koog

A koog (; plural: köge ) or groden is a type of polder found on the North Sea coast of Germany that is established by the construction of dykes enclosing the land which is then drained to form marshland. This type of land reclamation is also used along rivers. In general, a koog is protected by embankments known as dykes (Deiche). thumb|Hedwigenkoog|Westerkoog (Dithmarschen): typical koog landscape

== Etymology == Unlike the meaning in modern German, Ingvaeonic *kāg, Old Dutch *kōg, modern Dutch koog and West Frisian Dutch kaag all designate "land outside the dike". In the Netherlands, it primarily survives in place names (e.g. De Koog, Koog aan de Zaan, Kaag). From the Dithmarschen word koch (15th and 16th centuries), it went into Danish as kog. In North Frisian it is kuch. The spelling koog was used by the poet Michael Richey in 1755 and around 1700, what is now the port of Cuxhaven was still called Koogshaven.