Vlieland

History

The northern part of the island of Texel, Eierland, once was the southwestern part of Vlieland. A storm surge in 1296 probably separated Eierland from Vlieland. Erosion further diminished the size of Vlieland from the west, leading in 1736 to the disappearance of a second village on Vlieland, West-Vlieland (Westeijnde), after the inhabitants had tried for decades to rebuild the town following numerous floods.

During the Second World War, Vlieland became part of the German Atlantic Wall. The occupying German forces built two anti-aircraft batteries and stationed more soldiers on the island than there were inhabitants. In 1942 the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling were transferred from the province of North Holland to Friesland and the situation was not reversed after the war. The mail station in the western part of the island is a reminder that in the past mail was delivered by ferry from Texel.

Because of this history, Vlieland natives do not speak Frisian. The original dialect, Vlielands, was related to the dialect of Texel and to other Dutch dialects in North Holland. The last native speaker, Petronella de Boer-Zeylemaker, died in 1993 at the age of 107.

Geography

The majority of the landscape of the island consists of sand dunes, but there are some wooded areas and small meadows. A large part of the island, the western part, consists mainly of sand. There is one village on the island, Oost-Vlieland (). A second village, West-Vlieland, was lost to the sea in 1736.

Transport

Vlieland can be reached by ferry from the Frisian town of Harlingen on the mainland. Ferries are operated by Doeksen and the journey takes 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to cross the Wadden Sea and part of the North Sea. Tourists are not allowed to bring cars with them on the ferry. A summer-only ferry service runs between De Cocksdorp on the neighboring island of Texel and the westernmost point of Vlieland. The most common form of transport on the island is the bicycle; a network of cycle paths criss-cross the island. A bus service runs from the ferry terminal to the village and campsites after the arrival of a ferry, and some time before departure. There is a very small heliport near the village, but it is only used for SAR flights.

Climate

Vlieland, being the outermost of the Frisian barrier islands, sees its climate the most moderated by the North- and Wadden Sea. As is the case with the other West Frisian islands, sunshine hours are among the highest in the Netherlands. Temperature extremes are rare; on average only 6 times a year does the daytime high exceed 25 °C, and a high above 30 °C happens on average only once every three years. This also counts for extreme cold; only on five days a year does the temperature stay below 0 °C for a whole 24-hour period, and nighttime frost happens on less than 40 nights a year. Nights below -10 °C only happen on average once every two years. Wind is abundant however, the average wind speed on Vlieland is almost 8 m/s. Gale-force winds occur on average nine days per year.

Politics

Vlieland has a nine-member municipal council elected every four years. The results of the 2022 election are shown in the table below. Michiel Schrier (Socialist Party) has been mayor of Vlieland since 2021.

Economy

Tourism is the main source of income on Vlieland. There are approximately 15 hotels, and several hundred apartments and holiday homes. Vlieland has two campsites.

Here Comes The Summer and Into The Great Wide Open are two music festivals, held respectively in late April and in late August.

Notable people

• Willem de Vlamingh (1640 in Oost-Vlieland – 1698) a Dutch sea captain who explored the coast of Australia, then New Holland
• Nicolaas Kruik (1678 in West-Vlieland – 1754) a Dutch land surveyor, cartographer, astronomer and weatherman; remembered for the Museum De Cruquius
• Liesbeth List (1941 - 2020) a Dutch singer who as a child was adopted by the Vlieland lighthousekeeper and spent her teenage years on the island. A walkway to the lighthouse is named after her.

Gallery

|File:Sint-Nicolaaskerk Vlieland gezien vanaf het kerkhof.jpg |St. Nicolas church (Nicolaas Kerk) in Oost-Vlieland

|File:Vlieland - View NE towards the Isle of Terschelling.jpg |Dunes on the northern shore of Vlieland looking towards Terschelling

|File:Vlieland Sea.JPG |Vlieland, beach at dusk

|File:Texel-Vlieland-2020-Luka-Peternel.jpg |Aerial view of southern part of Vlieland from Texel

References

References

1. tags -->. dataref
2. {{Dutch municipality population. dataref
3. "Duinen Vlieland".
4. J.T. Bremer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=c83OJ_OXYFAC&pg=PA100 De genese van de Kop van Noord-Holland en het westelijk Waddengebied], in ''Van Groningen tot Zeeland: geschiedenis van het cultuurhistorisch onderzoek naar het kustlandschap'', Uitgeverij Verloren, 2010, p. 1100
5. link. (2015-12-24 , [[Tresoar]])
6. Harrie Scholtmeijer, [http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/jo_daan/12Scholtmeijer.pdf Veranderingen in het Vlielands] at the [[Meertens Institute]] website
7. "TIME TABLE".
8. "Texel-Vlieland v.v.".
9. (16 March 2022). "Vlieland municipal election 2022".
10. (20 July 2023). "Burgemeester en wethouders".
11. [https://www.facebook.com/pages/greatwideopen/70163379568 Into The Great Wide Open Facebook - ''Into The Great Wide Open'']