The Rugard, at , is the highest elevation in the central region of the German

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 ...

island of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

. This push end moraine was formed in the last ice age and lies on the northeastern perimeter of the town of

Bergen auf Rügen Bergen auf Rügen is the capital of the former district of Rügen in the middle of the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Since 1 January 2005, Bergen has moreover been the administrative seat of the '' Amt'' of Bergen au ...

. There was probably a castle here from the 9th century to the year 1325 A.D., in which princes of the Slavic

Rani ''Rani'' () is a female title, equivalent to queen, for royal or princely rulers in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It translates to 'queen' in English. It is also a Sanskrit Hindu feminine given name. The term applies equally to a ...

tribe resided. These princes ruled Rügen and parts of the adjacent mainland. The Slavic name ''Rugard'' (German: ''Rujanenburg'') dates to that period. The site had an inner and outer ward and covered an area of 2.3 hectares. When the Rani's princely line ended in 1325 with the death of Wizlaw III, the castle lost its importance and fell into disrepair. Some of its ramparts have survived, however, and may still be made out today. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

there was a mill here and the area was used for agriculture. Until 1830, when Prince Wilhelm Malte I of

Putbus Putbus () is a town on the southeastern coast of the island of Rügen, in the county of Vorpommern-Rügen in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, close to the Baltic Sea. The town has 4,741 inhabitants and is a significant tourist destinat ...

(1783-1854) had the ramparts reforested, the Rugard was treeless.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...

captured its former appearance in his 1821 painting ''Der Rugard auf Rügen'' ("The Rugard on Rügen"). Over time, a forest grew up, consisting mainly of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees, interrupted by small stands of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

and poplar as well as many other deciduous and coniferous trees. The native

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

is barely represented. In 1984, a 2.5 km

nature trail An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural scienc ...

was established that runs through the Rugard Forest (''Rugardwald'') where visitors are able to learn about the variety of animal and plant life in this historic countryside from the various information boards. From the

Ernst Moritz Arndt Tower The Ernst Moritz Arndt Tower () stands on the top of the Rugard, the highest point of the central region of the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen. It is listed as a historic structure by the county of Rügen. Origin and construction In prepara ...

on the top of the Rugard, visitors have a panoramic view over the entire island. This tower was built in the 1870s as a monument to

Ernst Moritz Arndt Ernst Moritz Arndt (26 December 1769 – 29 January 1860) was a German nationalist historian, writer and poet. Early in his life, he fought for the abolition of serfdom, later against Napoleonic dominance over Germany. Arndt had to flee to Swed ...

, who was born in Groß Schoritz on Rügen. The foundation stone was laid on 26 December 1869, the 100th anniversary of the poet. They chose a design by Berlin architect and builder,

Hermann Eggert Georg Peter Hermann Eggert (3 January 1844 – 12 March 1920) was a German architect. He designed important public buildings such as the Frankfurt Main Station and the New Town Hall in Hannover, often in the style of Neo-Renaissance. Career B ...

, and began construction in Autumn 1872. However, the work was not completed until 1877 due to a lack of money. In the 1930s the forest around the Rugard reached such a height that there was no longer a clear, all-round view from the topmost gallery of the tower. Between 1935 and 1937, a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Thingplatz A ''Thingspiel'' (plural ''Thingspiele'') was a kind of multi-disciplinary outdoor theatre performance which enjoyed brief popularity in pre-war Nazi Germany during the 1930s. A Thingplatz or Thingstätte was a specially-constructed outdoor am ...

'' was built here, which was mainly used by the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

. During thorough renovations carried out from 2000 to 2002, it was decided to replace the 1955 wooden dome with a dome of glass and steel (whilst maintaining its historical shape) and thus provide a higher viewing platform.

External links

* {{Coord, 54, 25, 4, N, 13, 26, 48, E, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title Geography of Rügen History of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern History of Pomerania Castles in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Bergen auf Rügen Thingplatz Principality of Rügen