Ruden (island)

For the town in Austria, see Ruden, Austria.

Ruden (German pronunciation: [ˈʁuːdn̩]) is a small island in the Baltic Sea, between Rügen and Usedom off the German coast. Ruden belongs to the municipality of Kröslin, in the German state (Bundesland) of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Before the storm tide of All Saints Day in 1304, Ruden was probably part of a land bridge between Usedom and Rügen.

Ruden Island from the southeast

Today, the Ruden is a nature reserve. On the island there is a private mating station where colonies of Buckfast bees are kept and used for breeding,^[1] since the adverse environmental conditions and the distance to the nearest mainland mean that the population cannot mix with other bee colonies.