East Frisian Islands

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The East Frisian Islands are a group of German North Sea islands . They are lined up in front of the Lower Saxony mainland coast, along the East Frisian Peninsula . The archipelago extends over around 90 kilometers from west to east between the mouths of the Ems and Jade or the Weser , and between 3.5 and 10 kilometers in front of the mainland. There are extensive tidal areas between the islands and the mainland , they take up a larger area than the islands themselves. The territorial sea lies in front of the islands. The islands, the surrounding mudflats and the coastal sea ( nature reserve "Coastal Sea in front of the East Frisian Islands") are in a close ecological relationship. The archipelago is part of the largest Wadden Sea in the North Sea and comprises around five percent of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park . In terms of nature , the East Frisian Islands represent the main units 613.

The largest in terms of area is the westernmost island of Borkum , the other inhabited islands are from west to east: Juist , Norderney with the largest city on the islands, Baltrum , Langeoog , Spiekeroog and Wangerooge .

There are also six other, small, uninhabited islands: Lütje Hörn east and the Brauerplate north of Borkum, Memmert and the Kachelotplate south-west of Juist, Minsener Oog as an eroded island south-east of Wangerooge and Mellum on the eastern edge of the island chain, which after the delimitation by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation no longer belongs to the East Frisian Islands, but to the mud flats in the Elbe-Weser triangle .

West of Borkum to the close Netherlands belonging West Frisian Islands in.

The island chain of the East Frisian Islands is upstream of the state of Lower Saxony

Overview of the islands and sand plateaus

The following table provides basic information about the islands and sand flats . The uninhabited and non-communalised sand plateaus are highlighted in light yellow.

Island / sandplate coat of arms local community district Land area
in km² (2004/2009) 		Distance to the mainland
in km (2004) 		Population
(as of December 31, 2019) 		Population density
per km² 		map
Borkum DEU Borkum COA.svg City of Borkum Empty 30.97 10.5 5078 164 Map of the island of Borkum.png
Bant submerged island
Brauerplate not incommunalized ... 18.4 uninhabited -
Tile plate not incommunalized 1.72 17.1 uninhabited -
Lütje Hörn Lütje Hörn Island 1 Empty 0.31 12.5 uninhabited -
Memmert North Sea island Memmert 1 Aurich 5.17 13 uninhabited 2 -
Juist DEU Juist COA.svg Juist Aurich 16.43 8th 1524 93 Map Juist Island.png
Buise submerged island
Norderney DEU Norderney COA.svg City of Norderney Aurich 26.29 3 6090 232 Map of the island of Norderney.png
Baltrum DEU Baltrum COA.svg Baltrum Aurich 6.5 4.5 604 93 Map of Baltrum Island.png
Langeoog DEU Langeoog COA.svg Langeoog Wittmund 19.67 5 1817 92
Spiekeroog DEU Spiekeroog COA.svg Spiekeroog Wittmund 18.25 6.5 809 44
Wangerooge DEU Wangerooge COA.svg Wangerooge Friesland 7.94 6.5 1214 153 Map of the island of Wangerooge.png
Minsener oog
artificially washed up 		Wangerooge Friesland 2.2 3.5 uninhabited -
Mellum 3 not incommunalized 4.9 6th uninhabited -
East Frisian Islands    (only inhabited islands) 126.05 - 17,136 129
2However, every year from March to October , Memmert is “inhabited” by a bird warden who moves into an official apartment there.
3east of the Outer Jade , after the delimitation by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation no longer belongs to the East Frisian Islands, but to the mud flats in the Elbe-Weser triangle .

Origin and structure

The East Frisian Islands, from Spiekeroog (below) to Borkum (above)

The islands have sandy beaches on the sea side. Inside they consist of dune formations of different ages, while on the mainland side they merge into salt marshes to the mudflats. According to the “plate hypothesis” favored today, today's islands are solely the result of marine deposits caused by the forces of currents, swell and wind, as well as storm surges. After antiquity, this led to the separation from the mainland and the formation of the Wadden Sea. " Geest cores " like the North Frisian Islands do not have them (anymore). Where available, geest cores were covered by marine sediments after the Ice Age in the younger Atlantic and in the subboreal (2000 to 5000 years ago).

Due to the tide, the water flows past the islands through the sea ​​spars lying between the islands onto the mud flats and back onto the sea again. The tidal currents are very strong in these tiders . Due to the prevailing main current from west to east, the water gnaws on the west sides of the islands, while sand is deposited on the east. Over the centuries, this meant that settlements on the west side were abandoned and new buildings were built in the east. By fortifying the islands, this migration could be slowed down considerably in the course of the 20th century. Nowadays, individual sandbanks still hike around a hundred meters a year. The eastward movement of the islands is currently still a few meters per year, with some islands migrating more than others (for example, Spiekeroog hardly, Wangerooge more).

