With this slogan the local Tourist Office promotes Vlieland on its website. It doesn't look very original, but in this case it might be not far removed from the truth. For, in the row of Dutch Wadden Island, Vlieland really is an outsider.

First of all,  just because of its size. Going from west to east the Wadden Islands get smaller in size, and in line with this logic Vlieland should be larger than its eastern neighbors Terschelling and Ameland. But that's not the case. On the contrary: Vlieland is the second-smallest of all islands. Only Schiermonnikoog is slightly smaller.

Vlieland is also different because of the Vliehors, that immense sand plain covering the whole southwestern part of the island and accounts for one-third of its total size. On none of the other island something comparable can be found, not on this scale at least. Its size and location make the bare and barren Vliehors a perfect training ground for the aircraft of the Royal Dutch Air Force, which can be spotted here frequently indeed. It still remains a peculiar combination: screaming F-16s dropping bombs and firing shells in a protected nature reserve!

Another aspect in which Vlieland differs is the lacking of a polder at the Wadden Sea side. The green polder landscape with its meadows with cows and sheep is a characteristic element on the other Wadden Islands. In the past there were a few small polders at the southeastern side, the Kroon's Polders, but in 1996 the dike was cut through to give them back to the sea. Yes, Vlieland is definitely different!
 

Queen Wanda and the Curse of Wicholf

The geological history of Vlieland is closely connected to that of the whole northern Dutch coastal area. Once the island was a part of a coastal barrier that was formed in a period known as the Old-Holocene, which lasted from 20,000 till about 5,000 years BC. In this period, succeeding the last great ice age, sea level rose as a result of the melting arctic ice, and the Dutch lowlands were flooded every now and then. Finally the sea broke through the coastal barrier and formed a permanently inundated area, the present Wadden Sea. The remains of the coastal barrier now form the range of Wadden islands, extending from Den Helder in Holland to Esbjerg in Denmark.

Although this genesis does not really differ from that of the neighboring islands of Texel, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog, is does have something special. Like that old legend suggesting that is was not solely the violent forces of wind and water that caused Vlieland to become an island. It's the legend of Queen Wanda, who is supposed to have lived here in the late Middle Ages. A beautiful story that deserves to be told at this place.
 

It was about 1230 when Count William II of Holland granted the area of nowadays Vlieland, still forming part of the mainland at that time, to the monastery of Ludinga near Achlum, in the vicinity of the present town of Harlingen. In the following years the monks started digging a canal to the sea, primarily to improve the drainage of the land, but also to make their monastery accessible by ship from the sea. But at the place where the projected canal was to flow into the sea there lived, according to the legend, the pagan queen Wanda, together with her son Worp. She was the widow of Hessel of Wicholf the Saxon who once ruled this area, and she strongly opposed the digging of the canal right through here property, although Count William had granted the monks permission to do so.

The monk Bouwe, in charge with the supervision of the work, did not let himself be stopped by Wanda's resistance. Nor was he alarmed by a warning of the local Vlieland people about the 'Curse of Wicholf'. It was predicted that, when fratricide would occur twice in the Wicholf clan, the sea would flood Vlieland. A part of that prophecy was already fulfilled, as one of Wanda's sons named Hengst had killed his brother Horse in a quarrel.

Friar Bouwe didn't worry about that prophecy. After all, Wanda had only one son left as her fourth child, the eldest son Runo, had disappeared without a trace many years earlier at the age of three while he was playing on the ice, and never found back. So, how could another fratricide occur? In good spirits he went on with the work on.

On the day that the canal was almost finished and just one dune remained to be cut through, it came to an argument with Wanda's son Worp. It escalated to such an extend that Worp, provoked by his mother to take action against friar Bouwe and his canal, stabbed the monk to death with his knife, after which he fled home.

