RUGEN, an island of Germany, in the Baltic, immediately opposite Stralsund, II m. off the north-west coast of Pomerania in Prussia, from which it is separated by the narrow Strelasund, or Bodden. Its shape is exceedingly irregular, and its coast line is broken by numerous bays and peninsulas, sometimes of considerable size. The general name is applied by the natives only to the roughly triangular main trunk of the island, while the larger peninsulas, the landward extremities of which taper to narrow necks of land, are considered to be as distinct from Riigen as the various adjacent smaller islands which are also included for statistical purposes under the name. The chief peninsulas are those of Jasmund and Wittow on the north, and Monchgut, at one time the property of the monastery of Eldena, on the south-east ; and the chief neighbouring islands are Um manz and Hiddensiie, both off the north-west coast. Rtigen is the largest island in Germany. Its greatest length from north to south is 32 m. ; its greatest breadth is 251 m. ; and its area is 377 sq.m. The surface gradually rises towards the west to Rugard (335 ft.)—the "eye of Rugen"—near Bergen, but the highest point is the Hertaburg (5o5 ft.) in Jasmund. Erratic blocks are scattered throughout the island, and the roads are made with granite. The most beautiful and attractive part of the island is the peninsula of Jasmund, which terminates to the north in the Stubbenkammer (Slavonic for "rock steps"), a sheer chalk cliff, the summit of which, the Konigsstuhl, is 420 ft. above the sea. The east of Jasmund is clothed with an extensive beech wood called the Stubbenitz, in which lies the Borg, or Herta Lake. Connected with Jasmund by the narrow isthmus of Schabe to the west is the peninsula of Wittow, the most fertile part of the island. At its north-west extremity rises the height of Arcona,
with a lighthouse.
A ferry connects the island with Stralsund, and from the land ing-stage at Altefähr a railway traverses the island, passing the capital Bergen to Sassnitz, on the north-east coast. The other chief places are Garz, Sagard, Gingst and Putbus, the last being the old capital of a barony of the princes of Putbus. Sassnitz, Garen, Sellin, Binz and Lauterbach-Putbus are favourite bathing resorts. Schoritz was the birthplace of the patriot and poet, Ernst Moritz Arndt. The inhabitants of Riigen are dis tinguished from those of the mainland by peculiarities of dialect, costume and habits; and even the various peninsulas differ from each other in these particulars. The inhabitants raise some cattle, and Riigen has long been famous for its geese ; but the chief in dustry is the herring-fishery. With the rest of Western Pomerania Rfigen has belonged to Prussia since 1815.
See Fock, Riigensch-pommersche Geschichten (6 vols., Leipzig, 1861-72) ; R. Baier, Die Inset Riigen each ihrer archaologischen Bedeutung (Stralsund, 1886) ; R. Credner, Riigen, Eine lnselstudie (Stuttgart, 1893) ; Edwin Muller, Die Insel Riigen (17th ed., Berlin, 190o) ; Schuster, Fiihrer durch die Inset Riigen (7th ed., Stettin, 1901) ; Boll, Die Insel Riigen (Schwerin, 1858) ; 0. Wendler, Geschichte Riigens seit der dltesten Zeit (Bergen, 1895) ; A. Haas, Rugensche Sagen und Miirchen (Greifswald, 1891) ; U. John, V olkssagen auz Riigen (Stettin, 1886) ; and E. M. Arndt, Fairy Tales from the Isle of Rugen (London, 1896).