Riems Island
Encyclopedia
Riems Island lies in the southwest of Bay of Greifswald
in between the German
mainland and the island of Rügen
, a flat spur in the Baltic Sea
. Riems belongs administratively to urban district
of Hanseatic City of Greifswald
, but it is an exclave. Riemserort, another district, belongs to Riems Island. It lies opposite the island on the mainland.
and Slavic
archaeological finds demonstrate. The island later belonged, together with the adjacent village of Gristow
, to the family of Dotenberg. Between 1375 and 1382, Riems and Gristow became the possession of the city of Greifswald, which leased the then uninhabited island out as pasture
land. After 1820, the city built a homestead but sold it back to its previous tenant in 1883.
Riems Island is home to the oldest virological
research institution in the world, now called the Friedrich Loeffler Institute
, which was built by Friedrich Loeffler in 1910. Loeffler, a professor at the University of Greifswald, ran filtration tests in 1898 and found that the dangerous foot-and-mouth disease
was not a bacterium, but a previously unknown class he called "the smallest of all organisms". He had determined it to be a virus. After investigations showed that Loeffler had inadvertently infected the whole region of Greifswald with foot-and-mouth disease he moved to the safer location of his institute on the island of Riems in 1910.
The Third Reich used the institute in Riems to research bioweapons.
While East Germany controlled Riems approximately 800 people were working on vaccine research and development, today there are less than half that number. The population on the island is quite small. There are only 13 houses, five one-or two-family homes and eight apartment buildings, with a total of 62 residential units.
Since 1997, the research complex is the headquarters of the Riemser Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI). The duties of the FLI include research on animal diseases, such as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
, foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever, and the development of preventive and protective measures against it, especially veterinary vaccines. As of 2006, Riems was working on a vaccine for the avian flu
. By 2010, the Institute was to reduce their current locations Tübingen, Wusterhausen and Jena to just Jena and Riems. The total budget for the expansion work is some 150 million €. The construction needed to be handled carefully because of the historically rich old buildings.
The former production plant for animal vaccines was successfully privatized as Riemser Arzneimittel AG. It has about 150 employees.
Because of the research work with viruses the island is again closed to the public, after the 1990s the populated area in the western part of the island was freely accessible for some years. Quarantine stables and laboratories security levels are Level 4. What this means for employees and visitors to the complex are that they will need to change their clothes and shower when entering and exiting.
Bay of Greifswald
The Bay of Greifswald is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Germany in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. With an area of 514 km², it is the largest Bodden of the German Baltic coast....
in between the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mainland and the island of Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
, a flat spur in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. Riems belongs administratively to urban district
Urban districts of Germany
This is a list of urban districts in Germany. Germany's sixteen states are further subdivided into 402 districts of which 107 are urban districts – cities which constitute a district in their own right. A similar concept is the Statutarstadt in Austria...
of Hanseatic City of Greifswald
Greifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...
, but it is an exclave. Riemserort, another district, belongs to Riems Island. It lies opposite the island on the mainland.
Geography
The island of Riems measures west-to-east at about 1,250 meters, north-to-south, at its widest point, it is about 300 meters. Since the early 1970s, it has been connected, by a 500m long banked causeway, to the mainland. It has, therefore, been a peninsula for more than 30 years. Before the causeway a cable car was used to transport materials to the mainland. This cable car is now broken down, but the remains of its foundation supports are still visible. The lack of fresh water in the Gristower Wiek caused oxygen depletion became a problem in the shallow bay. To ease this issue, in the Autumn of 2007, the 30m long dam to the island was reopened.Fauna
Riems is an important resting and moulting area for waterbirds. The Fahrenbrink Peninsula Nature Reserve is a recognized nature reserve. Approximately 15 percent of the northern European waterfowl population spend their winter in the area and the Bay of Greifswald and Strelasund. Therefore it has been declared a European bird sanctuary.History
Riems was been inhabited since prehistoric times as Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
and Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
archaeological finds demonstrate. The island later belonged, together with the adjacent village of Gristow
Mesekenhagen
Mesekenhagen is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
, to the family of Dotenberg. Between 1375 and 1382, Riems and Gristow became the possession of the city of Greifswald, which leased the then uninhabited island out as pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
land. After 1820, the city built a homestead but sold it back to its previous tenant in 1883.
Riems Island is home to the oldest virological
Virology
Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy...
research institution in the world, now called the Friedrich Loeffler Institute
Friedrich Loeffler Institute
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute , is the national research centre for animal health of Germany. The institute was founded in 1910 and named for its founder Friedrich Loeffler in 1952. The FLI is situated on the Isle of Riems, which belongs to the City of Greifswald...
, which was built by Friedrich Loeffler in 1910. Loeffler, a professor at the University of Greifswald, ran filtration tests in 1898 and found that the dangerous foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...
was not a bacterium, but a previously unknown class he called "the smallest of all organisms". He had determined it to be a virus. After investigations showed that Loeffler had inadvertently infected the whole region of Greifswald with foot-and-mouth disease he moved to the safer location of his institute on the island of Riems in 1910.
The Third Reich used the institute in Riems to research bioweapons.
While East Germany controlled Riems approximately 800 people were working on vaccine research and development, today there are less than half that number. The population on the island is quite small. There are only 13 houses, five one-or two-family homes and eight apartment buildings, with a total of 62 residential units.
Since 1997, the research complex is the headquarters of the Riemser Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI). The duties of the FLI include research on animal diseases, such as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
, foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever, and the development of preventive and protective measures against it, especially veterinary vaccines. As of 2006, Riems was working on a vaccine for the avian flu
Avian flu
Avian influenza, sometimes avian flu, and commonly bird flu, refers to "influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds." Of the greatest concern is highly pathogenic avian influenza ....
. By 2010, the Institute was to reduce their current locations Tübingen, Wusterhausen and Jena to just Jena and Riems. The total budget for the expansion work is some 150 million €. The construction needed to be handled carefully because of the historically rich old buildings.
The former production plant for animal vaccines was successfully privatized as Riemser Arzneimittel AG. It has about 150 employees.
Because of the research work with viruses the island is again closed to the public, after the 1990s the populated area in the western part of the island was freely accessible for some years. Quarantine stables and laboratories security levels are Level 4. What this means for employees and visitors to the complex are that they will need to change their clothes and shower when entering and exiting.
External links
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut
- http://www.wassersport-im-bodden.de/