The Heligoland Bight is an arm of the North Sea extending south and east of the red sandstone island of Heligoland. Heligoland is a small remote island of the German north Frisian group lying in the North Sea between the coast of Schleswig-Holstein and the estuaries of the Jade, Weser and Elbe. It is 5,249 feet long and 1,640 feet wide at its broadest point.
In 1807 Heligoland was a Danish possession but it was seized by the English in 1814 and given to Germany in 1890. Before 1914 Germany developed it as a great naval base with an extensive harbor in the south-east. There was a network of underground fortifications and coastal batteries and it was known as the “Gibraltar of the north Sea”. The Heligoland Bight became famous as the scene of a naval battle between the British and the Germans on August 28th, 1914.
Heligoland became a strong hold again under the Nazis and the capital town of Heligoland was destroyed by Allied bombers. In 1947 the whole character of the island was changed by the destruction of the fortifications.
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