The abbot of the monastery who found friar Bouwe recognized the knife and shortly after Worp and his mother were fetched from their house and brought before the tribunal. When Wanda saw Bouwe's dead body she got the shock of her life, as under his habit the dead monk wore a string of shells like the one that she once had hung around the neck of her missing son Runo. When she asked where that string came from the abbot told her about a little boy that the monks had once rescued from an ice floe. They had taken the child to the monastery where he grew up and later he was admitted in the monastic order as Friar Bouwe. At that moment Wanda began screaming like mad: "Woe is me! The curse of Wicholf's house has come! The prophecy is fulfilled!".

The lawsuit was broken off. Worp entered the monastery as a penitent. And when shortly after the mouth of the canal had been dug and the first waves of the sea rolled into the land Wanda ran into the sea with her arms spread out, as in an attempt to stop the water, and disappeared forever.
 

The element of truth in this legend is the fact that there was an extensive flood in the year 1237 or 1314, when the sea broke through the dunes, Vlieland was cut off from Texel and became a separate island. The water poured into the land so far that even Harlingen became a coastal town. This flood may indeed be caused by a canal that was dug by the monks of Ludinga, the so-called 'Monnickesloot'. After these events, Vlieland appears in documents under the name 'Insula Fle' or 'the island on the Flevo stream', from which the present name of Vlieland may be derived.

On Vlieland there is only one small town named Oost-Vlieland, first mentioned in a protocol of 1245. But at that time there was a second town on the west point of the island, appropriately named West-Vlieland, which initially was of much greater importance. In the 17th century it had a population of over 3,000. Whale fishing was the main living and over 70 whaling commanders lived there. But nowadays nothing remains of West-Vlieland. The town suffered heavily from the drifting dune sands and the ceaseless attacks by the sea. After large floods in 1717 and 1727 the town was abandoned and finally it was completely swallowed by the sea. Oost-Vlieland, safely sheltered by the 40-meters high Vuurboetsduin (Beaconfire Dune) was since then the only town on the island.
 

The palmy days of Vlieland were between 1650 and 1750, coinciding with the Golden Age of Holland. During that period the Vlieland Roads were, like those of the neighboring island of Texel, a major meeting point for ships that sailed out from there to all quarters of the world. Also cargo from far-away countries was transferred here into smaller ships for further transport to Zuyder Zee ports where the bigger ships could not go. In the wake of mercantile shipping all kinds of industry settled in Oost-Vlieland like pilot services, ships repair and maintenance, equipment and provisioning and, of course, all the necessary conveniences for the ships' crews during their temporary stay on the island.

From this period dates the Tromp's Huys (1596), the oldest building on Vlieland and nowadays a museum. Admiral Cornelis Tromp, however, never lived here; he owned a house elsewhere in town. Also admiral Michiel de Ruyter liked to stay on Vlieland and let himself a house built here. In 1647 he granted the church a nice chandelier - as he also did in Oudeschild on Texel, by the way.

Halfway the 18th century commercial shipping moved to Holland and Vlieland went downhill rapidly. There was no room for farming on the island and fishing did never really develop here. The main living of the people who stayed was beachcombing. That could be quite profitable as in the dangerous waters around the island there was seldom lack of wrecked ships. The most famous shipwreck was probably that of the frigate 'Lutine' that went down in 1799 between Vlieland en Terschelling with a large cargo of gold and silver on board. See also the Terschelling page for more about the 'Lutine' story.
 

At the end of the 19th century the population had decreased to about 500 and it was seriously considered to abandon the island because of the lack of livelihoods. But just in time tourism emerged as a new source of revenue and from the beginning of the 20th century things gradually improved. In the early 1950s the MoD established a military training base for the Dutch Army and the Air Force on the Vliehors, which also created jobs. The tank and heavy artillery drills were moved to the Lauwersmeer since 2004, but for the Dutch Air Force and those of other NATO members the Vliehors is still a major training area.

