Tomato Islands

As part of the “Rheinauen bei Rastatt” project, islands were created here again in the course of renaturation, which were inaugurated in April 2015.
It has been proven that until the Rhine side canal was expanded at the end of the 1960s, there were islands in the Rhine between Basel and Strasbourg on which tomatoes thrived.
How they got there, however, there are very different variants that are currently being discussed. In any case, the nutrient-rich alluvial sand should have created ideal conditions for the nightshade plant. This is supported by the fact that they grew very luxuriantly and reappeared again and again even after high tides, when the islands were flooded.
Three reasons for the islands are mentioned: For one, it was the Dutch who disposed of their rotten tomatoes on the Upper Rhine before they reached Basel with their ships. Another version is supported by the fact that the tomato seeds washed up from Basel via the sewage from Basel, which was still untreated at the time. A third variant sees a former ketchup factory in Alsace as the cause.
See bo.de/lokales/offenburg/tomateninsel-das-raetsel-bleibt-ungeloest#

Just 200 years ago there were numerous islands on the Rhine that kept changing when the water was high. With the regulation of the Rhine, however, these were largely lost and with them breeding areas for various waterfowl. As part of the LIFE+ project "Rheinauen bei Rastatt", three islands were created at the mouth of the Illinger Altrhein, on which waterfowl can stay, search for food and breed undisturbed.
www2.lubw.baden-wuerttemberg.de/public/abt2/dokRepository/upload/10_12/919001000152/nreservat_auer_k_pfle_-_illinger_altrhein_-_motherner_w_rth_-_umgestaltung_kohlkopf_und_tomateninsel__infotafel_.pdf

islands in the Rhine. Beautiful stretch of beach on the Rhine with parking and shelter.
On the other side of the Rhine is the entrance to the Lauterburg port.