Norderney - Rotary GSE Team Style

by: Gretyl

The team with the Norderney Bürghermeister, center, Assistant Bürghermeister, third from left, and RC Norderney President, Horst Wirdemann, second from left.

The President of the Norderney Rotary Club, Horst Wirdemann, and other fellow club members treated us to a spectacular introductory day on this resort island in the North Sea on Tuesday, June 5.
It began with a meeting with the Bürghermeister, Ulrichs Frank at the Rathaus, and continued with a bicycle tour around this amazing island.

Norderney is one of seven East Frisian islands in a chain in the North Sea and has only about 6,000 permanent residents, but becomes a population of about 50,000 in the summertime.  It is a destination primarily for German visitors, but the local Staatsbad is working to make it the premier Thalasso in all of Europe.  It is the only one of the seven islands that is accessible multiple times each day via ferry, and one of two islands which allow vehicles.  Many say it is the "party island" but the Staatsbad is working to change that image with a new marketing campaign, Meine Insel which Jodi mentioned below.

We paid a visit to the Norderney Leuchtturm, had a tour of the Wasserwerks and had lunch at the Flugplatz.  After lunch Herr Wirdemann took us on a plane ride around the island, which was spectacular!!  The skies were clear blue for the afternoon and from the sky it is clear that the island offers a little something for everyone.
One end of the island is full of residences and businesses, and the other is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site where building is prohibited.
The island offers quiet, white, sandy beaches, beautiful dunes, quaint shops, music, horse back riding, wind surfing and so much more.

On Tuesday afternoon, one of our wonderful hosts, Volker Jänsch, demonstrated his old Heidelberg printing press, which for me, as a journalist who loves old things, was a highlight.  Volker has a cabinet full of seed boxes that were his grandfather's and are over 100 years old.  Setting type and running a printing machine used to truly be an artform, I think, and it was really neat to see it in action.  Volker is a printer, not a typesetter, he said, but he set special type and printed us each a unique and numbered sheet on handmade paper to commemorate the day.  I will try and get video up soon!







On Wednesday, June 6 Christine, Jodi, Karen and I had the pleasure of spending the morning with the marketing and tourism staff at the Staatsbad, learning about the Meine Insel marketing campaign.

Christine assists Inga Devermann, Marketingkoordination Neue Medien with some video editing.

In the afternoon, Christine and I were interviewed by one of the island's three newspapers, the Ostfriesischer Kurier.  One of the three "newspapers" is a free daily that goes out each morning and looks more like a newsletter.  The other two are in competition, but the reporters work out of the same office, and the papers are owned by the same parent company on the mainland.  It is an interesting arrangement.   A story about our team will appear in this Tuesday's edition of the paper.

In the summer, the news is geared primarily to the tourists, and does not feature much "hard" news.  But when the tourists leave, the politics kick in, the editor informed us, and that is what he likes best - a true journalist.  I told him if he liked politics, he would love being a journalist in New Hampshire, but I think he likes it here on the island, so my job is secure for now.

On Thursday, June 7 we took a walk in the Wattenmeer, which at low tide actually connects the island to the mainland via an important biological habitat and migrating area for birds.  The area also features thick "shlick" which is so good for your skin, you can buy some of the mud for about 15 Euro in area stores.
Jodi posted some great pictures below of our walk in the schlick with a guide who also taught us about the wildlife that live in and rely on the unique habitat.

That afternoon we spent in the Badehouse, enjoying the saltwater swimming pool, hot tubs, salzbads, and even a shlick treatment.  It was so relaxing, that we all couldn't help but openly yawn by the end of our farewell dinner at the Giftbude that evening.

Jon and Jodi prepare to devour some eis at the Central Cafe.

While on the island, I had the great pleasure of being hosted by the family that owns and operates the Central Cafe.  The cafe has existed on the island for more than 75 years and features professional confectioners so they make all their own cakes, candies and eis.  Needless to say I was a happy and well-fed girl for the week and the Tillmann and Kanngießer family made me feel like one of their own!!

Sadly, Friday, June 8 was our last day on the island and we took the ferry back to "Germany" as the Norderneyers would say.