Great love for the small island of Baltrum

Heinrich Heine about the people on the East Friesian islands

[...] the native people are overall penniless and they fish for their living [...] it happens so often that they die on the water [...] Sailing the sea holds great attraction for these people and yet, I believe, they feel at their best at home. Even when they have come to these southern parts of the world on their ships [...] in the middle of fragrant springtime, each of them returns to his sand island, to his small hut, to the flickering open fire place, where his people, his family, well preserved in woolly coats, stroll around and drink tea - a drink that only distinguishes itself from boiled water because of its name -, and speak (in) a language that makes you wonder how on earth it is possible for them to understand this language themselves."

Free translation of an excerpt from "Reiseberichte: Die Nordsee", 1826