Editing German Bight

{{Short description|Geographic feature along the coasts of Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands}}
{{For|the settlement in New Zealand initially known as German Bay|Takamatua}}
{{One source|date=October 2023}}
[[Image:German Bight.jpg|right|thumb|Satellite view of the German Bight, Jutland to the right (east)]]
[[File:Germany (1), Elbe, Trischen.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The mouth of the river [[Elbe]], here in October 2010, marks the southeastern corner of the German Bight. The island is [[Trischen]].]]

The '''German Bight''' ({{langx|de|Deutsche Bucht}} {{IPA|de|ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈbʊxt|}}; {{langx|da|tyske bugt}}; {{langx|nl|Duitse bocht}} {{IPA|nl|ˈdœytsə ˈbɔxt|}}); {{langx|fy|Dútske bocht}}; {{Langx|frr|Schiisk Bocht}}; sometimes also the '''German Bay''') is the southeastern [[Bight (geography)|bight]] of the [[North Sea]] bounded by the [[Netherlands]] and [[Germany]] to the south, and [[Denmark]] and Germany to the east (the [[Jutland]] [[peninsula]]). To the north and west it is limited by the [[Dogger Bank]]. The Bight contains the [[Frisian islands|Frisian]] and [[Danish Wadden Sea Islands|Danish Islands]]. The [[Wadden Sea]] is approximately ten to twelve kilometres wide at the location of the German Bight.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |year=2011 |title=Wadden Sea |url=http://www.eoearth.org/article/Wadden_Sea?topic=49523 |editor1-last=Saundry |editor2-last=Cleveland |editor1-first=P. |editor2-first=C. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Earth |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Council for Science and the Environment}}</ref> The Frisian islands and the nearby coastal areas are collectively known as [[Frisia]]. The southern portion of the bight is also known as the [[Heligoland Bight]]. Between 1949 and 1956 the [[Shipping Forecast|BBC Sea Area Forecast (Shipping Forecast)]] used "[[Heligoland]]" as the designation for the area now referred to as German Bight.

== Use==
The German Bight contains some of Germany's largest national parks by area, the aim of which is to protect the [[Wadden Sea]], a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the "nature" category. Due to being divided among three different [[states of Germany]] those protected areas fall into three different national parks, namely the [[Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park]], the [[Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park]] and the small [[Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park]] mostly around the island of [[Neuwerk]]. Despite or maybe because of its unique natural environment, the German Bight is also subject to intense economic and recreational use with the Wadden Sea being one of Germany's [[tourism in Germany|most popular tourist destinations]]. [[Mudflat hiking]] is a particularly popular tourist activity usually undertaken with licensed guides employed by the national park service. Fishing and mussel banks (particularly [[oyster]]s) are other important economic activities with ''[[crangon crangon]]'' a particularly well regarded product of local fishing. Energy extraction also plays an important role with Germany's only offshore oil rig ([[Mittelplate]]) located in the German Bight and an increasing penetration by [[offshore wind farm]]s such as [[Alpha Ventus]]. While offshore wind farms are more expensive to build and require more expensive operations for maintenance and repair than land-based wind turbines the steadier winds out at sea allow for [[variable renewable energy|steadier power output]] and a higher [[capacity factor]]. Both these advantages are important enough to justify the higher cost as Germany is in the process of [[nuclear phaseout| phasing out nuclear energy]] and plans to [[Energiewende| phase out all fossil fuels]] thereafter leaving few [[Dispatchable generation|dispatchable electricity sources]].

== Traffic==
The German Bight has also played an important role as a shipping lane since medieval times with the approach to the [[Port of Hamburg]] passing through it and then the Elbe River estuary. Other important ports along the German Bight are [[Ports of Bremen|Bremerhaven/Bremen]], [[Port of Emden|Emden]] (important for export of motorcars, particularly those made at the local VW plant) and the [[JadeWeserPort]] at Wilhelmshaven which is Germany's only [[deepwater port]]. Shipping in the German Bight often relies on [[tidal channel]]s (called "Priel" in German) for shipping lanes, but as the sediment is moved around by tides, wind and waves and as ships reach ever greater draughts extensive [[dredging]] is necessary to keep shipping lanes open. Some of the [[East Frisian Islands]] can be reached on foot at low tide and the sailing schedules of local ferries are tide-dependent. While the mudflats are usually barred to anything but foot traffic and more heavily protected areas of the national parks are off-limits to all but scientists, there is a scheduled horse drawn carriage service from the mainland to Neuwerk locally known as a [[:de:Wattwagen|Wattwagen]] (mud flats wagon). The island of [[Sylt]] can be reached by the railway-only [[Hindenburgdamm]] causeway which was built after World War I when the port on the mainland from which ferries to Sylt had left up to that point came under Danish rule following the [[1920 Schleswig plebiscites]]. Some of the [[Hallig]]en also have railway connections to the mainland but in some cases those are only usable at low tide. Those lines are the [[Dagebüll–Oland–Langeneß island railway]] and the [[Lüttmoorsiel-Nordstrandischmoor island railway]]. While there is no scheduled traffic, island residents can use their own (usually self-built) rail vehicles. In the past those were [[sail bogey]]s, but nowadays most are diesel driven [[draisine]]s with battery-electric railcars increasingly gaining ground. The rail lines are also used by the government for coastal protection work and to transport goods and personnel.

==See also==
*[[Bight (geography)]]
*[[Frisia]]
*[[Frisian Islands]]
*[[Wadden Sea]]

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==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author= George Drower |title= Heligoland: The True Story of German Bight |publisher= The History Press |year=2011}}

==External links==
*[http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=54.207436~7.602539&style=h&lvl=7&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1/ Map of the region]

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[[Category:Bays of Schleswig-Holstein]]
[[Category:Frisia]]
[[Category:Bays of Lower Saxony]]
[[Category:Shipping Forecast areas]]
[[Category:Bays of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Bights (geography)]]