Germany - Map of Rügen

Rügen, Germany's largest island.

Sent by Gabriela, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Rügen (German pronunciation: [ˈʁyːɡən]) is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Rügen District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which also includes the neighboring islands of Hiddensee and Ummanz.

Rügen is located in off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea. The Rügendamm bridge which connects the island by road and rail with the city of Stralsund on the mainland crosses over the Strelasund.

Rügen has an area of 926.4 km2, or 974 km2 if the adjacent small islands are included.[1] The maximum diameter is 51.4 km from north to south, and 42.8 km from east to west.[1] Of an overall 574 km-long coastline, 56 km are sandy Baltic Sea beaches, and 2.8 km sandy Bodden beaches. The highest elevations are on the Jasmund peninsula: Piekberg (161 m) and Königsstuhl (117 m).

The core landmass, Muttland, is surrounded by several peninsulas. To the north lie the peninsulas of Wittow and Jasmund, connected to each other by the Schaabe landbridge and to Muttland by the Schmale Heide landbridge, a dam at Lietzow and the Wittower Fähre ferry. The northern peninsulas are separated from Muttland by several Bodden, the largest of which are Großer Jasmunder Bodden and Kleiner Jasmunder Bodden. Major peninsulas in the south are Zudar and Mönchgut which both face the Bay of Greifswald.

The climate is in the temperate zone. The winters are not particularly cold, with mean temperatures in January and February of 0.0°C.; and summers are cool, with a mean temperature in August of 16.3°C. There is an average rainfall of 520–560 mm and approximately 1800–1870 hours of sunshine annually.

Two German national parks are situated on Rügen: Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park, in the West (also including Hiddensee), and Jasmund National Park, a smaller park including the famous chalk cliffs (Königsstuhl). There is also a nature reserve, Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve, consisting of the peninsulas in the southeast.