Island of red rocks helgoland. The island of helgoland in the north sea, or how I lost my land for the first time in my life

Helgoland, Helgoland August 25th, 2008

Helgoland - tiny, only square kilometer, a piece of land in the North Sea. From here you can control the sea routes between England, Denmark, Germany and Holland. The more I learn about him, the more my surprise. My friends and I got here for a day, but we will definitely come back, at least for a week.

Several historical facts although you may know them. The island is mentioned by ancient authors, and its settlement took place in the Neolithic - then it was connected with the mainland by a seventy-kilometer spit. The breeds that make up Heligoland - coupled with human influence, of course - are the island's biggest problem.

Helgopalmen
Around 800, during the Christian era, Heligoland was about four times its size. Even small rivers flowed on it. By 1330 (large outline on the right), there were no sources of water left on the island, except for rain and imported water. The sea gradually invaded in the south and north, capturing limestone quarries. The fact is that it was in the center of the island that the most accessible construction material... He was even taken to Hamburg, poor in stone. And development reached the beginning of the 18th century to the point that only a thin lintel connected parts of the island. The Christmas storm of 1721 not only devastated, but also "broke" Helgoland in two.

dpa
The top photo shows state of the art Helgoland. The lower computer model, looking ahead, is a rather controversial (and expensive) project to save the island. Private investors are proposing to fill up the strait formed three hundred years ago, build a passenger terminal for ocean-going ships and turn the island into a resort. Perhaps a decision will be made just about, and we are one of the last guests of Heligoland, who saw it this way - after natural disasters and destruction by people. Now only small vessels can approach here, and the runway for single-engine aircraft is not even on the main land mass, but on the "dune" cut off by water, as the locals call it.

The island belonged to Denmark, then, after the Napoleonic wars, England. In 1890, Germany bargained for it as a result of settling colonial disputes in Africa. The British did not see the military significance of Heligoland, and the Germans were able to create here a serious military naval base... From 1914 to 1918 the local population - about three thousand people - was completely evacuated. Two of the largest naval battles of the First World War were fought off the coast of the island. After Versailles, the military installations and the naval base were destroyed, but the Hitler project Hummerschere- "Crab Claw" set out to transform the island into a modern fortress and a threat to England.

The scale can be imagined if you compare my photographs with postcards a century ago. Before World War II, the island, like an anthill, was stuffed with bunkers and mines. A submarine base was hidden under the coastal strata.

All modern Helgoland is a living wound. Here and there you can find entrances to dilapidated tunnels, as under this coast. Even after the subsequent destruction, about 14 kilometers of underground communications have survived!

This, for example, is not a rock ledge, but twisted reinforced concrete.

By the end of the war, Helgoland was a lunar landscape. But that was not enough. The British government decided to counter future military threats. And completely wipe the island off the face of the earth. For this, in bunkers and mines, according to various sources, from 6 to 20 tons of explosives were laid. On April 18, 1947, the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in the history of mankind was carried out here. The island has survived, although its relief has changed significantly. A lowland formed in the southern part. Part of the shores collapsed. For a couple of years after that, the British used Heligoland for military experiments and training bombings.

In 1950, two German students brought the German flag to the island. The Bundestag carefully secured the return of the island to Germany two years later, at the same time pledging not to use it for military purposes.

It is said that after this, many of the original inhabitants returned to Helgoland. Something has been rebuilt quite in the spirit of Frisian architecture.

But most of it is the usual architecture of provincial Germany. Albeit with a twist.

The main source of local income is, of course, tourism.

I testify that guests are comfortable and inexpensive here. In addition, due to its position on the high seas, the island (it is not formally included in the European Union!) Is a duty-free zone.

It's hard not to notice. By the way, European tourists set off on their way back loaded with alcohol and cigarettes ... Surprisingly, the control at the exit is quite symbolic.

