Top 10 photo spots on Heligoland - unique scenes

Heligoland is famous for its grey seals. Only here photographers can get so close to the animals in the wild. The cute animals are a rewarding subject and charm with their funny poses. You can even take pictures of freshly born seal pups. But the island offers many more photo spots - from nature shots to pictures steeped in history.

Heligoland is small. An unbeatable advantage for photographers who spend only one day on the island. Because one photo motif follows the next on just a few square kilometres. Our tip: Be sure to hike along the cliff-edge path on the upper land. The 3 km long path leads past many of the most beautiful viewpoints on the island.

Nowhere else can you get as close to grey seals and harbour seals in the wild as on Heligoland. The animals live on the side island called "Düne". They are used to people and do not let themselves be disturbed. You can get as close as 30 metres to the cute animals. This way you can take fantastic photos even without a professional camera.

The Lange Anna ("Tall Anna") is Heligoland's landmark. The 47-metre-high stack of red sandstone rises into the sky like an exclamation mark in the far north-west of the island. Lange Anna is not freely accessible. The best view is from the cliff end of the upper land - or from the water.

The Lummenfelsen on Heligoland is the smallest nature reserve in Germany. Nevertheless, there is a lot going on on the cliffs. The Lummenfelsen takes its name from the guillemots. It is the only place in Germany where these rare birds breed. But many other bird species are also at home on Lummenfelsen - including gannets, kittiwakes and fulmars. So there are plenty of feathered photo opportunities for you.

The vividly coloured lobster stalls are one of the most popular photo motifs on Heligoland. The colourful wooden houses used to serve as homes and workshops for Heligoland's fishermen. Today they are used as galleries, pubs and cafés. Couples can even get married in a civil ceremony in the lobster stalls number 38 and 39.

Besides red rocks and white sand, there are many green spaces on Heligoland. Rare plants such as sea fennel or rock cabbage grow there. In spring and summer, orchids, hoary cress and coltsfoot blossom. Butterflies flutter between thousands of colourful blossoms. In autumn, the sea buckthorn bushes set accents in bright orange.

As an offshore island, Heligoland offers spectacular views of sunsets and sunrises. The most beautiful view of the sunset is at the Lange Anna in the north-west of the island.The best place to enjoy the sunset is on Heligoland Dune - Heligoland's side island with a sandy beach and a great view over the sea.

It looks as if a giant had pressed his fist into the grass: the Heligoland bomb crater is an impressive piece of evidence of Operation Big Bang on 18 April 1945, when British forces detonated 6700 tonnes of munitions and explosives on the island. Today the craters, especially the largest of them, are impressive photo motifs that bring history to life.

The bunkers under the island's surface also offer highly historical motifs. On guided tours through the tunnels, visitors can experience the oppressive feeling of wartime. A must for fans of lost-place photography!

Heligoland has two lighthouses. The large lighthouse stands on the main island. It was built by the Nazis as an flak tower and was designed primarily to be bombproof. The light beam reaches further than any of the other lighthouses in Germany. In ideal weather conditions, it can even reach as far as St. Peter Ording. If you have a good camera in your kit, you can take fascinating pictures of it. The small lighthouse on the "Düne" of Heligoland promises with its classic red and white stripes great photo motifs with strong contrasts even without a professional camera lens.

Cyan water and the finest sand: photos reminiscent of the Caribbean are taken on Heligoland's "Düne". Whether family pictures of a relaxing day at the beach or nature scenes of the gushing surf on the northern beach - here you will find plenty of material for the family album and Instagram pictures with a high jealousy factor.