View source for Terschelling

{{short description|West Frisian island in the Netherlands}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
<!-- Name and transliteration -->| name                     = Terschelling
| native_name              = {{native name|fy|Skylge|icon=no}}
| settlement_type          = [[List of municipalities of the Netherlands|Municipality]] and [[island]]
<!-- Images, nickname, motto -->| image_skyline            = {{multiple image
  | total_width            = 280
  | border                 = infobox
  | perrow                 = 1/2/1
  | caption_align          = center
  | image1                 = Brandaris, Terschelling - panoramio (1).jpg
  | alt1                   = Lighthouse
  | caption1               = [[Brandaris|Lighthouse]]
  | image2                 = Commandeurstraat 30 in West-Terschelling -01.jpg
  | alt2                   = Museum West-Terschelling
  | caption2               = Museum West-Terschelling
  | image3                 = Formerum.jpg
  | alt3                   = Mill of Formerum
  | caption3               = [[Koffiemolen, Formerum|Mill of Formerum]]
  | image4                 = Drenkelingenhuisje terschelling IMG 4190.jpg
  | alt4                   = Emergency shelter for shipwreck victims
  | caption4               = Emergency shelter for shipwreck victims
  }}
| image_alt                = 
| image_caption            = 
| image_flag               = Flag of Terschelling.svg
| flag_size                = 100x67px
| flag_alt                 = 
| image_shield             = Terschelling wapen.svg
| shield_size              = 100x80px
| shield_alt               = <!-- Maps, coordinates -->
| image_map                = Terschelling locator map municipality NL 2018.png
| map_alt                  = Highlighted position of Terschelling in a municipal map of Friesland
| map_caption              = Location in Friesland
| coordinates              = {{coord|53|24|N|5|19|E|region:NL|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes    = 
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = [[Netherlands]]
| subdivision_type1        = Province
| subdivision_name1        = [[Friesland]]
| government_footnotes     = <ref name="mayor_now">{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.terschelling.nl/collegeleden-en-werkwijze
 |title       = College van B&W
 |trans-title = Board of mayor and aldermen
 |language    = nl
 |publisher   = Gemeente Terschelling
 |access-date  = 29 September 2013
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20131002141627/http://www.terschelling.nl/politiek-en-bestuur/college-van-bw_3607/
 |archive-date = 2 October 2013
}}</ref>
| governing_body           = [[Municipal council (Netherlands)|Municipal council]]
| leader_party             = [[VVD]]
| leader_title             = [[Burgemeester|Mayor]]
| leader_name              = [[Caroline van de Pol]]
<!-- Geographic information -->| unit_pref                = Metric
<!-- ALL fields with measurements have automatic unit conversion -->
<!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->| area_footnotes           = <ref>{{Dutch municipality total area|dataref}}</ref>
<!-- square kilometers -->| area_total_km2           = {{Dutch municipality total area|Terschelling}}
| area_land_km2            = {{Dutch municipality land area|Terschelling}}
| area_water_km2           = {{Dutch municipality water area|Terschelling}}
| elevation_footnotes      = <ref name="AHN">{{cite web
 |url = http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool
 |title = Postcodetool for 8881EB
 |language = nl
 |author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
 |work = Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland
 |publisher = Het Waterschapshuis
 |access-date = 29 September 2013
 |archive-date = 21 September 2013
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053543/http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool
 |url-status = dead
 }}</ref>
| elevation_m              = 6
| elevation_max_footnotes  = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| elevation_max_m          = 
| elevation_min_footnotes  = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| elevation_min_m          = <!-- Population, demographics -->
| population_footnotes     = <ref>{{Dutch municipality population|dataref}}</ref>
| population_total         = {{Dutch municipality population|Terschelling}}
| population_as_of         = {{MONTHNAME|{{Dutch municipality population|popbasemonth}}}} {{Dutch municipality population|popbaseyear}}
| population_density_km2   = {{Dutch municipality population density|Terschelling}} <!-- For automatic calculation: auto-->
| population_demonym       = Terschellinger
<!-- Other information -->| timezone1                = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset1              = +1
| timezone1_DST            = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST          = +2
| postal_code_type         = [[Postal codes in the Netherlands|Postcode]]
| postal_code              = 8880–8897
| area_code_type           = [[Telephone numbers in the Netherlands|Area code]]
| area_code                = 0562
| website                  = {{URL|1=https://www.terschelling.nl/}}
| footnotes                = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Duinen Terschelling
| designation1_date = 29 August 2000
| designation1_number = 2215<ref>{{Cite web|title=Duinen Terschelling|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2215|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}}
}}
[[File:Terschelling-natuur-OpenTopo.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|Dutch Topographic map of Terschelling, December 2015]]
[[File:Bosplaat.JPG|upright=1.35|thumb|The {{Interlanguage link|Boschplaat nature reserve|lt=Boschplaat|nl|Boschplaat (Terschelling)}}]]

