We wanted to explore the Wadden Sea of North Friesland and went on a cruise to one of the halligen called Gröde.
At Nordstrand we borded the Adler V which took us on a tour through the Wadden Sea where we passed a couple of halligen before we reached the Hallig Gröde where we stopped for a visit.
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| It was July and the weather was good! |
The name halligen means “slightly raised ground isolated by marsh”. They are often former parts of the mainland or once much bigger islands, separated therefrom by storm tide erosion. Sometimes, owing to sediment deposition, islands have also grown together to form larger ones.
Dwellings are built upon metre-high, man-made mounds, called Warften, to guard against storm tides. Some halligen also have overflow dikes. Not many people still live on the halligen. Their livelihoods are mainly based on tourism, coastal protection, and agriculture, mainly by raising cattle in the fertile, often flooded, salt meadows.
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| Hallig Gröde |
Gröde is the third largest hallig with 252 hectares. As a result of land losses during earlier storm surges, the Hallig is now almost completely surrounded by a stone edge. 8 people currently live on it – making Gröde Germany’s smallest independent municipality.
The four houses, which are all equipped with a shelter on the 1st floor, are located on an elevated warft. The currently vacant school and the Halligkirche St. Margarethen with a small cemetery are on the second warft, the Kirchwarft. The current, probably 7th church was built in 1779 and has a Renaissance altar from 1592.
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| Protection against the flood |
On a walk along the coast of the hallig we saw many birds and even encountered a nest with eggs, probably from the oystercatcher we watched there.
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| Nest of the oystercatcher |
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| Common tern – Seeschwalbe |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Water dominates the hallig |
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| Farmhouse on elevated ground to protect from high floods |
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| Beautiful little church at the hallig |
On our way back the net was lowered to the ground of the sea and the catch was thoroughly examined and explained. The biggest crab had to go from hand to hand the poor thing, but I couldn’t resist having it crawl over my hands too 😉
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| It is watching you! |
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| Flower of the Day |
