Schiermonnikoog (Dutch: [ˌsxiːrmɔnəkˈoːx] ⓘ; West Frisian: Skiermûntseach [ˌskiəmuːnˈtsɪəχ] ⓘ) is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands.

Roughly 300,000 people visit the island every year, staying in the 5,500 beds available in holiday homes, apartments and hotels.

As a result of the tidal current, the prevailing winds, and North Sea storms, the island is slowly moving to the south and the east.

[5] The earliest mention of Schiermonnikoog in writing dates from October 1440, in a document written for Philip the Good.

Around 1640, the States sold the island to the wealthy Stachouwer family, and for the next three centuries, Schiermonnikoog remained private property.

Also in the 18th century the people of the island rebelled against Lady Catharina Maria Stachouwer, and the States of Friesland sent troops to protect her and to restore law and order.

The boats of Mackenzie's squadron then attacked the six-gun Dutch schooner Vengeance and a battery on Schiermonnikoog.

[Note 1] In 1859, the Stachouwer family sold the island to John Eric Banck [nl] from The Hague.

Towards the end of the war, hundreds of SS troops, along with members of the SD, fled to the island, reinforcing the German contingent already there.

The eastern part of the island forms an important nature reserve, with access very restricted during the breeding season of the many birds that nest there.