In January 1818, Caspar David Friedrich married Christiane Caroline Bommer, who was about 20 years his junior.

The painting depicts the view from the chalk cliffs of the Stubbenkammer, at that time one of the most famous lookout points on the island.

Friedrich often composed his landscapes from carefully chosen elements of different sketches, so that a specific location is not necessarily discernible.

The two tiny sailboats stand as symbols for the soul which opens to eternal life and correspond to the figures of the two men.

[2] On the left, the woman in a red dress (who is usually identified as Friedrich's wife Caroline)[2] sits beside an almost dried-up shrub: only the twigs around her face are leafing out.