Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and an island with a population of 13,643 in

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It is the largest and most populated island of the

West Frisian Islands The West Frisian Islands (; fry, Waadeilannen) are a chain of islands in the North Sea off the Dutch coast, along the edge of the Wadden Sea. They continue further east as the German East Frisian Islands and are part of the Frisian Islands. ...

in the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

. The island is situated north of

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO ...

, northeast of Noorderhaaks, and southwest of

Vlieland Vlieland (; fry, Flylân) is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog. Vlieland is one of the West Frisia ...

Name

The name ''Texel'' is Frisian, but because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all -x- sounds have been replaced with -s- sounds (compare for instance English ''fox'', Frisian ''fokse'', German ''Fuchs'' with Dutch ''vos''), the name is typically pronounced ''Tessel'' in Dutch.

History

The All Saints' Flood (1170) created the islands of Texel and

Wieringen Wieringen () is part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, established in 2012 in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a former municipality in this province, with its name appearing in records of the late 9th and early 10t ...

from

. In the 13th century Ada, Countess of Holland was held prisoner on Texel by her uncle, William I, Count of Holland. Texel received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1415. The first Dutch expedition to the Northwest Passage departed from the island on the 5th of June, 1594. Texel was involved in the

Battle of Scheveningen The Battle of Scheveningen (also known as the Battle of Ter Heijde) was the final naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War. It took place on 31 July 1653 (10 August on the Gregorian calendar), between the fleets of the Commonwealth of Englan ...

(1653) during the First Anglo-Dutch War and the

Battle of Texel The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August O.S.) between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the Third ...

(1673) during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, Texel was used as a haven port by

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

after the Battle of Flamborough Head off the Yorkshire coast in September 1779. In that action, Jones defeated and captured the British ship , which he sailed to Texel for desperately needed repairs. This event further complicated Anglo-Dutch relations. In 1797, Texel was involved in the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admiral ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in 1914, the Battle off Texel took place off the coast of Texel. On the night of 31 August 1940, the sea to the northwest of Texel was the scene of the sinking of two British destroyers and the severe damage of a third by German mines in what is known as the Texel Disaster. At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in 1945, the Georgian uprising on Texel took place on the island. Following a German decision to redeploy Georgian soldiers to the mainland, they revolted and killed hundreds of their German comrades while they slept. The uprising lasted from 5 April 1945 until 20 May 1945, two weeks after

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...

. At that point, Canadian troops arrived and arranged for the two sides to separately leave the island. For that reason, the uprising is often referred to as the final battle of the Second World War in Europe. Hundreds of Georgians who died fighting against the Germans are buried in a special cemetery on Texel commonly known as the "Russian cemetery".

Geography

The municipality is located at north of the mainland of the province of

and west of the mainland of the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

. The island of Texel is situated north of the city of

, northeast of the uninhabited island of Noorderhaaks, which is part of the municipality, and southwest of the island of

. The island includes the seven villages: and the small townships of The island of Texel was originally made up of two islands, Texel proper to the south and

Eierland Eierland () is a former island in the Netherlands. It is now the northern part of the island of Texel. The name means "egg land", named for the seagull eggs that were collected on the island and sent to Amsterdam. The island of Eierland was a pa ...

to the northeast, which were connected by

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

s. In the early seventeenth century, the islands were connected by a dyke to keep the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

from ravaging the coastal areas of Texel proper. In the mid-nineteenth century a

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains ...

completed the northern half of the island. Today, Texel forms the largest natural barrier between the North Sea and the

. The dune landscape along the western coast of the island is protected as Dunes of Texel National Park.

Landscape

The island is 23.7 km long and 9.6 km wide, its surface is 169.82 square kilometres. The highest point of the island is not, as one might assume, de Hoge Berg (15 m above sea level), but the dune "Bertusnol" (also "Nol van Bertus"), which is situated in the Dunes of Texel National Park, at 19.6 m. The dune landscape on Texel is a unique habitat for wildlife. Notable areas include De Slufter, where the tide comes in and meets the dunes, forming a marshy environment rich in both fauna and flora. Texel is known for its wildlife, particularly in winter, when birds of prey and geese take up residence. About one third of Texel is a protected nature reserve. A wetland called Utopia has been designed for birds to nest in.

