On February 21st, numerous bike fires blazed again on the islands and on the North Frisian mainland. There are nine on Sylt and one in each of the five island villages on Amrum. There are also Biiken on Pellworm and Nordstrand as well as Halligen. And on Föhr there are even 13 fires lit. Dozens of fires are also burning on the mainland, for example in Drelsdorf, Husum, Hattstedt and Dagebüll. In St. Peter-Ording, the theme week “SPO shines – light meets poetry” is also taking place around the biike burning, during which visitors can look at light sculptures and listen to poetic texts, as the Schleswig-Holstein tourism agency announced.
In Tönning, the Multimar-Wattforum once again invites you to the “Long Night of Biike”. Children can bake stick bread on a fire bowl in the outdoor area. Later, torches are distributed so that we can hike together to the Tönninger Hafenspitze, 400 meters away, where, after the traditional bike speech, the big bike fire will be lit at around 6:15 p.m.
According to the Nordfriisk Institute in Bredstedt, the biike burning, like the Easter fires, is one of the spring fires that are burned in many places and on different dates throughout Germany. However, bike fires only exist in North Frisia.
Over the centuries, the Biiken – the Frisian word means something like beacon or bonfire – underwent numerous changes. For a while, this tradition almost disappeared in many places in North Frisia – until it experienced a renaissance in the 19th century. Many of the legends that surround the Biike also come from this time.
During this time, February 21st was also set as the uniform date for biike burning. “The origin of the modern biking tradition can be seen here,” says the website of the German UNESCO Commission. In 2014, Biikebrenning was added to the nationwide register of intangible cultural heritage.
According to the Nordfriisk Instituut, the Biiken were mainly widespread on the islands until the early 1970s. That changed with the reawakening of North Frisian consciousness. The tradition is now no longer only popular with locals, but also with many tourists.
Sylt Marketing for the Biike burning on Sylt Föhr Tourism for the Biike on Föhr Multimar Wattforum for the long night of the Biike
