WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.320
Over the years I've been making videos,
lots of people have suggested

2
00:00:03.320 --> 00:00:06.120
that I should see
the Hallig islands in Germany.

3
00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.320
Mostly because of the tiny trains. 

4
00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:09.200
Every few years, 

5
00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:12.600
some media outlet does a story about
how the people who live out on the islands

6
00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:15.560
have their own personal trains
to get them to and from the mainland.

7
00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:17.840
And yes, I'm going to talk about those, 

8
00:00:17.840 --> 00:00:21.240
but the story here is way
more interesting than that.

9
00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:25.000
Although yes, the best way to get to some
of the Hallig islands from the mainland

10
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:26.280
is on board tiny trains. 

11
00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.520
And the railway staff
 here are going to let me take a ride.

12
00:00:29.520 --> 00:00:32.520
IN GERMAN:

13
00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:52.280
But there's a bigger question:
why is there a tiny railroad here?

14
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:59.960
Who builds a railroad
instead of just... a road?

15
00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:18.800
If you're building
 sea defenses in the 1930s

16
00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:21.880
and you need to get a load of
heavy material across a tidal flat,

17
00:01:21.880 --> 00:01:24.280
well, rail is your most efficient option.

18
00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:26.640
And to understand why they
need those defenses,

19
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.160
we need to take a look
at the bigger picture.

20
00:01:29.160 --> 00:01:30.680
But unfortunately 

21
00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.440
I'm not allowed to fly a drone here
 because this is a wildlife reserve.

22
00:01:34.440 --> 00:01:37.560
If you look at aerial images,
you can see that the whole of this area,

23
00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:41.600
the North German coast, is protected
by these barrier islands.

24
00:01:41.600 --> 00:01:45.760
This area is the Wadden Sea, hundreds
of kilometers of sandbars and mudflats

25
00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.480
that act as a natural wave break
and storm defense. 

26
00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.040
That's what they were boosting with
the earthworks here.

27
00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:52.440
Manage these islands correctly,

28
00:01:52.440 --> 00:01:55.080
you'll protect all the cities
on the mainland from flooding. 

29
00:01:55.080 --> 00:01:57.760
Plus, people have lived
on these islands for centuries now.

30
00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:00.360
They'll happily take the storm
defense for themselves.

31
00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:02.360
And the free railroad that comes with it.

32
00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.320
One of the problems with living on
what's basically a bit of sea defense

33
00:03:03.320 --> 00:03:05.920
is that you're going to be
the one that gets flooded.

34
00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:09.960
These islands go mostly underwater
50 or 60 times a year, usually in winter.

35
00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:13.120
The local term for it
translates as "land under".

36
00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.840
The houses are up on mounds
to protect them, and they're built high

37
00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:19.440
enough for now. But one of the reasons
that the railway is still in regular use

38
00:03:19.440 --> 00:03:22.000
is that it's still helping
to build the sea defenses.

39
00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:07.360
It seems strange
to describe an island as something

40
00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:10.240
that needs to be kept healthy,
but yeah, that's why the railway's here.

41
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.200
Yes, the locals have their own trains. 

42
00:04:12.200 --> 00:04:15.320
Very rarely, if they're staying on
the island, tourists can ride too.

43
00:04:15.320 --> 00:04:17.480
And it looks quirky and interesting. 

44
00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:19.600
But the reason behind it
is to stop these islands,

45
00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:23.200
and eventually the mainland,
being flooded by rising seas.