Niederelbe

As Niederelbe is called the lower reaches of the Elbe and thus a part of the lower Elbe, which opens from the Mill Loch to Cuxhaven to an estuary. When Mill Loch, the river widens to about two miles wide, at Cuxhaven, this has a size of 18 kilometers. The course of the Lower Elbe from Hamburg to the mouth is around 108 kilometers long.

• 7.1 Economically significant ports
• 7.2 marinas

Shorelines along the lower Elbe

The neighboring areas on both sides of the river are mostly marshlands. Only the type (or districts ) of the section on the Hamburg area up to and including the town of Wedel lie on Endmoränenhügeln the Weichsel glaciation.

Schleswig -Holstein Elbmarschen

On the Schleswig-Holstein side, the marshes are all separated by Fluss-/Kanalläufe. On Geestrand at Wedel begins first Haseldorfer march. East end here is the Wedeler Au. Then west of the Pinnau begins Seestermüher march, which extends to the Krückau. Your the Kremper precedes northwest march. Beyond the sturgeon finally begins Wilstermarsch which extends to the North Sea-Baltic Canal or the Burger Au. Finally, add the marshes of southern circle Dithmar the collection.

Lower Saxony Elbmarschen

In the Lower Saxony side of the river, the march lands are already starting further east. They accompany the entire Lower Elbe. The march lands to the Lower Elbe include:

• The Old Southern Elbe between country and swing,
• The country Kehdingen between rocker and Oste and
• The country Hadeln between the Oste and Wurster Heath.

In Finkenwerder in the background the Airbus plant

Wittenbergen lighthouse in the background, the power plant fronds

The lighthouse Julssand

Ferry Schulau with ship welcoming station Welcome Point

View from Twielenfleth on the Lühesand and a mast of Elbekreuzung

Lighthouse " Big Bertha " in Altenbruch

The "Hamburger Lighthouse " in Cuxhaven

Conservation areas at the river Elbe

Much of the outer dike lands along the Lower Elbe are designated as nature reserves. These include:

• Allwördener outer dike and Brammersand
• Assel Ersand
• Borsteler Binnenelbe and Large brackish
• Esch Schallen in Seestermüher foreland
• Hadelner and Belumer outer dike
• Haseldorfer Binnenelbe with Elbvorland
• Hetlinger Schanze
• Reeds and water area Krautsand
• Mill Loch
• Pagensand
• Rhinplate
• Black tonnes of sand

Landmarks

Landmarks on the Lower Elbe are:

• Hamburg
• Stade
• Cuxhaven
• Ottersdorf
• Brunsbuttel
• Gluckstadt
• Frond

Even if they all lie within the metropolitan region of Hamburg, they are still largely surrounded by rural, partially extremely peripheral areas.

The Elbe estuary and its traffic engineering significance

The Elbe estuary has a high importance for sea: On the one hand, the funnel is access to the Port of Hamburg, on the other hand is located in the estuary on the north side of the entrance to the Kiel Canal. Therefore, the lower part of the Elbe estuary is one of the busiest waterways in Europe. The Lower Elbe upstream of, and in the physiognomic meaning no stretch of the river, is called an outer Elbe. It is the tideland leading part of the Elbe estuary. Due to the narrow navigable channel in the Wadden Sea regions of Hamburg and Schleswig -Holstein (both are now designated as national parks under the Federal Nature Conservation Act ) should be shipping to be guided by tools in the mouth region already far from the coast. For this reason, marked up in the 1970s, three up to 45 meters high lightships of the open sea produces the fairway. Of the lightship Elbe was 2 in 1974 replaced by the Lighthouse Big Bird Sand, Elbe 3 was decommissioned in 1977, and as a last Elbe 1 was replaced in early 2000 by a light buoy.

On the Lower Elbe today to navigate within modern radar technology. Corresponding buildings extend along both banks. The larger vessels are also performed by pilots to dock in Hamburg.

Geology of the mouth region

Affected area at a "small" storm surge of only 4.5 m at a dike break at Glameyer Stack

Although the estuary is up to 18 km wide, the ship traffic stays there only a relatively narrow channel; the rest take a wide Watt benches as the Medemsand. The narrowest and deepest, with over 30 m point is the area Glameyer Stack far from Cuxhaven, which will also serve as the weak point in the course of the dyke. Would there break the dike, with the flooding of vast areas of the country Hadeln expected.

The estuary into the North Sea called Helgoland Bight. This in turn is a part of the German Bight.

Lock of the Kiel Canal at Brunsbuttel

The Kugelbake marks the mouth of the Elbe into the North Sea

National borders

Not yet been clarified in the course of the Lower Elbe ( including the Elbe estuary ) is the demarcation of the borders between the states of Schleswig -Holstein, Lower Saxony and Hamburg. Have been clarified by various administrative agreements and treaties of the states involved various administrative and judicial powers, but not the territorial sovereignty.

Ports on the lower Elbe

Economically important ports

Various ports are of economic importance to the Lower Elbe. These include primarily the seaport district of Stade in Stade Bützfleth, as well as the port facilities in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony Brunsbuttel Cuxhaven.

Historically significant for the transatlantic passenger services until the 1970s, was also the U.S. port with the Steubenhöft in Cuxhaven. Today, lay by him mainly only from seaside resorts ships.

Marinas

Furthermore, there are many places on the Lower Elbe marinas. These include the ports in Freiburg / Elbe, wiping port, Gluckstadt, and the Hamburg marina fronds. While the latter is located right in the Elbe, the first three on elongated tidal creek runs are to achieve or they are at one of the many tributaries of the Elbe.