Every person needs a place to retreat. For me that is Heligoland. Already after the first visit to the island I fell for her. I can relax on Heligoland. As soon as I set my first foot on the offshore island, all stress falls away. I don't know why that is the case either. But it works. Reliable.
In June, I spent a long weekend on Heligoland with my sweetheart. And the journey there was something out of a movie. The Halunderjet I had booked was put into maintenance less than 20 hours before departure. I got the text message in the middle of a photo job at Millerntor and had to quickly rebook. So I took the train and the ferry from Cuxhaven. No problem, if it hadn't said "train" in the previous sentence. It only leaves from Harburg, doesn't leave from Harburg at short notice, arrives late in Cuxhaven - total chaos. The only good thing was the train attendant, who called the shipping company and asked them to leave a quarter of an hour later. She also called all the taxis from Cuxhaven to the station. It worked great - thank you for the service.
So the journey was breathless. And as soon as we set our feet on Heligoland, the recovery begins. Take a deep breath and feel good. Doubly easy with the great weather on the day of arrival. Quickly check in at the Hotel Rickmers Insulaner, unpack your cameras and off you go. The island is small, but offers much more than many people think.
Helgoland is so tranquil that the police travel around on scooters. The few vehicles have electric drives. The only reported break-in ended with an arrest in the harbor when the thieves wanted to leave the island. But of course island life also has its downsides. Some urgently needed new houses for the residents could not be completed because building materials could not be delivered in winter due to the weather.
Photograph on Heligoland
When I'm on Heligoland, I'm interested in animals and especially birds. Actually not my favorite photo motif. But on Heligoland everything is different. There are also a lot of beautiful birds to see there. Of course, the island is best known as a breeding place for northern gannets. Over 1000 of these flying artists now breed on the northeast side of the island. This also attracts many photographers. You wouldn't otherwise be able to get close to these seabirds that easily.
I was even able to take pictures with the analog XPan with a 45mm lens. I had that with the rest of the Ektar Ethiopia equipped, but most of the animals were too far away for 45mm. No matter, the appearance is still beautiful and somehow different than the digital images.
But Heligoland has many other interesting animals to offer. For most of them, however, you have to look closely. Or have a wife who recognizes such birds by the way they run. My love is simply a stunner in this regard - ok, not only in this regard. But see for yourself the great things she showed me.
But I also discovered a few larger animals myself 🙂
The circular hiking trail on the main island has been made wheelchair accessible for some time now. You can find out about the island's interesting history on the relevant boards. What I also really like about Heligoland is the weather: we had a storm and "showers" one day. That was what the official weather board on the pier said. In the rest of Germany it would have been called "torrential rain". But that doesn't matter, because there is no such thing as bad weather, just unprepared people. In any case, the next day it was bathing weather again.
By the way, I only had two lenses with me on the trip: 35 and 300mm. The three hundred was almost a bit short and I had to help myself with converters. But unfortunately that was it 500* from the same series cannot be borrowed. So I can say that the 300mm from Nikon's PF series is on the Z7 works excellently.
By the way, my funniest picture from the weekend isn't a bird. So it's not just giraffes that can drink from gutters. I think you should know this.
Oh yes – and then I took the opportunity on Helgoland to finally see a personal highlight for myself. There is the Hotel Felsen-Eck on the Oberland. Here the rooms are named after photographers. And lo and behold: Room 17 has my name 🙂
So now there already is three hotel rooms in Germany with my pictures. Maybe I'll become famous after all...
Once again I and we had a wonderful time on Heligoland. Unfortunately, the long weekend was far too short and at some point it was time to leave again. We then went back completely relaxed in the freshly serviced Halunder jet. We enjoyed the crossing with delicious tea cakes from the island bakery. We will be back definitely!
Oh yes: I can do that for overnight stays Hotels and apartments from the storytels Recommend merger. I've been in different houses and always felt very comfortable.
Hi Stefan,
For you it's Heligoland, for me it's SPO. Hardly on the beach, wind, waves, everything forgotten.
I have never been to Helgoland myself, so thank you for showing the beautiful pictures.
LG Bernhard
Very beautiful!
Just a mistake:
Helgoland is not a high seas island, neither geologically nor under maritime law nor according to other definitions of the high seas.
(The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic; deep sea only begins north of the continental shelf, i.e. north of the Shetland - Alesund line.
best regards
P.
You're right of course, but even on Wikipedia it says that Heligoland is often called that.