An island on the Vlie
The Wadden Islands formed around 5000 BC as low sand ridges that grew into dunes with salt marshes behind them, held together by marram and sand couch grass.
- Part of Texla: in the early Middle Ages Vlieland belonged to the district of Texla, and present-day Eierland on Texel was still part of Vlieland.
- Separated by the Eierlandse Gat: a new sea channel, the Eierlandse Gat, eventually separated Vlieland from Eierland.
- Insula Fle: according to tradition, the island, then called Insula Fle, was given in the 13th century to the Ludinga monastery near Achlum in Friesland.
- First mention: Oost-Vlieland, then Osteynde, is first mentioned in 1245, when a chapel already stood there.
Trade, pilots and whaling
Vlieland lay at a strategic spot at the mouth of the Vlie, the shipping route linking the North Sea with the inland waters of the later Zuiderzee.
- Waiting for the wind: merchant ships, including those of the Hanseatic League bound for towns such as Stavoren and Kampen, waited off Vlieland for a favourable wind, and the island profited from this until the 17th century.
- Pilots and captains: many islanders earned their living as pilots or as whaling captains, one of the main sources of income.
- Willem de Vlamingh: the explorer Willem de Vlamingh, born on Vlieland in 1640, explored the west coast of Australia in 1696 and 1697.
West-Vlieland: the drowned village
For a long time the island's main village was not Oost-Vlieland but West-Vlieland, also known as Westeynde.
- A thriving village: West-Vlieland is mentioned as early as 1395 and had more than 1,000 inhabitants around 1600, with a medieval church, a windmill, a poorhouse, its own fishing fleet and its own beer.
- Its own coat of arms: in 1590 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt granted the village a coat of arms showing a tree, and the town hall tower served as a beacon for ships.
- Famous native: the cartographer and hydraulic engineer Nicolaus Cruquius was born here in 1678.
- Swallowed by the sea: the sand dike between Texel and Eierland, built in 1630, probably changed the currents, after which the sea washed the village away bit by bit; by 1736 only two houses remained and the last inhabitants left.
- Stones in the nets: in 1857 the site of the village lay under about 27 metres of water, and fishermen still regularly hauled up building stones.
Oost-Vlieland: fire, church and town hall
When West-Vlieland disappeared, Oost-Vlieland became the island's only village, with a history you can still see in the Dorpsstraat.
- Burned down (1575): at the start of the Eighty Years' War, Oost-Vlieland was burned down on the orders of the Spanish governor Caspar de Robles, destroying some 400 houses; excavations in 2023 confirmed the fire.
- The church: around 1605 a new church was built on the site of the medieval chapel and in 1647 it was rebuilt as a cruciform church; since 1997 it has been called the St Nicholas Church.
- Ship models and whale jawbones: inside hang models of sailing ships, and outside in the churchyard whale jawbones recall Vlieland's whalers.
The disaster of 1666 and the Lutine
The Vlieland roads brought many ships together, which also made them a target and dangerous waters.
- Holmes's Bonfire (1666): on 19 August 1666 the English admiral Robert Holmes attacked the Vlieland roads and destroyed the largest merchant fleet ever to lie within the borders of the Republic; a day later he burned West-Terschelling.
- An eyewitness: the Vlieland minister Frans Esausz. den Heussen wrote an account of it in 1667 that is still an important source.
- The Lutine (1799): in 1799 the British frigate Lutine sank with a cargo of gold in the tidal channels off Vlieland, a disaster you can learn more about at Tromp's Huys.
- The Vlie shifts: as the Vliestroom changed course, Terschelling gained a better position, and Vlieland's heyday came to an end.
The battle against the sea
By the 19th century Vlieland had become poor, and the North Sea kept gnawing at the island.
- Groynes: from 1854 groynes were built along the North Sea coast, by hand at low tide, using brushwood, posts and basalt brought in by sailing ship.
- Almost evacuated (1921): because coastal defence was so expensive, the government seriously considered evacuating Vlieland in 1921; the island was kept, partly because it protected the future Afsluitdijk.
- The lighthouse (1909): on the Vuurboetsduin, the highest dune of the Wadden Islands, the red Vlieland lighthouse has stood since 1909, replacing a tower from 1836.
The Second World War and a new province
During the Second World War Vlieland became part of the German Atlantic Wall, which changed the island for good.
- More soldiers than residents: the Germans built two anti-aircraft batteries, among other things, and stationed more soldiers on the island than it had inhabitants.
- From North Holland to Friesland: until 1942 Vlieland belonged to North Holland; the Germans assigned it to Friesland, and this was not reversed after the war.
- The Posthuis: the Posthuis in the west of the island recalls the time when, from 1677, the mail came to Vlieland via Texel and then went on to Terschelling.
The island today
After the war, tourism became the main source of income, while Vlieland kept its peaceful character.
- Car-free island: visitors leave their car in Harlingen and take the ferry to Vlieland, so the island has remained an oasis of calm.
- Its own traditions: on 5 December islanders celebrate Opkleden, going from house to house so well disguised that even their families do not recognise them.
- A lost dialect: the Vlieland dialect resembled that of Texel, but its last speaker died in 1993 at the age of 107.
- Known from TV and festival: the series Dokter Deen is set on Vlieland, and since 2009 the Into the Great Wide Open festival has drawn music lovers to the island every September.
