The Old Island Church on Spiekeroog was built in 1696 and is the oldest island church in the East Frisian Islands. The island also has a beach more than 15 kilometres long at its northern end, a 4-kilometre dune walk and nature-related attractions focused on the island and the Wadden Sea. This mix offers different starting points for planning your trip: you can focus on the coastal landscape, island history or nature.
Beach and trails
The beach stretches for more than 15 kilometres along the northern end of the island. The dune walk starts in the east of the island village, is 4 kilometres long and takes around 2.5 hours. This gives you two different measures to use in your plans: an extensive beach landscape and a route with a specific length and approximate duration. If you plan to take the walk, you can consider its length alongside its approximate duration; the figure for the beach, by contrast, describes its geographical extent.
Island history in the village centre
The church and museum offer two different points of reference for the island's history. The Old Island Church was built in 1696 and is the oldest island church in the East Frisian Islands. The Spiekeroog Island Museum is located at Rathausplatz, at the entrance to the historic village centre, in a former captain's house dating from 1715. It tells the story of Spiekeroog's nature and history. These places bring together architectural history and a broader view of the island's nature and history.
Nature: exhibition, laboratory and Ostplate
The WittbĂĽlten National Park Centre is located in the east of Spiekeroog, at the Hermann Lietz School. Its permanent exhibition covers tides, the formation of the island, island habitats and marine mammals. At the centre's research facility, visitors, school classes and student groups can study Spiekeroog's flora and fauna in the laboratory. The permanent exhibition and the study of plant and animal life in the laboratory thus offer different ways to explore the island's nature.
Ostplate adds a different timescale to these nature-related themes. It is a natural landscape whose largely undisturbed natural development has continued from its formation a few hundred years ago to the present day. The area's topics include the dynamics of the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site and the distinctive features and threats facing this landscape. Alongside the themes of tides, the island's formation and habitats, this offers a perspective that ranges from individual natural processes to the development of a landscape.
Spiekeroog in the East Frisian Islands destination
As part of the wider East Frisian Islands destination, Spiekeroog is one of a group of seven islands off the coast of Lower Saxony, along the East Frisian Peninsula after which they are named. The others are Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog and Wangerooge. In Lower Saxony's Wadden Sea National Park, the East Frisian Islands are a hotspot of biological diversity. The annual Migratory Bird Days offer a varied programme on each of the East Frisian Islands. If you would like to plan your trip around the event, check the dates for your travel period.
Discover more destinations: Langeoog, Wangerooge, Norderney, Borkum, Baltrum, Juist.
Go to the overview of the wider destination: East Frisian Islands.
