View of the Schiffdorf Sluice

A very beautiful, idyllic place.

A very beautiful hiking and biking trail along the Gerste River. There are plenty of seating areas and a barbecue area. A restaurant is right at the beginning.

Schiffdorf “Stauschleuse”
The so-called Schiffdorf Stauschleuse is located 9.1 km from the mouth of the Geeste in the district of the Schiffdorf collective municipality in the Cuxhaven district. Technically, it is neither a weir with a chamber lock nor a sluice lock, but a sluice system, in a sense the oldest tidal barrier in the Geeste. It was built in 1890-1892 as part of a major land reclamation and drainage project according to plans by Theodor Hoebel. Ships could only pass through the sluice lock when the water was receding, when the water level in the Geeste estuary had fallen below that of the upstream section of the river. It was intended to protect the marshland of the Geeste lowlands from storm surges, especially during the growing season. Due to its pure sluice function (without damming), the water levels in the Geeste and the Bederkesa-Geeste canal could only be regulated to a limited extent, preventing high water levels at high tide, but not low water levels at low tide. The reduction in tidal currents caused increasing silting, which hindered shipping. This created a conflict of interest between agriculture and shipping. The farmers demanded low tidal ranges, the boatmen demanded high water levels at least at high tide. Only the construction of the tidal barrier in conjunction with the expansion of the Geeste, the Bederkesa-Geeste canal and the Hadeln canal in the 1960s brought relief.
The Schiffdorf "sluice lock" lost its function in 1961 and was finally shut down in 1967.
It is preserved as a technical monument.
The lock keeper's house served as a tourist restaurant for decades.
The lock keeper Claus Meyn, who ran the “Zur Sstauleuse” restaurant, lived in the modern extension.
The historic bridge over the lock had to be replaced by a wooden bridge in 1985.
The steelworks railing was reused.
The lock has four pillars and three 8 m wide openings with steel stem gate pairs.
It was restored with the gauge station by 1999. Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeste_(Fluss)