HELIGOLAND (Ger. Helgoland), an island of Germany, in the North Sea, lying off the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, 28 m. from the nearest point in the mainland. Pop. (1925) 2,588. The generally accepted derivation of Heligoland (or Helgoland) is from Heiligeland, i.e., "Holy Land." The original name of the island was Fositesland from a god called Fosite (Foseti). Accord ing to northern mythology, Forseti, a son of Balder and Nanna, the god of justice, had on the island a temple subsequently de stroyed by St. Ludger. Another suggested etymology, however, is that of Hallaglun, or Halligland, i.e., "land of banks, which cover and uncover." Here Hertha, according to tradition, had her temple, and hither came from the mainland the Angles to worship at her shrine, and on this isle St. Willibrord in the 7th century first preached Christianity. For its ownership, before and after that date, many sea-rovers have fought until it finally became a fief of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein. The island was a Danish possession in 1807, when the English seized and held it until it was formally ceded to them in 1814. A British possession until 189o, it was ceded in that year to Germany, and since 1892 has formed part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. It consists of two islets, the main, or Rock island, and the small Dunen-Insel, a quarter of a mile to the east, connected by a neck of land until 172o, when they were severed by a violent irruption of the sea. The former is nearly triangular in shape and is surrounded by steep red cliffs, the only beach being the sandy spit near the south-east point, with the landing-stage. The cliffs are worn into caves, arches and columns. The impression made by the red cliffs, fringed by a white beach and supporting the green Oberland, is commonly believed to have suggested the national colours, red, white and green, or, as the old Frisian rhyme goes : "Gron is dat Land, Rood is de Kant, Witt is de Sand, Dat. is de Flagg vun't hillige Land." The lower town of Unterland, on the spit, and the upper town, or Oberland, situated on the cliff above, are connected by a wooden stair and a lift. There is a powerful lighthouse, and after cession by Great Britain to Germany, the main island was strongly fortified, but the fortifications were demolished according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Inside the Dunen-Insel the largest ships can ride safely at anchor, and take in coal and other supplies. The greatest length of the main island, which slopes somewhat from west to east, is just a mile, and the greatest breadth less than a third of a mile, its average height 198 ft., and the highest point, crowned by the church, 216 feet. The Diinen-Insel is a sand-bank protected by groynes, and here the numerous visitors bathe. Most of the houses are built of brick, but some are of wood. In 1892 a biological institute, with marine museum and aquarium (1900) attached, was opened.
German is the official language, though among themselves the natives speak a dialect of Frisian, barely intelligible to the other islands of the group. There is regular communication with Bremen and Hamburg.
The winters are stormy. May and the early part of June are wet and foggy, so that few visitors arrive before the middle of the latter month.