Wulpen, once a sand-islet or eyot, is a now-submerged island in the estuary of the Scheldt on the coast of the Southern Netherlands. Flooded several times in its history, it eventually drowned in 1570 during the severe All Saints' Flood.
At its highpoint, the island had four villages and an abbey, associated with the city of Bruges, 'Brugse Vrije'. During the silting of the Zwin, the only water passage to Bruges, the prosperity of the city decreased and it could no longer maintain the dikes of the coastal area. Eventually the island was practically lost by the end of the 15th century, the year of the final drowning remaining uncertain.[1]
The flooding of the two islands, Koezande and Wulpen, opened the seaway to Antwerp increasing its trade from the Westerschelde. This would end the prosperous commerce of Bruges.
Wulpen, as "Wulpensand," plays an important legendary role in the medieval German epic Kudrun as the site of the story's central battle.[2]