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Heligoland
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Heligoland (U.S. English usually Helgoland, ; Heligolandic: deät Lun ["the Land"]) is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.
Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands (population 1,650) are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea. They are the only German islands not in the immediate vicinity of the mainland and are approximately two hours' sailing time from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe.
In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder.
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Encyclopedia
Heligoland (U.S. English usually Helgoland, ; Heligolandic: deät Lun ["the Land"]) is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.
Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands (population 1,650) are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea. They are the only German islands not in the immediate vicinity of the mainland and are approximately two hours' sailing time from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe.
In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder. Heligoland was formerly called Heyligeland, or "holy land," possibly due to the island's long association with the god Forseti.
Geography
Heligoland is located 70 km (44 miles) off the German coastline and consists of two islands: the populated triangular 1 km² (0.4 sq mi) main island (Hauptinsel) to the west and the Düne ("dune," Heligolandic: de Halem) to the east. While the former is what the place name "Heligoland" normally is used to refer to, the latter is somewhat smaller (0.7 km²), lower, surrounded by sand beaches and not permanently inhabited.
The main island is commonly divided into the Unterland ("Lower Land," Heligolandic: deät Deelerlun) at sea level (to the right on the photograph, where the harbour is), the Oberland ("Upper Land," Heligolandic: deät Boperlun) consisting of the plateau visible in the photographs and the Mittelland ("Middle Land") between them on one side of the island; the latter came into being in the course of the "Big Bang" (see below).
The main island also features small beaches in the north and the south and drops to the sea 50 metres (about 160 feet) in the north, west and southwest. In the latter, the ground continues to drop underwater to a depth of 56 metres below sea level. Northwest of the island proper Heligoland's famous landmark is found: The Lange Anna ("Long Anna" or "Tall Anna") which is a free standing rock column (or stack), 47 metres high and weighing about 25,000 tons.
The two islands were connected until 1720, when the natural connection was destroyed by a storm flood. The highest point is on the main island, reaching 61 meters (about 200 feet) above sea level.
Although culturally closer to North Frisia in the German district of Nordfriesland, the two islands are part of the district of Pinneberg in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The main island has a good harbour and is frequented mostly by sailing yachts.
Climate
Heligoland sports a very healthy offshore climate, being almost free of pollen and thus ideal for allergics. Since there is no land mass in the vicinity that could cool down too much in the winter time, it hardly gets colder than -5 °C (23 °F) in any year. At times, winter temperatures can be higher than in Hamburg by up to 10 °C (18 °F) because cold winds from Russia are weakened. While spring tends to be comparatively cool, autumn on Heligoland is often longer and warmer than on the mainland and statistically, the climate generally is sunnier.
Due to the mild climate, figs have been grown on the island since the 1920s - there still is an old mulberry tree in the Upper Town.
Geology
The island of Heligoland is a geological oddity; the presence of the main island's characteristic red sedimentary rock in the middle of the German Bight is unusual. It is the only such formation of cliffs along the continental coast of the North Sea. The formation itself is from the early Eocene geologic age. It is younger than and layered on top of a much thicker bedrock of white chalk, the very same which is well known to form the white cliffs of Dover in England, and cliffs of Danish and German islands in the Baltic Sea. In fact, a small chalk rock close to Heligoland, called witt Kliff (white cliff) is known to have existed within sight of the island to the west till the early 18th century, when storm floods finally eroded it to below sea level.
Heligoland's rock is significantly harder than the postglacial sediments and sands forming the islands and coastlines to the east of the island. This is why the core of the island, which a thousand years ago was still surrounded by a large, low-lying marshland and sand dunes separated from coast in the east only by narrow channels, has remained to this day, although the onset of the North Sea has long eroded away all of its surroundings. A small piece of Heligoland's sand dunes remains — the sand isle just across the harbour called Düne (Dune), which today holds Heligoland's airstrip.
