In the 17th century Baltrum had an elongated shape similar to the present shape of the barrier islands Norderney and Juist. Through the centuries Baltrum lost a huge amount of land at its west coast due to wind and sea conditions which the extension at the east coast could not compensate. Between 1650 and 1960 the island moved about at its west side to east, whereas the east coast moved only to east. A journey from a committee in 1650 reports that the 14 inhabitants on the island of that time were in jeopardy by the sea. In 1737 there was a village with a church which had to be abandoned due to silting of shifting sand dunes in 1800. The new village, named Western village, was settled down around to the west of the present day west coast (near the present day shoal Othelloplate in-between Baltrum and Norderney) and in the east there was the Eastern village. A storm surge in 1825 disrupted the island in several pieces and it became mostly uninhabitable, followed by deserting the Western village.