Gallery

File:Slufter2.jpg, The Dunes of Texel National Park File:Texel Landscape.jpg, Texel Landscape File:De Koog - Koogerstrand - View NorthWest.jpg, De Koog - Koogerstrand - View Northwest File:Dunes on Texel.jpg, Dunes on Texel File:Beach_Texel_Netherlands.jpg, Beach on the island of Texel File:Duinen van Texel5.jpg, Duinen van Texel File:Ecomare - De Slufter 2014 (slufter-excursie2014-6495-sw).jpg, Nature and environment excursion in De Slufter File:Nederland - Texel - panoramio.jpg, Texel File:De-Slufter-Texel-2020-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Aerial view of De Slufter File:Texel-Vlieland-2020-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Northern tip of Texel (

in the distance)

Climate

Texel has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

( Köppen Cfb) that is heavily influenced by its offshore position. The annual average high oscillation is between and . While winters are similar to mainland areas, summers remain cooler. The relative proximity to the mainland still renders heat bursts to reach Texel with five months having recorded temperatures above . While the island is relatively rainy, the precipitation is generally quite even and moderate throughout most of the year although there is a dry peak in late spring and a rain peak in autumn.

Notable people

* Willem Eduard Bok (1846 in Den Burg – 1904), a Dutch-born South African

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

politician, civil servant and statesman *

Rene Daalder Rene Daalder (born René Daalder 3 March 1944 in Texel, North Holland, died December 31, 2019, sometimes credited as Renee Daalder) was a Dutch writer and director. He lived in Los Angeles. Originally a protégé of Russ Meyer, Daalder has worked ...

(1944–2019), a Dutch writer and director * Cornelis de Jager (1921 in Den Burg - 2021), a Dutch astronomer who predicts

solar variation The solar cycle, also known as the solar magnetic activity cycle, sunspot cycle, or Schwabe cycle, is a nearly periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the Sun's surfa ...

* Imme Dros (born 1936 in Oudeschild), a Dutch writer of children's literature * Hans Kamp (born 1940 in Den Burg), a Dutch philosopher and linguist, introduced Discourse Representation Theory * Willem Hendrik Keesom (1876 in Texel – 1956), a Dutch physicist who first froze liquid helium * Sim Visser (1908 in Eierland – 1983), a Dutch politician * Henk Zijm (born 1952 in Driehuizen), a Dutch mathematician from the

University of Twente The University of Twente (Dutch: ''Universiteit Twente''; , abbr. ) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. I ...

Sport

Denise Betsema Denise Betsema (born 23 January 1993) is a Dutch cyclo-cross cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Cyclo-cross team . Career In October 2018 Betsema joined the professional cyclo-cross team . In the season 2018–2019 she won the crosses at Popr ...

(born 1993 in Oudeschild), a cyclo-cross cyclist *

Alice Blom Alice Blom (born April 7, 1980, in Oudeschild) is a volleyball player from the Netherlands, who plays as a spiker for Azerbaijani Igtisadchi Baku. She was a member of the Dutch National Women's Team that won the gold medal at the FIVB World Gr ...

(born 1980 in Oudeschild), a volleyball player * Dorian van Rijsselberghe (born 1988 in Den Burg), a sailor, gold medallist at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Economy

The tourism industry forms a substantial part of the economy in Texel. Approximately 70% of activities on Texel are in some way related to tourism. Popular forms of tourism on Texel include cycling, walking, swimming and horse riding. Farming (sheep, potatoes, dairy, tulips, and grain) and fishing (primarily from Oudeschild) are traditional. Locally brewed beer is sold under the tradename ''Texels''. Texel Lighthouse

Local government

The municipal council of Texel consists of 15 seats, which are divided as follows (from the most recent election results in 2022:

Transport

Transport around the island is typically by bicycle, bus (Texelhopper) or car. Texel has an extensive cycle path network. Transport to Texel is easiest by a very short ferry trip Royal TESO), from

, or by air via Texel International Airport. The ferry Texelstroom uses 80%

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Islands of North Holland Municipalities of North Holland West Frisian Islands