The islands are located in theHeligoland Bight (part of theGerman Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea and had a population of 1,127 at the end of 2016. They are the onlyGerman islands not in the vicinity of the mainland. They lie approximately 69 kilometres (37+1⁄2 nautical miles) by sea fromCuxhaven at the mouth of theRiver Elbe. During a visit to the islands,August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics to the "Deutschlandlied", which became the national anthem of Germany.
The island had no distinct name before the 19th century. It was often referred to by variants of theHigh GermanHeiligland ('holy land') and once even as the island of the Holy VirginUrsula.Theodor Siebs summarized the critical discussion of the name in the 19th century in 1909 with the thesis that, based on the Frisian self-designation of the Heligolanders asHalunder, the island name meant 'high land' (similar toHallig).[3] In the following discussion by Jürgen Spanuth, Wolfgang Laur again proposed the original name ofHeiligland.[4] The variantHelgoland, which has appeared since the 16th century, is said to have been created by scholars who Latinized a North Frisian formHelgeland, using it to refer to a legendary hero,Helgi.[5][6] The discussion is complicated by a disagreement as to which of the listed names really refers to the island of Helgoland, and by a desire for the island still to be seen as holy today.[7]
1910 map of Heligoland. The islands' coastlines have changed somewhat since this map was created.
Heligoland is located 46 kilometres (25 nautical miles) off the German coastline and consists of two islands: the populated triangular one-square-kilometre (200-acre) main island (Hauptinsel) to the west, and theDüne ('dune', Heligolandic:de Halem) to the east.Heligoland generally refers to the former island.Düne is somewhat smaller at 0.7 km2 (170 acres), lower, and surrounded by sand beaches. It is not permanently inhabited, but is today the location of Heligoland'sairfield.
The main island is commonly divided into theUnterland ('Lower Land', Heligolandic:deät Deelerlun) at sea level (to the right on the photograph, where the harbour is located), theOberland ('Upper Land', Heligolandic:deät Boperlun) consisting of theplateau visible in the photographs, and theMittelland ('Middle Land') between them on one side of the island. TheMittelland came into being in 1947 as a result of explosions detonated by theBritish Royal Navy (the so-called "Big Bang"; see below).
The main island also features small beaches in the north and the south and drops to the sea 50 metres (160 ft) high in the north, west and southwest. In the latter, the ground continues to drop underwater to a depth of 56 metres (184 ft) below sea level. Heligoland's most famous landmark is theLange Anna ('Long Anna' or 'Tall Anna'), a free-standing rock column (orstack), 47 metres (154 ft) high, found northwest of the island proper.
The two islands were connected until 1720 when the natural connection was destroyed by astorm flood. The highest point is on the main island, reaching 61 metres (200 ft) above sea level.
Although culturally and geographically closer toNorth Frisia in the German district ofNordfriesland, the two islands are part of the district ofPinneberg in the state ofSchleswig-Holstein. The main island has a good harbour and is frequented mostly by sailing yachts.
Panoramic view over Heligoland from the highest point
Aerial photograph showing new fortifications in 1919Heligoland about 1929–1930Bird's eye view, Heligoland,c. 1890–1900Prehistoric cist grave from Heligoland, now in Berlin'sNeues Museum
The German Bight and the area around the island are known to have been inhabited since prehistoric times.Flint tools have been recovered from the bottom of the sea surrounding Heligoland. On theOberland, prehistoricburial 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 theOberland.[8]
In 697,Radbod, the lastFrisian king, retreated to the then-single island after his defeat by theFranks – or so it is written in theLife of Willebrord byAlcuin. By 1231, the island was listed as the property of the Danish kingValdemar II. Archaeological findings from the 12th to 14th centuries suggest that copper ore was processed on the island.[9][page needed]
There is a general understanding that the name "Heligoland" means "Holy Land" (compare modern Dutch and Germanheilig, "holy").[10] In the course of the centuries several alternative theories have been proposed to explain the name, from a Danish kingHeligo to a Frisian word,hallig, meaning "salt marsh island". The 1911Encyclopædia Britannica suggestsHallaglun, orHalligland, i.e. "land of banks, which cover and uncover".[11]
Traditional economic activities included fishing, hunting birds and seals,wrecking and – very important for many overseas powers – piloting overseas ships into the harbours ofHanseatic League cities such asBremen andHamburg. In some periods Heligoland was an excellent base point for hugeherring catches. Until 1714 ownership switched several times betweenDenmark–Norway and the Duchy ofSchleswig, with one period of control by Hamburg. In August 1714, it was conquered by Denmark–Norway, and it remained Danish until 1807.[12]
The British annexation of Heligoland was ratified by theTreaty of Paris signed on 30 May 1814, as part of a number of territorial reallocations following the abdication of Napoleon as Emperor of the French.