Another historical digression. In the Middle Ages (someone will add, during the Little Ice Age), a warm current brought so many fish to the shores of Heligoland that up to three thousand fishermen went out on the fishing line at the same time! By the beginning of the New Age, fish had practically disappeared, and the population had to leave or look for other sources of income. One of them was oyster farming. But by the end of the 19th century, the Prussian military base took away from the locals convenient areas with oyster farms. The well-being of the inhabitants increased dramatically during the continental blockade of Napoleon - the island became largest center smuggling - but did not last long ... An unenviable story of the people. Disasters, disasters, wars.

Some of the current residents are now engaged in navigation and maintenance of sea routes.

Therefore, if you need somewhere, ask, they will surely show you.

One could talk a lot and pompously about the nature of Helgoland.

"Long Anna" is one of the most famous natural monuments in Europe. The height of the rock is 47 meters.

wikipedia
In prehistoric times, the sea washed through an arch like the one in the photo on the left. In 1860, she could not withstand the pressure of the sea and collapsed, forming a separate rock, first called the "Monk". Destruction was growing, and already in 1903 dumping of soil and construction of a dam began at the bottom. This slowed down the erosion, but nowadays "Anna" is under threat again. The cracks are growing. The rock can actually collapse at any moment.

Oh yes, Anna was the name of a lanky waitress in a nearby cafe on the eve of the First World War. More about the girl absolutely nothing is known.

The rocks of the island are a veritable paradise for birds.

In the twentieth century, gannets settled here. Relatives of pelicans, by the way.

Here they have both love and a kindergarten.

Nests are made of algae and anything that floats in the sea. A lot of rags, scraps of nets.

On the eighteen square meters of the top of "Long Anna" there is also a bird colony and, by the way, for this reason, it is the smallest reserve in the world.

North-east and dune views.

There are also many amazing things below.

The runway is going nowhere - everything that has survived from the military airfield.

The pebbles on the shore half a century after the war are still mixed with rolled bricks.

We wandered here with Vanya

At the end of World War II, the British Army had a huge surplus of ammunition and explosives that required disposal. It has been suggested that surplus ammunition be used for seismic experiments by setting up guided blasts to generate seismic waves. Thus, it was planned to simulate small earthquakes. It was impractical and dangerous to carry out such experiments in England due to the enormous risks involved. Thus, the British turned to the defeated Germany, and specifically to the island of Helgoland.

The British had just ended the biggest war in human history, but explosives and aggression were still in excess. In July 1946, an ammunition depot near the town of Zoltau in northern Germany was blown up. Seismic waves from the explosion were observed at distances up to 50 km from the epicenter. But the British needed something more. Thus, they began to prepare for the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in the world, which eventually became known as the "British Strike." The target was a small archipelago called Helgoland near the German coastline.


Heligoland is a small archipelago located approximately 46 kilometers from the German coastline in the North Sea. It consists of two islands - an inhabited main island with an area of ​​one square kilometer and an uninhabited small island nearby called "Dune", which also has an airstrip.


Due to its strategic location, Heligoland has its own fascinating military history... Initially occupied by Frisian shepherds and fishermen, the island came under the control of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in 1402, and then became a Danish possession in 1714. During the Napoleonic Wars of 1807, the British captured the island, and in 1890 Helgoland was transferred to Germany in exchange for Zanzibar and other African territory.

The Germans evacuated the civilian population of the island and turned it into the largest naval base, with an extensive harbor, shipyard, underground fortifications and coastal batteries. The famous battle in Heligoland Bay took place here. When World War I ended, the islanders returned and the island became a popular tourist destination for the German upper class. During the Nazi era, the island again became a naval stronghold and suffered severe Allied bombing towards the end of World War II.


With the defeat of Germany, the population was again evacuated. The British decided to destroy the remaining fortifications, underground bunkers and the submarine base in one powerful explosion, while simultaneously recording the readings of seismic sensors for science. On April 18, 1947, the Royal Navy detonated 6,700 tons of explosives, causing a black mushroom cloud to rise several kilometers into the sky. People on the mainland 60 kilometers from the blast were asked to open their windows to avoid implosion, and seismic waves were recorded even in Sicily. The Guinness Book of World Records marks the Heligoland explosion as the largest non-nuclear explosion in history.


