Heligoland

Heligoland (Heligoland Frisian, Deät Lun 'The Land'; German, Helgoland; English: Heligoland) is an island and a municipality located in the German archipelago of the same name in the North Sea. It has an estimated population, at the end of 2021, of 1,284 inhabitants.

The municipality is part of the district of Pinneberg, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Although it is part of the German economic area, it is not part of the European Union customs area nor are German excise taxes charged.

The main island is triangular in shape and is about 2 km long. One part of it (the southern part, called Unterland) has a lower height above sea level: in reality it corresponds to a lighter colored beach formed by the subsidence and erosion of the southern part of the island in times past. The archipelago also includes a small island (Düne, or dune) located to the east, previously linked by a strip of land now submerged in the sea. To the north, sand banks extend on both sides of the main island, forming "pincers" of crab that leave between them an area (like a river valley) of greater depth.

The municipality lacks cars, since they are prohibited by municipal regulations.

The ferry boat ride from the mouth of the Elbe River to the island takes two hours.

History

It is known that the area around the island was inhabited since prehistoric times. Flint tools have been found on the seabed surrounding Heligoland. Originally the island received the name Fosetisland from the Baltic pirates; In the time of Willibrord of Utrecht it was already known as Heiligland, which would mean "Holy Land", although several alternative theories have been proposed to explain the name.

In 697, Radbod, the last king of Friesland, retired to the island after being defeated by the Franks. In 1231 a list appears naming the island as the property of King Valdemar II of Denmark. From then until 1714 ownership of the island changed several times between Denmark and the Duchy of Schleswig, with a period in which it passed to the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. In August 1714 the island was conquered by Denmark and on September 11, 1807 taken by the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars, with the aim of using it to break the continental blockade decreed by Napoleon.

The United Kingdom ceded the island to Germany, according to the Treaty of Heligoland-Zanzibar, in 1890, while abandoning its interests in Madagascar in favor of the French, in exchange for them abandoning their claims to the island of Zanzibar..

During the German Empire, the island became a large naval base, and in World War I the civilian population was evacuated to the mainland. The first naval battle of the war took place near Heligoland in the first month of the conflict. The islanders returned in 1918, but during the Nazi period the naval base was reactivated.

The islanders remained there during World War II. On April 19, 1945, more than a thousand Allied bombers attacked the island, destroying it in their path. The civilian population took cover in rock shelters, so that the majority of the 128 dead were members of the anti-aircraft batteries. The island was evacuated the following night. It should be mentioned that a landing strip with two cross runways had been installed on Düne Island to take advantage of the prevailing wind in the area.

From 1945 to 1952 the islands, whose inhabitants had previously been evacuated, were used as a firing range for the R.A.F. On April 18, 1947, the Royal Navy detonated 6,800 tons of explosives with the intention of demolishing the island's military installations, which included a massive network of fortifications, artillery posts, and submarine shelters. The theory that the detonation was aimed at destroying the island, although still popular in the area, was denied by Rene Leudesdorff. The seismic effect of the titanic explosion (called Big Bang by experts), one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in modern history, allowed all types of seismic surveys to be carried out from seismological stations in northern Europe, several geological and seismological studies were published. The island was returned on February 29, 1952 to the German authorities, who had to clear a considerable amount of unexploded ordnance and rebuild houses before the island could be inhabited again.

The Heligoland Camp, a Nazi labor camp in Alderney, was named after the island.

Currently the island is a vacation spot and enjoys tax exemptions, so a good part of the island's economy is based on the sale of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and perfumes to tourists who visit the island. island. The island is located outside the Schengen Treaty area. Its inhabitants are ethnically Frisian and speak, along with German, a distinctive variety of the North Frisian language, Helgolandic Frisian.

In recent times, breakwaters have been built on the northern coast, not only to serve as anchorage, but to prevent the violence of the North Sea storms from eroding this area of the island; The northern base of the island has also been somewhat restored using colored concrete.

