Hedwigenkoog is a municipality belonging to the Amt ("collective municipality") Büsum-Wesselburen

Büsum-Wesselburen

Büsum-Wesselburen is an Amt in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Its seat is in Büsum. It was formed on 25 May 2008 from the former Ämter Büsum, Wesselburen and the town Wesselburen....

 in the district Dithmarschen

Dithmarschen

Dithmarschen is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the state of Lower Saxony , and by the North Sea.-Geography:The district is located on the North Sea...

 in Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Hedwigenkoog is situated on the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 coast north of Büsum

Büsum

Büsum is a fishing and tourist town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the North Sea coast, approx. 18 km southwest of Heide....

 and Westerdeichstrich

Westerdeichstrich

Westerdeichstrich is a municipality belonging to the Amt Büsum-Wesselburen in the district Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It consists of the parts Westerdeichstrich, Groven, Augustenhof and Stinteck....

. It consists of 1600ha of marshland won from the sea (called a Koog in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

) and protected with a dike in 1696 to secure the land connection between Büsum

Büsum

Büsum is a fishing and tourist town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the North Sea coast, approx. 18 km southwest of Heide....

 and Wesselburen

Wesselburen

Wesselburen is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen in the German Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein. It is situated near the North Sea coast, approximately 11 km west of Heide....

. The first part of its name was adopted in honor of Hedvig Sophia of Sweden

Hedvig Sophia of Sweden

Princess Hedvig Sophia Augusta of Sweden was a Swedish princess and a Duchess Consort of Holstein-Gottorp, the eldest child of King Charles XI of Sweden, and his spouse Queen Ulrica Eleanor. She was heir presumptive to the Swedish throne until her death and the Regent of the duchy of...

, wife of Duke Frederick IV of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp

Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp

Duke Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp was Duke of Schleswig.He was born in Gottorp as the elder son of Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp and Princess Frederika Amalia of Denmark...

.

The coat of arms is a modified version of the duke's seal and shows a swan

Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...

 holding an eel

Eel

Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...

. The animals in the original version were a stork

Stork

Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....

 and a snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

.

Hedwigenkoog's economy is based on farming including organic farming and wind energy

Wind energy

Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...

 in combination with tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

. In recent years tourism was a growing industry, with some farms offering bed and breakfast facilities, farm shops and cafes.