Editing Cape Arkona (section)

== Steps to the beach: ''Königstreppe'' and ''Veilchentreppe'' ==
[[File:Veilchentreppe.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''Veilchentreppe'' steps]]
Several metres west of Cape Arkona is the ''Königstreppe'' ("King's Staircase"), whose 230 steps climb up the 42-metre-high cliff 230.
The Swedish king, [[Frederick of Sweden|Frederick I]] – Rügen then belonged to Sweden – had a [[daymark]] erected near the present-day steps during the [[Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)]] to warn the population. Hence the spot was known as the ''Königssteig'' or "King's Climb".

In 1833, for the arrival of the steamboat ''Hercules'' during its Imperial Russian [[Marine chronometer|chronometer]] expedition, the [[Prussia]]n king, [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] - Rügen was now Prussian - had a landing stage and flight of steps built.<ref>[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1846AN.....24...87. Die Kaiserlich-russische Chronometer-Expedition in der Ostsee zwischen Pulkowa, Moskau und Warschau im Jahre 1833]</ref> From this point in 1865, the first [[telegraphy|telegraph cable]] was laid under the Baltic Sea to Sweden. With the rise of the island's coastal resorts, tourism at Cape Arkona grew. Many travelers came by excursion boats that moored at the pier at the foot of the steps. The landing stage was, however, completely destroyed by the [[storm flood]] of 1953. The new ''Königstreppe'' steps were completed in 1995 at the same historic spot, taking a year to build.

South of the remnants of the ramparts at Jaromarsburg are the ''Veilchentreppe'' ("Violet Staircase"), a descent to the beach that runs from Arkona to Vitt. The name comes from the violets that grow around the staircase in spring.

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