Geography

Heligoland is located 70 km from the German coast and consists of two main islands: the 1.0 km² inhabited main island (Hauptinsel) to the west and Düne ("duna") to the east, which is somewhat smaller 0.7 km², as well as other lower ones surrounded by sandy beaches and not permanently inhabited. These were connected until 1720, when a flood destroyed the natural connection. The depth around the island is very small: just 1-2 m in the northwest direction, 1-4 m between Heligoland and Düne, although not greater in the south or north direction; In an east-northwest direction a plain extends with a maximum depth of 14 m, although it is easy for the seabed to rise to 7 m of the rocky bottom (Steingrund), located about 8800 m from Heligoland. in a northeast direction.

Arrival to the main island can only be done through two narrow channels of greater depth: one to the northwest, which leads to the North Cove, and another to the south, in the South Cove. Outside of these two areas the depth is greatly reduced, preventing the navigation of ships with greater draft. The depth is minimum between the largest and smallest island.

The highest point on the main island reaches 61 meters from sea level, specifically on its northern coast (a radio antenna has been installed there); The isolated rocky spire Ana la Larga currently has a height of 47 m above sea level.

The explosion of 1947 significantly altered the seabed around the island, dislocating the limestone subsoil, although it did not alter the shape or height of the main island.

The two islands are part of the Pinneberg district of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The main island has a port (or anchorage) in its southern part and is frequented by yachts; The ferry that connects it to the mainland ends its journey here and brings or takes away the numerous tourists who visit the island.

Geology

The island of Heligoland is a geological curiosity: the presence of the characteristic red sedimentary rock of the main island in that area of the North Sea is unusual: no other similar cliff formations are known on the North Sea coast; The formation is from the beginning of the Eocene. There are also small deposits of native copper (on the coast, between the rocks) and chalk, marl and gypsum, which gives the typical white color alternating with red; The presence of copper (in the form of copper carbonate) has been confirmed in the white rock: at the foot of the cliffs native copper is usually found, in the form of greenish or black nuggets. In the past, when the sea level was lower, the island had a much larger area: remains of constructions still remain under the sea, not far from the island (in a northeasterly direction), between whose submerged walls fishermen usually do their fishing. best catches: it is known as rocky bottom.

Until the XVIII century, a large quantity of gypsum and chalk (a quarry still subsists in Heligoland, in its southern anchorage): the subsoil of the island is composed of white sedimentary carbonate rocks, which gives its name to the sea beds that surround it (it is the same white rock that provides the veins). to the reddish rock of Heligoland). A natural bridge of white rock once linked it to the main island: a strong storm, followed by the strong erosion of several large tides and surges, ended up ruining and submerging the soft rock; Currently there are only very clear, shallow seabeds that reach a height of between one and four meters, making navigation or approaching Düne difficult. This area is called Witte Klippe in German and White Cliff in English (its translation is white cliffs).

The southern part of Heligoland (known as 'unter land' or lowlands), in which a large number of houses and anchorages have been built, corresponds to a beach or subsidence zone formed by the debris of the cliffs, once destroyed and crumbled by the large tides and surges of the past. Currently this area, lighter in color, corresponds to the limestone substrate that connects Heligoland with Düne and extends (at low depth) under the sea.

In the northern part of Heligoland you can see a "earth needle" (Lange Anna or Long Anna) about 46 m high and weighing more than 25,000 tons, remains of the reddish cliff that remains separated from the island since the fall and erosion of the land that formed it. It surrounded and united him to the rest of it; In modern times its base has been surrounded by concrete (colored red so that it does not stand out too much) whose mission is to prevent large tides from eroding it and ending up collapsing it into the sea. According to experts, this should be enough to allow it to survive for a few hundred more years. To avoid the force of the North Sea (and its destructive erosion during large storms and tides) a protective breakwater has been built in the northern area.

