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Borkum is an island and a municipality in the Leer District
Leer (district)

Leer is a districts of Germany in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the City of Emden, the districts of Aurich , Wittmund , Friesland , Ammerland, Cloppenburg and Emsland, and by the Netherlands ....
 in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony lies in northern Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen States of Germany of Germany. In rural areas Low German is still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining....
, northwestern Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

um is bordered to the west by the Westereems strait
Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or...
 (which forms the border with the Netherlands), to the east by the Osterems strait, to the north by the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
, and to the south by the Wadden Sea
Wadden Sea

The Wadden Sea is the name for a body of water and its associated coastal wetlands lying between a section of the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the North Sea....
. It is the largest and westernmost of the East Frisian Islands
East Frisian Islands

The East Frisian Islands are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of Lower Saxony, Germany.The seven inhabited islands are, from west to east:...
 in the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
, due north of the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 province
Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state....
 of Groningen
Groningen (province)

Groningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the Germany state of Lower Saxony , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea....
.

The island was formed by two previously separate islands which were still separated by a shallow water in 1863.






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Borkum is an island and a municipality in the Leer District
Leer (district)

Leer is a districts of Germany in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the City of Emden, the districts of Aurich , Wittmund , Friesland , Ammerland, Cloppenburg and Emsland, and by the Netherlands ....
 in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony lies in northern Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen States of Germany of Germany. In rural areas Low German is still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining....
, northwestern Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

Geography

Borkum is bordered to the west by the Westereems strait
Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or...
 (which forms the border with the Netherlands), to the east by the Osterems strait, to the north by the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
, and to the south by the Wadden Sea
Wadden Sea

The Wadden Sea is the name for a body of water and its associated coastal wetlands lying between a section of the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the North Sea....
. It is the largest and westernmost of the East Frisian Islands
East Frisian Islands

The East Frisian Islands are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of Lower Saxony, Germany.The seven inhabited islands are, from west to east:...
 in the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
, due north of the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 province
Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state....
 of Groningen
Groningen (province)

Groningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the Germany state of Lower Saxony , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea....
.

The island was formed by two previously separate islands which were still separated by a shallow water in 1863. The seam between the former eastern and western parts is called Tüskendör ("through in between").

History

On 19 and 20 December 1934, Wernher von Braun
Wernher von Braun

Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun , a Germans rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, became one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States....
 launched "Max" and "Moritz"
Max and Moritz

Max and Moritz is a German language illustrated story in verse. This highly inventive, Black comedy tale, told entirely in rhymed couplets, was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch and published in 1865....
, the two prototypes of the A2-rocket
Rocket

A rocket or rocket vehicle is a missile, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust by the Reaction of the rocket to the ejection of fast moving fluid exhaust from a rocket engine....
. Lager Borkum
Lager Borkum

Lager Borkum was one of the four Nazism labour camps on Alderney in the Channel islands. It was near the centre of the island, at Platte Saline, and was the smallest of the four; Lager Helgoland and Borkum camps, were volunteer Labour Camps and the labourers there, were of course, treated better than the other two, although often harshly....
, the Nazi
Nazism

Nazism, officially National Socialism , refers to the ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Workers? Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945....
 labour camp on Alderney
Alderney

Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands and a British Crown dependency. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is long and wide....
 was named after the island.

A number of former German soldiers of the 216th Marine-Flak-Abeitlung (Naval Flak Battalion) were tried for war crimes by the Dachau International Military Tribunal
Dachau International Military Tribunal

The Dachau Trials were proceedings against minor war criminals found in the United States sectors of occupation in Germany and Austria, and those accused of committing war crimes against American citizens and military personnel....
, from February 6 to March 21, 1946 (US v Kurt Goebell et al). They were charged with the unlawful execution of seven United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. The direct precursor to the United States Air Force, its peak size was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft in 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943....
 personnel who had survived the crash of their damaged B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17 Flying Fortress

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps . Competing against Douglas Aircraft Company and Glenn L....
 on the island on April 8, 1944.

Transportation

The island is partially car-free. Off-season, driving by car is permitted everywhere, otherwise there are car-free zone
Car-free zone

Car-free zones are areas of a city or town in which automobile traffic is prohibited. They are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile....
s. The only town on the island is also called Borkum.

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