# Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven is in East Frisia. The city's population in 2018 was about 76,000. Wilhelmshaven's main claim to fame is its connection to the sea and its function as a harbour.

## Understand

"Haven", or rather in its modern German spelling "Hafen", means harbour. Founded in the 1850s as Prussia's military port on the North Sea, it served as the main North Sea harbour for the German Navy throughout the Kaiserreich (1871-1918). As the treaty of Versailles greatly limited the size of the German fleet, Wilhelmshaven sought and found new economic activities and invested heavily in tourism, which became the second important industry. Both the Nazis and post-war Germany kept and expanded the military capacities at Wilhelmshaven.
The most controversial piece of infrastructure, however, is an entirely civilian one: the JadeWeserPort, Germany's largest harbour project. It was opened in 2012 and is intended to become the third largest German port on the North Sea (after Hamburg and Bremen); however, transport volumes have stayed well below expectations as of 2015, leading to charges that the project is a "white elephant".

## Get in

Due to the JadeWeserPort, several traffic connections have been upgraded or are scheduled to be upgraded.

### By car

A29 is intended to serve as a major transportation route from the harbor and thus also serves as a good entry point to the city.

### By train

* 53.518738.114791 Wilhelmshaven railway station. Regional trains run from Oldenburg (every half-hour to hourly), Osnabrück (every half-hour to hourly), and several times daily from Bremen. If you arrive from further away you will probably have to change trains at one of the latter two.

### By plane

The next major airport is in Bremen (BRE), but depending on your plans it might also make sense to fly into Hamburg (HAM), as there are more flights to Hamburg than to Bremen.
* 53.5088.05192 JadeWeserAirport (WVN ). A general aviation airstrip without scheduled service.

### By boat

The harbour mainly caters to freight ships, and does not have many ferry connections. Wilhelmshaven is not a stop on many cruise-lines. A connection to Heligoland was ended in 2014 due to lack of demand.

## Get around
### By bus

Wilhelmshaven has a city bus system, but it does not accept the Niedersachsen-Ticket.

## See

* JadeWeserPort Infocenter, Am Tiefen Fahrwasser 11, ☏ +49 4421 7719091, fax: +49 4421 7719089, infocenter@jadeweserport.de. Tu-Su 10:00-18:00. An exhibition on the port as well as modern container trade in general. They also offer bus tours through the harbour (€6.90, €5.90 reduced; combined ticket with exhibition €9.90, €7.90 reduced). You can access the roof of the exhibition building to see what is going on at the harbor from a better vantage point. Adult €4, reduced €2.50. (updated Apr 2016)
* 53.5130568.1405561 Deutsches Marinemuseum (Navy museum). (updated Mar 2017)
* 53.53858.124262 Botanischer Garten der Stadt Wilhelmshaven, Gökerstraße 125. A botanical garden. (updated Mar 2017)
* 53.5136118.1352783 Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke (Emperor William Bridge). A 159-m-long swing bridge. (updated Mar 2017)
* 53.51568.123344 Küstenmuseum Wilhelmshaven. Tu-Su 11:00-17:00. Regular €5, kids €2.50, reduced €3.50.
* 53.5324988.1297595 Vollzugsmuseum Wilhelmshaven.
* 53.52898.116116 Kopperhörner Mühle.
* 53.526758.109757 Rathaus Wilhelmshaven, info@wilhelmshaven.de. A huge blocky brick building from the 1920s that is certainly an interesting and unusual architectural choice if anything.
* 53.5221118.1213338 Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven.

## Do

* 53.521818.118381 Stadttheater Wilhelmshaven.
* 53.527118.11462 Theater am Meer – Niederdeutsche Bühne Wilhelmshaven.
* 53.51388.113953 Pumpwerk cultural center.

## Eat

* 53.5159118.1478461 An Bord, Schleusenstraße 22, ☏ +49 4421 500466, info@anbord.com. (updated Dec 2016)

## Drink

* Tee-Bakker, Bismarckplatz - 26384 Wilhelmshaven, ☏ +49 4421-33210, fax: +49 4421-31436, info@tee-bakker.de. M-F 09:00–13:00 and 15:00–18:00; Sa 09:00–13:00. One of the best tea shops in the region.

## Sleep

* 53.5131938.1431931 Apart-Hotel Seenelke, Südstrand 120, ☏ +49 4421 7557670, fax: +49 4421 7557679, info@hotel-seenelke.de. Single from €105, double from €150. (updated Apr 2016)
* 53.519788.1016722 Ecosleep Boardinghouse, Marktstraße 146, ☏ +49 4421 7582981, info@EcoSleep.de. Single from €32, double from €56. (updated Apr 2016)
* 53.5202528.1074933 Hotel Fürstenwerth, Marktstraße 95, ☏ +49 4421 21668, info@hotel-fuerstenwerth.de. Check-in: 14:00-18:00, check-out: till 11:00. Single from €59, double from €84, breakfast included. (updated Apr 2016)

## Go next

* Varel
* Bremerhaven
* Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park