Heligoland red rock island interesting facts. Heligoland island and its history. Most visited island

Helgoland(or Helgoland, German Helgoland listen)) - an archipelago (until 1720 - a single island) in the North Sea, on the territory of Germany. It is part of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, but is not part of the customs and tax territory of the European Union. The population of the village of the same name is 1267 people.

Previously, the majority of the island's population spoke the Helgolandic dialect of the Frisian language, but it has now been practically replaced by the German language. Despite this, Frisian is the official language.

Story

The island has been inhabited since prehistoric times. 6,500 years ago the island's territory was connected to the European mainland. Around the 7th century, the Frisians, one of the small Germanic peoples, settled there. For a long time, the island was considered a refuge for pirates who traded in the North Sea. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Heligoland belonged to Denmark, and then went to the German Duchy of Schleswig, which, in turn, after a few centuries itself came under the control of the Danish crown. In 1720, as a result of a storm, the island split into two. Golden times for the island came during the Napoleonic wars. As a result of the naval blockade declared by the French Emperor of Great Britain, Heligoland became a busy transit base for smugglers. The strategic position had an effect. In 1807 it was occupied by British troops, after which it became part of Great Britain. In 1826 it was built here seaside resort. Soon the island began to enjoy popularity among poets, writers, artists and other representatives of the European intellectual elite. Heinrich Heine spoke enthusiastically about it, and Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the text of “Song of the Germans” here in 1841. It later became the anthem of the Weimar Republic. In 1933, only the first stanza became the anthem of the Third Reich (followed by the “Horst Wessel Song”, which was not officially considered part of the anthem; banned by the Control Council in 1945). The third stanza has been the anthem of the reunified Germany since 1991.

Zanzibar Agreement

In 1890, the so-called Heligoland-Zanzibar Agreement was signed between the German Empire and Great Britain, through which the two powers regulated their interests in Africa. According to the treaty, the island in the North Sea went to Germany as compensation for the colonial territories transferred to the British. Soon a war period began in the history of the island. Emperor Wilhelm II ordered the establishment of a military base here. naval base. During the First World War, two major naval battles took place off its shores (the Battle of Heligoland Bight). During these years, the civilian population was evacuated from the island.

World War II

The Third Reich also prepared plans to build a large base on the island, but they were only partially implemented. By this time, with the development, in particular, of aviation, strategic importance The islands have shrunk. It was almost never raided. Only at the end of the war in April 1945, British planes dropped about seven thousand bombs on Heligoland in less than two hours. The island became completely uninhabitable.

In 1947, the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in human history was carried out on the island. With its help, the British military destroyed bunkers and other structures built in the Third Reich for German submarines. At the same time, 4,000 torpedo warheads, 9,000 underwater bombs, 91,000 grenades of various calibers - a total of 6,700 tons of explosives - were launched into the air. In subsequent years, the British military used the already disfigured and deserted island as a training ground for bombing.

After the war

In the 50s former residents The Helgolanders launched an international campaign to demand an end to the destruction of their home island. The addressees of the appeals were the new government of Germany, the UN, the British Parliament and even the Pope. At the end of 1950, a group of peaceful activists entered the island, planting three flags on it - the Federal Republic, the international public European movement, and the historical flag of Heligoland. The bold action drew attention to the problem of the island and gave new impetus to the discussion of its fate. Soon the Bundestag unanimously supported a resolution demanding the return of this territory to Germany, which was done in March 1952. A few years later the island was rebuilt and it began its new resort and tourist life.

Modernity

Hamburg construction businessman Arne Weber has been toying with the idea of ​​filling in the strait between the main island and the dune for several years. On the territory reclaimed from the North Sea, the businessman proposes to build several hotels, increasing the number of hotel beds by almost three times, and also to equip a more spacious and comfortable beach. The total investment is estimated at one billion euros. After lengthy discussions, local authorities decided to abandon the large-scale plans of the Hamburg entrepreneur. Instead, Heligoland intends to modernize the port complex and sea ​​pier. In turn, Arne Weber called this position short-sighted and expressed hope that the decision will be reviewed after the municipal elections this fall. On the island, apparently, they simply don’t want to change its appearance again. He has already suffered greatly at the hands of man. Cars and bicycles are prohibited on the island. Residents of Heligoland, at a referendum held on June 26, spoke out against the authorities’ plans to increase the territory of the island, reports Agence France-Presse. 1,068 people took part in the voting (turnout was 81.4 percent). 54.7 percent voted “against”, 45.3 percent voted “for”. In accordance with the plan, Heligoland and Dune Island, located a kilometer away, were supposed to be connected by an artificial embankment with total area 100 hectares (about 30 football fields) on which hotels, marinas and cruise ships, and also has a beach. Grandiose project for the development of tourism infrastructure was intended to improve the overall economic situation of the island. As AFP notes, Heligoland, located 40 kilometers from the German coast in the North Sea, is facing economic stagnation: the number of tourists is decreasing, many residents are leaving the island. The mayor of Helgoland, Joerg Singer, who actively supported the artificial embankment project, said that the results of the referendum in no way cancel out plans for further development islands. According to him, now is the time to consider other possibilities for expanding the island territory.

