Arnis, Germany

Arnis
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Arnis within Schleswig-Flensburg district
Arnis Arnis
Coordinates: 54°37′48″N 09°55′53″E
Country	Germany
State	Schleswig-Holstein
District	Schleswig-Flensburg
Municipal assoc.	Kappeln-Land
Government
• Mayor	Bernd Kugler
Area
• Total	0.45 km2 (0.17 sq mi)
Elevation	2 m (7 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	273
• Density	610/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	24399
Dialling codes	04642
Vehicle registration	SL
Website	http://www.arnis.de/

Arnis town

Arnis (, Danish: Arnæs) is a small town in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is part of the Amt Kappeln-Land. It was founded in 1667 by shipping families from the nearby village Kappeln who wanted to avoid serfdom. The local Skipper's Church was erected in 1673. At a population of c. 300 and a total area of 0.45 km², Arnis is the smallest town in Germany both by population and by area. Originally Arnis was a skipper town with up to 90 sailing-ships (1864). In the late 20th century four shipyards were the basis of its economy. Today Arnis is a tourism showplace.

History

Originally Arnis was a peninsula in the fjord-like Schlei. During the conflicts with the Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein and the Hanseatic League about the status of Schleswig the Danish king Eric of Pomerania ordered in 1415 the construction of two primitive castles in the Schlei, Schwonsburg and the opposite height of the today cemetery of Arnis. For better defence the isthmus between Arnis and Angeln was cut. Arnis became an island.

In 1666 the nobleman Detlef von Rumohr tried to put the families of the nearby village Kappeln into serfdom. They had fought before against this noble family and now asked the Duke Christian Albrecht to help them. Because Detlef von Rumohr was ally of the Danish King Duke Christian Albrecht responded positive – he hoped to debilitate a political enemy. Kappeln skippers were successful, so he also hoped to establish a new prosperous port on his land and offered the island of Arnis as the place for a new settlement. To support this project he granted a charter of twenty privileges („Arnisser Privileg“) to the families of Kappeln.

On the 11th of May 1667 65 families from Kappeln gathered on the island Arnis to administer the oath to Duke Christian Albrecht. Detlef von Rumohr reacted with a dual stategy, he resigned the plan to force the Kappeln inhabitants into serfdom but chased the emigrants. In the end only 30 houses werde built in Arnis and the new settlement faced a crisis during the Scanian War and the following conflicts between Holstein-Gottorp and Denmark. For some years more people died than were born. When Christian Albrecht's son, Frederick IV., offered a new 11 years tax exemption for new settlers Arnis began to grow and became in the late 18th and during the 19th century a prosperous skippers place with up to 1000 inhabitants and almost 90 sailing ships (1864).

Arnis skippers and shipowners were together with those from Kappeln initiative to build a new estuary of the Schlei which actually was the duty of Schleswig. Because state money was not sufficient for this ambitious project private money from both skipper communities lead after several setbacks to a final success. Today „Schleimünde" still is based on the construction from the years 1794 to 1796. To push the project a skippers and shipowners society, the „Combinierte Schiffergesellschaft zu Kappeln und Arnis“ was founded. With having also a sailors association („Matrosengesellschaft“) Arnis stood out amoung German ports.

Bibliography

• Nicolaus Schmidt: Arnis – 1667 2017 – Die kleinste Stadt Deutschlands, Wachholtz-Verlag 2017, ISBN 978-3-933862-49-5

External links

• Template:De icon website of Arnis