Nowadays Vlieland is a popular holiday resort, particularly for people who are not only seeking beach and sun but also peace and quiet and natural beauty. Like Schiermonnikoog, Vlieland is almost completely motorcar-free; only for local residents and the necessary service transport permits are issued. As a result, it's much less crowded than for instance Texel and Terschelling and that makes Vlieland so popular among quiet seekers and nature lovers.
 

A few days on Vlieland

The trip to Vlieland starts, just like that to the neighboring island of Terschelling, in the lively Frisian port town of Harlingen. Here the Rederij Doeksen ferries to the two islands lie closely together, so you must mind not boarding the wrong one. If you came by car you can hardly err; on the ferry to Vlieland your vehicle will not be admitted unless you can show a special permit that is only issued to local residents. So here you will mainly see pedestrians and cyclists embarking.

The old ferry 'Oost-Vlieland', with which I made an earlier trip in 1999, has been replaced in 2005 by the 'Vlieland', a catamaran that looks like a giant streamlined shoe box on floats. Despite its futuristic appearance the 'Vlieland' is hardly faster than her predecessor; the passage still takes slightly less than two hours, making Vlieland the furthest removed island from the mainland.
 

< click on an image to enlarge

The shipping routes to Vlieland and Terschelling are overlapping, so there is a good chance that on your way to Vlieland you will encounter one of the Terschelling ferries 'Friesland' or 'Midsland'. In this case it's the 'Friesland', a sturdy, classically-lined ship of 1989 that, compared with the 'Vlieland', now looks a little bit old fashioned. But it is the last ship of the Doeksen company that was Dutch-built. The 'Vlieland' was built by a shipyard in the Philippines. That's the globalization!
 

While strolling along the Dorpsstraat inadvertently a comparison with Schiermonnikoog thrusts itself to my mind. That's not so strange, as the two islands have much in common. They are almost equal in size and population and both pursue a very restrictive policy regarding motorcars. An additional point of similarity is the fact that on both islands there once were to be two villages of which only one is now left.

But yet the atmosphere is different here. Maybe the reason is that Schiermonnikoog has a more 'methodical' appearance, a result of the fact that it was designed and built as a whole, to give the population of the sea-threatened town of Westerburen a new place to live. On the other hand, also Oost-Vlieland would finally house all residents of West-Vlieland but that happened much more gradually. For some centuries both towns existed side by side, which was not the case on Schiermonnikoog. That's why Oost-Vlieland had a more natural development and doesn't look so 'artificial' like Schiermonnikoog. The Main Street of Oost-Vlieland, with its trees, its characteristic old little houses and its pleasant terraces looks more like that of Nes on Ameland or Midsland on Terschelling than like Schiermonnikoog.

The center of Oost-Vlieland was granted the status of 'protected town' in 1971. Additionally dozens of the houses alongside the Dorpsstraat have been officially designated as monuments, so that preservation of the town's character seems to be secured in the future. The negative side of that is that there is hardly any room for building of new houses to fill the local residents' housing needs. A real problem, all the more because in the past decades dozens of historical houses have been acquired by wealthy mainlanders as a holiday cottages, which means that they are inhabited for a few weeks only through the year.

The town council looks upon this development with sorrow and tries to stop this trend by means of strict regulations for the use of houses, but it can be doubted if they will succeed. As a matter of fact, this is not a tendency that has sprung up overnight. As early as in the 17th century wealthy mainlanders had themselves second homes built here where they only occasionally lived in. Just remember famous 'Vlieland residents' like the admirals Cornelis Tromp and Michiel de Ruyter!
 

The Dutch Reformed or Protestant church is also one of the oldest buildings in town. In a charter of 1245 there is already record of a little chapel in Oost-Vlieland. The main church of the Vlieland parish was in West-Vlieland, the major town on the island by then, where also the parish priest resided.

After the Reformation the chapel was taken over by the Protestants. They replaced it with the present building in 1605, re-using the bricks of the old demolished chapel. The building costs were partly paid from the revenues of a special levy on beer and wine. As most of the ships that anchored in the Vlieland Roads stocked up on large volumes of beer for their long journey that levy made up a considerable amount!
 

