Angeln (; ) is a peninsula on the eastern coast of Jutland, in the Bay of Kiel. It forms part of Southern Schleswig, the northernmost region of Germany. The peninsula is bounded on the north by the Flensburg Firth, which separates it from Sundeved and the island of Als in Denmark, and on the south by the Schlei, which separates it from Schwansen. The landscape is hilly, dotted with numerous lakes. The largest towns are Flensburg, Schleswig and Kappeln.
Angeln is notable for being the putative home of the Angles, a Germanic tribe that migrated to Great Britain during the Age of Migrations and founded the kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia. The Angles would ultimately give their name to England.
Glücksburg Castle in Glücksburg and Gottorf Castle in Schleswig were the original seats of two historically important dynasties, the House of Glücksburg and the House of Holstein-Gottorp.
Etymology The place-name is first attested in Widsith, an Old English poem dating to the 6th or 7th century. It has been linked to the Germanic roots *angulaz ("hook") and *angw- ("narrow"), and may have originated as a name for the Schlei. It is unclear whether the ancient Angeln corresponded to the region now denoted by the name or whether it was of greater extent.
Geography
Angeln is one of four peninsulas lining the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein, along with Schwansen, Dänischer Wohld and Wagria. These peninsulas are all part of the Schleswig-Holstein Morainic Uplands (Ger. Schleswig-Holsteinisches Moränenhügelland), that were formed during the Weichselian glaciation, and are therefore hilly and dotted with several glacial lakes.
The Angeln lakes are subdivided into the North Angeln Lake Group (Ger. Nordangeliter Seengruppe) and the South Angeln Lake Group (Südangeliter Seengruppe). The River Treene with its main headstreams Bondenau and Kielstau rises in Angeln. Although rising on the Angeln Peninsula in the Baltic Sea, the Treene flows towards the North Sea, being the main tributary of the River Eider. The Eider is considered the historical southern border of the Danish Realm, as well as the historical border line between Danish and Low German.
The eastern part of the peninsula is called the Angeln Uplands, while the western part is called Luusangeln (de). This designation comes from the Angeln Danish word for "bright", lus (Standard Danish lys), and indicates the predominantly light colour of the widespread sand-rich podzols there. Luusangeln constitutes a transition zone from the Angeln Uplands in the east, to the Schleswig Geest west of Angeln, and its appearance resembles a landscape park. The Schleswig Geest in turn merges into the tidal marshes of North Frisia. The northernmost part of Angeln is formed by the Holnis Peninsula, which projects into the Flensburg Firth and separates the inner firth (Innenförde) from the outer firth (Außenförde).
Apart from Flensburg, which is an independent town, the Angeln Peninsula belongs to the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, Germany's northeasternmost district (seat: Schleswig). This comparatively rural district has approximately 204,761 inhabitants ().
Lakes The largest North Angeln lakes are:
The largest South Angeln lakes are: Langsee (Schleswig) (Langsøen)
Rivers The chain of hills running across Angeln between Husby and Kappeln constitutes the drainage divide between the Baltic and North Seas. East of it, small streams mostly called Auen flow towards the Baltic. West of it, most streams flow towards the Treene and later the Eider and hence into the North Sea.
The Treene is the longest tributary of the Eider, and its two headstreams, and , rise in and flow through Angeln. The sources of the Bondenau are in Mohrkirch and in Sörup-Sörupholz. At Mittelangeln-Bondebrück the joins the Bondenau. The Kielstau rises in Sörup-Schwensby, passes through the Winderatter See and flows into the Bondenau at Großsolt, just before the Bondenau enters the Treßsee. Upon leaving the lake the river takes on the name Treene and leaves Angeln to the west. It enters the Eider at Friedrichstadt, which in turn enters its extensive estuary, the , at Tönning.
The largest river system that flows entirely in Angeln from its sources to its mouth is the system of the Loiter Au (also called Füsinger Au). It is formed by the confluence of the Boholzer Au (which is called in its upper course) and the (whose upper reaches are also called Mühlenau, and whose longest tributary is the Flaruper Au), at a place called Kreuzau in Süderbrarup-Brebelholz. After the confluence, the river flows in a southerly direction, and after approximately 18 kilometers, it flows into the of the Schlei at Winningmay (municipality of Schaalby), east of Schleswig.
Nature reserves There are 10 officially designated nature reserves (Naturschutzgebiete) in Angeln:
(Höftland Bockholmwick and adjacent steep coasts) (Upper Treene Landscape) (Esker near Süderbrarup) (Pugumer See and surroundings)
(valley of the Langballigau) (mouth of the Schlei) There is also one nature park, . The nature reserve lies just southwest of Angeln. It stretches along the Danevirke and around the Viking settlement of Hedeby, which constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cities
There are five cities in Angeln. All other settlements are just municipalities, all belonging to an Amt, which is a collection of municipalities administratively classified as between the local and the county government. The only exception is the city of Arnis, which belongs to the Amt of Kappeln-Land.
Flensburg: The largest city touching Angeln territory is Flensburg (pop. 92,550). The city is called Flensborg in Low German and Danish, Flensborre in South Jutlandic, and Flansborj or Flensborag in North Frisian. Only about half of the city is considered part of Angeln, namely the eastern boroughs of Engelsby, Fruerlund, Jürgensby, Mürwik, Sandberg and Tarup, not in Angeln are the boroughs of Altstadt (Innenstadt), Friesischer Berg, Neustadt, Nordstadt, Südstadt, Weiche and Westliche Höhe.see DigitalerAtlasNord. The Angeln districts alone have a population of around 46,000 inhabitants, which is enough to make Flensburg the by far most populous city in the region.
