Milk stalls have been supplying Borkum's guests with Natt & Drög for well over 100 years

Start with small wooden shacks
For over a century it has been impossible to imagine the Borkum islandscape without them. The milk stalls. They originated at the beginning of the 20th century, when more and more bathers visited Borkum. Those responsible set up small shacks right on the beach where - as the current name suggests - initially only milk was sold.
At that time, this came from cows grazing on the island and was once scooped directly from metal milk cans. Since the stalls were well received from the start, the offering was quickly expanded. Soon, guests were given the traditional Borkum dish “Thick Milk” – which was still made on site at the time – to fortify themselves, before the range was expanded to include water and beer.
As time went on and the number of guests continued to increase, the original wooden stalls also became larger and are now housed in professional catering containers. Surrounded by terraces from which you have a wonderful view of the beach, sea and promenade, they are now a common sight at Nordbad and Südbad - which has become a permanent institution for many islanders and tourists.
It's no longer just milk, water, beer and curds that are offered here - but everything to satisfy your hunger on the beach. Stews, bockwurst with potato salad, spaghetti, bratwurst and currywurst, rice pudding, fish rolls, baguettes, tapas or a large selection of soft drinks as well as different coffee or tea variations - the respective milk stall operators have a balanced range of different food and drinks.

Innovation of tradition
In order to give the tradition of the popular milk stalls a “sustainable boost”, there will be a new tender for the lease contracts, which will then be valid for another 20 years. As part of the future project “Borkum 2030”, Nordseeheilbad Borkum GmbH and the supervisory board are planning to make the stalls fit for the future hand in hand and in close cooperation with the operators - so that tourists and locals can benefit from them for many decades to come.
However, the leading NSHB gives all traditionalists the all-clear: the intended innovation is not about eliminating good things, but rather about strengthening and promoting the tradition of milk stalls. In addition to further improving the range of products and services, the architectural quality in particular should be optimized. The aim is to build the “shacks” on more stable bases in the long term - not least to protect them from the continuously rising sea levels and the increase in storm surges.
How important this project is to the decision-makers is shown, among other things, by the increased collaboration with professors and students from the “Institute for Design and Spatial Composition” at the Technical University of Braunschweig, who already dealt with the theoretical development and construction of new milk stalls in the 2016/2017 winter semester.