, the North Sea and the Danish county of South Jutland. The district is called Kreis Nordfriesland in German, Kreis Noordfreesland in Low German, Kris Nordfraschlönj in Mooring North Frisian, Kreis Nuurdfresklun in Fering North Frisian and Nordfrislands amt in Danish.

North Frisian Islands

The North Frisian Islands are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia.

Frisia Cross-border cultural region in Northern Europe

Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Germanic ethnic group.

Föhr

Föhrpronunciation  is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest North Sea island of Germany and a popular destination for tourists. A town and eleven distinct municipalities are located on the island. The climate is oceanic with moderate winters and relatively cool summers.

Amrum

Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and has approximately 2,300 inhabitants.

Pellworm Municipality in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Pellworm  is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Nordstrand, Germany Municipality in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Nordstrand  is a peninsula and former island in North Frisia on the North Sea coast of Germany. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Its area is 50 km² and its population is 2,300. Nordstrand has two municipalities, Nordstrand and smaller Elisabeth-Sophien-Koog, which are part of the Amt Nordsee-Treene.

Frisian Islands

The Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands or the Wadden Sea Islands, form an archipelago at the eastern edge of the North Sea in northwestern Europe, stretching from the northwest of the Netherlands through Germany to the west of Denmark. The islands shield the mudflat region of the Wadden Sea from the North Sea.

North Frisian language Minority language of Germany, spoken mostly by people in North Frisia

North Frisian (nordfriisk) is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic Frisian languages. The language comprises 10 dialects which are themselves divided into an insular and a mainland group.

Dagebüll Municipality in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Dagebüll is a municipality located at the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein in the Nordfriesland district, Germany. Today's Dagebüll was created in 1978 as a merger of the municipalities of Fahretoft, Juliane-Marien-Koog and Waygaard. Dagebüll used to be a Hallig, the oldest houses were built on artificial dwelling hills which in parts can still be seen today. In 1704 the area was secured by sea dikes.

Burchardi flood Storm tide that struck 17th century North Frisia and Dithmarschen

The Burchardi flood was a storm tide that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia and Dithmarschen on the night between 11 and 12 October 1634. Overrunning dikes, it shattered the coastline and caused thousands of deaths and catastrophic material damage. Much of the island of Strand washed away, forming the islands Nordstrand, Pellworm and several halligen.

North Frisia Place in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

North Frisia is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany between the rivers Eider and Wiedau. It also includes the North Frisian Islands and Heligoland. The region is traditionally inhabited by the North Frisians.

Wyk auf Föhr Town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Wyk auf Föhr  is the only town on Föhr, the second largest of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. Like the entire island it belongs to the district of Nordfriesland. Wyk includes the two minor town districts of Boldixum and Südstrand.

North Frisians

North Frisians are the inhabitants of the district of Nordfriesland in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Used in a narrower sense, the term also refers to an ethnic sub-group of the Frisians from the region of North Frisia, which lies primarily on the German North Sea coast, and on the island of Heligoland.

Strand Frisian was a dialect of the North Frisian language which was originally spoken on Strand island, Duchy of Schleswig. Strand was destroyed in the Burchardi flood of 1634 with its remnants forming the islands Pellworm and Nordstrand which are now part of Germany. Strand Frisian is counted among the mainland group of North Frisian dialects.

Edoms Hundred

Edoms Hundred was a mediaeval hundred located in the southern part of North Frisia in the Danish region of Southern Schleswig, part of the Frisian Uthlande. It encompassed the eastern part of the island of Strand, which sank in 1634 during the Burchardi flood, including some of the land which now comprises the peninsula of Nordstrand. Edoms Hundred bordered the other so-called Five Hundreds or Strand Hundreds on the island: Beltring Hundred to the north, Pellworm Hundred to the west, Southern Goes Hundred to the east, and Lundenberg Hundred to the south.

Beltring Hundred

Beltring Hundred was a mediaeval hundred located in the southern part of North Frisia in the Danish region of Southern Schleswig, part of the Frisian Uthlande. It encompassed the northern part of the island of Strand, which sank in 1634 during the Burchardi flood. Some of the land of Beltring Hundred survived the flood, however, and became the Hallig of Nordstrandischmoor as well as the site of the modern municipality of Ockholm. Beltring Hundred was one of the so-called Five Hundreds or Strand Hundreds on the island, the others being Edoms Hundred, Pellworm Hundred, Southern Goes Hundred, and Lundenberg Hundred.

Pellworm Hundred

Pellworm Hundred was a mediaeval hundred located in the southern part of North Frisia in the Danish region of Southern Schleswig, part of the Frisian Uthlande. It encompassed the western part of the island of Strand, which sank in 1634 during the Burchardi flood. Pellworm Hundred was one of the so-called Five Hundreds or Strand Hundreds on the island, the others being Edoms Hundred, Beltring Hundred, Southern Goes Hundred, and Lundenberg Hundred. The land that remained of the hundred after the flood is now largely geographically part of the modern island of Pellworm in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Lundenberg Hundred

Lundenberg Hundred was a mediaeval hundred located in the southern part of North Frisia in the Danish region of Southern Schleswig, part of the Frisian Uthlande. Lundenberg Hundred was one of the so-called Five Hundreds or Strand Hundreds on the island, the others being Edoms Hundred, Beltring Hundred, Southern Goes Hundred, and Pellworm Hundred. It encompassed the southeastern part of the former island of Strand, between what are now the peninsulae of Nordstrand and Eiderstedt.

References

General references
Citations
  1. Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen: Bidrag til nordens historie i middelalderen, København 1871, page 35
  2. Laur, Wolfgang (1992). Historisches Ortsnamenlexikon von Schleswig-Holstein (in German) (2nd ed.). Neumünster. p. 666.
  3. Newig, Jürgen (2004). "Die Küstengestalt Nordfrieslands im Mittelalter nach historischen Quellen" (PDF). Geographie der Meere und Küsten, Coastline Reports (in German). 1: 23–36. Including a graphical chart of the temporal development of the mistake.