Dornbusch Lighthouse

The Dornbusch is the name given to the hilly area in the northern part of the German Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee. It consists mainly of glacial deposits that were left behind after the glaciers melted. It is one of three island cores of Hiddensee that are responsible for the formation of the flatland. The Dornbusch extends from north to south for approximately 2.45 kilometers and from east to west for approximately 2.85 kilometers. The highest elevation is the Bakenberg at 72.7 m above sea level. The Schluckswiekberg, on which Hiddensee's landmark, the Dornbusch lighthouse, stands, is around 70 m above sea level. With its largely still active cliff coast, it represents a valuable landscape in the Vorpommern Boddenlandschaft National Park and is incorporated into protection zone II there. Many hiking trails lead through the varied landscape.

The Dornbusch lighthouse is the landmark of the island of Hiddensee.
The lighthouse is easily accessible on foot - if you want to go up the lighthouse, you should check the opening times beforehand. As of 2022, admission costs €3.

History
The formation of the highlands goes back to the last glaciation phase in northern Germany, the Weichselian Ice Age. A small offshoot of the glacier tongue pointing towards today's Little and Great Belt created the Dornbusch around 12,500 years ago. When the glaciers retreated, it remained as a push moraine and was part of a large mainland area in the south of today's Baltic Sea for around 4,000 years. During the first flooding phase of the Baltic Sea, the water did not yet reach the area around Hiddensee; it was not until around 3,900 years ago that the Littorina Sea washed around the three island cores of Dornbusch, Fährinsel and Gellen. It was only 2,900 years ago that coastal erosion (land erosion, drifting and deposition) began and the formation of the elongated shape of Hiddensee through sand alluvial deposits.Under Wallenstein's orders, the oak and beech forest covering the entire Dornbusch was burned down between 1628 and 1630 in order to protect the Danes, with whom there were military conflicts in the area.