Photos

Born here

• James Crews - children's writer

In culture

• British trip-hop group Massive Attack released an album called Heligoland in 2010.

Notes

Links

Wikimedia Foundation.

2010.

Helgoland, an island in the North Sea; Germany. German Helgoland (Helgoland) sacred land from other top. German heilag holy, sacred, land land, there was a pagan sanctuary on the island. Geographical names world: Toponymic dictionary. M... Geographical encyclopedia

Heligoland- (Heligoland), a small island in the North Sea. Originally inhabited by Frisian fishermen, Germany in 1714-1807. belonged to Denmark, then was captured by the English fleet, from 1815 official. possession of Great Britain. In 1870 it went to Germany in exchange for... ... The World History

HELIGOLAND- (Helgoland), a rocky island in the German Sea, 70 km from the mouth of the Elbe, belonging to Germany. It has the shape of a triangle with steep edges, up to 68 m high, area 0.59 sq. km. From the south V. the sides on the platform and on the top of the island are located... ... Great Medical Encyclopedia

- (Helgoland), an island in the North Sea, territory of Germany. Area 0.9 km2. Height up to 56 m. * * * HELGOLAND HELGOLAND (Helgoland), an island in the Northern Cape, territory of Germany. Area 0.9 km2. Height up to 56 m... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Helgoland) an island in the North Sea within the Federal Republic of Germany (Schleswig Holstein). Area 0.9 km2. Population 2.9 thousand people. (1968). Resort. Populated by Frisians, Germany belonged to the Duchy of Schleswig from 1402 and to Denmark from 1714. In 1807 the island was captured... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Helgoland, in English Heligoland) a small rocky island of the German Sea, belonging to Germany; lies 58 km to northwest from Cuxhaven and 56 km from the nearest point of Schleswig and dominates the mouths of the Elbe, Weser and Eider. Island… … Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

- (Helgoland, Heligoland) about in in North. sea. Since 1814, British colony. Part of Germany since 1890 (now Germany). Since 1796, a Hamburg post office operated on the island. In 1866, its own post office and service was created. issue stamps in 1867 79. Since 1875 denominations ... ... Large philatelic dictionary

At the end of the Second World War, the British Army had a huge surplus of ammunition and explosives that needed disposal. It was proposed to use surplus munitions for seismic experiments, setting up controlled explosions to generate seismic waves. In this way, it was planned to simulate small earthquakes. It was impractical and dangerous to perform such experiments in England due to the greatly increased risks. Thus, the British turned to defeated Germany, and specifically to the island of Heligoland.

The British had just ended the biggest war in human history, but explosives and aggression still lingered in excess. In July 1946, an ammunition depot near the city of Soltau in northern Germany was blown up. Seismic waves from the explosion were observed at distances of up to 50 km from the epicenter. But the British needed something more. Thus, they began to prepare for the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in the world, which eventually became known as the “British Strike.” The target was a small archipelago called Heligoland from the German coastline.


Heligoland is a small archipelago located approximately 46 kilometers from the German coastline in the North Sea. It consists of two islands - the inhabited main island with an area of ​​​​one square kilometer and the uninhabited small island nearby called "Dune", where the airstrip is also located.


Due to its strategic location, Heligoland has its own fascinating military history. Originally occupied by Frisian shepherds and fishermen, the island came under the control of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in 1402, and then became a Danish possession in 1714. During the Napoleonic Wars of 1807, the British captured the island, and in 1890 Heligoland was given to Germany in exchange for Zanzibar and other African territories.

The Germans evacuated the island's civilian population and turned it into a major naval base, with an extensive harbor, shipyard, underground fortifications and coastal batteries. The famous Battle of Heligoland Bight took place here. When First World War ended, the islanders returned and the island became popular tourist resort for the German upper class. During the Nazi era, the island again became a naval stronghold and suffered severe Allied bombing towards the end of World War II.


