Every Hamburg ship passes here
The Alte Liebe pier is where the great container ships are watched.
Jörg Braukmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tuxyso — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Aleksandr Zykov from Russia — CC BY-SA 2.0
An iron lighthouse of 1878 at the mouth of the Elbe on the North Sea, in the town of Cuxhaven. Its name needs explaining: Cuxhaven is not in Hamburg but about a hundred kilometres from it, yet it belonged administratively to the city of Hamburg until 1937 — because Hamburg wanted control of the entrance from its river to the sea. The lighthouse was built with Hamburg's money to guard that entrance, and hence the name. Beside it stands the Alte Liebe — a timber pier projecting into the water, built from the hull of an old ship, where people stand to watch the great vessels entering and leaving the Elbe. Every container ship bound for the port of Hamburg passes here. The area is also a gateway to the Wadden Sea, inscribed on the UNESCO list: a tidal zone where vast seabeds are exposed twice a day and can be walked with a guide. The lighthouse is free to see from outside.
The Alte Liebe pier is where the great container ships are watched.
A UNESCO-listed tidal zone whose beds are exposed twice a day.
The Alte Liebe was built from the hull of an old vessel sunk in place.
Cuxhaven, at the mouth of the Elbe
The largest unbroken system of intertidal flats in the world, running along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, UNESCO-listed since 2009. Twice a day the sea withdraws exposing thousands of square kilometres of mud rich in life, and it is an essential staging post for millions of migrating birds. Walking the flats is a local tradition but dangerous without a guide — the tide returns faster than people expect.
As a summer day trip yes, especially with children: the ship-watching, the beach, and possibly a guided walk on the flats. The journey is about two hours by train each way. In winter the weather is harsh and windy and the return is much smaller.
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