That's the slogan Ameland likes to promote itself with, thus suggesting that it rivals the other Wadden islands. To what extent that is really true depends on how you look at it. Young people, for example, probably will prefer Texel or Terschelling, because the beaches there are as nice as on Ameland while nightlife is definitely more bustling. At the same time, the real searchers for peace and quiet may already find Ameland too busy for them and for that reason prefer a visit to the (almost) car-free islands of Vlieland or Schiermonnikoog. 

Ameland is positioned right in the middle between these two extremes and probably that is exactly the island's major appeal. It is smaller and therefore easier to survey than Texel or Terschelling, yet large enough for four villages, each with their own character, providing more variation than Vlieland or Schiermonnikoog can offer. There you might quickly get tired of the few bars and restaurants in the sole village of the island. 

Although visitors are allowed to take their car to Ameland, traffic is far less busy than, say, on Texel where they even have traffic lights. Most holidaymakers hardly use their cars between their arrival and their departure and take the bike to move around, making Ameland a real biking island, just like the smaller islands with a more restrictive car admittance police. 

As the smallest among the large, or the largest among the small Wadden islands, Ameland can offer the best of both. Plus, of course, the sun, the sea, the beaches and the mud flats that are amply available here too!

From a geological point of view, Ameland does not differ from the other islands in the Wadden area, of which the history of the development goes back into the Holocene. This period ended 5,000 years B.C., so the area can be considered to be rather young.

Yet, young is a relative concept, in this case mainly applying to the upper layers of the earth that determine the island's present appearance, being principally shaped by wind and water. But one of the most prominent aspects of nowadays' Ameland is the extraction of natural gas on and around the island. That gas is located at a depth of about 3,000 meter, in layers that are hundreds of millions of years old. So, it isn't that young here anyway. But then, how deep - in the literal and the figurative sense - should you go? 

The forming of the island as we know it now is assumed to have taken place between the beginning of our era and the 13th century. When exactly and how it happened is difficult to say, as very little evidence from this period has been preserved. However, it is clear that the island did not emerge all at once, but was formed as a result of a prolonged process spanning many centuries. Heavy storms in combination with a gradual rise of the sea level opened up breaches in the coastal barrier along the North Sea coast, so that the sea could flood the land behind. As this happened more frequently large parts of land were being washed away, until the present Wadden Sea was formed and the remains of the coastal barrier became a chain of islands.

In fact this process is still going on. The Wadden Sea is a unique tidal area, large parts of which are clear of the water twice a day. At low tide you can actually walk across the mud flats from the mainland to Ameland (or vice versa), a trip that is undertaken by some tens of thousands of Dutch people every year. So, in fact Ameland is an island at high tide only, a 'half time island', so to speak! 

A characteristic feature of the Wadden area is its tremendous dynamic. Its appearance is constantly changing under the influence of wind and water. Shallows are formed to disappear again shortly after and fairways may change their position in hours. On Ameland we can see a striking example of this in the Bornrif, situated on the north coast of the island between the villages of Hollum and Ballum. Here, in a couple of years' time a new sand reef has formed, separated from the beach by a gully with tidal currents so strong that swimming is dangerous over there, and thus not allowed. The reef is moving gradually to the east and is expected to merge into the island's coastline about 2010. The experts expect that a new cycle of reef-forming will begin between 2030 and 2040.

Another aspect of that dynamic is the fact that Ameland - like the other Wadden islands - is moving eastward under the influence of the prevailing westerly winds and the resulting sea currents. They cause coastal erosion at the west point, while the island is growing at the east point as a result of the constant deposit of sand. This process caused the village of Sier, which was once situated west of Hollum, to be swallowed up by the sea in the 18th century. To prevent that Hollum will finally meet with the same fate, coastal defense measures are being taken since the 19th century to counteract the erosion.

Ameland in the 'Digital Replica of the Netherlands' 
by TerraDesk (click on the image to enlarge).

It is assumed that already at the end of the 8th century people had settled more or less permanently in the area of nowadays Ameland, but convincing proof of that has never been found. Some sources mention a church standing at the location of the present Dutch Reformed church of Hollum as early as in the 800s, but during recent restoration works that fact was not confirmed. However, they did find remains of foundations of a 12th-century church. The oldest written record of Ameland dates from the 9th century; it is a document listing the possessions of a monastery in Fulda in Germany mentioning the "insula que dictur Ambla" (island named Ameland).

