Stick climbing
Stockenstieg - also Stockensteig - describes a historical path in the west of Eiderstedt . The 45 centimeter wide, brick-paved path leads from the Westerheversand lighthouse over a total of three bridges through the salt marsh foreland to the diked mainland and is around one kilometer long.
history
The floor staircase after Westerheversand was 1929. There used to be on the criss-crossed by ditches peninsula Eiderstedt many such paths that the inhabitants of the parishes were created and should allow the dry walk to churches and schools about the often marshy lowlands. Paved dirt roads were still relatively rare at that time. With the expansion of the transport network since the middle of the 20th century, the stairs fell into disrepair.
Until 1981, the staircase was the only way to reach the Westerheversand lighthouse via a paved path. Since then there has also been a narrow concrete slab path coming from a different direction. The staircase was entered as the last existing example of traditional Frisian road construction in the monument book of the state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1992. It is therefore a protected cultural monument and is part of the Wadden Sea National Park .
In 1999 the staircase was extensively repaired as it was badly damaged by numerous storm surges in which it was flooded. While in the past so-called “stick judges” took care of the maintenance and supervision of the stairs, today, among other things, a support association is committed to maintaining it.
Word origin
The word "Stockenstieg" is derived from the Frisian word Stock , which means something like "bridge over trenches" and "Stieg", the name for a small path.
tourism
Today the Stockenstieg is only open from June to September. For the rest of the time, the path remains closed to the general public out of consideration for the migratory birds that stop in the salt marshes. The Stockenstieg can only be climbed in one direction (from the lighthouse to the dike), as two people cannot meet without leaving the path due to the narrow width. Bicycles or wagons are not allowed to drive on it, as each leaving the narrow paved area damages the sensitive salt marsh. When the tide is stronger, it is flooded and sometimes closed completely until it is dry and safe to walk on again.
location
- Beginning (at the Westerhever lighthouse) 54 ° 22 ′ 24.4 ″ N , 8 ° 38 ′ 26.9 ″ E
- End (Leikenhusen) 54 ° 22 '43 " N , 8 ° 38' 56.5" O
Web links
- Tourism Association Westerhever-Poppenbüll e. V .: The historic Stockenstieg
- Yearbook for St. Peter Ording: Stockensteig
- Stockensteig on the website of the German Foundation for Monument Protection
Individual evidence
- ^ Monument book of the state of Schleswig-Holstein: Entry in the monument book
- ↑ Tourismusverein Westerhever-Poppenbüll eV: Information on the friends' association