With the defeat of Germany, the population was evacuated again. The British decided to destroy the remaining fortifications, underground bunkers and the submarine base with one powerful explosion, while simultaneously recording seismic sensor readings for science. On April 18, 1947, the Royal Navy detonated 6,700 tons of explosives, sending a black atomic mushroom several kilometers into the sky. People on the mainland 60 kilometers away were asked to open their windows to avoid the implosion, and seismic waves were recorded as far away as Sicily. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Heligoland explosion as the largest non-nuclear explosion in history.


The detonation was equivalent in power to one-third of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The British expected the island to be completely destroyed, but it survived, changed forever. A huge crater formed at the southern tip of Heligoland, which today is a famous tourist attraction.





The RAF continued to use the island as a training ground until it was returned to West Germany on 1 March 1952. The town, harbor and resort on Dune Island were rebuilt and Heligoland became tourist destination. Heligoland is in the top 10 list

I wrote the introduction to this entry twice. The second time I did this was because during the creative process I suddenly discovered that I had hastily written the title incorrectly. I wanted to write “... lost sight of the land,” but the last two words mysteriously disappeared. It turned out to be a curiosity, which I decided to preserve and emphasize in the second edition of the introductory text. For me, for the first time in my life, being in a situation where there was no land in sight on all sides was an extraordinary event. It was very scary! Kidding. But seriously, I thought that I really was not destined to be a sailor. I’m sure if this situation had lasted at least a day, I would definitely have fallen into depression. But on the journey that I want to talk about in this post, I lost the ground for a short time - for 30–40 minutes. And then he found her again - on the island of Heligoland, where he sailed for several hours from Hamburg.

And I also want to emphasize that this trip was one of the best episodes of my life. Perhaps it was not so full of remarkable objects, but it felt like it was definitely one of the best.

To start reference Information. Helgoland is an archipelago in the North Sea, belongs to the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Its area is only 1.7 square kilometers; the population, concentrated in a single village (also called Heligoland), is 1,267 people. Here is a map of the archipelago:

The second island (Dune) appeared in 1720 due to a storm that broke it off from Heligoland.

Such a small island - and a surprisingly rich, turbulent history. Around the 7th century, the Frisians, one of the small Germanic peoples, settled there (since I am very interested in ethnography, this is an important fact). For a long time, the island was considered a refuge for pirates who traded in the North Sea. For a long time Heligoland belonged to Denmark, and from the beginning of the 19th century to England. In 1826, a seaside resort was established here. Soon the island began to enjoy popularity among poets, writers, artists and other representatives of the European intellectual elite. The poet Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the text of the “Song of the Germans” here in 1841, the future anthem of Germany. In 1890, Great Britain and Germany made a territorial exchange - the first received the African island of Zanzibar, and the second received Heligoland. Germany quickly mastered the new acquisition: flights from Hamburg to Heligoland became very popular:

Catamaran and voyage from Hamburg to Heligoland

They continue to this day, and I traveled precisely along this route. The day before I read that a catamaran departs from Landungsbrücken pier at 9:00 every day. I didn’t really know what it was - for some reason images of native boats in Oceania came to mind. These absurd images confused me; I was afraid that the ship would be fragile and I would not survive the journey well. In fact, this Norwegian-made catamaran is a powerful, reliable vessel, the rocking of which is almost not felt (I felt a little only a few times):

True, the sea that day was completely calm, so I did not have the opportunity to test the stability of the catamaran in strong waves. Which is quite good. The cost of the trip is quite high (100 euros), especially considering that I had to pay extra for a ticket in a comfortable class. There were no more ordinary ones; I had to book in advance. But it is not important. For reference, I will inform you that in comfort class there are free drinks (non-alcoholic), there are tables and smaller seats.

The distance from Hamburg to Heligoland is about 150 kilometers. About half runs along the lower reaches of the Elbe. There is a lot to see there - many ships, coastal towns. Closer to the mouth, desert marshes (flat, swampy sands) predominate. The catamaran makes stops at two points - Wedel and Cuxhaven. Behind the second begins the North Sea...

A useful thing on a catamaran is an information monitor on which you can see a map of the route and the location of the vessel in real time. The speed value and some other data are also displayed. The speed was up to 35 knots - that's a lot! Along the way, dune banks were visible here and there, and then there came a stage when only the sea was really visible on all sides.

