The Halligen (; singular Hallig ) or the halliger (Danish, singular hallig) are small islands without protective levee.
Naming
The name is cognate to Old-English
halh, meaning "slightly raised ground isolated by marsh".
The very existence of the
halligen is a result of frequent floods and poor coastal protection. The floods were much more common in the Middle Ages and coastal protection was much poorer.
Aspects
The
halligen have areas ranging from 7 to 956 ha, and are often former parts of the
mainland, separated therefrom by
storm surge erosion. Some are parts of once much bigger islands sundered by the same forces.
Some, owing to sediment deposition, have actually grown together to form larger ones. Langeneß (or Langeness) includes a former island by that same name, and two others that were called Nordmarsch and Butwehl.
Dwellings and commercial buildings are built upon metre-high, man-made mounds, called Warften in German language or Værft in Danish language, to guard against storm tides. Some halligen also have overflow dikes.
Not very many people live on the halligen. Their livelihoods are mainly based on tourism, coastal protection, and agriculture. This last activity mainly involves raising cattle in the fertile, often flooded, .
The halligen are to be found in the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer National Park. The commercially developed halligen of Nordstrandischmoor, Gröde, Oland, Langeneß, and Hooge are surrounded by the protected area, but not an integral part of it. The smaller halligen, Hallig Habel, Südfall, Süderoog, and Norderoog as well as the Hamburger Hallig are parts of the national park. Walks on the Mudflat and informational meetings are offered by tourist boards and the park administration.
In the west the German halligen are protected from the open sea by the North Frisian Barrier Island.
Gallery
File:Halligen 1650.png|The Halligen area around 1650 on a map by Johannes Mejer
File:Halligen 1858.png|The North Frisian Halligen area around 1850, showing changes
1895 Alberts Blühende Hallig anagoria.JPG|A hallig: the salt meadow in bloom
File:1906 Eckner Halligwarft während einer Sturmflut anagoria.JPG|Alexander Eckener: Warft of a Hallig during a storm tide, 1906
File:30 Halligbahn 1984 (15528408194).jpg|Dagebüll hallig railway, flooded, in 1984
List of Halligen
Currently, there are 10
halligen in Germany. The following list does not include formerly existing Halligen that have either vanished or merged with current
halligen or the mainland:
-
Langeneß – 956 ha, 16 Warften, about 110 inhabitants. Narrow gauge railway connection to Oland (over causeway).
-
Hooge – 574 ha, 10 Warften, about 120 inhabitants.
-
Gröde – 277 ha, 2 Warften, 11 inhabitants.
-
Nordstrandischmoor; 175 ha, 4 Warften, 18 inhabitants. . Narrow gauge railway connection to mainland.
-
Oland – 96 ha, 1 Warft, about 30 inhabitants. Narrow gauge railway connection to mainland and Langeneß.
-
Süderoog – 60 ha, 1 Warft, 2 inhabitants.
-
Südfall – 50 ha, 1 Warft, bird sanctuary.
-
Hamburger Hallig – 50 ha, 2 Warften, uninhabited, inn occupied in summer, joined to the mainland by a 4 km-long causeway and a polder.
-
Norderoog – 9 ha, no Warften, bird sanctuary tended year-round.
-
Hallig Habel – 3.6 ha, 1 Warft, uninhabited, bird sanctuary occupied in summer.
On the Denmark side, one still exists:
Also Danish Mandø used to be a hallig, but it has dikes today. The German peninsula and former island of Großer Werder on the Baltic Sea coast is also nicknamed "Baltic Hallig" ( Ostsee-Hallig) due to its remote situation and appearance.
See also
External links