Flag
The Heligoland flag is very similar to its Coat of arms. A tricolour flag with three horizontal bars, from top to bottom: Green, Red and White. Each of the colours has its symbolic meaning. Green symbolises the land, red symbolises the edge (the red cliffs of Heligoland) and white symbolises the sand. This in German is the motto of Heligoland:
Grün ist das Land,
rot ist die Kant',
weiß ist der Sand,
das sind die Farben von Helgoland.
In English,
"Green is the Land, Red is the Brim, White is the Sand, These are the Colours Of Heligoland"
In the original Low German it says, "Green is dat Land, roat is de Kant, witt est de Sunn, dat sünd de Farven van't Hilligelunn."
History
The German Bight and the area around the island is known to have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Flint tools have been recovered from the bottom of the sea surrounding Heligoland. On the Oberland prehistoric burial mounds were visible until the late 19th century and excavations showed skeletons and artefacts. Moreover, prehistoric copper plates have been found under water near the island; those plates were almost certainly made on the Oberland (see Alex Ritsema, Heligoland, Past and Present, 2007, pp.21-23).
In 697, Radbod, the last Frisian king, retreated to the then-single island after his defeat by the Franks - so it is written in the Life of Willebrord by Alcuin. By 1231, the island was listed as the property of the Danish king Valdemar II.
Traditional economic activities included fishing, hunting birds and seals, wrecking and - very important for many overseas powers - piloting overseas ships into the harbours of Hanseatic League cities such as Bremen and Hamburg. Moreover, in some periods Heligoland was an excellent base point for huge herring catches. As a result, until 1714 ownership switched several times between Denmark and the Duchy of Schleswig, with one period of control by Hamburg. In August 1714, it was captured by Denmark, and it remained Danish until 1807.
19th century
In 1807, Heligoland was seized by the British during the Napoleonic Wars. It became a centre of smuggling and espionage against Napoleon. Thousands of Germans fled to Britain and to the King's German Legion via Heligoland. In 1826, Heligoland became a seaside spa and soon it turned into a popular tourist resort for upper-class people. The island also attracted artists and writers, especially from Germany and even Austria who enjoyed the freedom of the benignly ruled (British) island, e.g. Heinrich Heine and August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. It was a refuge for revolutionaries of the 1830 and 1848 German revolutions.
Britain gave up the islands to Germany in 1890 (by virtue of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty) and also gave up its interests in Madagascar to the French, in return for those countries surrendering their claims to the African island of Zanzibar (now a part of Tanzania), largely so the British could intervene there to suppress the slave trade. A "grandfathering"/optant approach prevented the Heligolanders (as they were named in the British measures) from forfeiting advantages because of this imposed change of status.
Helgoland has an important place in the history of the study of ornithology, and especially the understanding of migration. The book Heligoland, an Ornithological Observatory by Heinrich Gätke, published in German in 1890 and in English in 1895, described an astonishing array of vagrant birds on the island and was a major influence on the future studies of bird migration, in Britain in particular.
20th century
Under the German Empire, the islands became a major naval base, and during the First World War the civilian population was evacuated to the mainland. The first naval engagement of the war, the Battle of Heligoland Bight, was fought nearby in the first month of the war. The islanders returned in 1918, but during the Nazi era the naval base was reactivated. Lager Helgoland, the Nazi labour camp on Alderney, was named after the island.
Werner Heisenberg first formulated the equation underlying his picture of Quantum mechanics while on Heligoland in the 1920s.
During World War II the civilian population remained on the main island and were protected from Allied bombing in rock shelters, with most of the 128 people killed being anti-aircraft crews.
