Introduction
This article is about the Dutch island. For other uses, see Texel (disambiguation).
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Municipality and island in North Holland, NetherlandsTexelMunicipality and islandNorth end of the island with the Eierland Lighthouse in 2015
FlagCoat of armsLocation in North HollandCoordinates: 53°3′N 4°48′E / 53.050°N 4.800°E / 53.050; 4.800CountryNetherlandsProvinceNorth HollandGovernment • BodyMunicipal council • MayorMark Pol (VVD)Area • Total463.16 km2 (178.83 sq mi) • Land162.00 km2 (62.55 sq mi) • Water301.16 km2 (116.28 sq mi)Elevation2 m (6.6 ft)Population (January 2021) • Total13,656 • Density84/km2 (220/sq mi)Demonym(s)Tesselaar, TexelaarTime zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postcode1790–1797Area code0222Websitewww.texel.nl
Texel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtɛsəl] ⓘ; Texels dialect: Tessel) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,846 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den Helder, northeast of Noorderhaaks, and southwest of Vlieland.
Name
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The name Texel is Frisian, but because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all -x- sounds have been replaced with -s- sounds (compare for instance English fox, Frisian fokse, German Fuchs with Dutch vos), the name is typically pronounced Tessel in Dutch.
History
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The All Saints' Flood of 1170 created the islands of Texel and Wieringen from North Holland. In the 13th century Ada, Countess of Holland was held prisoner on Texel by her uncle, William I, Count of Holland.[citation needed]
Texel received city rights in 1415.[citation needed]
The first Dutch expedition to the Northwest Passage departed from the island on 5 June 1594.[citation needed]
Texel was involved in the Battle of Scheveningen (1653) during the First Anglo-Dutch War and the Battle of Texel (1673) during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.[citation needed]
The shallow waters around Texel have been responsible for many shipwrecks, including in February 1643, the loss of a ship (the 'Palmwood Wreck') containing the household of Queen Henrietta Maria of France. Later wrecks included the British ship HMS Hero, sunk on the sands off Texel in 1811.
Dutch ships in the roadstead of Texel, 1671
HMS Hero wrecked at Haak Sands near Texel 25 December 1811
De Hors at Dunes of Texel National Park
During the American Revolutionary War, Texel was used as a port by Continental Navy officer John Paul Jones after the battle of Flamborough Head off the Yorkshire coast in September 1779. In the battle, Jones captured the Royal Navy frigate Serapis, which he sailed to Texel for desperately needed repairs. This event further complicated Anglo-Dutch relations.
In 1797, Texel was involved in the Battle of Camperdown during the French Revolutionary Wars.
During the First World War in 1914, the Battle off Texel took place off the coast of Texel.
On the night of 31 August 1940, the sea to the northwest of Texel was the scene of the sinking of two Royal Navy destroyers and the severe damage of a third by German mines in what is known as the Texel Disaster.
At the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Georgian uprising on Texel took place on the island. Following a German decision to redeploy Georgian soldiers to the mainland, they revolted and killed hundreds of their German comrades while they slept. The uprising lasted from 5 April 1945 until 20 May 1945, two weeks after V-E Day. At that point, Canadian troops arrived and arranged for the two sides to separately leave the island. For that reason, the uprising is often referred to as the final battle of the Second World War in Europe. Hundreds of Georgians who died fighting against the Germans are buried in a special cemetery on Texel commonly known as the "Russian cemetery".
