West Frisian Islands

The West Frisian Islands. These include the sandbanks and uninhabited islands:
1. Noorderhaaks
2. Richel
3. Griend
4. Rif
5. Engelsmanplaat
6. Simonszand
7. Rottumerplaat
8. Rottumeroog

The West Frisian Islands are a chain of islands in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. To the Wadden Sea lying barrier islands include (from west to east) Texel , Vlieland , Terschelling , Ameland , Schiermonnikoog and Rottumeroog . In Dutch , the islands are referred to as the Nederlandse Waddeneilanden ("Wadden Islands "). In contrast to the other islands, Texel is not in the province of Friesland , but in the province of Noord-Holland .

overview

The islands from west to east (inhabited islands are highlighted in green in the table):

Satellite image of the West Frisian Islands
	Island or high sand	local community	province	Land area (km²)	Bev. (Jun. 1, 2007)	Population / km²	Coordinates
1	Noorderhaaks 1)	Texel	North Holland	4.50	-	-	52 ° 58 '  N , 004 ° 40'  E
2	Texel	Texel	North Holland	161.96	13,628	84.1	53 ° 05 '  N , 004 ° 48'  E
3	Vlieland	Vlieland	Friesland	40.26	1,142	28.4	53 ° 15 '  N , 004 ° 57'  E
4th	Richel 1)	Vlieland	Friesland	1.50	-	-	53 ° 18 '  N , 005 ° 08'  E
5	Terschelling	Terschelling	Friesland	88.10	4,700	53.3	53 ° 24 '  N , 005 ° 19'  E
6th	Griend	Terschelling	Friesland	0.82	- 2)	-	53 ° 15 '  N , 005 ° 15'  E
7th	Ameland	Ameland	Friesland	57.57	3,456	60.0	53 ° 27 '  N , 005 ° 45'  E
8th	Rif	Noardeast-Fryslân (district Nes)	Friesland	.	-	-	53 ° 28 '  N , 006 ° 08'  E
9	Engelsmanplaat	Noardeast-Fryslân (district Nes)	Friesland	6.00?	-	-	53 ° 28 '  N , 006 ° 02'  E
10	Schiermonnikoog	Schiermonnikoog	Friesland	39.94	937	23.5	53 ° 29 '  N , 006 ° 12'  E
11	Simonszand 1)	Het Hogeland 3)	Groningen	0.50	-	-	53 ° 31 '  N , 006 ° 24'  E
Rottum Islands
12	Rottumerplaat	Het Hogeland 3)	Groningen	7.82	-	-	53 ° 32 '  N , 006 ° 29'  E
13	Rottumeroog	Het Hogeland 3) 4)	Groningen	2.50	-	-	53 ° 32 '  N , 006 ° 35'  E
14th	Zuiderduintjes 1)	Het Hogeland 3)	Groningen	0.2?	-	-	53 ° 31 '  N , 006 ° 35'  E
	West Frisian Islands			surface	23,863	density	00 ° 00 'to 00 ° 00'N, 00 ° 00' to 00 ° 00'E
1) Hochsand 2) formerly inhabited (village) 3) former municipality of Warffum, which was incorporated into Eemsmond on January 1, 1990 and has belonged to Het Hogeland since January 1, 2019 4) formerly inhabited by the family of the so-called Eilandvoogd (island guard) . The last inhabitants / island guards were the Toxopeus family.

Geography and coastal protection

Like the East Frisian Islands , the West Frisian Islands were created from sandbanks and are subject to constant migration in a west or east direction due to the water and wind conditions. The islands are protected from the sea on the seaside by wide beaches and dunes , and on the wadden side by dykes . The preferred means of coastal protection are pre-washings of sand, which are mainly introduced under the waterline near the coast. Between 1991 and 2000, the Dutch coast guards spent 23.3 million cubic meters of sand on 95.5 of the 155 kilometers of coastline that protect human-inhabited areas. “Hard” (concrete, wood, stone, etc.) fortifications, on the other hand, are only found on six particularly endangered kilometers of the entire coastline.

It is noticeable that the islands are on average significantly larger than those on the German side. The smallest of the inhabited West Frisian islands, Schiermonnikoog, for example, is larger than the largest East Frisian island of Borkum . The highest point of the island chain marks the Vuurboetsduin dune.

Emergence

After the end of the Vistula Ice Age , the water of the melting ice masses in the north and the rivers from the south carried enormous amounts of sand with them, which were deposited in the North Sea. In the postglacial, a 10–20 meter thick sedimentation body formed from sand and silt in different mixing ratios, which was superimposed on the older glacial sediments. Extensive sand and silt areas alternate with each other.

Waves and currents brought the sand masses close to the coast, where they came to lie as sandbanks above the surface of the water. With the help of the sun and wind, plants settled over time, which contributed to the enlargement of the sandbanks, so that they eventually grew together to form an almost continuous spit off the Dutch and German coasts. Small piles initially held by plants grew into high dunes . This spit was partially open to the North Sea and could be drained by various streams. The sea ​​level has changed over the centuries and has repeatedly made breakthroughs. At times the land behind the sand dunes was dry, and it was partially flooded. Large swamps developed over the centuries, and a lush vegetation ensured the formation of a thick layer of peat , the so-called middle peat, which is called Hollandtorf here . The moorland was preserved for a long time, as the sea level hardly rose and the coast moved seaward.

Shortly before our era, sea levels began to rise and the North Sea carried out a devastating attack on the beach wall. The soft Dutch peat offered no resistance to the lake, so that enormous holes could be torn into it and the area behind it was flooded. Today's Wadden Sea was created . The Wadden Islands emerged from the shattered beach wall and could withstand the constant attacks of the sea.

tourism

The West Frisian Islands are important for tourism in the Netherlands. Guided mudflat walks are offered to the island of Schiermonnikoog from the mainland .

See also

• List of Dutch islands
• Frisian Islands

Remarks

1. ^ Jacobus Hofstede and others: Human Activities. In: Wadden Sea Ecosystem. No. 19, 2005, p. 29 (online, PDF) ( Memento from July 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ).

Web links

Commons : West Frisian Islands  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: West Frisian Islands  - travel guide

• The Dutch North Sea Islands - VVV-Watten

Coordinates: 53 ° 22 '  N , 5 ° 20'  E