| Bombing and Mining of Heligoland during World War II | |
| Date/Target | Result |
|---|
| March 11, March 19, August 24, 1944 | No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted minelaying operations | | April 18, 1944 | No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted bombing operations | | August 29, 1944 | Mission 584: 11 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 34 B-24 Liberators bomb Heligoland Island; 3 B-24s are damaged. Escort is provided by 169 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs; 7 P-51s are damaged. | | September 3, 1944 | Operation Aphrodite B-17 63954 attempt on U-boat pens failed when US Navy controller flew aircraft into Düne Island by mistake. | | September 11, 1944 | Operation Aphrodite B-17 30180 attempt on U-boat pens hit by enemy flak and crashed into sea. | | September 29/30, 1944 | 15 Lancasters conducted minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost. | | October 5/6, 1944 | 10 Halifaxes conducted minelaying off Heligoland. No aircraft lost. | | October 15, 1944 | Operation Aphrodite B-17 30039 *Liberty Belle* and B-17 37743 attempt on U-boat pens destroyed many of the buildings of the Unterland | | October 26/27, 1944 | 10 Lancasters of No 1 Group conducted minelaying off Heligoland. 1 Lancaster minelayer lost. | | November 22/23, 1944 | 17 Lancasters conducted minelaying off Heligoland and in the mouth of the River Elbe without loss. | | November 23, 1944 | 4 Mosquitos conducted Ranger patrols in the Heligoland area. No aircraft lost. | | February 4/5, 1945 | 15 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland and in the River Elbe. No minelaying aircraft lost | | March 16/17, 1945 | 12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost. | | April 19, 1945 | 969 aircraft - 617 Avro Lancasters, 332 Handley Page Halifaxes, 20 de Havilland Mosquitos of all groups - successfully used Tallboys to bomb the Naval base, airfield, & town into crater-pitted moonscapes. 3 Halifaxes were lost, and the islands were evacuated the following night. | |
Heligoland explosion
From 1945 to 1952 the uninhabited islands were used as a bombing range. On 18 April, 1947, the Royal Navy detonated 6,800 tonnes of explosives ("Big Bang" or "British Bang"), creating one of the biggest non-nuclear single detonation in history.
While aiming at the fortifications, the island's total destruction would have been accepted. The blow shook the main island several miles down to its base, changing its shape (the Mittelland was created).
In 1952 the islands were restored to the German authorities, who had to clear a huge amount of undetonated ammunition, landscape the main island, and rebuild the houses before it could be resettled.
Modern day
Heligoland is now a holiday resort and enjoys a tax-exempt status, as it is part of the EU but excluded from the EU VAT area and customs union, and consequently, much of the economy is founded on sales of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and perfumes to tourists who visit the islands.
Also, there is a search and rescue (SAR) base of the German Navy on Heligoland (German SAR #10).
The ornithological heritage of Heligoland has also been re-established, with the establishment of a bird observatory on the island, the Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Helgoland e.V. which was founded in 1991.
Road restrictions
There are very few cars on Heligoland. There is a special section (§50) in the German traffic laws (Straßenverkehrsordnung [StVO]) disallowing the use of automobiles and bicycles on the island. No other region in Germany has any exceptions to the general laws in the StVO, () though other North Sea islands, such as Baltrum have also banned public use of cars and bicycles.
The area received its first police car on 17 January 2006. Until then, the island's policemen moved around on foot and by bicycle. The car is needed occasionally to transport heavy materials.
Notable Residents
Heligoland in popular culture
See also
Further reading
Papers
- Charlier, C. (1947) "", Ciel et Terre, 64, p. 193–214
- Gardner, N. (2008) An island outpost: Helgoland. hidden Europe magazine, 20, pp.2-7 (ISSN 1860-6318) (Historical synopsis with review of modern economy and society on Helgoland).
- Reich, H., Foertsch, O. and Schulze, G.A. (1951) "", J. Geophys. Res., 56 (2), p. 147–156.
Books (English)
- Black, William G. (1888) Heligoland and the Islands of the North Sea, London : W. Blackwood & Sons, 199 p.
- Drower, George (2003) Heligoland - The True Story of German Bight and the Island that Britain Betrayed, Sutton, ISBN 0-7509-2600-7
- Ritsema, Alex (2007) Heligoland, Past and Present, Lulu.com, ISBN 1-84753-190-3
External links
- — includes an aerial photograph of Heligoland (front) and Düne (back).
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