Origins of the island

Texel's landscape deviates strongly from that of the other Frisian islands, which consist mainly of sand and dune areas. The most important cause is the difference in soil structure, but the activities of generations of inhabitants have also left their mark.

Ice from Scandinavia

In the geological Pleistocene age, which lasted until ten-thousand years ago, ice ages and warmer periods took turns. During these cold periods - the Saalien - Twente, Southern-Drenthe, Southern-Friesland, Wieringen and Texel were covered with land ice from Scandinavia.

The boulder clay that was transported with this land ice, a mix of loam, boulders and shingle, was driven up by the ice and remained after this ice age. The Hoge Berg is the clearest example of such an upward driving force. In this area, there are a lot of large boulders in the ground.

The 'old land'

In the following ice age, the Weichselien, the ice did not reach our country, but the climate was rigorous. Large amounts of material eroded and were deposited on the subsoil. In period following that - the Holocene - the hollows between the old boulder clay emergences and the eroded wind-borne sand deposits were filled with marine clay. This oldest area of the current island of Texel roughly takes up the area between Den Hoorn, Den Burg, Hoge Berg, De Waal and Oosterend. This area is still called the 'old land'.

Row of dunes

On the side of the North Sea an arched row of dunes came about in the course of the 13th century, from the Hors in the south to De Koog in the north. North of the former island of Texel was the islet of Eijerland, which consisted mainly of dunes.