From about 1300 onwards we know a bit more about Ameland and its residents. Documents show that the island, just like Terschelling, has been at stake in the struggle for power between Holland and Frisia for several centuries. However, Ameland was of less strategic value than Terschelling as it was not directly situated on the shipping route to the Zuyder Zee and lacked a natural harbor. 

Between 1400 and 1700 Ameland was ruled by the Cammingha House, descending from Frisian nobility. They built a castle at Ballum, at the location of the present town hall. The islanders tried to keep out of the political hassle of their days as much as possible by maintaining a policy of neutrality and they did rather well. In the Eighty Years' War, the uprise against Spain that was conducted by Holland, Ameland remained neutral. As a result, it was hardly struck by violence and in fact Ameland was a kind of independent mini state. 

After the last Cammingha died in 1681, the island was sold to Johan Willem Friso of Orange Nassau, hereditary stadholder of Frisia. For an amount of € 77,000 Ameland became private property of the House of Orange. To the islanders, a population of poor farmers, sailors and beachcombers, it did not make much difference; they went on minding their own business as before. They lived on what land and sea provided, a frugal, yet rather peaceful life. But in 1801 the autonomy of Ameland came to an end, when the ideas of the French Revolution spread to the Netherlands and the power of the House of Orange was broken. Ameland became part of the province of Frisia and in 1813 it became an ordinary municipality, with its own mayor. 

In the 18th century there was a period of relative prosperity, when whale fishing was discovered as a profitable business. Like on the neighboring islands of Terschelling and Schiermonnikoog many islanders went to the icy arctic waters to try their fortune. Those who succeeded returned as wealthy men. They built themselves the nice commander's houses that still can be seen in the four villages nowadays, particularly in Hollum and Ballum, their façades showing the year that they were built. The whale's jaws that were erected at some places on the island as a kind of fencing also remind of that period.

However, whaling was a hard and dangerous business and it did not always turn out well. In 1877 the arctic winter fell in so quickly and fiercely that dozens of whalers got stuck in the polar ice. Most of the ships did not survive and sank, their crews being doomed to die under these rigorous conditions. That the story of this disaster has been preserved is owed to the Ameland commander Hidde Dirksz Kat, who managed to escape from a certain death by walking over the polar ice all the way to Greenland with a handful of his crew members, and write a book about it later. This disaster heralded the end of the heyday of whaling on Ameland and poverty returned. 

Fortunately it wasn't for long before a new source of prosperity emerged, when at the beginning of the 20th century tourism to the Wadden Islands began to develop. Nowadays about half a million tourists are visiting the island yearly and during the high season the population increases more than tenfold, from 3,500 to about 50,000. Yet, even then the bustle is not annoying; Ameland has room enough for everyone!

Gas extraction

Another human activity developing on the island in recent years is the extraction of natural gas. Since halfway through the 20th century vast natural gas reserves have been discovered in the soil of the northern part of the Netherlands and subsequently brought into production. The Wadden area, vulnerable as it is, did not escape the attention of the searchers for gas and seismologic research in the 1960s indeed confirmed the presence of gas reserves. However, exploitation of these fields was not top priority as there was more than enough gas available elsewhere, particularly in the giant Slochteren field in Groningen.

Everything changed after the oil crisis of the 1970s and the following explosive rise of the energy prices, which caused the exploitation of smaller gas fields to become profitable as well. After years of political tussle the NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij - Dutch Petroleum Corp.) was allowed to bring the Ameland-Oost gas field into production in 1986. The gas well and the installations and buildings that came with it are situated right in the middle of the nature reserve 't Oerd, but they have been nicely fit in the dune scenery, making them hardly visible from some distance. 

That cannot be said of the oil rigs that appear off the coast of Ameland since 1987. There are currently three of them, extracting gas from a field that is situated just north of the island under the North Sea floor. The rigs are towering so high above the water that they are even clearly visible from the opposite side of the island. Nowhere else in the Wadden area the gas extraction is so dominantly present as here on Ameland. 

