In the year 1500 a girl by the name Tjede Peckes was born in the hamlet of Padingbüttel in Land Wursten, on the eastern banks of the River Weser. A salt marsh area the Wurstfriesen ‘Wurst-Frisians’ had managed to embank and cultivate. For centuries they had enjoyed living in a lord-free farmers republic. Toward theContinue reading “Joan of Arc an inspiration for Land Wursten”
Tag Archives: Wadden Sea
To the end where it all began: ribbon Ribe
Let’s go to the omega, the end of the Frisia Coast Trail. To Ribe in southern Jutland, Denmark. The oldest town of Scandinavia. A town located on the banks of the river Ribe Å. A modest river which flows out into the Wadden Sea opposite the islands Fanø and Mandø. Ribe started as a seasonalContinue reading “To the end where it all began: ribbon Ribe”
Pagare il fio
Pagare il fio is Italian for ‘paying the penalty’. More literally, it means ‘paying the fee’. It’s an expression the Italian language inherited from the Barbarians from the North when they toppled the Western Roman Empire. The English word fee originates from Old English feoh, which means ‘cattle’. The Mid-Frisian word for cattle still isContinue reading “Pagare il fio”
Come to rescue the Rolling Sheep
Hiking needs careful preparation, including personal safety. What do you put in your First Aid Kit? Do you possess basic first aid skills to manage an accident? Unless you go wondering on your own on the Wadden Sea mudflats, being on the Frisia Coast Trail help is never far away. Therefore, provided you have aContinue reading “Come to rescue the Rolling Sheep”
♪ They want you as a new recruit ♪
‘In the navy’, is a song of village people. Of the small villages along the southern coast of the North Sea. A water people once united in the mythical Seven Sealands. And, a people who laid the foundations of two of history’s most impressive navies. That of England, and that of the Republic of theContinue reading “♪ They want you as a new recruit ♪”
The raider’s portrait from Appels
In the year 1934, while dredging upstream the river Scheldt near the village of Appels in the region of Flanders, an extraordinary ship’s figurehead (see featured image above) was found. It is dated around the year AD 400. Among scholars there seems agreement it is Germanic and that it originates from the southern North SeaContinue reading “The raider’s portrait from Appels”
More Flying ‘Dutchmen’
On the first of February 2020, one of the Frisian bastards of the Frisia Coast Trail tramped the trail section from the town of Bad Nieuweschans to the village of Termunten. It’s a hike of 30 kilometres along the southern shores of the Dollart Bay. The day before, in the evening, the bastard arrived atContinue reading “More Flying ‘Dutchmen’”
Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic
If you want to find out who’s responsible for killing the whale, the Frisia Coast Trail area is the prime spot to look. When you stop people on the streets in this coastal region and ask them if they have knowledge of who did it, they probably will respond with: “I hear nothing, I seeContinue reading “Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic”
Yet another wayward archipelago
The peoples of islands and archipelagos don’t let others dictate how to live their life. One of those archipelagos that meets these criteria as well, is the Wadden Sea. For centuries it’s from here where sea explorers, tax evaders, sturdy Arctic whalers, self-righteous women, pirates, privateers, and other vagabonds came from. An archipelago which theContinue reading “Yet another wayward archipelago”
Frisia, a Viking Graveyard
When reading about the famous deeds of great Viking warriors, often not much attention is given to the moments of failure. Not much is written about where and when the glorious men, and women, died. As it turns out, the coast of Frisia is one big Viking graveyard. It’s here, in the (still) smelly blueContinue reading “Frisia, a Viking Graveyard”
Frisia Coast Trail 