At the west end of the Dorpsstraat lies the Vuurboetsduin (Beaconfire Dune), with Vlieland's lighthouse on top of it. With 42 meter above MSL it is also the highest elevation on the island. It's a stiff climb over 200 steps, but certainly worth the effort as the view from the dune's top of the island and the Wadden Sea is magnificent.

The lighthouse itself dates from 1876 and is only 18 meter tall. More wasn't necessary because of its high location. In fact it is the upper part of the lighthouse that stood in IJmuiden before. When this tower was replaced by a new one in 1903 the upper part was sawed off and placed here on Vlieland, on the foundation of an older tower. The observation post on stilts next to the lighthouse dates from 1929.

The lighthouse of Vlieland has some reputation among the Dutch as the well-known chansonnière Liesbeth List (pseudonym for Elly Driessen) spent the major part of her youth here, as foster child in the lighthouse-keeper's family.
 

Oost-Vlieland is situated on the Wadden Sea side of the island. To get to the North Sea coast with its beautiful beaches a twenty minutes walk along the Badweg (Bath Road), which connects the town with the beach, will do. It's a pleasant walk, as the road leads firstly through a beautiful wooded area and then through the dunes.

Among the cottages and bungalows that are scattered in the dunes you can find the holiday cottage 'Duinroos' ('Dune Rose'), which plays a central role in the bestseller island-trilogy by the Dutch author Vonne van der Meer. In its three volumes 'Eilandgasten' (Island Guests), 'De Avondboot' ('The Evening Ferry') and 'Laatste Seizoen' ('Final Season') she sketches the ups and downs of several temporary occupants of 'Duinroos' from the perspective of the woman who cleans the house every time before new guests arrive.
 

Nearby an eye-catching construction alongside the cycle track, looking like a huge thermometer, attracts the attention. It turns out to be an educational ground water meter, indicating the level of the water under the ground. The meter shows a reading in the green zone which means: not too dry and also not too wet, to my great relief.

The cycle track ends at the 'Posthuys' ('Post House'), once an important link in the post traffic from Texel and the mainland to Terschelling. The mail was delivered here by boat. Presently the 'Posthuys' is a bar and a restaurant and a popular stopping place for cyclists and walkers. As it is the only place for miles around to get something to eat and drink it is always busy here, also on this September day with less favorable weather.

From here I go by foot along the dike that separates the Kroon's Polders from the Wadden Sea. Till 1996 this dike protected four small polders that were being used as pastureland, as also can be found on the other Wadden Islands. There even was a small airstrip here. But in that same year it was decided to give the polders back to nature by cutting the dike through and admit the salt tidal waters again. As a result the polders are now developing into a salt marshes area.
 

Alongside the Kroon's Polders the Postweg, the island's main road, leads on in southwesterly direction to finally end at Camp Vlieland, the military base that is situated at the border of the Vliehors. As this base is of course not accessible for curious unauthorized persons like me I cannot get to the Vliehors this way, so I decide to walk along the beach to what sometimes is called the 'Vlieland Sahara'. 

When I have been walking for about twenty minutes I run into a series of warning signs with red flags on it, urgently advising me in three different languages not to proceed any further onto the Vliehors. Just a couple of moments later two F-16s are thundering low over my head and I decide to heed this warning. It is mostly dummy bombs that they are dropping here indeed, but nevertheless I would not really like to get one of those on my head! Moreover, the wind is rising and it also starts to drizzle, so it's getting definitely unpleasant here on this bare sand plain.

Before I turn around to return to my bike I take a last glance of the immense sand desert that extends to the hazy horizon. In the distance I see the silhouettes of the old Centurion tanks that are stationed across the Vliehors as practicing targets for the aircraft. The view, blurry by the rain and the drifting sands, reminds me of the television pictures of the Gulf Wars.
 

