Cuxhaven Travel Guide
A detailed destination guide for your next Germany vacation
Cuxhaven Overview
Cuxhaven is a large independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint of 14 km (east-west) by 7 km (north-south). It is a popular vacation spot on the North Sea and home to about 52,000 residents.
Cuxhaven is home to an important fisherman's wharf and ship registration point for Hamburg (Hamburg vacation rentals | Hamburg travel guide) as well as the Kiel (Kiel vacation rentals | Kiel travel guide) Canal. Tourism is also of great importance. The city long belonged to Hamburg. The Island of Neuwerk, a Hamburg dependency, is located just northwest of Cuxhaven in the North Sea. The city's symbol is a beacon or lighthouse; 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.
A few kilometers off the Cuxhaven coast lies the island of Neuwerk. At low tide the water recedes so far from the coast that the island can be reached either by mudflat hiking or by horse carriage.
A modern landmark of Cuxhaven is the Friedrich-Clemens-Gerke Tower, 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 peroxide (HTP) Submarine U 1407, was raised from where she had been scuttled in Cuxhaven after WWII and rebuilt by the British, being commissioned as HMS Meteorite. It was the catalyst for a series of German-made Air-independent propulsion submarines such as the Type 212 submarine and Type 214 submarine.
Cruxhaven has been twinned with the Cornish district of Penwith Since 1974
[ source: Wikipedia ]
Where to stay in Cuxhaven?
Check out our selection of hand-selected and quality Cuxhaven vacation rentals and holiday apartments.
Things to See in Cuxhaven
Alte Liebe
Schloss Ritzebüttel
Wadden Sea
Twellberg (with Duhnen)
Ring Wall Jewish Cemetery (at Duhnen)
Tumuli "Gallows Hill" (with Sahlenburg)
Hamburger Leuchtturm
Fischereimuseum-historic environment of the fish handling of the fishing port private museum
Stadtmuseum
Wrackmuseum-shows many small, everyday objects, and large sunken ships and from there to investigate fate of many ships
St.-Nicolai-Kirche
Friedrich-Clemens-Gerke Tower
Maps and Driving Directions to Cuxhaven
Travel Insider Tips for Cuxhaven
Another beautiful city, filled with windmills and glorious views.
Shared by Diane Kehrer-Mehl, Nov 2009
We have been to Cuxhaven with our sailing boat. It was a nice town to visit, and we enjoyed the museums and friendly people.
Shared by Little Grabner, Nov 2009
remember the days of transatlantic crossings when the German Atlantic Line would dock in Cuxhaven (late sixties)
Shared by Rodney Stenborg, Nov 2009
Cuxhaven
[ source: Flickr]
Related Sites
We collected some useful links related to Cuxhaven. If you know a few more sites not listed here, or also know some insider tips or point of interests for this destination? Please share and submit your Germany travel tip. If approved it will be shown on this page!
- Homepage of Cuxhaven: Cuxhaven (official home page)
- Wikipedia: Cuxhaven
- Wikipedia: Cuxhaven
- Wikitravel: Cuxhaven
- Interactive city map
- Kugelbake
- St. Marien Cuxhaven
- Schlossverein Ritzebutettel
- Wrackmuseum
- Alte Liebe
- Semaphor
- Cuxhaven (official home page)
More about the History of Cuxhaven
Ritzebüttel, today a part of Cuxhaven, belonged to the Land of Hadeln, first an exclave of the younger Duchy of Saxony 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 Hamburg (Hamburg vacation rentals | Hamburg travel guide) conquered the fortress of Ritzebüttel and made it its stronghold to protect the estuary of the river Elbe, 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 district of the Stade (Stade vacation rentals | Stade travel guide) Region within the Prussian Province of Hanover 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 Cuxhaven, being its capital.
During the First World War Cuxhaven-Nordholz with its airship hangars was one of the major German naval airship stations. Between 1945 and 1964 various experiments in rocketry were performed near Cuxhaven.
What makes this Live Like a German Cuxhaven Travel Guide special...
This Cuxhaven travel guide provides you with an overview of Cuxhaven, Cuxhaven pictures, and a local travel guide that suggests many special trips, unique activities, and vacation ideas, that you can't find in a typical Germany travel guide.
Some of this information is compiled from popular and well-known sources (e.g., such as Wikipedia, Wikitravel, and great pictures from Flickr). However, what makes this Germany travel guide special is that most of the travel suggestions and insider tips are provided by local residents, property owners, and our readers, who share and submit their travel tips with us. All submissions are then editorially reviewed to ensure high quality. All this information is logically organized within this destination guide to make it easy for you to find things quickly.
In addition, the Cuxhaven destination guide features restaurant recommendations, restaurant reviews, where to go for grocery shopping, sports activities, getting around, cultural events and highlights, entertainment, and health related information - so you are informed for your travel to Germany, and you can learn about all the cool things you can do during your Germany vacation!