The question is whether this will remain limited to Ameland in the future. Explorations have confirmed the presence of considerable gas reserves under the floor of the Wadden Sea itself and the pressure to bring these into production is ever increasing. After all, there are billions of euros involved. There will definitely be no oil rigs appearing on the mud flats, as that has been ruled out since 1993. But state of the art technology makes it possible to drill at an angle from locations on the mainland or on the islands to extract the gas from the fields right under the Wadden Sea. 

Conservationists, however, point at the risk of subsidence as a result of the extraction of gas from the fields below the Wadden Sea. Since the production of gas at Ameland-Oost began, subsidence of more than 20 centimeters has been measured locally. It has not resulted in ecological damage there so far, but a similar drop in the level of the mud flats would be an ecological disaster. It would cause large parts of the Wadden Sea not standing clear of the water at low tide any longer, with far-reaching consequences for the environment, particularly for the birdlife.

But, as usual, there are other experts who do not share these objections. They assume that a possible subsidence will be compensated by the deposition of sand from the North Sea. They argue that the dynamic of the area guarantees that negative effects of the gas extraction will be automatically counterbalanced, as has been happening here for ages. 

It seems that the latter group of experts is currently gaining ground. The Meijer Committee, which was established by the Dutch government to examine the advisability of gas extraction from below the Wadden Sea, recently considered it in its final report as sound, provided that strict environmental conditions are met. Opponents are appeased with extra millions from the gas revenues, to be spent on nature preservation in the Wadden area. Like the termination of the mechanical cockle fishing that is causing much damage to the area's ecology, by buying out the remaining fishermen. Not everyone is convinced of the idea, so the final word has not yet been said about this matter!

A round trip on Ameland

If you want to travel to Ameland you have three options: to go by boat, on foot or by plane. Yes, indeed, also by plane, as the island boasts a real airport, though of modest size. It is situated near the village of Ballum, just behind the dunes and rather close to the beach. Its location makes it a popular destination for a day trip by plane in the summer season. But although the number of flight movements may increase to several dozens on a nice summer day, the vast majority of the visitors is not coming to Ameland this way. 

For both other options to travel to Ameland Holwerd, on the Frisian north coast, is the starting point. Or, to be more precise, the ferry causeway of Holwerd, which is situated a few kilometers beyond the village in the vast north-Frisian landscape. You won't find a busy and lively harbor here like in Harlingen or Den Helder, only the ferry terminal and a huge parking for those visitors who choose to leave their car here and travel to Ameland as pedestrians. A somewhat desolate place. 

Once this ferry causeway was the beginning of a dam linking Ameland with the mainland. It was built in 1872 but did not last long. After several heavy storms that partly washed it away the dam was abandoned in 1882 and no longer repaired. The remains of the dam can still be seen on the mud flats at low tide.

< click on an image to enlarge 

If you want to go to Ameland on foot now, you just step off the ferry causeway and, slogging through the sucking mud of the land reclamation lots fenced off by palings, you begin your crossing that will take about three hours to complete. Only accompanied by an experienced guide, of course, as going for a mud flat walkon your own can be perilous. Be aware of the fact that you may have to get up with the lark, as the trip can be made at low tide only and the tide does not adhere to office hours.

About three quarters after its departure from Holwerd the 'Oerd' moors at the ferry landing of Nes. Although the island's administrative center is in the village of Ballum, Nes can be considered to be the  principal place, the 'capital' of Ameland. It is busier than the other villages and you will find here more shops, bars and restaurants with their nice terraces, giving Nes a lively appearance. You have to walk for about one kilometer from the ferry to get there, as Nes is not situated directly by the sea. So it's not a real seaport like West-Terschelling or Oudeschild on Texel.

Yet Nes surely has close ties with the sea, which is shown by several nice commander's houses that can be found here, just like in Hollum and in Ballum. These are the houses that the successful whalers of Ameland had themselves built in the 17th and the 18th century, in the characteristic style that we can also see on the neighboring islands of Schiermonnikoog and Terschelling. Typical features are the horizontal toothed edgings in the façades, indicating the rank of the sailor who lived there (the more edgings, the higher his status) and the façade cramps showing the year that the house was built.

