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Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: deät Lun, , Mooring Frisian: Hålilönj, ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea, administratively part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The islands are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea and are the only German islands not in the vicinity of the mainland: they lie approximately by sea from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe.
The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of Great Britain from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, they have been part of Germany, although after World War II they along with the rest of Schleswig-Holstein were administered by the United Kingdom as part of the British occupation zone in Germany. British control of Heligoland lasted until 1952, when it was turned over to the control of West Germany.
Heligoland had a population of 1,127 at the end of 2016. In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder. The islands are known for being the place where, in 1841, August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics to the "Deutschlandlied", which became the national anthem of Germany.
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 located), 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 Mittelland came into being in 1947 as a result of explosions detonated by the British 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 high in the north, west and southwest. In the latter, the ground continues to drop underwater to a depth of below sea level. Heligoland's most famous landmark is the Lange Anna ('Long Anna' or 'Tall Anna'), a free-standing rock column (or stack), high, found northwest of the island proper.
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 above sea level.
Although culturally and geographically 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.
In 697, Radbod, the last Frisians king, retreated to the then-single island after his defeat by the Franks – or 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. Archaeological findings from the 12th to 14th centuries suggest that copper ore was processed on the island. (1986). 9783529018299, Karl Wachholtz. ISBN 9783529018299
There is a general understanding that the name "Heligoland" means "Holy Land" (compare modern Dutch and German , "holy"). Heligoland, Past and Present, p. 39, Alex Ritsema In the course of the centuries several alternative theories have been proposed to explain the name, from a Danish king Heligo to a Frisian word, Halligen]], meaning "salt marsh island". The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica suggests Hallaglun, or Halligland, i.e. "land of banks, which cover and uncover".
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. In some periods Heligoland was an excellent base point for huge herring catches. Until 1714 ownership switched several times between Denmark–Norway and the Duchy of Schleswig, with one period of control by Hamburg. In August 1714, it was conquered by Denmark–Norway, and it remained Danish until 1807. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition, Micropaedia Volume IV, page 999,
The British annexation of Heligoland was ratified by the Treaty 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.Ashley Cooper, page 40 History Today January 2014 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 the Royal Navy considered Heligoland to be too exposed as a forward base.Ashley Cooper, page 41 History Today January 2014
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, including Heinrich Heine and August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. More vitally it was a refuge for revolutionaries of the 1830s and the 1848 German revolution. As related in The 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", while The 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."
Britain ceded the islands to Germany in 1890 in the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty. The newly unified Germany was concerned about a foreign power controlling land from which it could command the western entrance to the militarily-important Kiel Canal, then under construction along with other naval installations in the area and thus traded for it. A "grandfathering"/ 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 of ornithology, and especially the understanding of bird 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 migrant birds on the island and was a major influence on future studies of bird migration.
In 1892, the Biological Station of Helgoland was founded by phycologist Paul Kuckuck, a student of Johannes Reinke (leading marine phycologist).
Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) first formulated the equation underlying his Matrix mechanics while on Heligoland in the 1920s. While a student of Arnold Sommerfeld at Munich, Heisenberg first met the Danish physicist Niels Bohr in 1922 at the Bohr Festival, Göttingen. 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 of hay fever that his aspirin and cocaine treatment was failing to alleviate, (2025). 9783540692218, Springer. ISBN 9783540692218 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 of World War II and was never completed.
Heligoland also had a military function as a sea fortress in the Second 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 by air force – Jagdstaffel Helgoland (April to October 1943). Forced labour of, among others, citizens of the Soviet Union was used in the construction of these military installations. Lager russischer Offiziere und Soldaten, Helgoland Nordost, auf spurensuche-kreis-pinneberg.de
On 3 December 1939, Heligoland was directly bombed by the Allies for the first time. The attack, by twenty four Wellington bombers of 38, 115, and 149 squadrons of the Royal Air Force, failed to destroy the German warships at anchor.Seekrieg: 1939 Dezember (Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart). Retrieved 4 July 2015.
In three days in 1940, the Royal Navy lost three near Heligoland: on 6 January, on 7 January and on 9 January.bremerhaven.de. Unter den Wellen Teil 3 – Britische U-Boote vor Helgoland . February 2013.
Early in the war, the island was generally unaffected by bombing raids. Through the development of the Luftwaffe, the island had largely lost its strategic importance. The Jagdgeschwader]] Helgoland, temporarily used for defence against Allied bombing raids, was equipped with a rare variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter originally designed for use on .
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 to Cuxhaven. After a short trial, five resisters were executed by firing squad at Cuxhaven-Sahlenburg on 21 April 1945 by the German authorities.Wolfgang Stelljes. Verräter kam aus den eigenen Reihen. In: Journal (weekend edition of Nordwest Zeitung), Volume 70, No. 84 (1112 April 2015), s. 1.
