Puttgarden

Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and village on the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea. It sits on the Vogelfluglinie, the important route between Germany and Denmark that crosses the 18 kilometre Fehmarnbelt strait to Rødby on the Danish island of Lolland. From 1945 to 1963 the ferry route from West Germany to Denmark had run between Großenbrode and Gedser; a train ferry terminal was built at Puttgarden in 1961 to 1963, at the same time as Fehmarn was connected to the mainland by bridge. Rail use declined after the Great Belt Fixed Link opened in Denmark, and Puttgarden station closed in 2022, though Scandlines ferries still give a connection every thirty minutes around the clock. A combined road and rail immersed tunnel under the Fehmarnbelt is under construction and planned for completion in 2029. East of the village lies the Marienleuchte navy station, set up by the Imperial German Navy in 1908.