Hamburger Hallig
Nordfriesland, Germany | |
Coordinates | 54°35′58″N 8°49′8″E / 54.59944°N 8.81889°E |
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Archipelago | North Frisian Islands |
Adjacent to | Wadden Sea, German Bight |
Area | 1.1 km2 (0.42 sq mi) |
Length | 4 km (2.5 mi) |
Width | 2 km (1.2 mi) |
Administration | |
Germany | |
State | Schleswig-Holstein |
District | Nordfriesland |
Municipality | Reußenköge |
Hamburger Hallig (
History
The island was named after two merchants from
The name "Hamburger Hallig" was first recorded in 1781. The house on the island was eventually destroyed in the February flood of 1825.
In 1855 a causeway was planned to connect the island with mainland
In 1908, the area of Hamburger Hallig measured 96 hectares (240 acres). Growing steadily, it amounted to 216 hectares (530 acres) on 16 April 1930. On this day, Hamburger Hallig was declared a nature reserve to protect the local populations of pied avocets. Today, Hamburger Hallig, together with the floodplains and salt marshes off the Sönke-Nissen-Koog polder, encompasses an area of roughly 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) and is maintained by Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU).[1]
Geography
Strictly speaking, Hamburger Hallig is no longer an island because it has been connected to the mainland by the causeway. Today, it adjoins to the floodplains off Sönke-Nissen-Koog, and like the latter it is part of the Reußenköge municipality. Until 1899 though, Hamburger Hallig was administered as an unincorporated estate.[2] Modern coastal management protects the west coast of Hamburger Hallig from further erosion.
Artificial hills
Today, there are three artificial hills (German: Warft) on Hamburger Hallig including one hill on the floodplains and one without buildings.
Main Warft
The main Warft is located four kilometres west off the sea dike of Sönke-Nissen-Koog. It does not have a proper name. On it, there are three buildings:
- The Hallig Krog inn that is open to visitors from Easter to 31 October,
- an outpost of the National Park Service (NPS),
- Watt-Werkstatt, the Wadden Workshop of the NPS.
Kuhberg
Kuhberg, the "cow hill", is located 300 m south of the main Warft. It is a flat hill without buildings that serves as refuge for cattle and sheep during light floodings of the island.
Schafsberg
"Sheeps' hill" is a hill two kilometres west off the mainland, halfways between Hamburger Hallig and the mainland. Located on the salt marshes, it serves as an information post for NABU. Throughout the year, the lodge at Claus-Jürgen Reitmann-Haus is only temporarily used by voluntary NABU wardens.[3]
Further reading
- Reitmann, Claus J. (1983). Die Hamburger Hallig (in German). Breklumer Verlag. ISBN 3-7793-1123-2.
References
- ^ a b "NABU-Schutzgebiet 'Hamburger Hallig' und 'Claus-Jürgen-Reitmann-Haus'" (in German). Naturschutzbund Deutschland. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ "Gemeindeverzeichnis Deutschland 1900". Gemeindeverzeichnis (in German). Uli Schubert. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ "Hamburger Hallig im Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer" (in German). Naturschutzbund Deutschland. Retrieved 3 May 2013.