Common information

The island is located traditionally in Texla. The area of the town is 585.96 km² of which the largest portion (416.14 km²) is water, the land area is only about 170km². The average length of Texel is 20 km and average width 8 km.

Texel has 13,682 inhabitants (December 31, 2008, source: CBS). The workforce of over 3,500 people about 17% works in agriculture. The first inhabitants of Texel may have lived in the Central Stone Age (8000-4500 BC), archaeologists have found evidence of that. In 1415 Texel (the entire island) has given city status, it can, with some fantasy, called the "largest city in the Netherlands".

Given Texel is an island no one speaks of events 'in' Texel but 'on' Texel. The residents (Tesselaars) will surely correct you if you ask how it is to live IN Texel.

Texel is the only Dutch island with a large school for secondary education.In Den Burg, the Public School "De Hogenberg" located, offering education for VMBO, HAVO and VWO.

Texel and Eierland

The island Texel is actually two islands: the southern island of Texel and the northerly Eierland. In 1630 the Zanddijk was completed that connected both Waddeneilanden. In 1835, the Belgium-based Joseph Nicolas De Cock together with some other gentlemen founded a company that developed the salt marsh between Eierland and Texel for agricultural use. In the newly created polder Eierland was founded a village called Nieuwdorp, but that was later named after him: De Cocksdorp.

Landscape

The landscape on Texel is rich and diverse. Texel has except polders, broad sandy beaches, dunes and grasslands also heaths, woods and marshes. Around Den Hoorn in the south are large flower fields. National Park Dunes of Texel manages the southern tip of Texel, the area between the dunes and De Koog Den Hoorn, The Pine, The Slufter and De Muy.

The core of the island is formed by the "high mountains" that lays between Oudeschild and Den Burg. It is a low stuwwal created in Drenthestages of the Saalien (the second last ice age). The highest point is 15 meters above sea level. Despite the modest height you can see from here the whole island. Keileem here is close to the surface. This is a hard, water impermeable layer. Around the plots are known tuunwallen. This tuunwallen, together with the slopes of the area is a valued landscape. The area is a landscape reserve. On a slope of the "Hoge Berg" is also the Maze, a forest from 1764, and the sandpit, The Netherlands first insects reserve.

A natural phenomenon is the Slufter, an area within the broad dune chain on the northwest side of the island, full of creeks and gullies, in open connection with the North Sea. It is caused by a dune breakthrough in 1858. At high tide, a part of The Slufter runs under water and at low tide the water runs through the channels back to sea. Therefore, sludge formation and salinization arise and vegetation had to adapt. The Slufter is seperated of the polder Eijerlandse by the Zanddijk.

Eijerland was once an island north of Texel. It was called Yerland. By human intervention, installation of sand-trapping plants (including helmgras) and shelter, the beach and dunes on the northwest side of Texel were widened. They started it in 1629. Finally, a zanddijk basis, that connects the two islands could be build. In 1846, the polder "De Eendracht" was drained, in 1847-1848 the "Prins Hendrik" polder and in 1876 the polder "Het Noorden".

There is a constantly struggle against the force of sea and wind. Severe storms may swep away dozens or even hundreds of meters dunes. In 1864 in the north to De Cocksdorp a lighthouse was placed at about 3 km from the sea. Now the sea is just below the tower, with a slope asphalt and various engineered sea walls protected agains the sea. The beach is now gradually increasing again. Also in the southwest it gains land. On the east side of Texel, a dyke protects the island from the Wadden Sea.

All dunes of Texel, from the Hors to the lighthouse, is the National Park Dunes of Texel.

In 2008, the province of Noord-Holland declared the dunes of Texel as a reproductive nature monument. This status applies to the dunes between the lighthouse at De Cockdorp and the southern tip of Texel. The unveiling of the monument took place on October 8, 2008 on th "Bertusnol", one of the highest dunes of the island. North-Holland has 17 Earth Science Monuments, areas with unique political nature values.

Texel is a popular spot for bird watchers. On some days you can observe hundred different types birds. On Texel breed in the spring, especially in the dunes, about 80 different species, but in total about 300 species were observed. The Muy, a dune area between De Koog and the Slufter is a protected area, it is the breeding ground of the oldest spoonbill colony of the Netherlands. Other notable birds on Texel, the Little Tern and the velduil. The zilvermeeuw come in large numbers.

The vegetation is rich and varied. The fauna less, because of the remoteness of the island. However, there are still ermine, brown rats, 5 types of mice, rabbits, hares, small amphibians such as frogs (brown frog and heikikker) Natterjack water and salamanders. Butterflies on Texel: including Atalanta, thistle butterfly, Sint-jacobs butterfly, dune pearl butterfly and, since 1995, the rookie. Thousands of insect species are observed on the island.

Texel has several folkloric use. On December 12 Old Sunderland Klaas is celebrated. This is a remnant of Sinterklaas as it was celebrated before the 19th century. In Den Burg is a parade of people who speulen. Speulen means that a local event of the past year is acted out. That speulen is masked so that the speulers are not identified. The whole night there are parties.

On April 30 the meierblis is lit. These are big fires of waste and prunings. This fire are lit at the beginning of the night. Some bake in this fire their potatoes. According to folklore experts meierblis is a preserved remains of the Germanic use to fire the spirits of the winter away. In 2003 there were approximately 110 meierblissen on Texel.

There are also stories of Sommeltjes whe lived by "De Waal" in the Sommeltjesberg. These people were friendly polished the silverware of the Texel inhabitants by night. Faith in Sommeltjes also exists on Wieringen, there they are called Sammelkes.

Besides Sommeltjes there were other supernatural beings present on the island, at least according to the stories. Children were often frightened by stories about the tientóóners. These tientóóners were not so creepy, they were ordinary people, tienteners. However, it was really scary Heintje Vaar, a being in ditches and ponds that ceased children who are too close to the water and pulled them under water. Heintje Vaar was a typical bogeyman and stories about him, in various forms, are general and not specifically Texel.