Terschelling (; fry, Skylge; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
and an
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...
in the northern
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, one of the
West Frisian Islands
The West Frisian Islands (; fry, Waadeilannen) are a chain of islands in the North Sea off the Dutch coast, along the edge of the Wadden Sea. They continue further east as the German East Frisian Islands and are part of the Frisian Islands.
...
. It is situated between the islands of
Vlieland and
Ameland
Ameland (; West Frisian: It Amelân) is a municipality and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. It consists mostly of sand dunes. It is the third major island of the West Frisians. It neighbours islands Ter ...
.
Wadden
The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...
Islanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts recovered from shipwrecks. The islands are surrounded by shipwrecks, and even today many containers wash ashore that have blown off the decks of
container ships in the North Sea.
The main source of income on Terschelling is tourism. There is some agriculture, but a large part of the island has become a nature reserve.
Terschelling is well known for the yearly
Oerol Festival during which theatre performances are played throughout the island, making use of its landscape and nature.
Terschelling can be reached by
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...
from the mainland Frisian town
Harlingen and from
Vlieland by
high-speed catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-sta ...
.
History
The island in its current shape formed in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
from a sandy area called De Schelling in the west and the original island Wexalia in the east. The name Wexalia, Wuxalia, or Wecsile is the medieval name of eastern Terschelling. However, this name disappeared at the end of the Middle Ages. The last appearance of the name Wexalia is in a treaty between Folkerus Reijner Popma, then ruler of Terschelling, with king
Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...
of England in 1482.
The oldest traces of civilisation on Terschelling date from around 850, when a small wooden church was built on a hill near Seeryp or Stryp (Striep). This hill was later used as a burial ground and is known as the "Strieperkerkhof".
Historically, tensions existed between the inhabitants of West-Terschelling, with its strong orientation towards the sea, and the more agriculturally oriented inhabitants of East-Terschelling. In 1612 this led to the division of the island into independent political entities, West-Terschelling and East-Terschelling. Only after the French occupation at the start of the 19th century was Terschelling again united as one entity.
The Dutch navigator
Willem Barentsz was born on Terschelling around 1550.
In 1666 West-Terschelling was ransacked by the English. The English fleet had originally planned to attack the Dutch merchant fleet which was moored before the coast of
Vlieland, the next island to the west. When the Dutch vessels retreated towards Terschelling, the English followed, destroyed 150 Dutch vessels, and landed in the harbour of West-Terschelling. The town was burnt to the ground by the English on this occasion which would become known as "
Holmes' Bonfire" after the English admiral
Sir Robert Holmes
Sir Robert Holmes ( – 18 November 1692) was an English Admiral of the Restoration Navy. He participated in the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars, both of which he is, by some, credited with having started. He was made Governor of the Isle o ...
. The
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...
in the very same year was considered by some to have been God's retribution. The next year, in 1667, the Dutch under command of
De Ruyter executed a retaliatory expedition, and dealt the English navy a heavy blow at the
Raid on the Medway (also known as the Battle of Chatham), in effect ending the
Second Anglo-Dutch War.
In 1799,
HMS ''Lutine'', a
British frigate loaded with British
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
, sank on the western Terschelling coast (was erroneously quoted in the lemma on Texel) in a storm. Her wreck shifted in the sands; despite several intensive, well-financed searches, only a few treasures have been found. A beaker made from a silver bar is displayed in the
National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. Her bell was recovered and is now in the headquarters of
Lloyd's of London, where it is tolled before announcing important news.
Until 1942 Terschelling, like Vlieland, was part of the province of
North Holland
North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
.
Language
On the island of Terschelling both
Dutch, the national language of the Netherlands, and
Frisian are spoken. Historically, Frisian dialects have dominated on the western and eastern sides of the island while a Dutch dialect called Midslands has been the main language of Midsland and the surrounding area at the center of the island. However, the use of the three dialects is on the decline, and all three are slowly being replaced by the standard Dutch language.
Cranberries
The island is known for being one of only two
Wadden
The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...
islands where
cranberries
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry m ...
grow, the other being the island of Vlieland. In 1840, a barrel of cranberries, apparently packed by sailors as an
antiscorbutic
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...
, washed ashore on the island's coast, and the islanders cultivated them for their own sailors.
The cranberries, finding the environment favourable, established themselves on the island. Nowadays, the cranberry fields cover or . The cranberries are mainly sold to tourists and used by the island's restaurants and bakeries.
Population centres
Areas in Terschelling are the following:
(Standard
West Frisian names in brackets)
Notable people
*
Bauck Poppema
Bauck Poppema or ''Bauck Foppesd. of Popma'' and ''Bauck Hemmema'', born in Terschelling, died in Berlikum, Friesland 1501, was a legendary Dutch heroine, known for her defence of the fort Hemmemastate during the conflict between the Schieringer ...
(died in Friesland 1501) a legendary Dutch heroine
*
Willem Barentsz (c.1550 – 1597) a Dutch navigator, cartographer and Arctic explorer; the
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian terr ...
was named after him.
*
Frank I. Kooyman (1880–1963) a hymnwriter
*
Hessel van der Kooij (born 1955) a popular Dutch singer, known as ''Hessel''
*
Joris Voest (born 1995) a Dutch professional footballer
Gallery
File:Terschelling_040.JPG, the isle of Terschelling
File:Terschelling 155.JPG, Shop in Terschelling
File:Terschelling_071.JPG, the isle of Terschelling
File:Terschelling_042.JPG, Terschelling, Commandeurstraat
See also
*
Oan Schylge
Oan Schylge is the anthem of Terschelling
Terschelling (; fry, Skylge; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of V ...
, the island's anthem
References
External links
*
Tourist office website
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Friesland
Former municipalities of North Holland
Islands of Friesland
West Frisian Islands
Ramsar sites in the Netherlands