The detonation in its power was equivalent to one third of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The British expected the island to be completely destroyed, but it survived, changing forever. At the southern tip of Helgoland, a huge crater formed, which today is a famous tourist attraction.





The British Air Force continued to use the island as a training ground until it was returned to West Germany on 1 March 1952. The town, harbor and resort on Dune Island were rebuilt and Heligoland became a tourist destination again. Helgoland is among the top 10

Helgoland(or Helgoland, it. Helgoland) - an archipelago (until 1720 - a single island) in the North Sea, on the territory of Germany. It is part of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, but is not part of the customs and tax territory of the European Union. The population of the village of the same name is 1267 people.

Previously, the majority of the island's population spoke the Helgolandic dialect of the Frisian language, but now it is practically supplanted by the German language. Despite this, Frisian is the official language.

History

The island has been inhabited since prehistoric times. 6500 years ago, the territory of the island was connected to the continental part of Europe. Around the 7th century, the Frisians, one of the small Germanic peoples, settled on it. For a long time, the island was considered a refuge for pirates who hunted in the North Sea. In the XII-XIII centuries, Helgoland belonged to Denmark, and then ceded to the German duchy of Schleswig, which, in turn, in a few centuries itself was under the control of the Danish crown. In 1720, a storm split the island in two. Golden times for the island came during the Napoleonic wars. As a result of the naval blockade declared by the French emperor of Great Britain, Heligoland became a brisk transit point for smugglers. Affected by the strategic position. In 1807, it was occupied by British troops, after which it became part of Great Britain. In 1826, a seaside resort was established here. Soon the island began to enjoy popularity among poets, writers, artists and other representatives of the European intellectual elite. Heinrich Heine spoke enthusiastically about him, and Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841 wrote here the text "Song of the Germans". It later became the anthem of the Weimar Republic. In 1933, only the first stanza became the anthem of the Third Reich (followed by the "Song of Horst Wessel", which was not officially considered part of the anthem; in 1945 it was banned by the Control Council). The third stanza since 1991 is the anthem of the reunified Germany.

Zanzibar Agreement

In 1890, the so-called Heligoland-Zanzibar Agreement was signed between the German Empire and Great Britain, with the help of which the two powers settled their interests in Africa. According to the treaty, the island in the North Sea was ceded to Germany as compensation for the colonial territories transferred to the British. The war period began soon in the history of the island. Emperor Wilhelm II ordered to equip a naval base here. During the First World War, two large naval battles took place off its coast (the Battle of Heligoland Bay). During these years, the civilian population was evacuated from the island.

World War II

The Third Reich also prepared plans to build a large base on the island, but they were only partially implemented. By this time, with the development, in particular, of aviation, strategic importance islands diminished. He was almost never raided. Just at the end of the war in April 1945, British aircraft dropped about seven thousand bombs on Helgoland in less than two hours. The island became completely uninhabitable.

In 1947, the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in the history of mankind was made on the island. With his help, the British military destroyed bunkers and other structures built in the Third Reich for German submarines. At the same time, 4,000 torpedo warheads, 9,000 underwater bombs, 91,000 grenades of various calibers took off into the air - a total of 6,700 tons of explosives. In subsequent years, the British military used the already disfigured and deserted island as a training ground for bombing.

After the war

In the 1950s, former residents of Heligoland launched an international campaign demanding an end to the destruction of their home island. The addressees of the appeals were the new government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the UN, the British Parliament and even the Pope. At the end of 1950, a group of peaceful activists infiltrated the island, planting three flags on it - the Federal Republic, the international public European movement, and the historic flag of Heligoland. The bold action drew attention to the problem of the island and gave a new impetus to the discussion of its fate. Soon, the Bundestag unanimously supported a resolution demanding the return of this territory to Germany, which was done in March 1952. A few years later, the island was rebuilt and it began its new resort and tourist life.

