The Hoher Knechtsand measures Шаблон:Convert in an east-west direction and is between Шаблон:Convert wide in the west and Шаблон:Convert wide in the east. The area of the sandbank above the high water mark is about Шаблон:Convert.
East of the Großer Knechtsand lie the mudflats of Spiekaer Barre. To the north and south it is bordered by the tidal channels (Priele) of Westertill, Ostertill and Robins Balje. Further southeast is the Wurster Watt off the coast of Land Wursten.
To enable the population of Heligoland to return to their home, the then Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, offered the area around the Großer Knechtsand as an alternative site for military exercises. As a result, from 1952 the area acted as a target for practice bombing sharp explosive and incendiary bombs of the British Royal Air Force instead of Heligoland. A few years later, environmental awareness had increased and, when the contract expired in 1957, it was not renewed. This important area for resting and moulting shelduck and other seabirds was designated in 1957 as the largest German nature reserve in Germany. Since 1986 the area has been part of the strictly protected 'quiet zone' of Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park.
About 2 km northwest of the Großer Knechtsand lies the sandbanks of Kleine Knechtsände (Шаблон:Coord).
Sources
Friedrich, Ernst Andreas (1980). Naturdenkmale Niedersachsens. Hanover, Шаблон:ISBN.