'''Terschelling''' ({{IPA|nl|tɛrˈsxɛlɪŋ|-|465 Terschelling.ogg}}; {{langx|fy|Skylge}}; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a [[Municipalities of the Netherlands|municipality]] and an [[island]] in the northern [[Netherlands]], one of the [[West Frisian Islands]]. It is situated between the islands of [[Vlieland]] and [[Ameland]].

[[Wadden Sea|Wadden]] Islanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts recovered from shipwrecks. The islands are surrounded by shipwrecks, and even today many containers wash ashore that have blown off the decks of [[container ships]] in the North Sea.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The main source of income on Terschelling is tourism. There is some agriculture, but a large part of the island has become a nature reserve.

Terschelling is well known for the yearly [[Oerol Festival]] during which theatre performances are played throughout the island, making use of its landscape and nature.

Terschelling can be reached by [[ferry]] from the mainland Frisian town [[Harlingen, Netherlands|Harlingen]] and in summer from [[Vlieland]] by [[High-speed craft|high-speed]] [[Catamaran#Passenger transport|catamaran]].

==History==
The island in its current shape formed in the [[Middle Ages]] from a sandy area called De Schelling in the west and the original island Wexalia in the east. The name Wexalia, Wuxalia, or Wecsile is the medieval name of eastern Terschelling. However, this name disappeared at the end of the Middle Ages. The last appearance of the name Wexalia is in a treaty between Folkerus Reijner Popma, then ruler of Terschelling, with king [[Edward IV]] of England in 1482.

The oldest traces of civilization on Terschelling date from around 850, when a small wooden church was built on a hill near Seeryp or Stryp (Striep). This hill was later used as a burial ground and is known as the "Strieperkerkhof".

Historically, tensions existed between the inhabitants of West-Terschelling, with its strong orientation towards the sea, and the more agriculturally oriented inhabitants of East-Terschelling. In 1612 this led to the division of the island into independent political entities, West-Terschelling and East-Terschelling. Only after the French occupation at the start of the 19th century was Terschelling again united as one entity.

The Dutch navigator [[Willem Barentsz]] was born on Terschelling around 1550.

In 1666 West-Terschelling was ransacked by the English. The English fleet had originally planned to attack the Dutch merchant fleet which was moored before the coast of [[Vlieland]], the next island to the west. When the Dutch vessels retreated towards Terschelling, the English followed, destroyed 150 Dutch vessels, and landed in the harbour of West Terschelling. The town was burnt to the ground by the English on this occasion which would become known as "[[Holmes's Bonfire]]" after the English admiral [[Sir Robert Holmes]]. The [[Great Fire of London]] in the very same year was considered by some{{who|date=April 2020}} to have been God's retribution. The next year, in 1667, the Dutch under command of [[Michiel de Ruyter|De Ruyter]] executed a retaliatory expedition, and dealt the English navy a heavy blow at the [[Raid on the Medway]] (also known as the Battle of Chatham), in effect ending the [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In 1799, [[HMS Lutine|HMS ''Lutine'']], a [[United Kingdom|British]] frigate loaded with British [[gold]], sank on the western Terschelling coast (was erroneously quoted in the lemma on Texel) in a storm. Her wreck shifted in the sands; despite several intensive, well-financed searches, only a few treasures have been found. A beaker made from a silver bar is displayed in the [[National Maritime Museum]] at Greenwich. Her bell was recovered and is now in the headquarters of [[Lloyd's of London]], where it is tolled before announcing important news.

