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 as well as the Kiel 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 the city's coat of arms.
Cuxhaven is relatively young: it became a town on March 15, 1907.
For over 600 years until 1937 Cuxhaven belonged to Hamburg.
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.
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.
