Status: 15.01.2024, 18:45 PM
By: Franziska Kaindl
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Building sandcastles is one of children's favorite things to do on beaches. On the North Sea and Baltic Sea, however, there may be a fine for this in some places.
Who would have thought? On some beach sections of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, visitors have to expect a hefty fine if they dig in the sand and build castles. One of the most expensive places is on the island of Sylt: turret builders have to pay up to 1,000 euros if they are caught stirring up the sand.
On Sylt, there is a fine of up to 1,000 euros for building sand castles
The prohibition is even in the statutes of the municipality of Sylt "on the restriction of public use on the seashore". Paragraph 5 states that someone is acting in violation of the rules if he "builds sandcastles or digs holes in the beach area".
Children and families in particular love to build sandcastles on the beach. But it is not allowed everywhere. © Frank Sorge/Imago
At first glance, a fine of up to 1,000 euros for an infringement may seem very high, but there are good reasons for the ban. The municipality wants to protect the beach on its coasts. Building sandcastles or digging holes loosens the soil a lot – which leads to large amounts of sand being removed into the sea during floods or strong winds.
The tourism company is responsible for the controls on the beach, as the mayor of the municipality of Sylt, Nikolas Häckel, told the portal Reisereporter. In recent years, however, there has been no fine for building sandcastles.
Building Sandcastles: Where to Pay Attention to Rules on the North Sea
The North Sea island of Sylt is not alone in its restrictions. Some places on the Baltic Sea have also decided to show limits to the construction of sandcastles. However, it is not completely forbidden, but only fraught with some rules. For example, the Baltic Sea resort of Binz on Rügen stipulates according to the beach statutes that a sand castle may not be built higher than 30 centimeters and its uppermost diameter should not be larger than two meters. Furthermore, no solid components such as driftwood, stones or boards may be used. A distance of two meters must be kept from the dunes. On the other hand, digging tunnels and holes is completely forbidden.
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The Baltic Sea resort of Zinnowitz on Usedom takes a similar approach: If you want to build a sand castle, you have to keep a distance of at least three metres from the foot of the dune on the lake side, according to the beach and bathing regulations. Only the sand and stones on the beach may be used. Digging deep holes is completely forbidden.