Rock lovers can get native rock nodules known as Flint Helgoland on the northern beach of Düne, the best time is autumn or winter, not so much because strong storms stir up the background but because in that area there is a nudist beach in summer that is usually quite busy along its entire length.

Diving

Except during times of large swells or bad weather, you can dive and scuba dive around the island, although with great care, due to the presence of rocky bottoms, tidal currents and other rugged features. Depths can drop abruptly (especially in the west and south), although they generally do not exceed 15-20 meters and form extensive underwater plateaus; The most complicated area is the north, very rocky and rugged, with dangerous shallows and breakers at low tide (there are beds only 2 meters deep 2.5 km north of Heligoland, as well as another 6 meters deep at almost 4 km from the northern end of the island).

Heligoland, Düne and the Stein Grund (or Rocky Bottom) are part of an underwater plateau with two well-differentiated heights: Heligoland-Düne to the west and Stein Grund to the east; Between them there is a fairly smooth plateau with a gentle slope both to the north (maximum depths around 24-25 meters) and to the south (maximum depth: 30 meters south of Loreley Bank). The south of the island is quite steep and deep with depths of up to 43-48 meters. Heligoland emerges from the sea like a mass of red cliffs streaked with white on which the sea breaks, sometimes very violently; However, the seabed that surrounds it is very different depending on the area in which you dive.

The western part of the island generally presents a steep underwater slope, an extension of the collapsed cliffs: at their foot the depth drops to 10 meters quickly, stabilizing in a plain of large extension with a maximum height of 20 meters. This sector has isolated rocky peaks that rise up to 10 meters below sea level – slightly less at low tide – that form a “necklace” of isolated heights from the northern end of the island to the southern bay, submerged remains of the cliff. sunken west in ancient times. The slope of this area drops to the west quite quickly, reaching 48 meters in the southwest direction: the depth in the west and northwest direction is less.

The northwest part is simple: under the sea, starting from the north breakwater, an underwater ridge extends (extension of the high cliffs of the island, maximum elevation: 60 meters above sea level) with depths of 6 to 12 meters (6 at the “Repulse” summit) that stands on an extensive plain with maximum levels of 16-18 meters; The depth increases as we head north where it drops to 22 meters: we are at the entrance to the North Rada, a kind of submerged “valley” that loses depth as we approach Heligoland and takes us from 20 meters two kilometers from the island to just 6 meters on the old “bridge” that linked the island to Düne.

The northern area is complicated: here we find the submerged summit “Nordhafen Knoll”, the northern end of a submerged mountain range that starts at the Düne Bank (bank of white rocks that form the subsoil of Düne) and extends, curved, in a northwesterly direction; Dark rocks rich in copper and copper carbonate abound here. Depths range between 2 meters north of Düne and 10 meters at the base of the ridge, stabilizing at that depth over a large extent; a small summit (Robbert, 2 meters below sea level) is just north of Düne. To the west of the ridge the depths drop rapidly: we are in the area of the North Rada, an underwater valley already mentioned; The eastern zone has a gentler slope and extends as a large plateau more than 10 kilometers long in an east-northwest direction with maximum depths of 11-12 meters at the foot of the ridge, stabilizing at 12-15 for a long stretch.. To the north the seabed falls, very gently, to 19-20 meters while to the west the depth remains at 18-20 meters. The northern end of this ridge, the so-called “Selle Brunn Knoll”, located almost 4 km from the northern tip of Heligoland, features a small hill rising from the seabed (10 meters deep). up to just 6 meters below sea level and represents a great danger for navigation, especially with strong waves or at low tide (area marked with buoys).

The southern area of Heligoland is very interesting: the slope drops abruptly from the exit of the South Rada (and its ferry and yacht pier), forming a narrow “skirt” at the height of 18-20 meters and continues to fall sharply until it falls at 43 meters into a trench that stabilizes and forms an underwater plain, which extends in a south-southwest-west direction, rising gently to 22-25 meters to the north. of the island. Between Heligoland and Düne, now submerged, there is a kind of “breakwater” or natural corridor, limestone, shaped like shallow crab claws, between which boats slide, since in that area the depth is maximum (8 -10 meters).

