Hunte Flood Barrage This flood barrier is located where the Hunte flows into the Weser. Having four powerful flood gates and a breadth of some 120 meters, it protects the hinterland against storm tides. The facility began operating on the 1st of October 1979 and was one of the largest coastal protection facilities of this type at the time. Each direction of travel has ist own gate which has a breadth of 26 meters, and the two-part miter gates remain open as long as possible in order not to disrupt the shipping. The flood barrage will be closed only when the Weser rises to a water level of three meters above normal. On a daily basis, always at the top of the hour, the nearly vertical rolling lift bascule bridges are lowered in order to allow pedestrians and cyclists to reach the peninsula Elsflether Sand. [More]
Maritime Museum - Haus Elsfleth In 1890, the physician and health official Dr. Christian Ludwig Steenken (1857-1933) commissioned the construction of this Villa. Steenken was closely interconnected with the maritime economy. Indeed, Steenken was a bank director and the head of a maritime shipping line. Additionally, he was the president of the Elsfleth Herring Fishing Society and of the Elsfleth Ship and Shippers´ Society “Concordia”, predecessor of the Nautical Union of Lower Saxony. In 2005, Horst Werner, captain and ship owner from Elsfleth, purchased the beautiful landmark structure, a prime example of the Oldenburg gabled house. He donated it to the “Wesermarsch Civic Trust” with the requirement that it serve as a museum. Since 2010, the “Villa Steenken” is one of the three locations of the Maritime Museum of the Oldenburgian Lower Weser. [More]
Harriersand The riverine island Harriersand is eleven kilometers long and is located directly adjacent to the center of Brake. It received ist current form as a result oft he so-called “Weser correction”. Thereby, the Lower Weser was straightened and deepened from Bremen down to the estuary, as it flows into the North Sea near Bremerhaven. In the course of this technical masterpiece, a revolutionary achievement under the direction of Bremen´s Chief Construction Officer, Ludwig Franzius (1832-1903), Harriersand was formed by uniting seven riverine islands along Brake´s coast. Harriersand is now home to 150 holiday cottages, a campsite and many small sand beaches. The ferry GUNTSIET travels regularly between Brake and Harriersand. [More]