Other places of interest in Nes are the detached bell tower in the center of the village, that initially was not built as a church tower but as a beacon for the sailors, and the neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church of 1878, which was built after a design of Pierre Cuypers. This well-known architect did not only design dozens of churches all over the country, but also several famous secular buildings like the Rijksmuseum and the Central Railway Station, both in Amsterdam. The flourmill 'Phoenix' dates from the same period as the church. It was acquired as a monument by the Municipality of Ameland in 1980 and it was completely restored. Nowadays it is milling grain to flour again for the island's bakers to bake their bread of.

About one and a half kilometer east of Nes lies Buren, the smallest village of the island. It used to be a place where farmers and beachcombers lived, so it's no coincidence that we find the Farming and Beachcombing Museum 'Swartwoude' right here. On the shadowy village square stands the statue of Rixt van 't Oerd, nicknamed Ritskemooi, the malicious wrecker witch from the old Ameland saga (see alongside). The café terraces in the village's center are enjoyable places to be. For the rest, Buren has not much more to offer than peace and quiet.

Another two kilometers to the east we find the hamlet of Kooiplaats, in fact not more than a little group of houses. Beyond, on the boundary between polder and dunes, lies the old duck decoy that was laid out in 1705 on the authority of stadholder Jan Willem Friso of Orange Nassau, the new owner of Ameland. That's why the Ameland duck decoy is also referred to as the Nassau decoy.

The duck decoy is a typical Dutch invention from the 15th century for efficiently trapping wild ducks for consumption. Around 1800 there were more than thousand of them in the Netherlands. The decoy consists of a quiet pond fringed with trees, with several blind side arms connected to it, the so-called decoy pipes. These are shielded with reed mats and covered with nettings. Tame ducks were being kept in the decoy, to attract wild ducks, induce them to take a rest in the central pond and then lure them into the decoy pipes. At that moment the decoy man would appear with his decoy dog and put up the ducks towards the trap box at the blind end of the pipe where they were finished off. This method could produce a catch of well over a thousand ducks on a big day here, all of which were shipped to Amsterdam for consumption. 

Wild ducks are no longer being caught for commercial purposes these days, reason why only some dozens of examples of this typical piece of Dutch cultural history are remaining, among which the Nassau decoy of Ameland. As peace and quiet were essential for the trapping of ducks, the former decoys are usually tranquil and somewhat mysterious places. That certainly also applies to the Ameland decoy, which now can be visited for a small entrance fee. 

East of Kooiplaats are the salt marshes of Nieuwlandsrijd, where there are no roads or paths. If you want to go further eastward you have to go round the marshes via the Kooioerdstuifdijk. This sand dike was built at the end of the 19th century because the island threatened to break apart at this point. The building of the sand dike lead to the development of new dunes at the North Sea side and of the salt marshes at the Wadden Sea side. A beautiful cycle track runs along the dike to the nature reserve of 't Oerd. There are no roads for cars in this part of the island.

In 't Oerd we find the highest place of Ameland, the 24 meters high dune named Oerdblinkert. Its top offers a magnificent view of the easternmost point of the island, the Wadden Sea and the mainland. If the weather is good the two lighthouses of the neighboring island of Schiermonnikoog are also clearly visible. In the middle of this nature reserve lies the gas extraction station Ameland-Oost of the NAM, the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (Dutch Petroleum Corporation).

When you walk back from De Hôn along the beach you will suddenly run, near the beacon and Post 23, into a mysterious piece of road that doesn't seem to go anywhere. A closer examination reveals that it leads from the sea to the gas extraction station in the dunes. Because there are no roads in this part of Ameland, personnel and material can only get to the station along the beach. That's the reason why this piece of road from the beach to the station, only a few hundred meters long, was constructed in 1986.

The gas extraction station, so ingeniously hidden in the dunes, contrasts sharply with the dominant and discordant presence of the oil rigs in the North Sea, which are standing here at about three kilometers off the coast. There used to be two of them since long, but shortly before my most recent visit to Ameland a third one has joined the scene that is even bigger than the other two. This rig is going to drill a new gas well in the Ameland-Noord field and after that job is done in the autumn of 2004 it will leave again. It doesn't surprise the people of Ameland anymore. 