The western sector is truly interesting: starting from Düne in a west-northwest direction, a wide, shallow underwater plain extends; This area reaches just 11-12 meters in the “Loreley Bank” with a large hill (almost 1 km in diameter) with a gentle slope that rises to 10 meters below sea level. To the south of the bank the depth drops abruptly to 30 meters in a small pit, but stabilizes at 22-25 meters for a long distance in all directions.

The Stein Grund (Rocky Bottom) is a rocky ridge, ancient emerged mountains, located 8200 meters northwest of Heligoland: on an extensive underwater plateau, which starts in the white subsoil of Düne and It has a monotonous depth in the range of 11-14 meters, an underwater ridge rises that runs in a southwest-northeast direction and curves slightly in its northern part. The ridge itself emerges as an 8 meter high elevation above the surrounding plain: the maximum depth in its southern part is 13 meters, 15 meters in its western and northwest part but rises to 12 meters in its northern sector to fall at 14 to the northwest and remain at 13 meters to the east. The Stein Grund has a maximum height of 7 meters below sea level in its southern part, although there are two other small hills to the north; At the northern end of the bank stands another small hill that reaches 7 meters deep below sea level. The entire area is dangerous for navigation, especially during low tide and rough seas: there is a danger buoy.

Just a few hundred meters to the east rise two underwater hills 5 meters high which, at a depth of 9 meters below sea level, pose difficulties for navigation during low tide. These dangerous bottoms are marked with a buoy. The rest of the bank extends with gently falling bottoms in all directions: the maximum depth is 15-20 meters.

In the surroundings of the island, divers have found archaeological remains that indicate an extensive prehistoric settlement in this sector; In pre-Roman times there was a temple dedicated to the god Forsites, Fosites or Posites, perhaps a corruption of Poseidon. The old charts indicate that around Heligoland, more specifically in the north, northeast and east, there were ancient buildings: no remains of them remain.

Philately

While Heligoland was a British possession, about 20 stamps were issued between 1867 and 1890. These have the distinction of being the first stamps in various colors. There are up to eight printings of a single denomination and also a large number of reprints which are known as the Berlin, Leipzig and Hamburg reprints respectively. Berlin reprints are sometimes of better quality than the originals. The reprints were made between 1875 and 1890. Therefore, many older collections contain reprints rather than originals. It is thought that there were about seven million reprints compared to the million and a half originals, of which perhaps half were sold through post offices and the rest to dealers who removed them from circulation.

The stamps were printed by the Prussian State Printing Office in Berlin. They were denominated in Schillings of Hamburg until 1875 when both the English and German denominations (the Farthing/Pfennig issues) appeared on stamps. All included the silhouette of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom except the four of the highest value which represented coats of arms of Heligoland.

The stamps issued have a moderate to medium value with some approaching 1000 euros (2005). Some used stamps have sold for 4800 Euros at auction and some envelopes have sold for 10,000-12,000 Euros: this undoubtedly leads to counterfeits. Since used stamps sometimes have more value than unused ones, postal cancellations have sometimes been forged.

Science in Heligoland

There are several scientific stations on the island, each one dedicated to covering research in a different branch. One of them is the study of the tides and waves of the North Sea in the vicinity of the island: it uses special synthetic aperture radars, with which the depths can be inferred from the disturbances of the waves, once analyzed by through mathematical models.

There is a weather station in which solar radiation is automatically monitored and measured with a special pyrometer, the concentration of aerosols over the island and the North Sea, photosynthetic activity, the concentration of nutrients in the sea, the direction and temperature of the air and other similar investigations (for example the transparency of the air), which are updated every few minutes; There are also several webcams that allow researchers to remotely control the weather station and its surroundings.

Finally, a special weather station has been installed, aboard a buoy anchored to the east of the island, capable of measuring and transmitting the surface temperature of the water by radio.