Ameland (; West Frisian: It Amelân) 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 go ...

and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the

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 ...

. It consists mostly of sand dunes. It is the third major island of the West Frisians. It neighbours islands Terschelling to the west and Schiermonnikoog to the east. This includes the small

Engelsmanplaat Engelsmanplaat (), or De Kalkman which is its local name, is a small sandbank between the Dutch islands Ameland and Schiermonnikoog Schiermonnikoog (; fry, ) is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands. Schier ...

and

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

sandbanks to the east. Ameland is, counted from the west, the fourth inhabited Dutch Wadden island and belongs to the

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

(''Fryslân'') province. The whole island falls under one municipality, which carries the same name. The Wadden islands form the border between the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

and the Wadden Sea, which lies on the south side of the island file. The municipality of Ameland had a population of in . The inhabitants are called Amelanders.

Places

The island has four villages, and one small part-village. There were two other villages: Oerd and Sier, but these were flooded and now lie in the sea. The name of these villages live on in MS ''Oerd'' and MS ''Sier'', which are the names of the ferries to the island. From west to east: * Hollum, the most populated village, located on the west coast, home to the island's lighthouse *

Ballum Ballum is a village on the western half of the island of Ameland and the smallest of the total of four villages on the island, one of the West Frisian Islands and part of the Netherlands. History The village was first mentioned in 1473 as "jn b ...

, smallest village, location of the island's airfield, Ameland Airport *

Nes The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

, the second largest of the island, a vibrant tourist village with many hotels, also home to Burgemeester Waldaschool (the island's secondary school), and ferry services from

Holwerd Holwert is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân municipality in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland. It had a population of around 1,607 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Dongeradeel municipality. The ferry to ...

mainland *

Buren Buren () is a town and municipality in the Betuwe region of the Netherlands. Buren has 27,168 inhabitants as of 1 January 2022. Geography Buren is located in Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands. It is part of the landscape of Betuwe, a ...

, located at the centre of the island, includes Ameland's beach

Population

The population of each village of the island :

History

First mentioned as Ambla in the eighth century, it paid

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

to the county of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

until in 1424 its

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, Ritske Jelmera, declared it a "free lordship" (''vrijheerschap''). Although Holland, Friesland and the Holy Roman Emperor contested this quasi-independent status, it remained a free lordship until the ruling family,

Cammingha Van Cammingha is an old Frisian noble family and their house from the Dutch province of Friesland. The family castle in Ballum is now the location of the town hall. History The oldest known ancestor is one Rienck Cammingha who lived in the first ...

, died out in 1708. After that, the Frisian stadtholder

John William Friso, Prince of Orange John William Friso ( nl, Johan Willem Friso; 14 August 1687 – 14 July 1711) became the (titular) Prince of Orange in 1702. He was the Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen in the Dutch Republic until his death by accidental drowning in the H ...

, became lord of Ameland and after him, his son the stadtholder of all the Netherlands,

William IV, Prince of Orange William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso; 1 September 1711 – 22 October 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751. During his whole ...

, and his grandson,

William V, Prince of Orange William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death i ...

. Only in the constitution of 1813 was the island finally integrated into the Netherlands into the province of

. The

monarchy of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

still maintain the title ''Vrijheer van Ameland'' today. In 1871 and 1872, a dike was built between Ameland and the mainland by a society for the reclamation of Frisian land from the sea. The dike ran from Holwerd to Buren and was . long. The province and the Dutch realm each paid 200,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...

s. In the end, it was unsuccessful; the dike did not prove to be durable and in 1882, after heavy storms in the winter, repair and maintenance of the dam were stopped. The dike can still be partially seen at low tide. The dam at

is the beginning of this dike. In 1940 German troops were ferried to the island and within hours Ameland was under the control of the German Army. Because of its limited military value the Allies never invaded Ameland. The German forces on the island did not surrender until June 2, 1945, almost a full month after the defeat of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Nature

Like all West and East Frisian Islands, Ameland is a unique piece of nature. The profusion of different plants on the island is caused by the immense variety of landscapes. One of the scenic areas is the Oerd, a large complex of dunes which is still expanding by the year. Because of the differing landscapes and types of flora, over 60 different species of birds are sitting there every year. At the eastern part of the Oerd lies a beach plain called the Hon. Besides dunes and beaches, Ameland has some woods, like the ''Nesser bos'' ("Wood of Nes").

Transport

Most travelers reach the island by ferry from

in the mainland of

, but there is also an airport near Ballum ( Ameland Airport). A bus service connects the ferries from Hollum/Ballum (route 130) and Buren/Nes (route 132). When the sea between Friesland and Ameland is low tide one can walk across (see

mudflat hiking Mudflat hiking ( da, Vadehavsvandring, nl, Wadlopen, West Frisian: ''Waadrinnen'', german: Wattwandern) is a recreation enjoyed in the Netherlands, northwest Germany, Denmark, England and France. Mudflat hikers are people who, with the aid of a ...

Notable people

DenkmalHiddeDirksKatHollum230718FotoAKaiser

The following people were born on Ameland: * Ritske Jelmera (1383 in Ternaard – 1450) a Frisian chieftain who ruled the island of Ameland * , whaler *

Johannes de Jong Johannes de Jong (September 10, 1885 – September 8, 1955) was a Dutch Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Utrecht from 1936 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. Early ...

(1885 in Nes – 1955),

Archbishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

1936/1955 *

Hannes de Boer Hannes de Boer (2 December 1899 – 2 April 1982) was a Dutch long jumper. He took part in the Olympic Games of 1924 and 1928. He finished in sixth place in 1928, jumping a distance of 6.32m. De Boer won six Dutch national titles in the long ...

(1899 in Hollum – 1982), long jumper, participated in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

and

1928 Olympic Games 1928 Olympics may refer to: *The 1928 Winter Olympics, which were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland *The 1928 Summer Olympics, which were held in Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most po ...

* Sjoerd Soeters (born 1947 in Nes), postmodern architect * Pieter Mosterman (born 1967 in Nes), a research Scientist and academic in the USA *

Jan Bruin Jan Bruin (born September 30, 1969 in Hollum, Ameland) is a retired Dutch footballer. Club career He has played the majority of his career in the Eerste Divisie for SC Cambuur, FC Volendam and FC Zwolle before finishing his career at Stormvog ...

(born 1969 in Hollum), retired Dutch soccer player.

Gallery

File:Hervormde Kerk in Hollum (Ameland).jpg, Hervormde Kerk in Hollum, Ameland File:Ameland - Bornrif.JPG, Bornrif lighthouse File:Swimmingpool at Ameland - panoramio.jpg, alt=Swimmingpool at Ameland, Abandoned swimmingpool at Ameland File:Ameland aerial view Hollum beach dunes.jpg, Ameland, Hollum beach dunes

References

External links

*
Official websiteThe history of Ameland
{{Frisian Islands Municipalities of Friesland Islands of Friesland West Frisian Islands Ramsar sites in the Netherlands