From 't Oerd a splendid cycle track has been laid through the dunes that leads all the way to Hollum on the west side of the island, a distance of over twenty kilometer. During this ride, with sea and beach constantly within reach, the red-and-white banded lighthouse serves as a prominent reference point. With its 4.5 million candela it is one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world. It is a pity that this 58 meter-high tower made of cast iron in 1881 cannot be climbed anymore. The top floor offered a magnificent view over the island. But for safety reasons the tower had to be closed for the public in 2001. However, there seem to be plans to re-open in it the near future.

Measured by population number, Hollum is the biggest village of Ameland, but it is less busy than Nes. The village boasts several historical buildings like the Dutch Reformed church (17th century, with foundations that go back to the 11th or the 12th century). The famous Commander Hidde Dirksz Kat mentioned earlier lies buried on the churchyard. Furthermore there are several commander's houses in Hollum, among which the island's oldest house dating from 1615. The façade shows the year "1516", but that's because during an earlier restoration the "5" and the "6" were swapped, which has never been corrected in later years. The present occupant told me that the house's floors are not supported by joists but by old ship's masts instead! 

Just outside Hollum, by the sea where the dunes end and the Wadden dike begins, lies the Horses' Grave. It reminds of the tragic accident that happened in 1979 with the horse-launched rescue boat of Ameland, in which all the eight horses drowned. They lie buried here. Since then the Ameland horse-launched rescue boat, the only one left in the world, is officially out of service and replaced by a modern vessel based at the rescue station at Ballumerbocht. But since 2000 the old wooden rescue boat is being launched again by ten horses once every month, but now only as a tourist attraction.

On the final part of your Ameland round trip you are biking along the Wadden dike from Ballumerbocht back to Nes. Great if you have a stiff west wind at your back! You will pass the dike watchers' memorial, which was erected to honor the brave people who, at ungodly hours, watched over the dikes and over the safety of the islanders. The monument shows two sturdy men dressed in oilskin jacket and sou'wester, in a violet storm on the dike, with lantern and life line, more Dutch doesn't exist!

The cycle track ends at the ferry causeway of Nes and there you are back at your starting point. It just can be done in one day, this Ameland round trip. But you will have to ride along pretty fast and there's not much time for excursions on the way. Therefore it's better not to race around the island in one single day but to take some more time, a week or so. Which will give the 'island feeling' a chance to get hold over you.

 

In the course of the years I made five visits to Ameland and I will, if possible, certainly come back a few times more. Because, even though things are becoming familiar in time, you never get tired of it. A walk along the beach in the evening, the peace and quiet of 't Oerd, looking out on the wad, the lighthouse's light beam skimming over the dunes, it will never stale.

Would Ameland be different if the dam of 1872 would have held out until today, linking the island to the mainland for more than a hundred years? I think it would. Because that typical 'island feeling' is mainly caused by the fact that you cannot get there and leave as you please, that you depend on the rhythm of the ferry service and that between today's last ferry and tomorrow's first you are completely disconnected from the mainland.

It's a real blessing that the dam did not persist and that all other foolish plans to impolder the Wadden Sea partly or even completely and link the islands which each other and with the mainland, plans that were being discussed as late as halfway through the past century, did not go through. Nowadays such plans have become inconceivable and so we and those who come after us will be able to enjoy Ameland and the other Wadden islands for many a long day to come!

More about Ameland and related information

www.ameland.nl
Official website of the Ameland Municipality. Dutch, English and German language versions available.

www.wadden.nl
Website about the Dutch Wadden area by the joint Tourist Offices (VVVs) of the five Dutch Wadden islands. Dutch, English and German language.

www.ameland.net
Commercial website with much information on Ameland. Dutch only

www.ehal.nl
Website of Ameland Airport Ballum. Dutch and English language.

www.kustgids.nl/ameland
Information about Ameland of the Coastal Union EUCC, a European organization for sound coastal management. Dutch language only.

www.waddenzee.nl
Website of the Project Office InterWad with information about the Wadden Sea. Dutch and English language.

cwss.www.de
Website of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, een trilateral cooperative body for the protection of the Wadden area in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. English language only. 

June 2004