Editing East Frisian Islands

{{Short description|Chain of German islands in the North Sea}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = East Frisian Islands
| image_name       = Ostfriesische-Inseln 2.jpg
| image_caption    = 
| image_size       = 300px
| map_image        = Eastfrisianmap.png
| map_caption      = 
| native_name      = {{native name|de|Ostfriesische Inseln}}<br />{{native name|fy|Eastfryske eilannen}}<br />{{native name|stq|Aastefräiske Ailounds}}
| nickname         = 
| location         = [[Wadden Sea]]
| coordinates      = 
| archipelago      = 
| total_islands    = 12
| major_islands    = [[Borkum]], [[Norderney]]
| area_km2         = 
| length_km        = 
| width_km         = 
| coastline_km     = 
| highest_mount    = 
| elevation_m      = 
| country          = Germany
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[States of Germany|State]]
| country_admin_divisions           = [[Lower Saxony]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1   = [[Districts of Germany|Districts]]
| country_admin_divisions_1         = [[Leer (district)|Leer]]<br />[[Aurich (district)|Aurich]]<br />[[Wittmund (district)|Wittmund]]<br />[[Friesland (district)|Friesland]]
| population       = 
| population_as_of = 
| density_km2      = 
| ethnic_groups    = [[German people|Germans]], [[Frisian people|Frisians]]
| additional_info  =
}}

The '''East Frisian Islands''' ({{langx|de|Ostfriesische Inseln}}, {{IPA|de|ˈɔstˌfʁiːzɪʃə ˈɪnzl̩n|pron|De-Ostfriesische_Inseln.ogg}}; {{langx|fy|Eastfryske eilannen}}; {{langx|stq|Aastefräiske Ailounds}}) are a chain of islands in the [[North Sea]], off the coast of [[East Frisia]] in [[Lower Saxony]], Germany. The islands extend for some {{convert|90|km|mi}} from west to east between the [[estuary|mouths]] of the [[Ems (river)|Ems]] and [[Jade (river)|Jade]] / [[Weser]] rivers and lie about {{convert|3.5 to 10|km}} offshore. Between the islands and the mainland are extensive [[mudflat]]s, known locally as ''Watten'', which form part of the [[Wadden Sea]]. In front of the islands are Germany's territorial waters, which occupy a much larger area than the islands themselves. The islands, the surrounding mudflats and the territorial waters (The ''Küstenmeer vor den ostfriesischen Inseln'' [[nature reserve]]) form a close ecological relationship. The island group makes up about 5% of the [[Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park]].

The largest island by surface area is [[Borkum]], located at the western end of the chain; the other six inhabited islands are from west to east: [[Juist]], [[Norderney]] with the largest town in the islands, [[Baltrum]], [[Langeoog]], [[Spiekeroog]] and [[Wangerooge]]. There are also four other small, uninhabited islands: [[Lütje Hörn]] east of Borkum, [[Memmert]] and [[Kachelotplate]] southwest of Juist, [[Minsener Oog]], a dredged island southeast of Wangerooge, and [[Mellum]] at the eastern end of the island chain which, following the boundary revision by the Federal Office for Nature Conservation, no longer belongs to the East Frisian Islands, but to the mudflats of the [[Elbe-Weser Triangle]] (''Watten im Elbe-Weser-Dreieck'').

