Norderoog (;

Halligen Frisian Halligen Frisian () is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the Halligen islands, primarily Langeneß and Hooge, in the German region of North Frisia North Frisia (; ; ; ; ) is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located in ...

: Noorderuug, Danish: Nørreog) is one of the ten German

hallig The ''Halligen'' (German, singular ''Hallig'', ) or the ''halliger'' (Danish, singular ''hallig'') are small islands without protective dikes. They are variously pluralized in English as the Halligen, Halligs, Hallig islands, or Halligen islands ...

en islands of the

North Frisian Islands The North Frisian Islands (, ; ''Öömrang'' and ''Fering'' ; ''Söl'ring'' ; ) are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia. The term covers both the North Frisian Islands in the narrow sense (in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) and the Dan ...

in the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( ; ; or ; ; ; ) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tida ...

, which is part of the

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

off the coast of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. A part of Hooge municipality, the island belongs to the

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; ; Low German: Noordfreesland), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost Districts of Germany, district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the e ...

district. It is only temporarily inhabited by a bird warden from March to October. The refuge hut at the northeastern end is called ''Jens Wand Hütte'', named after the warden Jens Sorensen Wand, which is built on stilts to protect it from flooding. A former

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides and ...

had been washed away. It has been the site of several ecological studies.

History

The island was first recorded in 1597 as ''Norder Ough''. In 1630 there was a permanent estate on Noorderoog that was inhabited by a beach warden. This dwelling was destroyed in the

Burchardi flood The Burchardi flood (also known as the second Grote Mandrenke) was a storm tide that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia, Dithmarschen (in modern-day Germany) and southwest Jutland (in modern-day Denmark) on the night between 11 and 12 ...

of 1634. Later, another family settled there but their house was washed away in the

February flood of 1825 The February flood of 1825, also known in Germany as the Great Hallig Flood (''Große Halligflut''), was a devastating flood that occurred from 3 to 5 February 1825 on the North Sea coast in which about 800 people were drowned. The flood devastate ...

. From then, Norderoog remained uninhabited. It is the only hallig that does not have a terp for dwelling. Since 1909, the island is owned by ''Verein Jordsand'', an association that promotes the creation of bird refuges along the German North Sea coast.

Fauna and flora

Norderoog is a resting and hatching place for a number of rare species of marine birds. Notably the

Sandwich tern The Sandwich tern (''Thalasseus sandvicensis'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern (''T. bengalensis''), Chinese crested tern (''T. bernsteini''), Cabot's tern (''T. acuflavidus''), and el ...

(''Sterna sandvicensis'') has a colony. Their protection was initiated following studies made in 1893 by Joachim Rohweder. During spring and early summer, up to 5,000 couples will breed there annually. In 2007, 2,800 breeding couples were counted. Floodings of the island in summer are however a negative factor for breeding and may cause significant statistical deviations. Apart from the Sandwich tern, also

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

(''Sterna hirundo'') and

Arctic tern The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south ...

(''Sterna paradisaea'') use to breed on Norderoog. For a long time, Norderoog was the

Eurasian oystercatcher The Eurasian oystercatcher (''Haematopus ostralegus'') also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It has striking black and white plumage, a long st ...

's (''Haematopus ostralegus'') most densely populated breeding colony in the

German Bight The German Bight ( ; ; ); ; ; sometimes also the German Bay) is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east (the Jutland peninsula). To the north and west i ...

, but recently the population has dropped. Norderoog is however not only an important breeding resort but it is a resting area for

migratory bird Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. Th ...

s. At times, some 50,000 marine birds will occur on Norderoog and Norderoogsand, a shoal off the island. The flora of Norderoog is dominated by

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

vegetation like ''

Salicornia ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. ''Salicornia'' species are native to North America, Europe, central Asia, ...

'' and ''

Spartina ''Spartina'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Species in this genus are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Eu ...

'' at the immediate shoreline, and meadows with sea sandwort and

sea lavender ''Limonium'' is a genus of about 600 flowering plant species. Members are also known as sea-lavender, statice, caspia or marsh-rosemary. Despite their common names, species are not related to the lavenders or to rosemary. They are instead in Plu ...

. The centre of the island has a

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

character with plants such as reed and ''

Leymus arenarius ''Leymus arenarius'' is a psammophilic (sand-loving) species of grass in the family Poaceae, native to the coasts of Atlantic and Northern Europe. ''Leymus arenarius'' is commonly known as sand ryegrass, sea lyme grass, or simply lyme grass.

''. A colony of

Brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat and Norwegian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest Muroidea, muroids, it is a brown or grey ...

s (''R. norvegicus'') also live on the island. As the island is mostly devoid of human populations, these rats have been observed stalking and catching sparrows and large birds such as

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s for food.

Index of breeding bird species

Protection

Norderoog lies inside Protection Zone 1, the highest-level protective area of the

Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park () is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 October 1985 by the National Park Act of 22 July 1985 and ...

. It has been an official

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

since 1939. However the island has been dedicated to birds ever since 1909 when Verein Jordsand bought it from farmer J. Feddersen for 12,000

German gold mark The German mark ( ; sign: ℳ︁) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the gold stand ...

. Previously, Feddersen had made a living by collecting the birds' eggs and using the island to make hay. Jens Sörensen Wand frequently lived on Norderoog as a bird warden since 1909, and permanently from 1923 to 1950. The bird observatory at the Northeastern shore of Norderoog has been named after him. This

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on Stilts (architecture), stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they als ...

is safe from storm floods due to its construction. The first hut was built by Wand in 1909, but in 1995/96 it was replaced by a new building. In 2005, an additional loghouse replaced a container building and serves now as a dwelling for the warden and as a visitors centre. The installations are maintained by civilian servants of Verein Jordsand and by volunteers. The observatory is regularly staffed from March through October. Since the 1950s,

coastal management Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...

has been conducted on Norderoog. In 1977, the western edge was fortified with rocks to counter constant land losses, and in 2000 a rock

groyne A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid aquatic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concrete ...

was amended.

Documentary

In 2008,

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...

broadcast a television documentary ''Die Vogelmutter. Videotagebuch 2008 - aufgezeichnet von Anna B.'' he birds' mother. 2008 video log recorded by Anna B. The film was recorded by a young female volunteer who spent three weeks on Norderoog during a

voluntary ecological year The voluntary ecological year in Austria and Germany is an educational and orientation year for teenagers and young adults of ages 16 through 27. The voluntary ecological year can be attended only once and usually lasts 12 months (from 1 August to ...

References

External links

{{authority control Halligen Nature reserves in Schleswig-Holstein Islands of Schleswig-Holstein