Princes' Island
Encyclopedia
The Princes' Island is a peninsula in the Großer Plöner See
southwest of the town of Plön
in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein
.
Princes' Island was turned into a peninsula
in the 19th century by the artificial lowering of the water level. It is about 2 km long and only about 30 m wide in places. At the southern end is the Niedersächsische Bauernhaus ("Lower Saxon farmhouse") dating to the 17th century, which is now operated as a restaurant and breeds geese and moorland sheep of the Heidschnucke
variety. Princes' Island is mainly forested, but some areas of the shoreline are also swampy. It is closed to motor traffic.
The sons of the last German Emperor William II
learned agricultural skills on the old farm. The southern tip of the Prinzeninsel was a favourite spot of the last German Empress, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
The boats of the Großer-Plöner-See-Rundfahrt, that make round trips of the lake, land near the Niedersächsische Bauernhaus.
At the farmhouse is an inscription: melior nihil nihil homini libero dignius agricultura 1901: "Nothing is better, nothing more worthy of free people, than farming."
The peninsula also has an outdoor swimming pool, which goes under the name of Prinzenbad ("Princes' pool"), because the Hohenzollern
sons learnt to swim there. It has a fine sandy beach on the west side where the lake bed shelves very gently so that, 30 metres offshore, the depth is just 1.20 metres. Whilst from 1947-1963 there was a campsite and restaurant here on a very small scale, bathers are now largely on their own. In the modern buildings that have replaced the old ones, there is, inter alia, a lifeguard station of the DLRG in Plon.
Großer Plöner See
The Großer Plöner See or Lake Plön is the largest lake in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located near the town of Plön...
southwest of the town of Plön
Plön
Plön is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 13,000 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, touching the town on virtually all sides...
in the north German state of 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...
.
Princes' Island was turned into a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
in the 19th century by the artificial lowering of the water level. It is about 2 km long and only about 30 m wide in places. At the southern end is the Niedersächsische Bauernhaus ("Lower Saxon farmhouse") dating to the 17th century, which is now operated as a restaurant and breeds geese and moorland sheep of the Heidschnucke
Heidschnucke
The Heidschnucke is a group of three types of moorland sheep from northern Germany. Like a number of other types from Scandinavia and Great Britain, they are Northern European short-tailed sheep...
variety. Princes' Island is mainly forested, but some areas of the shoreline are also swampy. It is closed to motor traffic.
The sons of the last German Emperor William II
William II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
learned agricultural skills on the old farm. The southern tip of the Prinzeninsel was a favourite spot of the last German Empress, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
The boats of the Großer-Plöner-See-Rundfahrt, that make round trips of the lake, land near the Niedersächsische Bauernhaus.
At the farmhouse is an inscription: melior nihil nihil homini libero dignius agricultura 1901: "Nothing is better, nothing more worthy of free people, than farming."
The peninsula also has an outdoor swimming pool, which goes under the name of Prinzenbad ("Princes' pool"), because the Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
sons learnt to swim there. It has a fine sandy beach on the west side where the lake bed shelves very gently so that, 30 metres offshore, the depth is just 1.20 metres. Whilst from 1947-1963 there was a campsite and restaurant here on a very small scale, bathers are now largely on their own. In the modern buildings that have replaced the old ones, there is, inter alia, a lifeguard station of the DLRG in Plon.