Cuxhaven is an independent town and seat of the
Cuxhaven districtCuxhaven is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Stade, Rotenburg, Osterholz and Wesermarsch, the City of Bremerhaven and the North Sea.- History :...
, in
Lower SaxonyLower Saxony lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen Bundesländer of Germany...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. It is situated on the shore of the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
at the mouth of the
ElbeThe River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
River. Cuxhaven has a footprint of 14 km (east-west) by 7 km (north-south). It is a popular vacation spot on the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
and home to about 52,000 residents.
Cuxhaven is home to an important fisherman's wharf and ship registration point for
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
as well as the
Kiel CanalThe Kiel Canal , until 1948 known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal, is a 61 miles long canal in the German Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein that links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of 250 nautical miles is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around...
until 2008. Tourism is also of great importance. The city and its precursor Ritzebüttel belonged to Hamburg from the 13th century until 1937. The Island of
NeuwerkNeuwerk is a Wadden Sea island on the German North Sea coast. It is located northwest of Cuxhaven, between the Weser and Elbe estuaries...
, a Hamburg dependency, is located just northwest of Cuxhaven in the North Sea. The city's symbol, known as the Kugelbake is a beacon once used as a
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to pilots at sea....
; the wooden landmark on the mouth of the Elbe marks the boundary between the river and the North Sea and also adorns the city's coat of arms.
History
Ritzebüttel, today a part of Cuxhaven, belonged to the Land of Hadeln, first an exclave of the
younger Duchy of SaxonyThe Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. It is the precursor of the Saxon Electorate....
and after its de facto dynastic partition in 1296 of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, established de jure in 1260. In 1394 the city of
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
conquered the fortress of Ritzebüttel and made it its stronghold to protect the estuary of the river
ElbeThe River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, which connects that city with the open sea. On March 15, 1907 Cuxhaven gained city status within the state of Hamburg. In 1937 Cuxhaven became an
urban districtAn independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity.Independent cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other nation-state.-United States:In the United States, an independent city...
of the
Stade RegionThe Stade Region emerged in 1823 by an administrative reorganisation of the dominions of the Kingdom of Hanover, a sovereign state, whose then territory is almost completely part of today's German federal state of Lower Saxony...
within the Prussian
Province of HanoverThe Province of Hanover was at various times a principality within the Holy Roman Empire, an Electorate within the same, an independent Kingdom, and a subordinate province within the Kingdom of Prussia. The territory was named after its capital, the city of Hanover, which was the principal town of...
by the Greater Hamburg Act. In 1972 some municipalities of the neighboured rural district of
Land of Hadeln were incorporated into the urban district of Cuxhaven. In 1977 Cuxhaven lost the status as urban district and was integrated into the new rural
District of CuxhavenCuxhaven is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Stade, Rotenburg, Osterholz and Wesermarsch, the City of Bremerhaven and the North Sea.- History :...
, being its capital.
During the First World War Cuxhaven-Nordholz with its
airship hangarAirships are sheltered in airship hangars during construction and sometimes also for regular operation, particularly at bad weather conditions. Rigid airships always needed to be based in airship hangars because weathering was a serious risk.- History :...
s was one of the major German naval
airshipAn airship or dirigible is a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust...
stations.
Between 1945 and 1964 various
experiments in rocketryBetween 1933 and 1964 numerous rocket experiments were carried out in the area of Cuxhaven, Germany.-1930s and 1940s:*In April 1933 Gerhard Zucker launched a mail rocket, which was to fly from Duhnen to the island of Neuwerk, but which fell to Earth after flying a few meters.*During World War II...
were performed near Cuxhaven.
Other information
A few kilometers off the Cuxhaven coast lies the island of
NeuwerkNeuwerk is a Wadden Sea island on the German North Sea coast. It is located northwest of Cuxhaven, between the Weser and Elbe estuaries...
. At
low tideTides are the rises and falls of sea level caused by the combined effect of rotation of the Earth and the gravitation of the Moon and the Sun. The tides occur with a period of approximately 12 and a half hours and are influenced by the shape of the near-shore bottom.Most coastal areas experience...
the water recedes so far from the coast that the island can be reached either by mudflat hiking or by
horse carriageA carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, these being litters or wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be...
.
A modern landmark of Cuxhaven is the
Friedrich-Clemens-Gerke TowerFriedrich-Clemens-Gerke Tower is a 230 metre tall telecommunication tower of reinforced concrete at Cuxhaven in Germany. Friedrich-Clemens-Gerke Tower, which is named after Friedrich Clemens Gerke, was completed in 1991 and is not accessible for tourists...
, a telecommunication tower built of concrete, which is not accessible to the public. It is not really a landmark, for all the cities in Germany have a similar tower as that.
The
High test peroxideHigh test peroxide or HTP is a high concentration solution of hydrogen peroxide, with the remainder predominantly made up of water. In contact with a catalyst it decomposes into a high temperature mixture of steam and oxygen, with no remaining liquid water...
(
HTP) Submarine U 1407, was raised from where she had been scuttled in Cuxhaven after
WWIIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and rebuilt by the British, being commissioned as
HMS MeteoriteHMS Meteorite was an experimental U Boat developed in Germany, captured at the end of World War II, and commissioned into the Royal Navy. The submarines was originally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine in March 1945 as U-1407...
. It was the catalyst for a series of German-made
Air-independent propulsionAir-independent propulsion is a term that encompasses technologies which allow a submarine to operate without the need to surface or use a snorkel to access atmospheric oxygen. The term usually excludes the use of nuclear power, and describes augmenting or replacing the diesel-electric propulsion...
submarines such as the
Type 212 submarineThe German Type 212 is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG for the German Navy. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion system using Siemens proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells...
and
Type 214 submarineThe Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH . It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system using Siemens polymer electrolyte module hydrogen fuel cells...
.
Cruxhaven has been twinned with the Cornish district of
PenwithPenwith was a local government district in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, whose council was based in Penzance. The district covered all of the Penwith peninsula, the toe-like promontory of land at the western end of Cornwall and which included an area of land to the east that fell outside the...
Since 1974
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