Until 1942 Terschelling, like Vlieland, was part of the province of [[North Holland]].

==Language==
On the island of Terschelling both [[Dutch language|Dutch]], the national language of the Netherlands, and [[West Frisian language|Frisian]] are spoken. Historically, Frisian dialects have dominated on the western and eastern sides of the island while a Dutch dialect called Midslands has been the main language of Midsland and the surrounding area at the center of the island. However, the use of the three dialects is on the decline, and all three are slowly being replaced by the standard Dutch language.

==Cranberries==
The island is known for being one of only two [[Wadden]] islands where [[cranberry|cranberries]] grow, the other being the island of Vlieland. In 1840, a barrel of cranberries, apparently packed by sailors as an [[antiscorbutic]], washed ashore on the island's coast, and the islanders cultivated them for their own sailors.

The cranberries, finding the environment favorable, established themselves on the island. Nowadays, the cranberry fields cover {{convert|0.48|km2|sqmi|3|abbr=on}} or {{convert|48|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}}. The cranberries are mainly sold to tourists and used by the island's restaurants and bakeries.

== Population centres ==

Areas in Terschelling are the following:
(Standard [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] names in brackets)
{{columns-list|colwidth=12em|
* [[Baaiduinen]] (Baaidunen)
* [[Formerum]] (Formearum)
* Hee
* [[Hoorn, Friesland|Hoorn]] (Hoarne)
* Kaard
* [[Kinnum]] (Kinum)
* [[Landerum]]
* [[Lies, Friesland|Lies]]
* [[Midsland]] (Midslân)
* [[Midsland aan Zee]] (Midslân oan See)
* Midsland-Noord (Midslân-Noard)
* [[Oosterend, Terschelling|Oosterend]] (Easterein)
* Seerijp (Stryp)
* West aan Zee (West)
* [[West-Terschelling]] (seat) (West-Schylge)
}}
[[File:Barents.jpg|135px|thumb|portrait of Willem Barents, 16/17 C]]

== Notable people ==
* [[Bauck Poppema]] (died 1501), legendary Dutch heroine
* [[Willem Barentsz]] (c. 1550 – 1597), Dutch navigator, cartographer and Arctic explorer; the [[Barents Sea]] was named after him.
* [[Frank I. Kooyman]] (1880–1963), Dutch hymnwriter
* [[Hessel (singer)|Hessel van der Kooij]] (born 1955), Dutch singer
* [[Joris Voest]] (born 1995), Dutch professional footballer

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Terschelling_040.JPG|the isle of Terschelling
File:Terschelling 155.JPG|Shop in Terschelling
File:Terschelling_071.JPG|the isle of Terschelling
File:Terschelling_042.JPG|Terschelling, Commandeurstraat
</gallery>
{{wide image|Schylge Panorama.jpg|770px|Panorama of Terschelling, including [[Brandaris]], the [[lighthouse]] of Terschelling.}}

== See also ==
* [[Oan Schylge]], the island's anthem

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://www.terschelling.nl}}
*[http://www.vvvterschelling.nl Tourist office website]

{{Sister bar|auto=y}}
{{Geographic location
 | Centre    = Terschelling
 | North     = ''[[North Sea]]''
 | East      = [[Ameland]]
 | Southeast = ''[[Wadden Sea]]''<br/>[[Waadhoeke]]
 | South     = ''[[Wadden Sea]]''<br/>[[Harlingen, Netherlands|Harlingen]]
 | Southwest = [[Vlieland]]
 | West      = ''[[North Sea]]''
}}
{{Dutch municipality Terschelling}}
{{Friesland Province}}
{{Frisian Islands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Terschelling| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Friesland]]
[[Category:Former municipalities of North Holland]]
[[Category:Islands of Friesland]]
[[Category:West Frisian Islands]]
[[Category:Ramsar sites in the Netherlands]]