Former island with an elongated structure, the core of which consists of a terminal moraine of the land ice in the shape of the boulder 'De Hoge Wal'. This moraine, which is the highest in the west (about thirteen meters), was formed in the penultimate ice age of the Pleistocene (the Saalian) and raised in the last ice age (the Weichseline) with a layer of sand. Storm surges in the early Middle Ages caused the separation of the mainland, after which an island remained in the 12th century.
Wieringen, known for the first time in the 10th century, and known in 1184 under this name, accepted in 1284 the authority of the Count of Holland. In 1432, Wieringen received a number of trade rights from countess-widow Margaretha. Already in 1541 there was a plan to reclaim a part of the outer dike grounds on the south-east side, but these fell again in the 17th century. The final diking was only done in 1845-'46, in the form of the polder Waard-Nieuwland. Around the island, fishes were fished until about 1930, first for the purpose of the dike construction and later, for example, for mattress fillings. At the point at Westerland, a quarantine facility was founded in 1806 (abolished 1876). Originally, the island had no port, but in 1890 they dug a harbor on the southwest side at De Haukes and in 1900 a harbor at Den Oever.
After the storm disaster of 1916 the plans for a closing dike came underway. The island was connected to the mainland via the Amsteldiepdijk (1921-'24) and via the Afsluitdijk (1929-'32) with Friesland. To defecate the Koningsweg, paved in 1864, a concrete road was constructed across the island in 1930 (now N99). The Waddendijk on the north side was brought to Delta height around 1987. The most important settlements on the island are: Den Oever, Hippolytushoef, Oosterland and Westerland. See elsewhere in this book.