The prime reason at the time for Britain's retention of a small and seemingly worthless acquisition was to restrict any future French naval aggression against the Scandinavian or German states.[14] In the event, no effort was made during the period of British administration to make use of the islands for military purposes, partly for financial reasons but principally because theRoyal Navy considered Heligoland to be too exposed as a forward base.[15]
In 1826, Heligoland became a seaside spa and soon turned into a popular tourist resort for the European upper class. The island attracted artists and writers, especially from Germany and Austria who apparently enjoyed the comparatively liberal atmosphere, includingHeinrich Heine andAugust Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. More vitally it was a refuge for revolutionaries of the 1830s and the1848 German revolution.
Marriage Proposal in Heligoland byRudolf Jordan, 1843
As related inThe Leisure Hour, it was "a land where there are no bankers, no lawyers, and no crime; where all gratuities are strictly forbidden, the landladies are all honest and the boatmen take no tips",[16] whileThe English Illustrated Magazine provided a description in the most glowing terms: "No one should go there who cannot be content with the charms of brilliant light, of ever-changing atmospheric effects, of a land free from the countless discomforts of a large and busy population, and of an air that tastes like draughts of life itself."[17]
Britain ceded the islands to Germany in 1890 in theHeligoland–Zanzibar Treaty. Thenewly unified Germany was concerned about a foreign power controlling land from which it could command the western entrance to the militarily-importantKiel Canal, then under construction along with other naval installations in the area and thus traded for it. A "grandfathering"/optant approach prevented the inhabitants of the islands from forfeiting advantages because of this imposed change of status.
Heligoland has an important place in the history of the study ofornithology, and especially the understanding of bird migration. The bookHeligoland, an Ornithological Observatory byHeinrich Gätke, published in German in 1890 and in English in 1895, described an astonishing array of migrant birds on the island and was a major influence on future studies ofbird migration.[18]
In 1892, the Biological Station of Helgoland was founded byphycologist Paul Kuckuck, a student ofJohannes Reinke (leading marine phycologist).[19]
Under theGerman Empire, the islands became a major naval base, and during theFirst World War the civilian population was evacuated to the mainland. The island was fortified with concrete gun emplacements along its cliffs similar to theRock of Gibraltar. Island defences included 364 mounted guns including 142 42-centimetre (17 in)disappearing guns overlooking shipping channels defended with ten rows ofnaval mines.[20] The first naval engagement of the war, theBattle of Heligoland Bight, was fought nearby in the first month of the war. The islanders returned in 1918, but during theNazi era the naval base was reactivated.
Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) first formulated the equation underlying histheory of quantum mechanics while on Heligoland in the 1920s. While a student ofArnold Sommerfeld at Munich, Heisenberg first met the Danish physicistNiels Bohr in 1922 at theBohr Festival,Gottingen.[21] He and Bohr went for long hikes in the mountains and discussed the failure of existing theories to account for the new experimental results on the quantum structure of matter. Following these discussions, Heisenberg plunged into several months of intensive theoretical research but met with continual frustration. Finally, suffering from a severe attack ofhay fever that his aspirin and cocaine treatment was failing to alleviate,[22] he retreated to the treeless (and pollenless) island of Heligoland in the summer of 1925. There he conceived the basis of the quantum theory.
In 1937, construction began on a major reclamation project (Project Hummerschere) intended to expand existing naval facilities and restore the island to its pre-1629 dimensions, restoring large areas which had been eroded by the sea. The project was largely abandoned after the start ofWorld War II and was never completed.
The area was the setting of the aerialBattle of the Heligoland Bight in 1939, a result ofRoyal Air Force bombing raids onKriegsmarine warships in the area. The waters surrounding the island were frequently mined by Allied aircraft.