To honour them, in April 2010 the Helgoland Museum installed six Stolperstein 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.Imke Zimmermann: Im Schutz der roten Felsen – Bunker auf Helgoland, vom 19. April 2005, auf fr-online.de The bomb attacks rendered the island unsafe, and it was totally evacuated.
| + Bombing and mining of Heligoland during World War II | |
| 3 December 1939 | 38, 115, and 149 squadrons of the Royal Air Force failed to destroy the German warships at anchor.Seekrieg: 1939 Dezember (Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart). Retrieved 4 July 2015. |
| 11 March – 24 August 1944 | No. 466 Squadron RAAF laid mines. 466 Squadron Missions |
| 18 April 1944 | No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted bombing operations. |
| 29 August 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. June, July, August, September, October. |
| 3 September 1944 | Operation Aphrodite B-17 63954 attempt on U-boat pens failed when US Navy controller flew aircraft into Düne Island by mistake. |
| 11 September 1944 | Operation Aphrodite B-17 30180 attempt on U-boat pens hit by enemy flak and crashed into sea. |
| 29–30 September 1944 | 15 Avro Lancaster conducted minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost. |
| 5–6 October 1944 | 10 Halifaxes conducted minelaying off Heligoland. No aircraft lost. |
| 15 October 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. |
| 26–27 October 1944 | 10 Lancasters of No 1 Group conducted minelaying off Heligoland. 1 Lancaster minelayer lost. 1944: June , July , August , September , October , November , December . and the islands were evacuated the following night. |
| 22–23 November 1944 | 17 Lancasters conducted minelaying off Heligoland and in the mouth of the River Elbe without loss. |
| 23 November 1944 | 4 Mosquitoes conducted Ranger patrols in the Heligoland area. No aircraft lost. |
| 31 December 1944 | On Eighth Air Force Mission 772, 1 B-17 bombed Heligoland island. Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces – December 1944 |
| 4–5 February 1945 | 15 Lancasters and 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland and in the River Elbe. No minelaying aircraft lost. |
| 16–17 March 1945 | 12 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Heligoland. No aircraft lost. |
| 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. |
| 19 April 1945 | 36 Lancasters of 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked coastal battery positions with for no losses. |
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. Helgoland Weil der Wind sich dreht, Der Tagesspiegel, 15 September 2012 Dagmar Dehmer, in GermanWind Energy Comes of Age, Paul GipeJohn Wiley & Sons, 14 April 1995, p. 108 The Heligoland Power Cable has a length of and is one of the longest AC submarine power cables in the world and the longest of its kind in Germany. It was manufactured by the North German Seacable Works in a single piece and was laid by the barge Nostag 10 in 2009. The cable is designed for an operational voltage of 30 kV, and reaches the German mainland at Sankt Peter-Ording.
Since 2013, a new industrial site is being expanded on the southern harbour. E.ON, RWE and WindMW plan to manage operation and services of large offshore windparks from Heligoland. The range had been cleared of leftover ammunition.
Owing to the mild climate, figs have reportedly been grown on the island as early as 1911, Citing and a 2005 article mentioned Musa basjoo, figs, , and other exotic plants that had been planted on Heligoland and were thriving. There still is an old mulberry tree in the Upper Town.
The Heligoland weather station has recorded the following extreme values:
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 a Land reclamation.
There is an alternative version in which the word Sand ("sand") is replaced with Strand ("beach"). Die National- und Landesfarben von 150 Staaten der Erde: mit historischen Erläuterungen für belehrende und praktische, namentlich decorative Zwecke, Alfred Grenser, 1881, page 23
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.
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.
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.
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, called the Bunter sandstone or Buntsandstein, is from the early Triassic geologic age. It is older than the white chalk that underlies the island Düne, the same rock that forms the White Cliffs of Dover in England and cliffs of Danish and German islands in the Baltic Sea. 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 until the early 18th century, when storm floods finally erosion it to below sea level.
Flag
The Heligoland flag is very similar to its coat 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: Helgoland: Schilderungen und Erörterungen, Friedrich Oetker, F. Duncker (W. Besser), 185, page 168
Helgoland.
Helgoland.
Hillige Lunn.
Heligoland.
Road restrictions
A special section in the German traffic regulations ( Straßenverkehrsordnung, abbr. StVO), §50, prohibits the use of automobiles and bicycles on the island.
Emergency services
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.
Notable residents
In culture
Leaders of Heligoland
Lieutenant-Governors
The British Lieutenant-Governors of Heligoland from 1807 to 1890 were:
(2025). 9780199672479, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199672479
See also
Further reading
Papers
Books
1890 cession
Second Reading in the House of Commons
External links
Categories: Archipelagoes Of Germany, Landforms Of Schleswig-holstein, Special Territories Of The European Union, Former British Colonies And Protectorates In Europe, Car-free Islands Of Europe, Germany–united Kingdom Relations, Pinneberg, Frisian Islands, 1807 Establishments In The British Empire, 1890 Disestablishments In The British Empire, Special Economic Zones, Duty-free Zones Of Europe, Tax Avoidance
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