Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea that are located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Wangerooge is the smallest of the 7 German East Frisian Islands. It is situated the furthest East of all islands and is the only one that belonged to the district of Oldenburg between 1815 and 1947, whereas Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog and Spiekeroog always belonged to the county of Frisland. As of the census of 2004, the island has 1,055 inhabitants. Especially in the summertime the island accommodates more than 7,000 visitors on a daily basis.
The island is attractive to tourists due to the beaches, various recreation possibilities and the general laid-back atmosphere. The island's slogan underlines this, visible on a sign at the harbour, saying: 'God created time, he never mentioned haste!' A yearly beach volleyball tournament, usually held in the beginning of August, is one of the main attractions in the summer time, and has led to modify the general impression that the island is exclusively attractive to older people and young families. Additionally, some windsurfing, kite-surfing and boardriding activities attract younger people.
In order to guarantee recreation, cars are prohibited on the island. The island can be reached by ship from Harlesiel, or it can be reached by plane from Harlesiel, Bremen, or Hamburg. The ferries take off at different times every day due to the change of the tide.
Concerning historical sites and other places of interest, the island has one active light house, one old light house, and the Western tower. Since the island used to move constantly as a whole from the West to the East before some attachment activities were accomplished a century ago, buildings were to get lost after some centuries to the sea. The Western Tower was built in 1597 and was originally located in the East of the island.
Wangerooge is also known as the site of a historic World War II B-17 Flying Fortress crash. More specifically, the site of two crashes. During a bombing mission on Hamburg on New Years Eve, 1944, a B-17 sqaudron was attacked by German fighter planes on their trip home. While in tight formation, one plane was shot down and become entangled with the plane below it. One of the pilots managed to take control of the two aircraft and steer them back towards the German coast for an emergency landing. At the time, the two entagled aircraft were described to look like two 'breeding dragonflies' as the ball turrets of each plane impaled the chassis of the other. Most of the crew bailed out, while two remained and successfully made a crash landing in a field. It is said that some citizens of Wangerooge still celebrate the bizzare events on New Years Eve.
