Editing Sylt (section)

==Settlements==
[[File:2002-07 Sylt - Westerland (panorama).jpg|thumb|view from a hotel room in [[Westerland, Germany|Westerland]]]]
[[File:Rotes Kliff Sylt (24237231827).jpg|thumb|The red cliff next to [[Kampen (Sylt)|Kampen]], Sylt]]
Sylt is divided into two administrative bodies: the ''[[Amt (administrative division)|Amt]]'' [[Landschaft Sylt]] administers all municipalities on the island, save for the ''[[Sylt (municipality)|Gemeinde Sylt]]'', which was established in 2009 from the formerly independent municipalities of [[Westerland, Germany|Westerland]], [[Rantum]] and [[Sylt-Ost]]. As of December 2007, Sylt had 21,190 inhabitants, 9,072 of whom living in Westerland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Orte, Städte, Gemeinden im Landkreis Nordfriesland |url=http://www.daeb.de/schleswig-holstein/nordsee/nordfriesland.php |publisher=Deutschland auf einen Blick |language=de |access-date=29 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930175248/http://www.daeb.de/schleswig-holstein/nordsee/nordfriesland.php |archive-date=30 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> These numbers do not include owners of summer residences.

A referendum held in May 2008 resulted in a merger of the [[Sylt-Ost]] municipality with the town of Westerland on 1 January 2009.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Sylter Rundschau]] |url=http://www.shz.de/nachrichten/lokales/sylter-rundschau/artikeldetails/article/789/westerland-und-sylt-ost-fusionieren-1.html |title=Westerland und Sylt-Ost fusionieren |date=26 May 2008 |publisher=[[Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag]] |language=de |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216145308/http://www.shz.de/nachrichten/lokales/sylter-rundschau/artikeldetails/article/789/westerland-und-sylt-ost-fusionieren-1.html |archive-date=16 February 2012}}</ref> Various interest groups hope to merge every island municipality into one governing body.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Sylter Rundschau]] |url=http://www.shz.de/nachrichten/lokales/sylter-rundschau/artikeldetails/article/789/der-fahrplan-zur-teilfusion-so-geht-es-jetzt-weiter.html |title=Der Fahrplan zur Teilfusion: So geht es jetzt weiter |date=27 May 2008 |publisher=[[Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag]] |language=de |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216145331/http://www.shz.de/nachrichten/lokales/sylter-rundschau/artikeldetails/article/789/der-fahrplan-zur-teilfusion-so-geht-es-jetzt-weiter.html |archive-date=16 February 2012}}</ref>

=== Settlements along the west coast ===
Six municipalities are situated along the west coast of Sylt. [[List, Schleswig-Holstein|List]] in the very north of the island constitutes Germany's northernmost municipality; it retained a certain independence due to its remote location and its long-time adherence to the kingdom of [[Denmark]]. On its eastern shore, a harbour is located where, in addition to tourist ships, the "Sylt-Express" ferry-boat sails to [[Havneby]] on the Danish island of [[Rømø]]. [[Wenningstedt-Braderup|Wenningstedt]] together with [[Braderup]] and [[Kampen, Germany|Kampen]] used to form the ''Norddörfer'' (Northern Villages) municipality, an early intercommunal association, which partly remains today in form of a school union. While Kampen, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s, was famous in Germany for attracting celebrities, Wenningstedt has been known as a "family resort" for more than 100 years. Since 1855, the prominent black and white [[Kampen Lighthouse]] has been located between Kampen and Wenningstedt; it is the oldest one on the island. East of there, the ''Braderuper Heide'' nature reserve is situated. Right south of Wenningstedt are the town limits of the island's largest town, Westerland.

After the complete destruction of the village Eidum by a storm surge on 1 November 1436, the survivors founded a new village northeast of their old home: Westerland. The name was first recorded in 1462. In 1865, a seaside spa was founded and, 50 years later, Westerland was granted [[town privileges]]. In 1949, it was officially recognised as a health resort. In 2007, the town numbered 9,072 citizens.

South of Westerland, the island extends for about {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=on}} in the form of a spit, until it is cut by the ''Hörnumtief'' tidal creek that runs through the Wadden Sea mudflats east of Sylt. Here is the location of [[Rantum]]. This village, like no other on Sylt, had to fight sand drift during the past centuries. Many farmsteads and a church had to be abandoned because of shifting dunes moving eastward. Only the planting of [[marram grass]] stopped the dunes and put an end to this threat. To the east, there are a few scattered spots of marshland, but the area is mostly dominated by dunes.

[[Hörnum]] on the island's southern headland is the youngest village. It was founded shortly after 1900, although the uninhabited southern tip of Sylt was said to serve as refuge for pirates and fishermen. The name ''Budersand'' in the area emanates from that custom, marking a great dune where booths ({{langx|de|Buden}}) stood in former times to serve as shelters.<ref>{{cite book |first=Max |last=Pahl |title=Hörnum. Heimat am Horn – Querschnitt und Streifzüge durch Geschichte, Leben und Landschaft des Nordseebades Hörnum auf Sylt |language=de |publisher=Verlagsdruckerei Schallhorn |location=Lunden |year=1983}}</ref> This southern headland, called ''Odde'', is marked by continuous loss of land. Each year great amounts of sand are washed away by storm floods and coastal management has not yet seen sustainable effects in the area, so that further losses have to be expected.

===Sylt-Ost===
{{Main|Sylt-Ost}}

Sylt-Ost (''East Sylt'') is a former municipality which was formed in 1970 out of several small villages on the ''Nössehalbinsel'' of Sylt. The population (as of 2000) was 5,500. The villages included [[Tinnum]], [[Munkmarsch]], [[Archsum]], [[Morsum]] and [[Keitum]]. In 2009, Sylt-Ost merged with Westerland and Rantum to form ''Gemeinde Sylt''.