Defenses on Heligoland

[Beniamin]

I have a question.

Are there still defenses left over from WW1 on Heligoland? Is it worth it to visit the island to see the guns and other traces of WW1 if any remain? 
(I know no fighting occurred on the island itself, but from what I know there were guns on the island which fired at British ships during the battle of Heligoland Bight)

[GreyC]

After WW2 the surface of the island was devasted by the largest non-nuclear explosion caused by man (in this case the British) to destroy everything upon it. They more or less succeeded, although some man made tunnels survived the explosion. They were created after WW1 however, as far as I know. So not much left to look at from pre WW1 times, but still always worth a visit.

GreyC

 

 

[The Treasurer]

23 hours ago, Beniamin said:

I have a question.

Are there still defenses left over from WW1 on Heligoland? Is it worth it to visit the island to see the guns and other traces of WW1 if any remain? 
(I know no fighting occurred on the island itself, but from what I know there were guns on the island which fired at British ships during the battle of Heligoland Bight)

I can recommend Hochseefestung Helgoland (Volume I) (isbn 3980541517) if you want to do a then and now comparison. Text is in German, but it is full of photos and plans of the WW1 defences. However as GreyC has pointed out the WW1 era fortifications and their traces on the ground are virtually gone. They were largely destroyed in the 1920s under the terms of the Versailles Treaty. The big guns only briefly fired in anger once, during one of Tyrwhitt's raids into the Bight on an exceptionally clear day, but he was actually out of range! The weather was too murky during the Battle in 1914 for them to be able to fire.

Edited 24 September by The Treasurer