Sielhafen
The Sielhafen is the predominant port type on the West and East Frisian North Sea coast . At a creek that drains the diked land, the escaping inland water washes a deep channel into the mudflats . If the Sielzug did not contain enough water to clean the harbor, a sink (Dutch: Spoye ) was built earlier . The harbor type was developed in the western Netherlands.
These channels and the connection to the navigable watercourses in the hinterland, the lows , made the Siele suitable locations for ports in the shallow Wadden Sea . To enable passage through the sluice, gate gates and tunnel-like vaults have been built since the 15th century. Small flat-bottomed ships could pass these with the mast folded down. In the 18th century, the construction of open sluices with bascule bridges began. These could sail through sailing ships with standing masts.
The Sielhafenorte are characterized by buildings on both sides of the dike around the harbor basin or on both sides of the Sielzug. They often developed into market settlements or spots . In the smaller towns, however, the development was limited to a sluice management house and a few inns with barns and storerooms.
The Sielhafenorte in East and West Friesland as well as in Groningerland usually have this function in their name: z. B. Greetsiel , Dornumersiel , Carolinensiel , Horumersiel . Some former Sielhafenorte are now in the hinterland and have lost their port function in the course of land reclamation through dykes (e.g. Alt- and Neufunnixsiel or Neugarmssiel ).
Not all Sielhafenorte have a name on -siel . Older Dutch examples are Delfshaven , Oudesluis (Noord-Holland) , Kolhorn , Broekerhaven , Edam , Spaarndam , Lemmer , Makkum (Oosterkloosterzijl) and Visvliet . German examples are or were Papenburg (Drostensiel), De Knock , Norden (Alte en Große Siel), Neustadtgödens , Bremen-Vegesack , Cuxhaven , Neuhaus (Oste) , Glückstadt , Friedrichstadt and Tönning . They were mostly built around 1600 by Dutch master builders.
The German Sielhafenmuseum in Carolinensiel in the district of Wittmund shows with its museum harbor and in its exhibitions the past and present of the sluice ports on the North Sea.