Walking around Heligoland

Harbor and resort houses

Finally, to my great joy, Heligoland appeared on the horizon. Its landscape is crowned by a lighthouse and a radio tower. At 12:45 the catamaran arrived in the southern harbor:

On the shore, a large family of resort houses of the same shape and different colors immediately caught my eye:

These are small houses; there is a larger one:

You can compare the current development with the one that existed in late XIX century - for example, on a street with the characteristic name Kaiserstrasse:

It is interesting that at the end of the 19th century the coast of Heligoland was in some places more thoroughly developed than it is now:

By the way, I’ll mention one more attractive factor for tourists in Heligoland. Since the island is not part of the customs and tax territory of the EU, duty-free trade is carried out on the island for some types of goods - alcohol, tobacco products, perfumes/cosmetics, tea/coffee, etc. Prices are significantly lower than in Germany. Many guests of the island actively use this local feature.

Oberland Hill and the path along the coast along the cliff

I didn’t linger near the boarding houses and shops - I was primarily interested in that part of the island called Oberland, that is, the Upper Land. These, of course, are not mountains at all (the maximum height here is only 40 meters), but the elevation is noticeable. The highest part runs along the western shore. Climbing up, I photographed the southern harbor and the rise leading from it:

And now look north, and here lies a spectacular landscape:

The enclosing dam and the rocky steep bank are clearly visible. The fence along the cliff is purely symbolic...

For the first time in my life I saw such a large concentration of birds:

Birds, by the way, are not at all afraid of people; some fly up or come within arm's length and clearly beg for food. But I didn’t give anything to anyone, because, firstly, I didn’t have any food, and secondly, it’s not right to corrupt the inhabitants wildlife.

Rock Long Anna

In the far north of the island there is a lonely rock - business card Heligoland:

It is called Lange Anna, that is, Long Anna. The funny thing is that this is the name of a certain tall waitress who served in one of the cafes in Heligoland a hundred years ago.

Beach

At the end of the 19th century, the northeastern part of Heligoland looked like this:

I came to the beach, initially intending only to look. There were few people and only a few were swimming. If only big guys like Vikings were in the water, I wouldn’t dare to venture into the NORTH sea, even in August and with an air temperature of about 25 degrees. But a young woman and her children, 5–7 years old, were calmly swimming there. I arrogantly quickly entered the water... and only the rules of decency kept me from screaming loudly. Sighing and groaning, I dragged myself further... in addition to the cold water (I think 17 degrees), I was bothered by a huge school of small fish swirling around my body. Still, I completely plunged and climbed ashore. It was very pleasant to sit on the warm fine sand.

Heligoland Aquarium and local history museum

After the beach I reached the village. It’s a pity that I didn’t catch the eye of the seals (in German Seehunde, that is, literally “sea dog”); they are mainly found on the nearby Dune Island. Even on Heligoland, in some seasons there are many marsupial crabs (Taschenkrebs) on the shore; but this does not happen in August, so I only saw one or two from afar. I became acquainted with the marine flora and fauna of Heligoland and the North Sea in general in a small Aquarium:

The living world of cold waters does not amaze with the variety of shapes and colors, which is quite understandable - the sun's rays are infrequent guests here. But it is much larger in biomass than tropical waters. And I also learned an interesting fact for myself - it turns out that seahorses live in these latitudes. And, I suspect, it was they who became the prototypes of numerous mythological creatures of the North, such as dragons.

And not far from the Aquarium there is a small local history museum. I didn’t get there (it closes early in the summer), but I saw one interesting thing on the street:

This is, as I define it, a “bathing booth-trolley.” About 120 years ago, ladies and gentlemen rode into shallow water on such carts, changed clothes and went out into the water along a ladder. I don’t know how the horses felt about this, but given the customs of that time, it was very convenient for people.

Heligoland in World War II

In the vicinity of the village there are ruins of bunkers from the Second World War. I didn’t go there (I didn’t want to on principle), but I think it’s necessary to provide a certificate. The naval base here was small, since the development of strategic aviation made Heligoland too vulnerable. Therefore, it was almost never subjected to raids until April 1945. A few days before Germany surrendered, the British Air Force dropped 7,000 bombs on this tiny piece of land. This is difficult to realize; Moreover, it is impossible to understand why this was done. One gets the impression that the British government decided to completely destroy Heligoland. Dry statistics: in 1947, the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in human history was carried out on the island. With its help, the British military destroyed bunkers and other structures built in the Third Reich for submarines. At the same time, about one hundred thousand torpedo warheads, underwater bombs and grenades of various calibers were launched into the air - a total of 6,700 tons of explosives. In subsequent years, the British used the already disfigured and deserted island as a training ground for bombing. At the end of 1950, a group of German activists entered the island, planting three flags on it - the Federal Republic of Germany, the international public European movement and the historical flag of Heligoland. This action drew attention to the problem of the island. Soon the Bundestag unanimously supported a resolution demanding the return of this territory to Germany, which was done in March 1952. A few years later the island was rebuilt, and it began its new resort and tourist life.

