Helgoland, Germany

Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.

In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder. Heligoland was formerly called Heyligeland, or "holy land", possibly due to the island's long association with the god Forseti.

Heligoland is located 46 kilometres off the German coastline and consists of two islands: the populated triangular 1 km2 main island (Hauptinsel) to the west, and the Düne ("dune", Heligolandic: de Halem) to the east. The former is what the place name "Heligoland" normally is used to refer to. Düne is somewhat smaller at 0.7 km2, lower, and surrounded by sand beaches. It is not permanently inhabited, but is today the location of Heligoland's airstrip.

Thanks to Tom for this really pretty map card of Helgoland, which comes with an 

added bonus, a special postmark of Helgoland's famous landmark, Lange Anna!

Sent:15 December 2014   Received: 8 January 2015   Travelled: 24 days