Borgsum ( Fering: ''Borigsem'') is a municipality on the island of

Föhr Föhr (; ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; ) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest North Sea ...

in the district of

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; ; Low German: Noordfreesland), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost Districts of Germany, district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the e ...

, in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

The name means "Settlement at the castle". Said castle is the ''Lembecksburg'', in fact a medieval ring wall with a diameter of 95 meters and a height of ten meters. According to old lore, it was constructed in the 9th century as a stronghold against the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

s and is named after the knight Klaus Lembeck who had allegedly been residing there as a steward of king

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag, Valdemar Christoffersen or Waldemar (24 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance wars under previous rul ...

in the 14th century. After breaking his feudal oath, though, Lembeck is said to have been besieged by the king's host. Ít is disputed though whether Lembeck ever set foot on the island. Archaeological findings on Sylt island in the late 1970s suggest, however, that the Lembecksburg and similar facilities on Sylt date back to the days of the Roman Empire. In 1991 a

wind mill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; ...

was erected in place of an older, dilapidated mill. Today, Borgsum counts about 350 inhabitants.

Politics

Since the communal elections of 2008, the ''BWG'' constituents' association holds six of nine seats in the municipality council. Another seat is held by the ''ABB''. The ninth seat is vacant, no major German parties are represented in the council.

Economy

Borgsum is dominated by agriculture and tourism. Additionally, there are a few crafts businesses.

References

External links

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Borgsum
{{authority control Municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein Föhr Nordfriesland