Heligoland - the birthplace of writer James Crews

For me, an important attraction of Heligoland is the fact that the wonderful children's writer James Crews was born here in 1926. In the village there is a small museum, or rather a book club, dedicated to his work. Crews wrote about Heligoland in a collection of stories, The Lighthouse on the Lobster Reefs. In the North Sea, on the reefs, not far from the island of Helgoland, there is a lighthouse, and the keeper, old man Johann, lives at the lighthouse. Sometimes the seagull Alexandra flies to him, or the water Seaslap appears, and one day Aunt Julia comes to visit him on a small boat with the gnome Hans-in-a-bundle, who lost her home on the island. The heroes of the book fish and tell each other amazing tales and poems: for example, about how Carousel celebrates his birthday, how the marzipan boys have fun at the ball, and how the fisherman Frane caught a star in the sky with his net.

Here is a photolithograph of the lighthouse at the time when Crews’ parents lived:

Identity of Heligoland

In conclusion, I want to say a few words about one feature local population. Like many islanders, especially small ones, they are very conservative. In particular, the majority of votes in the referendum rejected the project of filling the sea area between Heligoland and Dune Island (about 100 hectares). On this territory it was planned to build hotels (increasing the number of hotel beds three times), marinas for yachts and cruise ships, as well as equip a new large beach. A grandiose project to develop tourism infrastructure was intended to improve the economic situation of the island (quite bad, by the way). The total investment was estimated at one billion euros. But the Heligolanders did not want to change their land. There is a ban on cars and bicycles here, and official language along with German is archaic Frisian (although few people speak it, but this is a matter of principle)

But did you know this about Germany?

Helgoland (Helgoland-German or Heligoland-English), in Russian-language literature for some reason always called Heligoland- miniature German archipelago in Northern sea. It is located 46 kilometers from mainland Germany and consists of two islands: the inhabited main island triangular shape Hauptinsel(with an area of ​​about 1 sq. km) and located to the west of it, a much lower Dune(0.7 sq. km), almost entirely consisting of sandy beaches and having as a permanent population only the staff of several tourist campsites and a small airfield.

An island lost in the infinity of the sea with a high rocky coast made of bright red sandstone cannot fail to arouse admiration. Looking at this incredible creation of nature, it is difficult to imagine that it is not located in distant exotic lands, but in the North Sea, which washes some of the coldest countries in Europe - Great Britain, Denmark, Norway. The landscape of this bizarre triangular piece of land, only 1 square meter long. km, is completely uncharacteristic of the continental coast of the North Sea. Vertical fifty-meter cliffs stretch out like a motley wall along the sea line in the north, west and southwest, where, in addition, steep cliffs drop another 56 meters below the water level. Interestingly, the mottled sandstone of these cliffs, dating from the Triassic geological era, is older than the White Chalk rock of its base, the rock that also formed the White Cliffs of Dover and similar German and Danish islands in the Baltic Sea.

Standing apart on the north side is a stunning 47-metre red sandstone cliff called Lange Anna. It is known that at the beginning of the First World War this was the name of a tall waitress from a nearby cafe, but why the cliff was named after her remains a mystery. Thousands of years ago, "Long Anna" was part of the island, then, under the influence of water erosion, an arch was formed, washed sea ​​water. Currently, we see only the remnant of that arch - a giant miraculous column, which turned into a symbol of Helgoland and became the highlight of this amazing place. Unfortunately, the elements continue to seriously impact the magnificent natural monument, and the threat of its destruction is growing every day.

The history of the island is extremely interesting. Since prehistoric times, it was inhabited by people who came here along a seventy-kilometer spit that once connected the island with the mainland and subsequently went under water due to the effects of wind erosion.

More than 6,000 years ago, Helgoland was several times larger, and rivers flowed across its surface. Gradually, the depths of the sea began to destroy the rock of the island, advancing from the north and south, washing away the steep cliffs.

