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Harlesiel

Wittmund (district)
2012 05 13 Nordsee Luftbilder DSCF8712
2012 05 13 Nordsee Luftbilder DSCF8712

Harlesiel is a resort town on the East Frisian coast of Germany, at the mouth of the Harle River. It lies in the Wittmund district, about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of Carolinensiel. It is a small town, with a population of 809 in 2009, swelled by some 4800 tourists in season. Harlesiel was founded in 1956, part of the last stages of the draining of the Harlebucht. The inner and outer harbors of the town are divided by the pumping station which keeps the land dry; this building incorporates a lock to allow passage to the sea. Many tourist attractions and facilities were added over the years including campgrounds, a beach, a salt water swimming pool, and a miniature golf course. An airstrip was built in 1973, and a ferry runs to Wangerooge. Harlesiel was also made the terminus of the Jever-Harle railway branch until that line was abandoned in 1989; the former station building now serves as a station for the ferry service.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Harlesiel (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Harlesiel
Am Harlesiel,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
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Wikipedia: HarlesielContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.706944444444 ° E 7.8080555555556 °
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Address

Am Harlesiel

Am Harlesiel
26409
Lower Saxony, Germany
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2012 05 13 Nordsee Luftbilder DSCF8712
2012 05 13 Nordsee Luftbilder DSCF8712
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Wangerooge
Wangerooge

Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany. Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands. It is the easternmost and smallest of the inhabited islands in this group (according to some other measurements, Baltrum is the smallest) and the only one that belonged to the historical district of Oldenburg between 1815 and 1947, whereas Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog and Spiekeroog always belonged to the county of Ostfriesland. As of the census of 2004, the island has 1,055 inhabitants. Especially in summer the island accommodates more than 7,000 visitors a day. Wangerooge is separated from the island of Spiekeroog by a gat known as the Harle. The island is attractive to tourists due to the beaches, various recreation facilities and its relaxed atmosphere. The island's slogan, visible on a sign at the harbor, emphasizes this: "God created time, but he never mentioned haste." A yearly beach volleyball tournament, usually held at the beginning of August, is one of the main attractions in the summer, and has served to modify the general impression that the island is exclusively attractive to older people and young families. In addition, windsurfing, kite-surfing and board-riding activities attract younger people. In order to guarantee a relaxed atmosphere, cars are prohibited on the island. The island can be reached by ship from Harlesiel, or it can be reached by plane via its airfield, regular service being offered from Harlesiel, Bremen, or Hamburg. The ferries leave at different times every day according to the tide. As on most East Frisian Islands, a small narrow gauge railway line, the Wangerooge Island Railway, connects the harbor to the main village. As for historical sites and other places of interest, the island has one active lighthouse, one old lighthouse, and the Western Tower. Since the whole island used to be shifting constantly eastwards until sea defenses were built a century ago, old buildings were gradually lost to the sea. The Western Tower was built in 1597 and was originally in the east of the island. Wangerooge is also known as the site of a historic World War II B-17 Flying Fortress crash, or rather a double crash. During a bombing mission on Hamburg on New Year's Eve, 1944, a B-17 squadron was attacked by German fighter planes on its homeward flight. While in tight formation, one plane was shot down and became entangled with the plane below it. One of the pilots managed to take control of the two aircraft and steer them back towards the German coast for an emergency landing. At the time, the two entangled aircraft were described as resembling breeding dragonflies as the ball turrets of each plane were caught in the chassis of the other. Most of the crew bailed out, while two remained and successfully made a crash landing in a field. Wangerooge has an airfield with scheduled services.