Heligoland also had a military function as a sea fortress in theSecond World War. Completed and ready for use were the submarine bunker North Sea III,coastal artillery, an air-raid shelter system with extensive bunker tunnels, and an airfield used byair force –Jagdstaffel Helgoland (April to October 1943).[23]Forced labour of, among others, citizens of theSoviet Union was used in the construction of these military installations.[24]
On 3 December 1939, Heligoland was directly bombed by theAllies for the first time. The attack, by twenty fourWellington bombers of 38, 115, and 149 squadrons of theRoyal Air Force, failed to destroy the German warships at anchor.[25]
Early in the war, the island was generally unaffected by bombing raids. Through the development of theLuftwaffe, the island had largely lost its strategic importance. TheJagdstaffel Helgoland, temporarily used for defense against Allied bombing raids, was equipped with a rare variant of theMesserschmitt Bf 109 fighter originally designed for use onaircraft carriers.
Not long before the war ended in 1945, Georg Braun and Erich Friedrichs succeeded in forming a resistance group on the island. Shortly before they were to execute their plans, however, they were betrayed by two members of the group. About twenty men were arrested on 18 April 1945; fourteen of them were transported toCuxhaven. After a short trial, five resisters wereexecuted by firing squad at Cuxhaven-Sahlenburg on 21 April 1945 by the German authorities.[27]
To honour them, in April 2010 the Helgoland Museum installed sixstumbling blocks on the roads of Heligoland. Their names are Erich P. J. Friedrichs, Georg E. Braun, Karl Fnouka, Kurt A. Pester, Martin O. Wachtel, and Heinrich Prüß.
With two waves of bombing raids on 18 and 19 April 1945, 1,000 Allied aircraft dropped about 7,000 bombs on the islands. The populace took shelter in air raid shelters. The German military suffered heavy casualties during the raids.[28] The bomb attacks rendered the island unsafe, and it was totally evacuated.
Bombing and mining of Heligoland during World War II
15 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland and in the River Elbe. No minelaying aircraft lost.[32]
16–17 March 1945
12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost.[35]
18 April 1945
969 aircraft (617 Lancasters, 332 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitoes) bombed the Naval base, airfield, and village into crater-pitted moonscapes. 3 Halifaxes were lost. The islands were evacuated the following day.[36]
19 April 1945
36 Lancasters of 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked coastal battery positions withTallboy bombs for no losses.[36]
Aerial view of the naval base, taken from the south-westc. 1918...
...and a similar view in 2012, showing a large crater at the south end of the island.
From 1945 to 1952 the uninhabited islands fell within theBritish Occupation zone. On 18 April 1947, the Royal Navy simultaneously detonated 6,700 metric tons of explosives ("Operation Big Bang" or "British Bang"), successfully destroying the island's principal military installations (namely, the submarine pens, the coastal batteries at the north and south ends of the island and14 km or8+1⁄2 mi of main storage tunnels) while leaving the town, already damaged by Allied bombing during the Second World War, "looking little worse" (according to an observer quoted inThe Guardian newspaper).[37] The destruction of the submarine pens resulted in the creation of the Mittelland crater. The British later used the island, from which the population had been evacuated, as a bombing range. The explosion was one of thebiggest single non-nuclear detonations in history.[38][39]
On 20 December 1950, two students fromHeidelberg—René Leudesdorff and Georg von Hatzfeld, accompanied by journalists—spent two days and a night on the island, planting in various combinations the flags ofWest Germany, theEuropean Movement International and Heligoland. They returned with others on 27 December and on 29 December were joined by Heidelberg history professor and publicistHubertus zu Löwenstein.[40] The occupation was ended by British authorities, with cooperation of West German police, on 3 January 1951. The event started a movement to restore the islands to Germany, which gained the support of the West Germanparliament. On 1 March 1952, Heligoland was placed under West German control and the former inhabitants were allowed to return.[41] The first of March is an official holiday on the island. The government of West Germany cleared a significant quantity ofunexploded ordnance and rebuilt the houses before allowing its citizens to resettle there.
Heligoland, like the small exclaveBüsingen am Hochrhein, is now a holiday resort and enjoys atax-exempt status, being part of Germany and the EU butexcluded from theEU VAT area andcustoms union.[42][43] Consequently, much of the economy is founded on sales of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and perfume to tourists who visit the islands. The ornithological heritage of Heligoland has also been re-established, with theHeligoland Bird Observatory, now managed by theOrnithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Helgoland e.V. ("Ornithological Society of Heligoland") which was founded in 1991. Asearch and rescue (SAR) base of theDGzRS, theDeutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger (German Maritime Search and Rescue Service), is located on Heligoland.
Before the island was connected to the mainland network by a submarine cable in 2009, electricity on Heligoland was generated by a local diesel plant.
