Every design for Cuxhaven

From the 13th century until 1937, this corner of the Elbe estuary belonged to Hamburg. In 1394 the city took the fortress of Ritzebüttel to guard the mouth of the river that carried its trade to the open sea, and Schloss Ritzebüttel is what remains of that stronghold. The harbour settlement of Cuxhaven grew alongside it, and the two joined in 1872. In 1900 the Hamburg America Line built a great ocean liner terminal here, linked by its own railway to Hamburg, and for decades it was where emigrants from across Europe stepped aboard; the restored hall now serves as a museum and cruise terminal.

What makes Cuxhaven unlike anywhere else is the Kugelbake, a wooden beacon on the shore that marks where the Elbe ends and the North Sea begins, and which appears on the town's coat of arms. The town holds the northernmost point of Lower Saxony, it is Germany's largest seaside spa, and Duhnen, Döse and Sahlenburg fill with holidaymakers every summer, while the island of Neuwerk lies just offshore.

If you have stood at the Alte Liebe watching the ships head out past the Hamburger Leuchtturm, you know what this town is about. Take that view with you.