Main roads
Side roads
Field and forest tracks
Hiking and plank trails
Island railway routes
Plank roadway for
horse-drawn vehicles
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At the island of Amrum, lying within the North Sea in the south of Sylt and
in the west of Föhr, there was an island railway from 1893 to 1939, which
firstly connected the spa of Wittdün at the island's south cape with the open
sea on the other side of the "Kniepsand", a natural bank of sand lying in the
west of the island and partially being more than 1 km wide. Since 1909,
the island railway additionally connected the island villages Süddorf, Nebel
and Norddorf. Since the island railway was shut down, the
"Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei" (WDR, shipping company), offering the ferry service
between Dagebüll at the continent, Wyk at Föhr and Wittdün at Amrum, handles also
the line traffic over the island with busses.
In the past 60 years, all clues to the island railway are completely
disappeared - except the railway station hotel at Nebel, which is still existing
today (2005). But if the former railtracks are combined with the road and path
network from today, as shown in the drawing at the left, certain paths can be
identified as tracks from the former island railway.
See also the
chronology table and the
vehicles site.
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The BahnLand sceneries, presented on this site and based on landscape photographies
from the present time (2001 and 2003), are only able in a restricted degree to
illustrate the island railway operation from that era, because the landscape
(Kniepsand (the sandbank), dunes, forest, heath, buildings and path network) has been
changed strongly in the intermediate decades. This can be recognized exceptionally
by considering the former railway network as an overlay to the actual contour of the
island from around 2000: The former beach stations at the south part of Amrum would
lie within the North Sea, whereas the piers near Norddorf would be shoaled.
Nevertheless, at least those landscape scenarios, where the trains really passed
through, illustrate, how the railway scene from that time might have looked.
The original photos (small pictures) are only added in these cases, where the BahnLand
scenario shows only a partial view from it. Apart from preparing the foreground section,
the landscape pictures used for BahnLand remained unchanged. Only the "Kniepsand"
scenario had to be completed by a track line, because this could not be hided by
the foreground as done with all other scenarios.
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Kniepsand railway near the Wriakhörn
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
Dune valley between camping ground and Kniepsand
Beginning at the end from the boardwalk, coming from Wittdün, there is a footway
through a dune valley which runs parallel to the dune border. The path ends at
the plank path crossing the dunes from the official camping ground to the
Kniepsand (the plank path is seen at the lower or right side part of the pictures
on the left).
The little lake seen at the upper picture from summer 2001 is nearly dried up
within the lower picture from 2003.
Considering the floor plan above, the Kniepsand railway should be run along the
chain of dunes in the background, until it was relocated in 1909. |
H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
All photos: © Hans-Martin Hebsaker |
The footway shown in the both pictures below was formerly the Kniepsand railway
line (see the floor plan above). But the BahnLand line installed to the picture
thereunder is not derived from the former reality, because its direction is
rotated by 90 degrees. But it shows a scenario, which might describe a valid
crossing of the dunes shortly before the wide Kniepsand is reached.
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
Dune valley in the north of Wittdün with view to the lighthouse |
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
Kniepsand near Wittdün
This was once the scenery, how the Kniepsand railway leaved the dunes. Indeed, the
location of the photography is too south.
On the other hand, one can see the silhouette from Wittdün upside the beach and the
Halligs within the sea at the background of the picture. |
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Island railway to the lighthouse
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
View over the heath to the main road and the lighthouse |
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Standing on the field path in the south of the "Vogelkoje" from Wittdün (historic
wild duck catch, today only a little lake) and looking to the west, one can see this
scenery with heath in the foreground, dunes in the background (near the official
camping ground), and the lighthouse in the right. Between the dunes and the heath
the main road is crossing, running from Wittdün to Süddorf. This road was
originally the island railway track. Therefore, this BahnLand scenario may be used
for playing the railway traffic as well as for running busses and automobiles.
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
View from the lighthouse to the main road within the forest and to the wadden sea
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From the balcony around the lighthouse, there is a wonderful panorama view over
the island and the surrounding sea, if the weather is clear. In the east, the
main road to Süddorf passes. Here, the official bikeway through the forest
diverges, leading to Norddorf along the "Satteldüne" and the second "Vogelkoje"
near Norddorf (see the way to down left within the picture). But the forest didn't
exist with this opulence 90 years ago. The bikeway part from here to the
crossroad at Nebel was exactly the former railway line (shortly before reaching
the triangular junction).
The left side picture below shows the main road (the former railway line) in
south direction, and the pier of Wittdün in the background. Going left from the
main road's double bend in the middle of the picture, the position will be reached,
where the next but one photo above was made, which shows the heath in the foreground
and the lighthouse at the right.
The right side photo with view to the open sea was also made from the top of the
lighthouse, whose shadow can be just seen in the right lower corner of the picture.
The furrow, which goes through the dunes from the lower right to the upper left,
might have been the line of the new Kniepsand railway from 1909, which leaved the
island railway line to Süddorf immediately after the lighthouse was passed, and which
was in use until 1939 (i.e. until 60 years ago; see the floor plan above).
The vertical profile of the Kniepsand railway was certainly somewhat smoother.
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The island railway around Norddorf
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
View from the dunes to Norddorf
Across the dunes in the south of Norddorf, the island railway leaded down to the
pier at the former "Kniephafen" (please consider the strand contours from the
chronology table.
Here, the railway line can be followed only partly along the today's hiking trails.
However, the scenery of a passing island train might have looked like the pictures
shown at the left hand side. |
H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04 |
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
View from the Norddorf marsh to the Risum dyke
Because there was a hole in the chain of dunes in the west of the marsh of Norddorf,
the marsh grassland was permanently at the mercy of the inconvenience of the
North Sea. When the Risum dyke was built in 1913, the island railway line, crossing
the Risum hole since 1909, was elevated. Therefore, the upper scenery should
conform to the former location of the island railway.
In contrast to this, the line shown in the lower picture is imaginary. But the
topography of this landscape invited me to "create" a BahnLand railway line at the
level of the marsh grassland. |
H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04 |
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Island railway between heath, forest and dunes
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
Between the heath and the forest
In the reality, the landscapes shown by the 3 pictures at the left didn't see
any island railway train. The upper 2 pictures are made in the heath between
Nebel and Norddorf far away from the locations of the former island railway. The
landscape at the lower picture lies near the northern "Vogelkoje" (historic wild duck
catch, fully conserved, but not in action). Anyhow, there were locations in the
1920s and 1930s, where the island railway really crossed such sceneries:
In front of the spa hotel "Satteldüne", the railtrack separated the forest and the
heath areas. |
The forest in the east of the lighthouse, which is passed by the main road today,
didn't exist in the early island railway years. Instead of that, the railtrack
separated the heath areas in the east from the dunes in the west. The picture is
slightly similar to that from above, showing the lighthouse, which was photographed
near the southern "Vogelkoje".
H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
Between the heath and the dunes |
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Wadden sea near Steenodde
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
View to east direction across the wadden sea against the island Föhr |
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H.-M. Hebsaker 2005-10-04
View to south direction across the wadden sea against the "pearl necklet" of the
Halligs |
There was never an island railway line to or around Steenodde. But also the
topographies of these 2 pictures have me invited to create a BahnLand
railway line in each case.
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