Imagine Tarp in 1448. That’s the first time we find a written record of this place. The name Tarp may come from a Frisian name. It could be Tati or Tade. These names were common in southern Schleswig back then. Older sources show them in Northern Jutland too. They also appear on islands, in Scania, and Sweden.
Today, Tarp is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg. It’s in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The county is Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg. Tarp sits about 18 km south of Flensburg.
Tarp sits on the river Trenen. It’s west of Lusangel on sandy ground. Tarp Forest is northwest of the village near Trenen. It’s also close to Troldskær and Frørup Skov.
The municipality includes other places. There’s Kildevang, also known as Kielswang. Then there’s Tornskov, or Tornschau. Kjeldbæk, or Kilbæk in Danish and Keelbek in German, is also part of Tarp. These places joined Tarp in 1970. Kjeldbæk is by the stream of the same name. The stream starts in Ebbesdam and flows into the Trenen.
Tornskov was also first mentioned in 1448. Its name comes from the tree name tjørn. Kjeldbæk was first written about in 1399 or 1407. The name kelda means spring or well. The suffix means a small stream.
Bredde med Breddesig is an area north of Tarp. It was first mentioned in 1781. It was called farmland north of the village. Horshave, or Hashau, is east of Tarp. It was first mentioned in 1694. Hors means horse, and have means meadows by the Trenen. Køjlbjerg may come from the word club. Skelkær was first noted in 1695. Skel means border, so it means meadows at a border crossing.
Schellenpark is a new housing area. It’s named after cow bells, a plant found here at Trenen. Vikær was first documented in 1780. Vie is the plant name white-arrow. The meadow at the junction with Frørup is called Harkile.
Until 1864, Danish was the language used in Tarp schools.
Tarp has a Dutch mill called Antje. It dates back to 1882. There’s also a collection of walking blocks. This Findlingsgarten shows stones with information about where they came from. An owl path, or Eulenpfad, has 64 wooden owl sculptures. They’re in and around Tarp.
Tarp’s coat of arms has an owl. It’s over a wave in blue and yellow, the colors of Schleswig/Sonderjutland. The owl stands for Ugle Herred. The wave represents the Trenen.
Tarp offers several educational opportunities. There’s Mini-Lernkreis Nord Stefan Ringwald. Waldkindergarten Tarp is also there. You can find ADS-KINDERGARTEN TARP on Friedrich-Fröbel-Straße. Alexander Behm school is a primary and community school in Tarp.