A tale goes that a few hundred metres off today's shoreline there was the ancient settlement of Wendingstedt with an old Frisian port at the west coast. It is disputed though among scientists if this village ever existed or if it is merely a legend.
According to old lore, the chieftains of the Angles, Hengist and Horsa, are said to have used this port for their departure to England with their host. Today a street named Horsatal reminds of this event.
Once Angles and Saxons are said to have set out from Wenningstedt with an armada of ships to conquer England. Today, the health resort is known for family-friendliness rather than belligerent acts. Crazy golf and trampolining, painting lessons and pony riding - Wenningstedt has everything to ensure that especially our youngest visitors have a great time.
Until the early 19th century, the place had remained almost unchanged for centuries, consisting of merely eight farmsteads. The inhabitants lived on agriculture and fishing. Not a few men would also go whaling in the Arctic Sea or sailed on Hamburg ships to catch herring. The settlement began to grow though with a rising tourism in the middle of the 19th century. Since 1859, Wenningstedt is a seaside resort, since 1960 it is a recognised seaside spa. Together with Kampen and Braderup, Wenningstedt was part of the so-called Northern Villages (Norddörfer) - an early municipal association on the island. The term was coined when List, the northernmost village on the island, was part of the Danish realm. Thus Wenningstedt, Braderup and Kampen were the German "Northern(most) Villages". In 1914 a protestant chapel was built at the village pond. From 1907 to 1970, Wenningstedt was located at the track of the island railway that connected Westerland to List.
During World War II a heavy coastal artillery battery was deployed in the dunes northwest of Wenningstedt. There was however no combat action; the facilities were detonated in the 1950s by British Army troops and were later completely dismantled and covered with sand by German combat engineers.
The idyllic village pond overlooked by the Frisian chapel is the heart of Wenningstedt, whose shore is lined by miles of wide sandy beaches. Braderup, on the other hand, is nestled between heathland and golden fields.
