Wilhelmshaven Tourism: Tripadvisor has 5,687 reviews of Wilhelmshaven Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Wilhelmshaven travel resource. Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea. It is Germany's main military port. Twin towns – Sister cities. ABOUT VYNOVA WILHELMSHAVEN Vynova Wilhelmshaven features one of Europe’s largest plants for the production of suspension PVC (S-PVC), a high-quality material that our customers convert into a wide range of products for daily life. In addition, we produce vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), an essential building block to make PVC.

Wilhelmshaven Ww2 U-boat Command Center
Wilhelmshaven Google Map
Wilhelmshaven Refinery
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Wilhelmshaven Mutiny

Germany’s first naval port is tucked into the western lip of the Jade Bight, a natural harbour on the North Sea. Wilhelmshaven was founded by Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1869 and still claim’s the title of the nation’s largest navy base.

German military history will always hold a certain fascination, and you could pay a visit to the German Navy Museum or take a guided harbour tour. Wilhelmshaven is also a tourist resort in summer as the proud owner of Germany’s only south-facing beach.

And if you want wide open skies and nature-spotting Wilhelmshaven is the main jumping-off point for the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea National Park.

Wilhelmshaven Ww2 U-boat Command Center

Let’s have a look at the best things to do in Wilhelmshaven:

1. Maritime Meile

Starting on the Bontekai on the waterfront of the city proper, the Maritime Meile is a 1.8-kilometre tourist route bringing you into contact with all of Wilhelmshaven’s maritime-themed attractions.

All of the museums and landmarks on the way are listed below, and as an ensemble they help you cut to the core of Wilhelmshaven’s seafaring culture and traditions.

One experience that we haven’t included below is the MS Harle Kurier cruise boat, which is berthed close to the German Navy Museum and sets off on tours of the Grosser Hafen (Great Harbour) and up to the new JadeWeserPort.

You could also set sail on a seal-spotting expedition in the Wadden Sea National Park from this quay.

2. Deutsches Marine Museum

The German Naval Museum is a military museum charting the 170-year history of the German Navy.

The museum has an appropriate location, in a listed building in the old imperial shipyard.

Inside you can follow the story of the German Navy from a political, social and cultural standpoint: There are black and white photographs, maps, flags, paintings, ships’ bells, uniforms, bridge equipment and all manner of other militaria.

By the entrance is a restored miniature Seehund U-Boat in which a two-man crew worked in almost impossible conditions.

The outdoor exhibition has a lot of hardware like a Libelle torpedo boat from the GDR, an F-104 Starfighter, a Type 205 submarine and the Mölders German destroyer launched in 1965.

3. Küstenmuseum Wilhelmshaven

The coastal museum is at an old navy parade ground close to the Großer Hafen and has contemporary exhibits to tackle the North German coast from all sorts of angles.

One of the most interesting subjects is Wilhelmshaven’s new deepwater JadeWeserPort, and all the planning and statistics involved in this massive project (46 million cubic metres of sand was dredged). Using a touch screen you can also see the changing shape of the North German coastline since the last Ice Age and how Wilhelmshaven’s Jade Bight was formed.

There’s also insight into the lives of early settlers on the coast, and a comprehensive history of Wilhelmshaven’s birth as a navy base more than 150 years ago.

4. Südstrand

Something you won’t find anywhere else in Germany is a south-facing beach like the Südstrand.

The unusual geography of the Jade Bight bathes the beach in day-long sun, and there’s an almost Mediterranean promenade behind that fills up in the summer.

In this season the beach and promenade are speckled with colourful striped Strandkörbe, which are hooded beach chairs to keep the wind at bay.

These can be rented for a day, week or an entire season if you’re here long-term.

Also on the promenade you can hire a bicycle and from May to September and pause at ice cream shops, cafes and restaurants.

5. Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke

Wilhelmshaven’s undisputed landmark is the metal-framed Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge traversing the Großer Hafen.

At 159 metres it was the Europe’s longest swing bridge when it opened in 1907. This structure ties the city proper to the Südstrand and you can watch it opening when ships with tall masts pass through.

This is a memorable spectacle, even 110 years after the bridge’s inauguration and you won’t mind waiting a couple of minutes to watch.

During a recent renovation up to 2013 the bridge was given a fresh paint job, 50,000 new steel rivets and LED lighting.

6. UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe Wattenmeer Besucherzentrum Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven Google Map

The Wadden Sea, off Wilhelmshaven is an intertidal zone making up the southeastern corner of the North Sea.

This environment has been heavily shaped by humans due to systems of dikes and causeways, and is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Next door to the Marinemuseum there’s a visitor centre for the UNESCO Site, laying out all the information you could need about this habitat.

You can track the routes of migratory birds and see the technology used to assess storms on the North Sea.

The highlight is the 14-metre skeleton of a sperm whale hanging from the ceiling.

This creature died off the island of Baltrum in 1994, and its organs were “plastinated” by Gunther von Hagens of the Body Worlds exhibitions.

You’ll see how whales grew fins 50 million years ago, find out what they eat and listen to their songs.

7. Rosarium Wilhelmshaven

On the eastern nook of the Stadtpark is a glorious rose garden that opens between Mother’s Day (mid-May in Germany) and October.

The Rosarium is a delight, with more than 5,000 rosebushes from 500 varieties growing in a variety of habitats: There’s an English rose garden, a wild rose “canyon”, a Rococo garden, a historical “Gloria Dei” monastic garden, and much more.

You’ll come by ponds, arbours, pergolas and a cute pavilion where functions are held.

The Rosenbühne (rose stage) at the garden is used for concerts and plays, and is at the centre of the Rosenfest, held in the Rosarium every June.

8. Aquarium Wilhelmshaven

At the eastern end of the Südstrand promenade is an aquarium with more than 250 species of marine animals.

Over 60 of these are local, coming from the North Sea and Wadden Sea.

Some of the region’s inhabitants are seals, gurnards, flatfish, shore crabs, brown crabs and hooknose fish.

But the aquarium also has more exotic creatures, like 15 species of Antarctic fish that live in icy waters at 0°C and have antifreeze in their blood.

Beyond this there are penguins, which can be observed underwater, as well as sharks, caimans and a tropical forest habitat with colourful birdlife.

9. Informationszentrum JadeWeserPort

A few kilometres up at the mouth of the Jade Bight you can get the inside track on one of German’s largest investment projects in recent years.

This deepwater container port was begun in 2008 and was sufficiently complete to open to traffic in 2012. After a slow start due to the global recession the port kicked into gear in 2015 when it processed 426,700 twenty-foot equivalent units.

The JadeWeserPort is the only one in Germany to have a depth of 18 metres and can handle ships regardless of the tide.

The information centre recounts the mind-boggling statistics of the project, but also goes into the day-to-day of port operations.

Interactive displays show how containers are unloaded and searched for contraband, and you can chart each stop a container would make on a journey from Shanghai to Wilhelmshaven.

10. Rathaus Wilhelmshaven

Completed in 1929, Wilhelmshaven’s powerful-looking town hall is a classic piece of Brick Expressionist architecture.

The man behind the design was Johann Friedrich Höger, who also built the iconic Chilehaus in Hamburg. Omaha poker combinations game.

Because of its uncompromising appearance, with stiff lines and a hardy rectangular tower, the building was qui