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Rügen ( Polish Rugia) is the largest German island. It is situated off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the Baltic Sea. Its area is 935 km² and its population was 73,000 in 2001. Together with the neighboring smaller islands Rügen Hiddensee and Ummanz it is administrated as the district Rügen.
Rügen is mainly accessible by a bridge connecting the island with the city of Stralsund on the mainland. There are also ferry connections from Stralsund, Greifswald and Wolgast . The island has some crowded tourist resorts along the eastern coast as well as quiet and lonely places in the west. There are three nature reserves extending at least partially on the island:
Rügen was populated since about 4000 BC. It was later settled by the Germanic tribe Rugians who gave their name to the island. In the 7th century Slavic peoples came to settle the place. Many traces of their life can be found today. Rügen became a Slavic principality with the political and religious centre in the temple castle at Cape ArkonaCape Arkona is a cape on the island of Rugen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Prior to the German reunification it was the northernmost point of East Germany. Cape Arkona is the tip of the Witte peninsula, just a few kilometres north of the Jasm, the northernmost point of Rügen. In 1168Events December 22 Afraid that Old Cairo would be captured by the Crusaders, its Caliph orders the city set afire. The city burns for 54 days. Prince Richard of England becomes duke of Aquitaine. He later becomes King Richard I of England. Emperor Takakur the place was destroyed by DanishKongeriget Danmark ( In Detail) Motto of the Queen: Guds hjaelp, Folkets kaerlighed, Danmarks styrke (English: God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength) Official language Danish Capital Copenhagen Kobenhavn Monarch Margrethe II Prime Ministe invaders. The now weakened principality became receptive to ChristianisationThe historical phenomenon of Christianization a term for the conversion of individuals to Christianity and for the conversion of entire peoples at once (a political shift as much as a spontaneous mass shift in individual consciences), also covers the prac. In 1325Events Muhammed Tughlaq succeeds his father Ghiyas al-Din Tughlaq as Sultan of Delhi. Tenochtitlan founded. Births Nicolas Oresme Deaths January 7 King Dinis of Portugal, succeeded by his son Afonso IV 1325. Rügen was conquered by the Dukes of PomeraniaPomerania is a geographical and historical region in northern Poland and Germany, on the south coasts of Baltic Sea on both sides of the Oder River and reaches to the Vistula river in the east and Reknitz river in the west. In the second half of 10th cent.
Rügen was a part of SwedishThe Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige in Swedish) is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf PomeraniaSwedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from the 17th to the 19th century, situated on the German Baltic Sea coast. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the Southern Baltic Coa from 1648 to 1815; afterwards it became a part of Prussia. In 1816 the first bathing resort was founded (Putbus). Later more resorts were established, and Rügen remained the most famous holiday resort of Germany until World War II.
In 1936 the bridge connecting Rügen with the mainland was constructed. The Nazis added a resort of outstanding ugliness: Prora, planned by the Kraft durch Freude ("Strength through joy") organisation, which aimed to occupy people's free time. However, Prora was never completed.
Rügen regained its status as a holiday island after the German reunification; now it has surpassed Sylt as the most popular German island again.