Fehmarn Belt () (, former spelling ''Femer Bælt''; ) is a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

connecting the

Bay of Kiel The Bay of Kiel or Kiel Bay (, ; ) is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, ...

and the

Bay of Mecklenburg The Bay of Mecklenburg ( or ''Mecklenburgische Bucht''; ), also known as the Mecklenburg Bay or Mecklenburg Bight, is a long narrow basin making up the southwestern finger-like arm of the Baltic Sea, between the shores of Germany to the south a ...

in the western part of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

between the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

island of

Fehmarn Fehmarn (; ; from Old Wagrian Slavic languages, Slavic "''Fe More''", meaning "''In the Sea''") is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, afte ...

and the Danish island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

operated by

Scandlines Scandlines is a ferry company that operates the Rødby– Puttgarden and Gedser–Rostock ferry routes between Denmark and Germany. Scandlines owns seven ferries, six of which are hybrid ferries, making Scandlines the owner of the world's large ...

connect

Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland. Overvie ...

and

Rødby Rødby is a town located on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 1,957 (1 January 2024).Christof Wandratsch Christof Wandratsch (born 20 December 1966) is a long distance swimmer from Germany. In 1990 he won the Lake Zurich Swim. In August 2005 he set the world record for the fastest ever swim of the English Channel The English Channel, also kno ...

Tunnel

The Danish and German governments agreed on 29 June 2007 to build a

fixed link A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...

to replace the current ferry route. In 2011, the Danish parliament voted overwhelmingly (with seven of eight parties supporting) for the €5.1 billion project that was initially intended to open in 2020. The tunnel is to have three separate bores, two containing two motorway lanes each, and one with a double-track railway line. Construction started on 1 January 2021, and the tunnel is expected to open in 2029. The tunnel will allow crossing between

Rødbyhavn Rødbyhavn () is a small town and harbour on the south coast of Lolland, Denmark, with a population of 1,516 (1 January 2024).

Famous shipwrecks

* 13 October 1644 The Danish men-of-war ''Delmenhorst'', ''Lindormen'' and the Dutch ''Swarte Arendt'' was sunk during the

Battle of Fehmarn (1644) The Battle of Fehmarn (1644) took place north-west of the island of Fehmarn, now part of Germany, in the Baltic Sea. A combined Swedish fleet, with a large element of hired Dutch ships, defeated a Danish-Norwegian fleet and took 1,000 prisoner ...

* 21 July 1932 The German

school ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old Hulk (ship type), hulks us ...

Niobe Niobe (; : Nióbē) was in Greek mythology a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa. She was the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Niobe is mentioned by Achilles in Homer's ''Iliad ...

'' capsized during a

white squall A white squall is a sudden and violent windstorm at sea which is not accompanied by the black clouds generally characteristic of a squall. It manifests as a sudden increase in wind velocity in tropical and sub-tropical waters, and may be a micro ...

References

{{Authority control Straits of Denmark Bodies of water of Schleswig-Holstein Straits of the Baltic Sea Straits of Germany Denmark–Germany border International straits

Tunnel

Famous shipwrecks

See also

References