Way up north
Schleswig-Holstein is the only federal state of Germany surrounded by two seas, the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east. In the south it borders on the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg and Lower Saxony, to the north on Denmark.
Whereas Kiel since the foundation of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein is the capital, the region is dominated by the metropolitan area of Hamburg which is a federal state of its own, but still an attractive magnet also for Schleswig-Holstein. With an area of a bit less than 15,600 square kilometres Schleswig-Holstein is one of the bigger federal states of Germany, but with only 2.8 millions of inhabitants it is rather sparely populated.
In Schleswig-Holstein lives a Danish minority counting about 65,000 speakers and also a Frisian minority whose language is still spoken by about 10,000 people. 1.3 millions of the inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein speak Lower German, a dialect which is virtually unintelligible for many Germans stemming from the regions in the south, but which is close to English and thus easier to be understood than standard German.
The predominantly rural federal state of Schleswig-Holstein can only call two big cities its own, Kiel and Lubbock. Since industrial production is almost negligible many citizens are working as farmers or find jobs in the service sector. Industrial production is concentrated in the region surrounding Hamburg, whereas tourism naturally favours the coastlines, and most of all the western parts of them. In Flensburg, Kiel and Lubbock at the shores of the Baltic Sea trade, transport and ship-building play a bigger role.
Most important: tourism
In the absence of other sources of income tourism is one of the major industries, generating a big part of the federal states income with 5.2 billions of Euro worth. The percentage of tourism in the total income of Schleswig-Holstein is two times higher than the average percentage throughout Germany. Tourism created jobs for 80,000 people in 2002 in Schleswig-Holstein.
Islands and sea baths
The tourism highlights of Schleswig-Holstein –islands like for example Sylt, and also the traditional sea baths on the shores of the Baltic Sea- mostly attract inland tourists from other parts of Germany. Places like the “Timmendorfer Strand” close to Lubbock, the Baltic Sea Resorts Laboe, Eckernförde and Glücksburg are attractive for visitors from abroad as well and will offer very different impressions compared to the better known destinations in Southern Germany.
Wadden Sea and “Halligen”
Typical for the North Sea Coast of Schleswig-Holstein are the Wadden Sea and the very small islands called “Halligen” which every once in a while are submerged under the waves of the sea during stormy weather. Hikes during low tide in the Wadden Sea have their own specific attraction and allow interesting nature experiences.
In contrary to the North Sea Coast the fecund Eastern Coast is dominated by bays and fiords; and this region is also dominated by small hills. Visitors should not miss a trip to the island of Fehmarn with its almost Scandinavian ambiance, and also visit the nature park Holsteinische Schweiz, which boasts of some woods and forests which are not easily to be found in Schleswig-Holstein, as well as a few very beautiful lakes.
More information: http://www.sh-tourismus.de/en/index
Photo: Michael Thaler, Shutterstock