Heligoland was the site of a trial of GROWIAN, a large wind-turbine testing project. In 1990, a 1.2 MW turbine of the MAN type WKA 60 was installed. Besides technical problems, the turbine was not lightning-proof and insurance companies would not provide coverage. The wind energy project was viewed as a failure by the islanders and was stopped.[44][45]The Heligoland Power Cable has a length of 53 kilometres (33 mi) and is one of the longestACsubmarine power cables in the world and the longest of its kind in Germany.[46] It was manufactured by the North German Seacable Works in a single piece and was laid by thebargeNostag 10 in 2009. The cable is designed for an operationalvoltage of 30 kV, and reaches the German mainland atSankt Peter-Ording.
Plans to re-enlarge the land bridge between different parts of the island by means ofland reclamation came up between 2008 and 2010.[47] However, the local community voted against the project.[48][49]
Since 2013, a new industrial site is being expanded on the southern harbour.E.ON,RWE andWindMW plan to manage operation and services of large offshore windparks from Heligoland.[50][51][52] The range had been cleared of leftover ammunition.[53]
At the beginning of 2020, 1,399 people lived on Heligoland.[54] As of 2018, the population is mostlyLutheran (63%), while a minority (18%) isCatholic.[55][56] There is a multi-sport club on the island,VfL Fosite Helgoland, of which an estimated 500 islanders are members.[57]
The climate of Heligoland is typical of anoffshore climate (Köppen:Cfb;Trewartha:Dolk), being almost free of pollen and thus ideal for people with pollenallergies. Since there is no land mass in the vicinity, temperatures rarely drop below 0 °C (32 °F) even in the winter. At times, winter temperatures can be higher than in Hamburg by up to 10 °C (18 °F) because cold air from the east is warmed up over the North Sea. While spring tends to be comparatively cool, autumn on Heligoland is often longer and warmer than on the mainland, and statistically, the climate is generally sunnier.
Owing to the mild climate,figs have reportedly been grown on the island as early as 1911,[58] and a 2005 article mentionedJapanese bananas, figs,agaves,palm trees and other exotic plants that had been planted on Heligoland and were thriving.[59] There still is an oldmulberry tree in the Upper Town.
The Heligoland weather station has recorded the following extreme values:[60]
Its highest temperature was 28.7 °C (83.7 °F) on 25 July 1994.
Its lowest temperature was −11.2 °C (11.8 °F) on 15 February 1956.
Its greatest annual precipitation was 1,069.0 mm (42.09 in) in 1998.
Its least annual precipitation was 394.2 mm (15.52 in) in 1959.
The longest annual sunshine was 2078 hours in 1959.
The shortest annual sunshine was 1461.3 hours in 1985.
Climate data for Heligoland (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1952–present)
The island of Heligoland is a geological oddity; the presence of the main island's characteristic redsedimentary 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, called the Bunter sandstone orBuntsandstein, is from the earlyTriassic geologic age. It is older than the white chalk that underlies the island Düne, the same rock that forms theWhite Cliffs of Dover in England and cliffs of Danish and German islands in theBaltic Sea. A small chalk rock close to Heligoland, calledwitt Kliff (white cliff),[62] is known to have existed within sight of the island to the west until the early 18th century, when storm floods finallyeroded 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). A referendum in June 2011 dismissed a proposal to reconnect the main island to the Düne islet with alandfill.[63]
The Heligoland flag is very similar to itscoat of arms – it is a tricolour flag with three horizontal bars, from top to bottom: green, red and white. Each of the colours has its symbolic meaning, as expressed in its motto:[64]
The Heligoland police vanThe Heligoland ambulanceEnlargeable, detailed map of Heligoland
A special section in the Germantraffic regulations (Straßenverkehrsordnung, abbr.StVO), §50, prohibits the use of automobiles and bicycles on the island.[66]
The island received its first police car on 17 January 2006; until then the island's policemen moved on foot and by bicycle, being exempt from the bicycle ban.[67]
Ambulance services are provided by the Paracelsus North Sea Clinic Helgoland in co-operation with the State Rescue Service of Schleswig-Holstein (RKiSH). There are three ambulances available: one on the main island and one on Düne; the third is in reserve on the main island.
The ambulance service drives first to the Paracelsus North Sea Clinic. In the event of serious injuries or illnesses, the patients are transferred to the mainland either with a rescue helicopter or a sea rescue cruiser operated by the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons (DGzRS).
