Uthörn
Encyclopedia
Uthörn is a small 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...

 island adjacent to Sylt
Sylt
Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia...

 in the district of Nordfriesland
Nordfriesland
Nordfriesland, English "Northern Friesland" or "North Frisia", is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia along with adjacent areas to the east and south and is bounded by the districts of Schleswig-Flensburg and Dithmarschen, the North Sea and...

, and as such it is Germany's northernmost isle right after Sylt proper. It belongs to the List municipality.

Geography

The island is situated in the so-called Königshafen (King's Harbour), a bay on the eastern shore of Sylt which is facing the shallow tidal flats of the Wadden Sea in that area. Uthörn is located north of the town of List, only a kilometre away from the Ellbogen (Elbow) peninsula of Sylt, which is in fact Germany's northernmost area.

Uthörn is almost 800 meters long and up to 240 meters wide, its area amounts to about 13 ha. The island is relatively young, as it developed out of a sand bar, which due to wind drift of sand from Sylt has now grown to a height of approximately 4.10 m above sea level and is no longer submerged during high tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

. It is thought that the growth of Uthörn is likely to continue in the future.

Up to now (2008), the island is merely overgrown by pioneer species
Pioneer species
Pioneer species are species which colonize previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession. They are the first organisms to start the chain of events leading to a livable biosphere or ecosystem...

 of plants and the common dune vegetation like marram grass
Marram grass
Ammophila is a genus consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses; common names for these grasses include Marram Grass, Bent Grass, and Beachgrass...

.

Protection

Uthörn is located just a few metres off the shore of Sylt and can be reached on foot through the shallow sea. But as it provides space for the hatching and resting of rare and endangered seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s and is situated inside the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
Wadden Sea National Parks
The Wadden Sea National Parks, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located along the German coast of the North Sea. Named after the Wadden Sea, they consist of three national parks:...

, it may only be entered with special permission.
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