When I ride back along the Postweg to Oost-Vlieland the weather has become absolutely nasty. I have the wind behind me indeed, but the rain makes everything cold and grey. I pass a copse with the suitable name 'Bomenland' ('Trees Land') that gives me some shelter. But onwards the Postweg runs on top of the Wadden Sea dike, which is not surrounding a polder area -like on the other Wadden Islands- but just protects the foot of the dunes against erosion by the sea. Here I am fully exposed to the elements again.

The mud flats alongside the dike form a perfect forage area for all kinds of birds and normally you will always see bird watchers here, armed with binoculars and cameras. But today there's no sign of them. Probably they are all sitting comfortably in a cozy pub with a snack and a drink. And that's exactly what I am going to do, once I will be back in town and have my bike returned to the renter!
 

Willem de Vlamingh is particularly known for his expedition of 1696-97 in the service of the VOC, the Dutch United East Asia Company, being the first one to map the unknown west coast of Australia. This venture was originally set up to investigate the fate of some ships that never returned from earlier expeditions in this part of the world, among them the ship 'Eendracht' ('Concord') of captain Dirk Hartog.

On 30 January 1697 they arrived at a little island off the Australian west coast where they found, nailed to a wooden post, a flattened pewter plate with an inscription by Hartog saying that he and his crew had landed there on 25 October 1616. Since then the island is named Dirk Hartog Island. Later he would turn out to be the very first European who set foot ashore at this coast. 

No trace was found of Hartog himself and his crew, nor of his ship, so De Vlamingh returned empty-handed to Batavia (nowadays Jakarta), where he arrived on 20 March of that same year. He had taken the pewter plate with him as a prove of Hartog's presence and it's this plate that the explorer's statue here in Oost-Vlieland holds in his hands. A replica of it can be admired in the Tromp's Huys museum. And by the way, the original charts of the Australian west coast made by De Vlaming have been recently found back in the National Library of Australia.
 

By now it's high time to walk back to town and collect my luggage at the hotel, if I don't want to miss the 11.30 ferry. And I really don't want to as the next one does not go earlier than 17.30. The 'Vlieland' is set to sail for the return trip to the mainland since her arrival from Harlingen about an hour ago. Three short blows on the horn announce that departure is imminent and a few minutes later my three-days visit to Vlieland is over.

During the passage on board of the futuristic catamaran bearing the name of the island it was built for I reflect on my stay on Vlieland. Is it really so different as claimed by the local Tourist Office, different from Schiermonnikoog for example? To be honest, I don't think so. There are differences, of course, but the similarities are greater. Vlieland as well as Schiermonnikoog are relatively small islands where you will mainly go to find quiet and nature, as there is a lot less entertainment than on Texel, Terschelling or Ameland. In particular the almost total lack of motorcar traffic creates and almost heavenly atmosphere of peace and quiet. The Dutch vogue verb 'onthaasten' ('unhasten') seems to be invented here.

Maybe the much talked-of 'island feeling' is a little bit stronger here on Vlieland than on Schiermonnikoog, as a result of the fact that most of the time you cannot see the mainland from here. But as a negative point of Vlieland the presence of the military training base on the Vliehors might be mentioned, with the jet aircraft noise that from time to time disturbs the almost perfect serenity.

Anyway, there's reason enough to return here one day, all the more because the weather, which always tends to be more favorable here on the Wadden Islands than in the rest of the country -according to the local Tourist Office- was in fact a little bit disappointing this time for early September. That could do better!
 

More about Vlieland and related information

www.vlieland.nl
Official website of the Municipality of Vlieland. Dutch language only.

www.vlieland.net
Website van de Vlieland Tourist Office. Also German version 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.vlieland-info.nl
Private website with many Vlieland links.

vlieland.pagina.nl
Vlieland portal website.

vlieland.startkabel.nl
Another Vlieland portal website.

vlieland.verzamelgids.nl
Yet another portal site with many Vlieland links.

www.kustgids.nl/vlieland
Information about Vlieland 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. 
 

September 2006