East Frisian Islands

The chain of the East Frisian Islands off the coast of Lower Saxony

The following table contains basic information about the islands and sand flats (Sandplaten). The uninhabited and unparished sand flats are highlighted in yellow.

More information Coat of arms, Island/Sand flat ...

Coat of arms	Island/Sand flat	Municipality	District	Area in km2 (2004[1]/05[2])	Distance to the mainland in km (2004)[1]	Population as at: 31 December 2008	Population density per km2
	Borkum	Town of Borkum	Leer	30.74[2]	10.5	5,186	169
	Kachelotplate	not municipalised		no data		uninhabited	−
	Lütje Hörn	Island of Lütje Hörn¹	Leer	0.1[1]	12.5	uninhabited	−
	Memmert	North Sea island of Memmert¹	Aurich	4.3[1]	13	uninhabited	−
	Juist	Juist	Aurich	16.43[2]	8	1,696	103
	Norderney	Town of Norderney	Aurich	26.29[2]	3	5,810	221
	Baltrum	Baltrum	Aurich	6.5[2]	4.5	488	75
	Langeoog	Langeoog	Wittmund	19.67[2]	5	1,953	99
	Spiekeroog	Spiekeroog	Wittmund	18.25[2]	6.5	781	43
	Wangerooge	Wangerooge	Friesland	7.94[2]	6,5	923	116
	Minsener Oog artificially dredged	Butjadingen²	Wesermarsch	2.2[1]	3.5	uninhabited	−
	Mellum³	Butjadingen²	Wesermarsch	4.9[1]	6	uninhabited	−
East Frisian Islands				134.35[2]	−	16,837	129
¹ unparished area ² former parish of Langwarden, which was incorporated in 1974 into Butjadingen (today the Gemarkung of Langwarden) ³ east of the outer Jade, after the boundary revision by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation no longer part of the East Frisian Islands, but belongs to the mudflats in the Elbe-Weser Triangle Watten im Elbe-Weser-Dreieck.[3]

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Norderney is the remaining part of Buise, which was almost entirely engulfed by the sea in the 17th century. Lütje Hörn east of Borkum is in constant danger of being washed away. In 2003 the German Coastal Defence (NLWK) announced that the sandbank Kachelotplate can now be called an island too, because it is no longer regularly flooded by high tide. However, it is not larger than 2 km² and will remain unsettled. Kachelotplate is located north of the mouth of the Ems river.

Most of the islands do not allow cars. The exceptions are Borkum and Norderney, which are also the most crowded islands. There are no bridges connecting the mainland with the islands. Each island is accessible by ferry.

Borkum and Norderney, the Nazi labour camps on Alderney, were named after the islands.

The islands and the surrounding sea are part of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park.

Even though today they are established islands, some of them continue to be in motion. On the East Frisian island of Juist for example, since the year 1650 there are five different proven sites for the church, as the spot for rebuilding the church had to keep pace with the ever-moving island. At times, Juist even consisted of two islands, which eventually grew back together. The island of Wangerooge in the last 300 years has moved a distance equivalent to its own length to the east, its church tower, destroyed at the outbreak of World War I apparently moving from east to west.^[4]

In this process, land is slowly eroded on the western coasts, while sediments are deposited on the eastern coasts. As a result, western coasts are increasingly protected by human action. The canals between the islands serve as passages for the tides, so that in these places the scouring action of current prevents the islands gradually joining one to another.

Nowadays the main economic pillar of the islands is almost exclusively tourism . They are popular travel destinations with well-developed tourist infrastructure which led to the islands all being state recognized sea spa towns. During the Covid-19 pandemic on the islands, like many other tourist destinations, struggled with the sudden loss of income and so the dangers of an economy solely based on tourism became visible.^[12]

Traditionally, the islands’ economy was based on fishing and agriculture. Both have become economically unimportant or almost obsolete toward the end of the 20th Century. Norderney’s milk industry, for example, was given up in 1978.^[13] In small measure, hay is still produced today as food for horses. Another minor economic branch parallel to tourism is the health sector with medical rehabilitation centers, as well as balneological and other therapeutic institutions.

The biggest East Frisian Island, Borkum, had to face a loss of over 20 percent of its jobs when its marine base closed in 1996. Many islanders were relocated to other military bases.

Wangerooge and Minsener Oog are geographically counted as part of the East Frisian Islands, but politically they belong to the district of Friesland and not East Frisia.

East of the islands right before the Weser estuary is the sand bank Hoher Knechtsand located, which used to be an island. Other islands in Lower Saxony which are not counted as part of the East Frisian Islands are the artificial wadden islands Langlütjen I und II.

Due to their similarities, different forms of social, political and economic collaboration have developed among the seven populated islands. Under the name Insulaner unner sück (“Islanders among themselves”), cultural associations have been meeting annually since 1977 on one of the islands for joint events and discussions.^[14] The islands’ mayors, spa town directors (German: Kurdirektoren) and council members also meet once or twice per year for the so-called insularen Erfahrungsaustausch (“exchange of experiences among islanders”).^[15] In some cases, they also take joint positions on political issues, such as opposing the building of coal power plants in Eemshaven and Wilhelmshaven, as well as speaking out against natural gas drilling in the North Sea.^[16]

A German invasion fleet masses in the Frisian Islands in the pre–World War I invasion thriller The Riddle of the Sands.

German students memorize the names of the seven inhabited islands by using a mnemonic device:

Welcher Seemann liegt bei Nanni im Bett? ("Which seaman lies with Nanni in bed?")

Wangerooge, Spiekeroog, Langeoog, Baltrum, Norderney, Juist, Borkum (east to west)

• Frisia
  • West Frisian Islands
  • North Frisian Islands
• Frisian languages
• Frisians
• East Frisian Low Saxon
• List of islands of Germany
• List of ferry boats of the East Frisian Islands