Changing tides - Holger Rüdel Photography

On behalf of Deutsche Post, Knud Knudsen delivers letters and packages from Pellworm to Hallig Süderoog. He walks 14 kilometers barefoot across the mudflats – three times a week and into November. — On behalf of Deutsche Post, Knud Knudsen delivers letters and packages from Pellworm to Hallig Süderoog. He walks 14 kilometers barefoot across the mudflats – often three times a week and well into November. © Holger Rüdel

Tidal changes – North Frisia and the sea is the title of a new photo report I am working on, commissioned by the Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein currently working.

With this project, the Sparkassenstiftung would like to commemorate the previous projects Turning point. The fishermen from Holm in Schleswig an der Schlei and Nomads of our time. Migrant sheep farms in Schleswig-Holstein connect.

Every year on February 21st, the Biike fires burn along the North Frisian coast, on the islands, and on the Hallig islands. The Biike dates back to pagan times and served as a spring fire to ward off evil spirits and protect the crops. Pictured here is the Biike burning on the Stollberg in Bordelum. — Every year on February 21, the Biike fires burn along the North Frisian coast, on the islands, and on the Halligen islands. Dating back to pagan times, the Biike served as a spring fire to ward off evil spirits and protect the crops. Pictured here is the Biike burning on the Stollberg in Bordelum. © Holger Rüdel

Project Tidal Change: Photo report, exhibition and book

The photo essay "Tidal Change" is expected to culminate in an exhibition in 2026, which will be accompanied by a photo book. The writer and journalist Jochen Missfeldt from Schleswig-Holstein was able to be won over as a text author for this publication.

The description of the project states:

For millennia, the sea has shaped the landscape and people of Schleswig-Holstein's west coast. Devastating storm surges such as the great "Mandränken" (Mandrains) of 1362 and 1634 not only dramatically changed Schleswig-Holstein's topography but also seared themselves into the population's collective memory as a permanent existential threat.

When another severe storm surge – one of the most serious natural disasters in Germany – hit the west coast in 1962, the constant danger posed to the land between the seas by the "Blanker Hans" (Blanke Hans) was once again highlighted. Since then, protective measures have been intensified. Their continued implementation remains a constant challenge. Whether it will be possible to protect the landscape in front of the dikes – the Wadden Sea with its Hallig islands – from the floods is uncertain from today's perspective.

Katrin Knudsen is a part-time crab fisherman living on Pellworm. Whenever Fritz Ronnebeck, the captain of the cutter "Annemarie," sets out for a fishing trip, she's on board – one of only two female crab fishermen on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, pictured here on a nighttime trip. © Holger Rüdel

Theodor Storm once called the Halligen islands "floating dreams." Up to 300 people live and work on these small hills in the Wadden Sea, along with countless coastal birds and other Halligen-adapted animals. As the world's largest contiguous mudflat area, this landscape, with its diverse flora and fauna, is of outstanding global importance and was therefore recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.

This puts more focus than ever on this unique natural area—and on the people who have lived here since time immemorial, amidst the changing tides and braved the storms of the sea. For now, because it's predicted that at least some of the ten Halligen islands could disappear into the North Sea in the coming decades.

Ring riding – here in Simonsberg on the Eiderstedt peninsula – has a long tradition on the west coast and has been part of the intangible cultural heritage of the state of Schleswig-Holstein since 2021. © Holger Rüdel

With an aesthetically sophisticated photo report on this topic – presented in a traveling exhibition, accompanied by a catalog, leaflets, and website information – the Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein aims to help raise awareness of the beauty, but also the fragility, of the natural and cultural landscape on Schleswig-Holstein's North Sea coast.

At the same time, this project aims to demonstrate the far-reaching impacts of climate change and the associated rise in sea levels on people and nature in coastal areas, especially on tourism and local economic life.
From the project description "Changing Tides – North Frisia and the Sea. A photographic documentation of living and working conditions with an accompanying traveling exhibition and publication." Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein 2024.