Memmert, Lütje Hörn, Mellum and Minsener Oog are uninhabited. The latter was not artificially created until the beginning of the 20th century to protect the Jade fairway to Wilhelmshaven . The Kachelotplate between Borkum and Juist is a sandbank .

The islands of Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge can be reached during low tide by hiking through the mudflats from the mainland. At low tide , with the exception of some fairways ( tidal creeks ) , the mud flats dry out to the mainland.

Norderney is the eastern end of the former island of Buise . Other former East Frisian islands are Burchana and Bant .

economy and politics

The East Frisian Islands are popular tourist and excursion destinations. Traditionally, mainly fishing is carried out there.

Wangerooge is no longer in political East Friesland, but in Oldenburg Friesland , but is geographically counted among the East Frisian Islands.

East of the East Frisian Islands, in front of the mouth of the Weser, lies the high sand Hoher Knechtsand , which used to be an island. Other islands in Lower Saxony that no longer belong to the East Frisian Islands are the artificial wadden islands Langlütjen I and II.

Memories of the island order

To memorize the order of the islands, some mnemonics, also called donkey bridges , have become commonplace over the years . Each first letter of the word stands for one of the islands, with Juist often being illustrated with the letter I. One of the best-known mnemonics is (order of the islands from east to west):

" W hich S eemann l IEGT b ei N eight i m B ett?"

( W angerooge - S piekeroog - L angeoog - B altrum - N orderney - J uist - B orkum )

Most often the meaning of the letter "N" varies: Nanni, Nebel, Nelly, Nina

A newer type from west to east and with the correct use of all letters is: " B ei j eder N ordseeinsel b uddeln l ustige S eemänner W attlöcher!"

There are also a number of other variants.


See also

literature

  • Hansjörg Streif : The East Frisian coastal area . - Collection of geological guides Vol. 57, 2nd edition 1990, 376 p .; Borntraeger (Berlin / Stuttgart), ISBN 3-443-15051-9
  • Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park and Federal Environment Agency (ed.): Wadden Sea Environment Atlas , Volume 2: Wadden Sea between the Elbe and Ems estuaries. - Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, 200 pages, ISBN 3-8001-3492-6
  • Claudia Blanck: East Frisian Islands & North Sea Coast , Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2017, 296 pages, ISBN 978-3-7701-7489-8
  • Dieter Katz: Ostfriesland - East Frisian Islands Travel Guide , 5th edition 2019, 296 pages, Michael Müller Verlag, ISBN 978-3-95654-608-2

Crime novels

  • Gaby Kaden: Coastal Gods: An Ostfriesland-Krimi , CW Niemeyer Buchverlage GmbH, Hameln 2017, ISBN 978-3-8271-9475-6
  • Regine Kölpin: Screaming seagulls and assassinations - The murderous past of the East Frisian Islands , Wellhöfer Verlag, Mannheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-95428-164-0

Web links

Wiktionary: East Frisian Islands  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikivoyage: East Frisian Islands  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Emil Meynen , Josef Schmithüsen : Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany . Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Remagen / Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (9 deliveries in 8 books, updated map 1: 1,000,000 with main units 1961).
  2. ↑ NWZonline.de: Minsener Oog is now the official name , accessed on November 2, 2013
  3. ↑ a b Watten landscape profile in the Elbe-Weser triangle Jadebusen of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
  4. ↑ a b c d Rolf Niedringhaus, Volker Haeseler, Peter Janiesch: The flora and fauna of the East Frisian Islands - Introduction to the project "Biodiversity in the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park" . tape 11 . Publication series Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park, 2008.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i NLS-Online table Z0000001 Area survey based on actual use . State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology Lower Saxony (LSKN). January 1, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  6. ↑ Value from the area section in the Wangerooge article
  7. ↑ The East Frisian Islands. In: Norderney North Sea Magazine. March 31, 2010, accessed on April 16, 2019 (German).
  8. ^ New ffn donkey bridge for the North Sea islands in Lower Saxony. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Uta Jentjens: Which sailor is in Nelly's bed ???? In: Juist Blog. August 29, 2014, accessed on April 16, 2019 (German).
  10. ↑ Rolf Waldvogel: You have to go over donkey bridges. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
  11. ↑ New memorandum for the 7 East Frisian Islands. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
  12. ↑ The East Frisian Islands - Donkey bridges and memos. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 43 ′ 27 "  N , 7 ° 23 ′ 33.5"  E