== Overview of the islands and sand flats ==
{{wide image|Ostfriesische Inseln (Karte).png|740px|The chain of the East Frisian Islands off the coast of Lower Saxony||none}}
The following table contains basic information about the islands and sand flats (''Sandplaten''). The uninhabited and unparished sand flats are highlighted in yellow.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! Coat of arms
! Island/Sand flat
! [[Municipality]]
! [[Landkreis|District]]
! Area<br /><small>in km<sup>2</sup> (2004<ref name=nnw>{{citation |surname1=Rolf Niedringhaus |surname2=Volker Haeseler |surname3=Peter Janiesch |title=Die Flora und Fauna der East Frisian Islands – Einführung in das Projekt "Biodiversität im Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer" |volume=11 |publisher=Schriftenreihe Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer |date=2008 |language=de}}</ref>/05<ref name=nls>{{cite web |url=http://www1.nls.niedersachsen.de/statistik/ |title=NLS-Online Tabelle Z0010001 ''Bodenfläche nach Art der geplanten Nutzung'' |date=2005-01-01 |access-date=2009-04-23 |publisher=Landesbetrieb für Statistik und Kommunikationstechnologie Niedersachsen (LSKN)}}</ref>)</small>
! Distance to the mainland<br /><small>in km (2004)</small><ref name=nnw />
! Population<br /><small>as at: 31 December 2008</small>
! Population density<br /><small>per km<sup>2</sup></small>
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Borkum COA.svg|60px|]] || [[Borkum]] || Town of Borkum || [[Landkreis Leer|Leer]] || align=right | 30.74<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 10.5 || align=right | 5,186 || align=right | 169
|- style="background: #FFFFCC;"
| || [[Kachelotplate]] || colspan="2" | <small>not municipalised</small> || colspan="2" | no data || uninhabited || align=right| −
|- style="background: #FFFFCC;"
| || [[Lütje Hörn]] || Island of Lütje Hörn¹ || Leer || align=right | 0.1<ref name=nnw /> || align=right | 12.5 || uninhabited || align=right | −
|- style="background: #FFFFCC;"
| || [[Memmert]] || North Sea island of Memmert¹ || [[Landkreis Aurich|Aurich]] || align=right | 4.3<ref name=nnw /> || align=right | 13 || uninhabited || align=right | −
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Juist COA.svg|60px]] || [[Juist]] || Juist || Aurich || align=right | 16.43<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 8 || align=right | 1,696 || align=right | 103
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Norderney COA.svg|60px]] || [[Norderney]] || Town of Norderney || Aurich || align=right | 26.29<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 3 || align=right | 5,810 || align=right | 221
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Baltrum COA.svg|60px]] || [[Baltrum]] || Baltrum || Aurich || align=right | 6.5<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 4.5 || align=right | 488 || align=right | 75
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Langeoog COA.svg|60px]] || [[Langeoog]] || Langeoog || [[Landkreis Wittmund|Wittmund]] || align=right | 19.67<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 5 || align=right | 1,953 || align=right | 99
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Spiekeroog COA.svg|60px]] || [[Spiekeroog]] || Spiekeroog || Wittmund || align=right | 18.25<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 6.5 || align=right | 781 || align=right | 43
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
| align="center" | [[File:DEU Wangerooge COA.svg|60px]] || [[Wangerooge]] || Wangerooge || [[Landkreis Friesland|Friesland]] || align=right | 7.94<ref name=nls /> || align=right | 6,5 || align=right | 923 || align=right | 116
|- style="background: #FFFFCC;"
| || [[Minsener Oog]]<br /><small>artificially dredged</small> || [[Butjadingen]]² || [[Landkreis Wesermarsch|Wesermarsch]] || align=right | 2.2<ref name=nnw /> || align=right | 3.5 || uninhabited || align=right | −
|- style="background: #FFFFCC;"
| || [[Mellum]]³ || Butjadingen² || Wesermarsch || align=right | 4.9<ref name=nnw /> || align=right | 6 || uninhabited || align=right | −
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! colspan="4" | East Frisian Islands || align=right | 134.35<ref name=nls /> || align=right | − || align=right| 16,837 || align=right | 129
|- style="background: #FFFFFF;"
|colspan="99" |¹ [[unparished area]]<br />² former parish of Langwarden, which was incorporated in 1974 into Butjadingen (today the ''Gemarkung'' of Langwarden)<br />³ east of the [[Jade (river)|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''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfn.de/0311_landschaft.html?landschaftid=61202 |title=Watten im Elbe-Weser-Dreieck, Jadebusen |publisher=[[Bundesamt für Naturschutz]] |access-date=2009-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916220207/http://www.bfn.de/0311_landschaft.html?landschaftid=61202 |archive-date=2011-09-16 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|}

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&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and will remain unsettled. Kachelotplate is located north of the mouth of the [[Ems (river)|Ems river]].

Most of the islands [[Auto-free zone|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.

[[Lager Borkum|Borkum]] and [[Lager Norderney|Norderney]], the [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[labour camp]]s on [[Alderney]], were named after the islands.

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

==Effects of storms and currents==
[[File:Luftaufnahmen Nordseekueste 2012-05-by-RaBoe-D50 105.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of [[Wangerooge]]]]
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 neighbouring 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.<ref>{{cite web
| publisher=War Times Journal
| title=Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War
| url=http://www.richthofen.com/scheer/scheer03a.htm
| access-date=2007-09-30}}</ref>

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.

==In popular culture==
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|mnemonic device]]:
:'''''W'''elcher '''S'''eemann '''l'''iegt '''b'''ei '''N'''anni '''i'''m '''B'''ett? ("Which seaman lies with Nanni in bed?")
:'''W'''angerooge, '''S'''piekeroog, '''L'''angeoog, '''B'''altrum, '''N'''orderney, '''J'''uist, '''B'''orkum (east to west)

==See also==
{{Portal|Germany}}
*[[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]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030905092810/http://medien.informatik.uni-bremen.de/rose/frameset_islands.html Basic information on geography and ecology of some of the smaller islands]
{{Frisian Islands}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|53|44|N|7|25|E|region:DE_type:isle_scale:1000000|display=title}}

[[Category:East Frisian Islands| ]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Germany]]
[[Category:East Frisia|!]]
[[Category:Frisian Islands]]
[[Category:Landforms of Lower Saxony]]