Modernity

Arne Weber, a construction businessman from Hamburg, has been hatching the idea of ​​filling the strait between the main island and the dune for several years. On the territory reclaimed from the North Sea, the businessman proposes to build several hotels, increasing the number of hotel beds by almost three times, as well as equip a more spacious and comfortable beach. The total investment is estimated at one billion euros. After lengthy discussions, the local authorities decided to abandon the large-scale plans of the Hamburg businessman. Instead, Helgoland intends to modernize the port complex and the marina. In turn, Arne Weber called this position short-sighted and expressed hope that the decision will be revised after the municipal elections this fall. On the island, apparently, they simply do not want to change its appearance again. He already suffered greatly at the hands of a man. Cars and bicycles are prohibited on the island. In a referendum held on June 26, Heligoland residents spoke out against the authorities' plans to increase the island's territory, Agence France-Presse reports. 1,068 people took part in the voting (turnout was 81.4 percent). 54.7 percent voted “against”, 45.3 percent - “for”. According to the plan, Helgoland and the island of Dune, located a kilometer from it, were supposed to be connected by an artificial embankment with a total area of ​​100 hectares (about 30 football fields), on which hotels, marinas and cruise liners, and also equipped with a beach. The ambitious tourism infrastructure development project was designed to improve the overall economic situation islands. As noted by AFP, Helgoland, located 40 kilometers from the German coast in the North Sea, faces economic stagnation: the number of tourists is decreasing, many residents are leaving the island. The burgomaster of Helgoland, Joerg Singer, who actively supported the artificial embankment project, said that the results of the referendum in no way negate plans for the further development of the island. According to him, now is the time to consider other possibilities for building up the island's territory.

Photo

Born here

• James Crews - children's writer

In culture

• British trip-hop group Massive Attack released an album called Heligoland in 2010

Notes (edit)

Links

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what "Helgoland" is in other dictionaries:

Helgoland, an island in the North Sea; Germany. Him. Helgoland (Helgoland) sacred land from other. German heilag saint, sacred, land, there was a pagan sanctuary on the island. Geographic names World: Toponymic Dictionary. M ... Geographical encyclopedia

Helgoland- (Heligoland), small island in the North Sea. Originally inhabited by fishermen friezes of Georgia in 1714 1807. belonged to Denmark, then it was captured by the English fleet, from 1815 the official. British ownership. In 1870 he went to Germany in exchange for ... ... The World History

HELGOLAND- (Helgoland), a rocky island on the German Sea, 70 km from the mouth of the Elbe, belonging to Germany. It looks like a triangle with steep edges, up to 68 m high, an area of ​​0.59 sq. km. From y. v. the sides on the site and on the upper part of the island are located ... ... Great medical encyclopedia

- (Helgoland), an island in the North Sea, German territory. Area 0.9 km2. Height up to 56 m. * * * HELGOLAND HELGOLAND (Helgoland), an island in the North m., The territory of Germany. Area 0.9 km2. Height up to 56 m ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Helgoland) an island in the North Sea within the Federal Republic of Germany (Schleswig Holstein). Area 0.9 km2. Population 2.9 thousand people. (1968). Resort. Inhabited by the Frisians, Georgia has belonged to the Duchy of Schleswig since 1402, and Denmark since 1714. In 1807 the island was captured ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Helgoland, in English. Heligoland) a small rocky island of the German Sea, belonging to Germany; lies 58 km northwest of Kukshaven and 56 km from the nearest point of Schleswig and dominates the estuaries of the Elbe, Weser and Eider. Island… … Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

- (Helgoland, Heligoland) about in North. sea. From 1814 Brit, colony. As part of Germany since 1890 (now the Federal Republic of Germany). Since 1796 a Hamburg post office has been operating on the island. In 1866, its own post office, cat. no. marks in 1867 79. From 1875 the denominations ... ... Big philatelic dictionary

: 54 ° 10'57 ″ s. NS. 7 ° 53'07 ″ east etc. /  54.18250 ° N NS. 7.88528 ° E etc. / 54.18250; 7.88528 (G) (I)

805.88 people / km²

(German)