The people who live on the German North Sea are used to high tides. In their calm North German fashion they don’t become upset when they hear statements that the sea level will rise due to melting of the polar ice caps. The people there trust in their dykes that for centuries have more or less protected them from flooding. The further development of dyke construction is therefore the focus of Germany’s North Sea inhabitants, not the horror scenarios; at least it seems to be so.

The dyke crown near the city of Neufeld is being built 90 centimeters higher for a length of 8.8 kilometers, and will thus be higher than eight meters.The present dyke runs along the coastline of over 400 km. Its construction began in the eleventh century. Without the dyke the coast of the North Sea would look much different than it does today. One fourth of Schleswig-Holstein’s area would be missing. It would have been under water since anyone could remember.In spite of technical sophistication, there is no absolute protection against floodwater. During the great storm tide of 1962 that flooded the Hanseatic City of Hamburg and its surrounding regions and cost 315 people their lives, the dyke was destroyed in many places.

After the Hamburg flood 1962In the last 100 years the sea level has risen 25 centimeters. The current higher extension of the dyke is 50 centimeters – that should hold out for the next 100 years.