Rømø (, ) is a Danish island in the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( ; ; or ; ; ; ) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tida ...

. Rømø is part of

Tønder Municipality Tønder (; ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,477 (as of 1 January 2025), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might have been in th ...

. The island had 650 inhabitants as of 1 January 2011,"Danmarks Statistik."
Retrieved 11 June 2010. and covers an area of 129 km². Rømø is the southernmost of Denmark's Wadden Sea Islands. This distinction was previously held by the small uninhabited island of Jordsand, which sank in 1999.

History

Rømø is part of Southern Jutland, a historical region of Denmark. With the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

(1864), the region became part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(and later the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

) as part of the

Province of Schleswig-Holstein The Province of Schleswig-Holstein ( ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (from 1868 to 1918) and the Free State of Prussia (from 1918 to 1946). History It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had been conquere ...

. Rømø and the rest of Southern Jutland was reunited with Denmark in 1920, after the Schleswig plebiscite. From 1899 to 1940, a horse-drawn tram line ran from Kongsmark inland to Lakolk. Between 1970 and 2006, Rømø was part of Skærbæk Municipality ( da) in

South Jutland County South Jutland County (Danish language, Danish: ''Sønderjyllands Amt'') is a former counties of Denmark, county (Danish language, Danish: ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern Denmark ...

. Since 2007 it has been part of

in the

Region of Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark (, ; , ; ) is an administrative region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regions ...

13-09-29-nordfriesisches-wattenmeer-RalfR-06

Features

It is linked to the Danish mainland by a road running across a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

, and the island lies about 3 km from the neighbouring German island Sylt, to which it is connected by

ferry 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 ...

. It is home to a number of small communities such as Kongsmark, Østerby, Lakolk, and Sønderstrand.

St Clement's Church

St Clement's is the main church on the island. In the 19th century, the church allowed people to buy name plates for the church benches. Here the name of H.P.P. Møller, grandfather of the founder of the famous Danish

Maersk (), usually known simply as Maersk ( ), is a Danish Freight transport, shipping and logistics company founded in 1904 by Arnold Peter Møller and his father Peter Mærsk Møller. Maersk's business activities include Port operator, port operat ...

shipping company, can still be seen on one of the front benches.

Kommandørgård Museum

The museum contains artefacts from the

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

industry, including a whale skeleton. The house is from 1770 and the barn and stable are from 1744. From 1784 to 1874 part of the manor was a school. "Kommandør" (commander) is an older term for a captain of a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

Ferry to Sylt

The car ferry to the neighbouring (German) island of Sylt is operated by FRS Syltferry. It runs every hour and takes about 40 minutes.

The beach

Cars can legally be driven onto the beach. The southern beach is suitable for kitebuggying - a small vehicle is pulled at high speed pulled by a large, wind-blown kite. On the first weekend of September, one of the biggest kite festivals of Europe is held on Rømø. Rømø is a popular spot for tourists attracted by the nudist beaches.

Notable people

* Peter Mærsk Møller (1836 in Rømø – 1927) Maersk.com website
retrieved 2 October 2017 was a sea captain who perhaps is best known as the father of

Arnold Peter Møller Arnold Peter Møller (2 October 1876 – 12 June 1965), better known as A. P. Møller, was a Danish shipping magnate, businessman who was the founder of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group in 1904. Biography A. P. Møller was the son of captain Pe ...

, founder of the

corporation,

Notes

Gallery

File:Aerial photograph 400D 2012 05 05 8269 DxO.jpg, Aerial view Rømø Kite Festival 2016 01.jpg, Rømø Kite Festival 2016 Romo_island_harbour_DK.jpg, Harbour Aussenansicht - Sankt Clemens Kirke (Rømø).jpg, Saint Clements Church, Rømø Den gamle Redningsstation Rømø 6.jpg, The Old Rescue Station Rømø Causeway Rømødæmingen 1.jpg, Causeway R%C3%B8m%C3%B8_udsigt.jpg, Shore KommandørGården 02.jpg, Kommandør Gården

External links

Rømø
(tourist website, English).
Cycle Route round the island
(tourist website, English).
Further Tourist Information
(German). {{DEFAULTSORT:Romo Danish Wadden Sea Islands Islands of Denmark Geography of Tønder Municipality