Halligen

The name is cognate to Old-English halh, meaning "slightly raised ground isolated by marsh".{{Cite book |last=Stiles |first=Patrick V. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38013841 |title=Names, places and people : an onomastic miscellany in memory of John McNeal Dodgson |date=1997 |publisher=Paul Watkins |isbn=1-871615-90-9 |editor-last=Rumble |editor-first=Alexander |location=Stamford |pages=330–344 |chapter=OE halh "slightly raised ground isolated by marsh" |oclc=38013841 |quote=An etymology from Celtic word hal, meaning "salt" is less likely. |editor-last2=Mills |editor-first2=A. D. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/34634267 |chapter-format=pdf}} The very existence of the halligen is a result of frequent floods and poor coastal protection. The floods were much more common in the Middle Ages and coastal protection was much poorer.

The halligen have areas ranging from 7 to 956 ha, and are often former parts of the mainland, separated therefrom by storm tide erosion. Some are parts of once much bigger islands sundered by the same forces.{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Tasmin |date=2019-12-23 |title=Could flooding be a cure for rising seas? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/rising-sea-levels-should-we-let-the-ocean-in-a-50704953/a-50704953 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114112624/https://www.dw.com/en/rising-sea-levels-should-we-let-the-ocean-in-a-50704953/a-50704953 |archive-date=2021-01-14 |access-date=2021-03-20 |website=Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) |language=en-GB}} Some, owing to sediment deposition, have actually grown together to form larger ones. Langeneß (or Langeness) includes a former island by that same name, and two others that were called Nordmarsch and Butwehl.

Dwellings and commercial buildings are built upon metre-high, man-made mounds, called Warften in German or Værft in Danish, to guard against storm tides. Some halligen also have overflow dikes.{{clarify|Are they still counted as hallig? Is there a difference between overflow dikes and protective dikes? Maybe it's not a strict technical term, but often used about islands that didn't use to have dikes/levees?|date=April 2024}}

Not very many people live on the halligen. Their livelihoods are mainly based on tourism, coastal protection, and agriculture. This last activity mainly involves raising cattle in the fertile, often flooded, salt meadows.{{Cite journal |last1=Andresen |first1=H. |last2=Bakker |first2=J. P. |last3=Brongers |first3=M. |last4=Heydemann |first4=B. |last5=Irmler |first5=U. |date=1990 |title=Long-Term Changes of Salt Marsh Communities by Cattle Grazing |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20038672 |journal=Vegetatio |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=137–148 |doi=10.1007/BF00032166 |jstor=20038672 |s2cid=20754802 |issn=0042-3106|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last=Adam |first=Paul |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20217629 |title=Saltmarsh Ecology |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-521-24508-7 |location=New York |oclc=20217629}}

The halligen are to be found in the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer National Park. The commercially developed halligen of Nordstrandischmoor, Gröde, Oland, Langeneß, and Hooge are surrounded by the protected area, but not an integral part of it. The smaller halligen, Habel, Südfall, Süderoog, and Norderoog as well as the Hamburger Hallig are parts of the national park. Walks on the tidal flats and informational meetings are offered by tourist boards and the park administration.

In the west the German halligen are protected from the open sea by the North Frisian Barrier Island.

File:Halligen 1650.png|The Halligen area around 1650 on a map by Johannes Mejer

File:Halligen 1858.png|The North Frisian Halligen area around 1850, showing changes

1895 Alberts Blühende Hallig anagoria.JPG|A hallig: the salt meadow in bloom

File:1906 Eckner Halligwarft während einer Sturmflut anagoria.JPG|Alexander Eckener: Warft of a Hallig during a storm tide, 1906

File:30 Halligbahn 1984 (15528408194).jpg|Dagebüll hallig railway, flooded, in 1984

Currently, there are 10 halligen in Germany. The following list does not include formerly existing Halligen that have either vanished or merged with current halligen or the mainland:

• Langeneß – 956 ha, 16 Warften, about 110 inhabitants. Narrow gauge railway connection to Oland (over causeway).
• Hooge – 574 ha, 10 Warften, about 120 inhabitants.
• Gröde – 277 ha, 2 Warften, 11 inhabitants.
• Nordstrandischmoor; 175 ha, 4 Warften, 18 inhabitants. One-room schoolhouse. Narrow gauge railway connection to mainland.
• Oland – 96 ha, 1 Warft, about 30 inhabitants. Narrow gauge railway connection to mainland and Langeneß.
• Süderoog – 60 ha, 1 Warft, 2 inhabitants.
• Südfall – 50 ha, 1 Warft, bird sanctuary.
• Hamburger Hallig – 50 ha, 2 Warften, uninhabited, inn occupied in summer, joined to the mainland by a 4 km-long causeway and a polder.
• Norderoog – 9 ha, no Warften, bird sanctuary tended year-round.
• Habel – 3.6 ha, 1 Warft, uninhabited, bird sanctuary occupied in summer.

On the Danish side, one still exists:

• Langli

Also Danish Mandø used to be a hallig, but it has dikes today. The German peninsula and former island of Großer Werder on the Baltic Sea coast is also nicknamed "Baltic Hallig" (Ostsee-Hallig) due to its remote situation and appearance.

• List of islands of Denmark
• List of islands of Germany
• Tidal island
• Uthlande

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{Cite book|author=Johann C. Biernatzki|author-link=Johann C. Biernatzki|title=The Hallig: or, The sheepfold in the waters. A tale of humble life on the coast of Schleswig|others=Translated, with a biographical sketch of the author, by Mrs. George P. Marsh|url=https://archive.org/details/halligorsheepfo00biergoog|year=1856|location=Boston|publisher=Gould and Lincoln}}
• {{Cite web |last=Breitenbach |first=Dagmar |date=2012-04-02 |title=Hallig Hooge: Almost an island |url=https://p.dw.com/p/14SFD |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011040458/http://www.dw.com/en/hallig-hooge-almost-an-island/a-15838223 |archive-date=2016-10-11 |access-date=2021-03-20 |website=Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) |language=en-GB}}
• {{Cite AV media |url=https://p.dw.com/p/2joxF |title=Election campaign on the North Sea coast |date=2017-09-13 |type=Television production |publisher=Deutsche Welle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921094501/http://www.dw.com/en/election-campaign-on-the-north-sea-coast/av-40473305 |archive-date=2017-09-21 |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Tamsin |date=2019-09-26 |title=Living Planet: Hallig Islands |language=en-GB |work=Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) |type=Radio broadcast report |format=mp3 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/living-planet-hallig-islands/av-50593719 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927044318/https://www.dw.com/en/living-planet-hallig-islands/av-50593719 |archive-date=2019-09-27}}
• {{Cite web |date=2010-07-21 |title=Island Life 03 - The Halligen |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrJk47au5A0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/BrJk47au5A0 |archive-date=2021-12-13|url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-20 |website=youtube.com |publisher=Deutsche Welle / euromaxx |language=en |format=video}}{{cbignore}}
• {{Cite web |last=Shebab |first=Ibrahim |date=2020-01-14 |title=The German island with a population of 16 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jqv-fK44Zg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/9jqv-fK44Zg |archive-date=2021-12-13|url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-20 |website=youtube.com |publisher=BBC Reel |language=en |type=Video report, German audio with English subtitles |format=Video}}{{cbignore}}
• {{Cite web |date=Oct 2018 |title=Wadden Sea and Hallig Islands of Schleswig-Holstein Biosphere Reserve, Germany |url=https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/eu-na/waddensea-schleswig-holstein |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022041616/https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/eu-na/waddensea-schleswig-holstein |archive-date=2020-10-22 |access-date=2021-03-27 |website=UNESCO |language=en}}

{{Frisian Islands}}

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Category:Islands of Schleswig-Holstein

Category:Tidal islands of Germany