Around the 7th century, the Frisians, one of the small Germanic peoples, settled there. For a long time, the island was considered a refuge for pirates who traded in the North Sea.

In the 12th-13th centuries, Heligoland belonged to Denmark, and then went to the German Duchy of Schleswig, which, in turn, after a few centuries itself came under the control of the Danish crown.

Not without human intervention - by the 18th century, numerous mining and stone extraction led to the fact that the island split into two parts, connected to each other by a thin bridge. A severe storm in the winter of 1721 destroyed it, finally dividing Helgoland into two parts. Today, a second small island called Dune is located just 1.5 km from Helgoland and part of it serves as an airstrip.

1890

Thanks to its advantageous geographical location Helgoland has always played a prominent role during military operations, from the time of Napoleon to the world wars of the 20th century. By the beginning of the First World War, the island had been turned into a powerful German naval base, with many underground tunnels, bunkers, shelters and mines. Today you can find traces of that time everywhere - dilapidated underground passages, entrances carved into the rocks, bomb craters overgrown with grass, and the lighthouse at the northern end of the island was once an anti-aircraft defensive structure. After the end of the Second World War, the British government decided to destroy the island, thereby eliminating the possibility of a future military threat. In 1947, the strongest non-nuclear explosion in world history occurred on the island - Helgoland survived, but its appearance was significantly changed. Thus, many banks collapsed, and a lowland formed in the south.

In 1950, the island returned to German hands, residents evacuated during the war returned, and calm times began for Heligoland. Travelers, artists, writers, and intellectuals began to come here, which turned Helgoland into a famous resort destination, which it remains to this day. And it’s not surprising, because this charming island has something to offer tourists - numerous routes will take you through the most picturesque corners of the island, where you can see majestic rocks and cliffs, green meadows where cows and sheep graze, dunes, seals basking on the seashore.

At the beginning of June at the Lummenfelsen Wildlife Sanctuary, the smallest nature reserve in the world, home to thousands of guillemots, razorbills, northern cormorants and gulls, you will be able to witness a truly amazing spectacle - the time has come for chicks of guillemots to learn to fly and, having never spread their wings, They are thrown down the cliff, but miraculously do not break.

What makes Helgoland even more special is its climate. Advantageous proximity to the warm Gulf Stream and a small land area that does not retain the cold create truly beautiful weather. This is the sunniest and warmest place in Germany: even in winter the temperature does not drop below 10 °C, which makes it possible to grow heat-loving plants here, such as figs. The two long, magnificent beaches of the neighboring island of Dune with fine sand resemble Caribbean Islands with palm trees leaning over the turquoise sea - a paradise for swimming.

Helgoland is an ideal choice not only for those who want to plunge into the world of nature and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city, but also for lovers beautiful life: There is a yacht club, spa resorts, mini golf courses, outdoor saltwater pools, cozy cottages and duty-free shops. A trip here will leave indelible impressions, and this wonderful island you will definitely want to come back.

Helgoland GPS coordinates: 54.1825, 7.885278

Heligoland is one of the oldest European resorts. The first seaside resort appeared here back in 1826, when the islands were the possession of the British Crown. Many famous personalities of that time vacationed here. Heinrich Heine visited him more than once.

On the beach of Dune Island you can admire seals and walruses sunbathing. And they have already adapted so much to the frequent visits of guests that they are not afraid of people at all.

But only those tourists who are not afraid of cold water will be able to swim on the islands. After all, even on the hottest days, the water temperature does not exceed 20 °C.

Currently, the idea is being hatched to fill up the strait between the main islands. On the territory reclaimed from the sea, it is proposed to build several hotels, increasing the number of hotel beds almost three times, as well as equip a marina and a more spacious and comfortable beach.

Residents of Heligoland, at a referendum held on June 26, 2011, spoke out against plans to increase the territory of the island. The mayor of Helgoland, Joerg Singer, who actively supported the artificial embankment project, said that the results of the referendum in no way cancel out plans for the further development of the island. According to him, now is the time to consider other possibilities for expanding the island territory.

Previously, the majority of the islands' population spoke the Helgolandic dialect of the Frisian language, but it has now been practically replaced German language. Despite this, Frisian is the official language.

Official website of the Heligoland archipelago, helgoland.de/en/welcome.html, will help you become more familiar with the infrastructure of this German seaside resort.

: 54°10′57″ n. w. /  7°53′07″ E. d. / 54.18250; 7.88528 54.18250° N. w. 7.88528° E. d.

Density

805.88 people/km²