Heligoland
Heligoland (in German, Helgoland and in North Frisian,
Lun, Hålilönj) is a small German island in
the North Sea. It is triangular-shaped and approximately 2 km long,
though a smaller island east of it is usually also included.
An ex-British possession, the islands (population 1,650) are
located in the Heligoland
Bight or German
Bight in the south-east corner of the North Sea. They are
approximately two hours' sailing time from the mouth of the river
Elbe.
Location of
Heligoland in Germany
Geography
Heligoland is located 70 km from the German coast line, and
actually consists of two islands: the populated 1.0 km² main island
(Hauptinsel) to the west
and the Düne ("dune") to
the east, which is somewhat smaller at 0.7 km², as well as lower,
surrounded by sand beaches and not permanently inhabited. They were
connected until 1720, when the natural connection was destroyed by
a storm flood. The highest point is on the main island, reaching 61
meters from sea level. The two islands are part of the district
Pinneberg of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The main
island has a good harbour and is frequented mostly by sailing
yachts.
The two islands of
Heligoland
Geology
The island of Heligoland is a geological oddity the presence of
the main island's characteristical red sedimentary rock in the
middle of the German Bight is unusual. It is not known to form
cliffs anywhere else along the North Sea coast. The formation
itself is from the early Eocene geologic age. It is younger than
and layered on top of a much thicker bedrock of white chalk, the
very same which is well known to form the white cliffs of Dover,
and cliffs of Danish and German islands in the Baltic Sea. In fact,
a small chalk rock close to Helgoland, called the "whitte klippe"
(white cliff) is known to have existed within sight of the island
to the west till the 18th century, when storm floods finally eroded
it to below sea level. Helgoland's rock is significantly harder
than the postglacial sediments and sands forming the islands and
coastlines to the east of the island. This is why the core of the
island, which a thousand years ago was still surrounded by a large,
low-laying marshland and sand dunes and separated from coast in the
east only by narrow channels, has remained to this day, although
the onset of the North sea has long eroded away all of its
surroundings. A small piece of Helgoland's sand dunes remains the
sand isle just across the harbour called "die Düne" (the Dune),
which today holds the air strip.
History
The German Bight and the area around the island is known to have
been inhabited since prehistoric times. Tools made of flint have
been recovered from the bottom of the sea surrounding
Heligoland.
In AD 697, Radbod, the last Frisian king, retreated to the then
single island after his defeat by the Franks. By 1231 the island is
listed as the property of the Danish king Valdemar II. From then
until 1714 ownership switched several times between Denmark and the
Duchy of Schleswig, with one period of control by the Hanseatic
City of Hamburg. In August 1714 it was captured by Denmark, and in
1807 it was seized by the British during the Napoleonic wars.
Britain gave up the islands to Germany in 1890, and gave up their
interests in Madagascar to the French, in return for those
countries quitting their claims to the African island of Zanzibar
(now a part of Tanzania), largely so the British could intervene
there to suppress the slave trade. A "grandfathering"/optant
approach prevented the Heligolanders (as they were named in the
British measures) from forfeiting advantages because of this
imposed change of status.
Under the German Empire, the islands became a major naval base, and
during the First World War the civil population was evacuated to
the mainland. The first naval engagement of the war, the Battle of
Heligoland Bight was fought nearby in the first month of the war.
The islanders returned in 1918, but during the Nazi era the naval
base was reactivated. During the Second World War the islanders
remained on the main island, but on 18 April 1945 over a thousand
allied bombers attacked the islands leaving nothing standing. The
civil population was protected in rock shelters, most of the 128
people killed being anti-aircraft crews. The islands were evacuated
the following night.
Heligoland during World War
I
From 1945 to 1952 the uninhabited islands were used as a bombing
range. On 18 April 1947, the Royal Navy detonated 6800 tons of
explosives in a concerted attempt to destroy the main island. While
the military installations were destroyed, most of the island
remained. In 1952 the islands were restored to the German
authorities, which had to clear a huge amount of undetonated
ammunition, landscape the main island, and rebuild the houses
before it could be reinhabited.
It is now a holiday resort once again and enjoys a tax exempt
status, so much of the economy is founded on sales of cigarettes,
alcoholic beverages and perfumes to tourists that visit the
islands. The islands are also outside the Schengen area. Its
inhabitants are ethnic Friesians who speak (besides German) a
distinctive Heligoland variety of the North Frisian
language(s).
Philately
While Heligoland was a British possession about 20 postage stamps
were issued between 1867 and 1890. They have the distinction of
being the first multi-colored stamps and are still considered
attractive. There were up to eight printings of a single
denomination and also a large volume of reprints which are known as
the Berlin, Leipzig and Hamburg Reprints, respectively. The Berlin
reprints are sometimes better quality than the originals. The
reprints were done between 1875 and 1895. Consequently many "old"
collections contain reprints rather than originals. Some believe
there were seven million reprints as compared to the known 1½
million originals, of which perhaps half were sold through the post
office and the remainder sold to dealers when withdrawn from use. A
few printings were never postally sold but nevertheless found their
way into the hands of dealers. The stamps were printed by the
Prussian State Printing Office in Berlin. They were denominated in
the Hamburg Schilling until 1875, when both German Reich and
English values appeared on each stamp issue (the Farthing/Pfennig
issues). All are embossed with a silhouette of Queen Victoria
excepting the four highest values which represent Heligoland
escutcheons. Mint stamps of Heligoland are moderate to medium
priced but with some running to 1000 Euros (2005) rarities. Some
used stamps have brought 4800 Euros at auction and some covers have
brought 10 or 12 thousand Euros. This is an inducement for forgery.
Because used stamps are often more valuable than mint stamps,
forged postal cancellations are plentiful and are the rule on
purported high-value items. Because of the many forged
cancellations and many reprints collectors of Heligoland stamps are
advised to either become expert or rely on specialists; most
reputable dealers will not handle them because of the prevalence of
reprints and forgeries. The collector who wishes to become expert
is advised to acquaint himself with the Michel Deutschland Spezial
Katalog and acquire, at least, Helmuth Lemberger's Helgoland Philatelie. Most of the
philatelic literature is in German. See link.
Bird trap
Heligoland gave its name to the Heligoland trap, used in bird
ringing.
Issue #57
