Sea glass beaches in Germany

Nordstrand, Helgoland

Germany's only offshore island sits 50 km out in the North Sea, and its north beach is the best known sea glass shore in the country. The sand runs along the foot of the Nordostland, the ground the islanders made out of their own rubble. Before there were boats to carry the island's rubbish to the mainland it went over the cliff into the sea, and after the RAF flattened the town in 1945 the debris went the same way. Collectors have been coming for years, and islander Maren Lohmeyer has filled a small free museum up on the Oberland with what the shore hands back: frosted glass, porcelain doll parts, shards still carrying ornament and dates. Best in the cold months after a storm, at low water. Stay on the sand and keep off the dune grass behind it, which is protected habitat.