If there is an emergency on the Düne, the ambulance crew takes a boat to the Düne and carries out the operation with the ambulance based there.[68]
Fire protection and technical assistance are provided by the Helgoland volunteer fire brigade, which has three stations (Unterland, Oberland and Düne).The tasks also include ensuring fire protection during flight operations at the Heligoland-Düne airfield. Volunteer firefighters are deployed on Düne in the summer, who report for 14 days and go on holiday with their families on the island and go into action in an emergency.
There are normally five police officers based on Heligoland. They have the use of an electric car and a number of bicycles. In the summer months the population can also triple with up to 3,000 day-trippers and additional overnight visitors. Occasionally, the usual complement of police officers is supplemented by additional officers from the mainland during this period.
Since 2021, the so-called BOS centre, a joint service building for the fire brigade, ambulance service and police, has been under construction on the Oberland, and will incorporate five apartments for police staff on the upper floor.[69]
Heligoland appeared in the BritishShipping Forecast up until 1956 when it was renamed German Bight.[71] The name ofShena Mackay's 2003 novelHeligoland is prompted by its disappearance from the forecast.
In the gameBattlefield 1, Heligoland Bight appeared as a map in the Turning Tides expansionDLC with the German army defending against the British Royal Marines.[73]
ComposerAnton Bruckner wrote a cantata in 1893 titledHelgoland commemorating Britain's gift of the island to Germany a few years earlier. It was Bruckner's last completed work.[citation needed]
^Theodor Siebs:Helgoland und seine Sprache. Cuxhaven 1909, pp. 20 ff.
^Wolfgang Laur:Fositesland und die Bernsteininsel. In: ZSHG, Vol. 7475 (1951), p. 425.
^Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 14, ArtikelHelgoland. Berlin 1999.
^For example, in Heike Grahn-Hoek:OnlineHeiliges Land – Helgoland und seine früheren Namen. In: Uwe Ludwig, Thomas Schilp (eds.):Nomen et fraternitas. Festschrift für Dieter Geuenich zum 65. Geburtstag (Supplementary volumes to theReallexikon des Germanischen Altertums). De Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-020238-0, p. 480.
^For example:Roter Flint und Heiliges Land. Helgoland zwischen Vorgeschichte und Mittelalter. Neumünster 2009, p. 70.
^Wehrmann, Anne-Katrin (2012). "Eine Insel im Wandel – vom 'Fuselfelsen' zum modernen 'Helgoland 3.0'".Hansa Maritime Journal (in German). No. 12. pp. 46–49.
^Wehrmann, Anne-Katrin (2013). "Offshore-Branche ist auf Helgoland angekommen".Hansa Maritime Journal (in German). No. 12. pp. 34–5.
^"Helgoland erfindet sich grundlegend neu".Segler-Zeitung (in German). No. 6. 2013. pp. 144–5.
^Adolphi, Klaus (March 2008)."Neues zur Flora von Helgoland"(PDF).Braunschweiger Geobotanische Arbeiten (in German).9:9–19.[permanent dead link] CitingKuckuck, P. (1911). "Reife Feigen und subtropische Pflanzen auf Helgoland".Die Heimat (in German). Vol. 21. Kiel. pp. 19–24.
Charlier, C. (1947). "L'explosion d'Heligoland. – Discussion des observations effectuées à Uccle".Ciel et Terre (in French).64:193–214.Bibcode:1948C&T....64..193C.
Gardner, N. (2008)."An island outpost: Helgoland".Hidden Europe Magazine (20):2–7.ISSN1860-6318. Historical synopsis with review of modern economy and society on Heligoland.
Andres, Jörg:Insel Helgoland. Die »Seefestung« und ihr Erbe. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2015,ISBN978-3-86153-770-0.
Black, William George (1888).Heligoland and the Islands of the North-Sea. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood.
Dierschke, Jochen:Die Vogelwelt der Insel Helgoland. Missing Link E. G., 2011,ISBN978-3-00-035437-3.
Drower, George (2011).Heligoland: The True Story of German Bight and the Island That Britain Forgot. Stroud, UK: History Press.ISBN9780752460673. (originally published in 2002,ISBN0-7509-2600-7)
Friederichs, A.:Wir wollten Helgoland retten – Auf den Spuren der Widerstandsgruppe von 1945. Museum Helgoland, 2010,ISBN978-3-00-030405-7.
Grahn-Hoek, Heike:Roter Flint und Heiliges Land Helgoland. Wachholtz-Verlag, Neumünster 2009,ISBN978-3-529-02774-1.
24Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under theAntarctic Treaty.
