Ameland is a relatively young island. People have only been living there for a thousand years. The island is located between Terschelling and Schiermonnikoog and is the A of the TVTAS, the list of Dutch Wadden Islands. The island can be reached by ferry from Holwerd via the Wadden Sea, but also has an airport. Some even go there on foot via a mudflat walk. It is possible, because there is a tidal area between the mainland and the island, which is almost completely dry at low tide. Anyone who knows the way or hires a good guide can then walk across the bottom of the sea.
Rising from seaweed and sand
- Origin of Ameland
- Anthem
- Holocene and sea level rise
- Swamp and breach
- Sand wall and Wadden Island
- Farmers and fishermen
Origin of Ameland
The Amelander national anthem provides a glimpse of the origins of the island. The core of the island consists of sand and seaweed did the rest. It grew in the North Sea, provided shelter and food for fish and washed ashore. A piece of seaweed on the beach forms the beginning of a dune in interaction with wind and water.
Rising from seaweed and sand
The first verse of the Amelander Folk Song tells about the origins and appearance of the island. The islanders were devout and many still are: there are eight churches on the island, not all of which are used as churches anymore. One, for example, has become a hotel.
Anthem
Rising from seaweed and sand,
all lapped by salty waves. May God always preserve our place, rich in dunes and beaches,
our dear Ameland!
Holocene and sea level rise
Ameland is a very young island. Only in the Holocene did the island stick its nose above the water. The Holocene was a warm period compared to the period before it, the last ice age. The Holocene is the geological period from 11,700 years ago to the present. Sea levels rose due to the melting of the ice cap. During this time the Dutch landscape was formed and the North Sea was created. About 7,000 years ago the water approached the current coastline. Ebb and flow have contributed significantly to the formation of the islands. The currents transported large amounts of sand and silt that accumulated.
Swamp and breach
Large swamps and peat first developed on the border between land and water. That peat was flooded with sediment: sand and clay formed a top layer. The North Sea pushed the sand further and further towards what is now the coast and that sand formed long sandbanks. The sand remained stuck behind washed-up seaweed ( emerged from seaweed and sand ), pioneer vegetation stimulated the formation of dunes and dune formation increased with the vegetation. What we now call the old dunes are the young dunes of the past.
Sand wall and Wadden Island
Shortly before our era there was a period of significant sea level rise and then the North Sea struck: breaches were made in the sand walls, creating the tidal inlets. The peat that lay behind the rows of dunes is largely being washed away. The ebb and flow current increasingly eroded the channels. The Wadden Plain has become the Wadden Sea with the Wadden Sea and the islands off the Dutch, German and Danish coasts are the Wadden Islands. In 1287, after the St. Hubertus Flood, Ameland was finally separated from the country. Ameland is the fourth Wadden Island, calculated from the North Holland coast, it is located between Terschelling and Schiermonnikoog.
Farmers and fishermen
Around the beginning of the common era, about 2,000 years ago, sea level rise more or less came to a halt. It is assumed that Ameland has been inhabited since the second half of the eighth century. Over the centuries that followed, farmers and fishermen settled on the island. The population grew to more than three and a half thousand, the number who live and work there today.
read more
- Municipality of Ameland and the municipal council
- Flag and coat of arms of Wadden Island Ameland
- Amelander Folk Song – Rising from seaweed and sand
- Bosch – disappeared Wadden Island near Schiermonnikoog
- Wadden island Ameland is the size