Schleswig: The second-largest city is Schleswig (pop. 25,832), which belongs almost entirely to Angeln, including the city centre. It is called Sleswig in Low German, Slesvig in Danish, and used to be called Slasvjig in Angeln Danish. There are just two boroughs that do not belong to Angeln because they are located on the adjacent Schwansen Peninsula: St. Jürgen and Klosterhof. To compensate for the loss of political and administrative functions as former capital of the Duchy of Schleswig and later the Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig became the seat of the Schleswig-Holsatian Higher Regional Court, the State Archives, the State Museum of Art and Cultural History and the Archaeological State Museum (the latter two being located in Gottorf Castle) between 1947 and 1948. Schleswig is therefore a cultural and the justicial centre for the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Kappeln (Danish: Kappel) (pop. 8,607) is the third-largest city on Angeln territory. Although most of the city's area has been on the Schwansen Peninsula since the incorporation of Olpenitz in 1970, most of the districts and the city centre belong to Angeln. The Angeln boroughs are: Dothmark, Ellenberg, Kappeln (core city), Mehlby, Sandbek and Stutebüll. The boroughs in Schwansen are: Kopperby and Olpenitz. In Kappeln, the region's largest urban development project is being carried out, in the course of which the former Olpenitz naval base is being converted into the "Olpenitz Baltic Sea Resort" (:de:Ostseeresort Olpenitz).
Glücksburg (Ostsee): The fourth-largest city of Glücksburg (Ostsee) (pop. 6,377) is the largest city lying entirely in Angeln. It is called Glücksborg in Low German and Lyksborg in Danish. It is the northernmost city in Germany, as List on Sylt, that is known as northernmost settlement of the country, is just a village and municipality. The core area of the city consists of the boroughs of Bremsberg (Bremsbjerg), Sandwig (Sandvig) with Quellental (Kildedal), and Ulstrupfeld (Ulstrupmark). The entire area of the Holnis Peninsula was incorporated into Glücksburg.
Arnis: With less than 300 inhabitants, Arnis (Danish: Arnæs) (pop. 273) is the least populous city in Germany and, at , also the smallest city in terms of area. The city extends on a densely built-up small peninsula in the middle of the Schlei.
Transport Rail The Neumünster–Flensburg railway runs along the western edge of Angeln, and connects the two largest Angeln cities of Flensburg and Schleswig via the stations of Tarp and Jübek. In the south, it merges into the route to Hamburg, and in the north into the route to Fredericia.
Angeln is crossed by the Kiel–Flensburg railway, that runs from the Schleswig-Holsatian capital of Kiel to Flensburg and connects the Baltic Sea ports of Kiel, Eckernförde and Flensburg. After leaving Kiel, it crosses the Kiel Canal on the Levensau High Bridge, and then runs via Eckernförde and across the Schwansen Peninsula in the direction of the Schlei. It crosses the Schlei on the Lindaunis Bridge - a bascule bridge that has been broken for many years and is to be replaced by a new structure by 2027 - between the stations Rieseby in Schwansen, and Lindaunis, which is the first station in Angeln. It then runs across Angeln in the direction of Flensburg via the stations Süderbrarup, Sörup and Husby. An additional stop is to be set up in Flensburg-Tarup.
At Süderbrarup station, the "Angeln Steam Railway" (Angelner Dampfeisenbahn) (de) branches off from the Kiel–Flensburg line. It runs from Süderbrarup to Kappeln via Wagersrott, Scheggerott, Rabenkirchen, Faulück and Arnis-Grödersby. Some journeys carried out with railbuses do not end in Süderbrarup, but continue all the way to Flensburg.
Road
The Bundesautobahn 7 (Federal Motorway 7, from Grenzübergang/Grænseovergang Ellund (D)/Frøslev (DK) to Grenzübergang Füssen (D)/Vils (AT)) runs along the western edge of Angeln, and connects Flensburg to Schleswig. Exits along the Angeln Peninsula are "Flensburg/Harrislee", "Flensburg", "Tarp" and "Schleswig/Schuby". It merges into the Danish Sønderjyske Motorvej (E45) in the direction of Kolding in the north.
Languages
The language most spoken in Angeln is German. However the peninsula is also part of the language area of Danish and Low German. The latter is more closely related to English than German is, since it was not affected by the High German consonant shift.
Before the 9th century Angeln was inhabited by the Angles, who spoke a West Germanic dialect that would later evolve into English. A language shift to North Germanic occurred following the departure of the Angles, when the peninsula was occupied by Danes. Danish became the main language of the region between the 9th and 19th centuries. In the 19th century another language shift occurred and the predominant language changed from the North Germanic Danish to the West Germanic Low German. Low German has since been gradually superseded by a variety of Standard German with Low German traits.
The variety of Danish indigenous to Angeln was Angel Danish, a dialect of South Jutlandic (the southernmost variety of Danish spoken on the Jutland peninsula, formerly spoken as far south as Eckernförde).
Danish continues to be spoken in Angeln by a minority but the dialects spoken nowadays are Southern Schleswig Danish, which are not dialects of the previously indigenous South Jutlandic but (Low) German-influenced dialects of Standard Danish. The cities with the largest Danish-speaking minorities are Flensburg, Schleswig and Glücksburg.
Many Angeln place-names are of Danish origin, including those ending in -by (town), such as Brodersby, Nieby and Husby, and -rup (hamlet), such as Sörup, Sterup and Tastrup.
History