North Frisian Islands

The North Frisian Islands lie along a shallow tidal coast, where sea, marsh and cultivated ground were repeatedly reshaped by storms and shifting channels. Fishing, livestock and farming supported communities whose security depended on embankments and knowledge of water. Boats connected islands and mainland markets, while tidal flats could be routes at one moment and dangerous water at another. Local cooperation was essential to maintaining land and responding to disaster.

Storm floods in 1362 and 1634 devastated much of the North Frisian coast, destroying settlements and changing the islands' outlines. Frisian communities maintained their own local traditions within the changing jurisdictions of Denmark and the duchies. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, islanders also sailed on Dutch and English whaling vessels bound for northern waters. Dikes and boats linked the work of protecting local land with life at sea.