Heligoland or Helgoland from 1814 to present

The Chairman introduced Norman Hudson, making his third appearance at our society, to the assembled members who were looking forward to finding out about Heligoland.

The island of Helgoland lies off the north-west coast of Germany, about 40 miles (64kms) north-west of the mouth of the River Elbe.  Heligoland is only a small island, but one with a fascinating history owing to its strategic location.

Norman took us from the seizure of the island by the British from Denmark in 1814, through the handover to Germany in 1890 and onwards through two world wars to the present day.

He was able to illustrate his talk with a flag, a map, stamps, covers, postcards, photographs and a variety of ephemera.

A thoroughly entertaining and informative evening was had by all.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the Postal history of Heligoland can read about it on Wikipedia.