A mini-island in a magical marine world: Germany's Hallig Hooge

By Soenke Moehl Jul 13, 2010, 12:27 GMT

Hallig Hooge, Germany - In the first few metres away from the stone barrier which protects the shore of the hallig, or island, Hooge from the North Sea, a soft mud oozes between your toes. Soon, a firm but finely-grained sand tickles your feet.

'The first time you go barefoot here you can get really sore muscles,' says tour guide Swantje Paprotta. Soon, across the sand- and mud flats which the locals call the 'Watt' you can see the next tiny island to the west, Japsand. Desert-like, the sandy flatland stretches on for kilometres.

On the western edge of the sand bank, the largest part of which forms the core zone of the Schleswig-Holstein Wattenmeer National Park and which is off-limits in order to protect the habitat, the shoreline falls steeply away. We are hiking in the middle of the North Sea, which on bright summer days shimmers like a pond.

But one should never venture out alone. Paprotta always has a compass and a mobile phone with her. Scanning this unique sea- and landscape, she observes, 'the icy winter has changed a lot of things here.' The water channels are wider, and the muddy areas have been shifted to new locations.

Hiking in the Watt is also a highlight for Katja Just, who rents a holiday apartment in a thatched-roof farmhouse on the Ockenswarft, during her Hallig Hooge vacation.

'You go outside and you can enjoy the great expanses and forget the mainland because you don't see it any more. It's fantastic,' she says.

In the summer months the roughly 100 inhabitants of Hooge, the second-largest of the group of hallig islands, have scarcely any problem in renting out their holiday apartments, rooms and group lodgings. Eric Lars Jacobsen of the local tourism office said Hooge had 49,000 overnight stays last year - in addition to some 90,000 day visitors.

From May to September, Hooge is teeming with activity. The air is filled with the squawking of thousands of marine birds, while the plant life is a parade of colours.

'The colours change with the months,' Just says in describing the brilliant floral display put on by clover, sea lilacs and creeping fescues. 'It starts out yellow, then turns red, and as summer progresses changes towards darker shades.'

In asking visitors why they made Hooge their vacation destination, one hears pretty much the same answers: the peace and quiet, the broad expanses and the clear air.

From the city of Kassel, Christian and Ilona de Laffolie along with their dog Siri are making their second vacation on Hooge. 'You can really unwind here,' Ilona says, as the three sit comfortably sheltered from the wind by their house and enjoying the sun and the undisturbed view of other halligs off in the distance.

The Hooge church should be an absolute must for visitors to see, Katja Just says. The post at the foot of the rise atop which the church is built has markings on it showing the floodwater levels reached during various storms in the past, but people should not be alarmed.

All the warfts, or mounds atop which the houses are built have been raised and strengthened so that Hooge residents have a respect for the North Sea, but are not haunted by the prospect of going under, at least in this century, despite rising sea levels.

Besides peace and quiet, Hooge has more to offer than would appear at first glance. The tourism office recommends a GPS-supported audio tour. Initially conceived for blind visitors, it has in the meantime been developed further for sighted vacationers and contains many informative explanations - virtually a travel guide in MP3-format with satellite navigation for walkers.

The traditional program includes a visit to the 'Koenigspesel' - a 'pesel' is a private home's special-occasion sitting room - on the Hanswarft mound. It shows an attractive parlour in the house where Danish King Frederik VI once spent a night in 1825, hence the name 'king's pesel.'

On the Hanswarft there is also a local history museum founded by former boat mailman Hans von Holdt. Also worth a visit is the Wattenmeerhaus Hooge, a venue for seminars and educational displays for children and adults alike about the region's flora and fauna.

Several bathing areas such as at the old landing docks, and at the Ockenswarft and Volkertswarft invite visitors to go for a swim in the North Sea. At the Westerwarft, a small beach consisting of ground- down mussel shells has evolved, although it is submerged in times of high water levels.