Lightships were part of the waterways as navigation marks for the control and safety of shipping. They were laid out on the control points of the districts and on prominent positions of marked traffic routes. The replacement of the lightships off the German coasts with unmanned, fully automatic lightships, lighthouses or light barrels resulted from the shipping industry's demand for improved designation of the traffic routes and safer travel as well as the reduction of maintenance and operating costs for manned lightships.
There will be unmanned lightships in the area of the Federal Republic of Germany on the positions TW / Ems and German Bight in the North Sea. The last and most famous of the manned Elbe lightship ELBE 1 was drafted on April 22, 1988 after 40 years of service in the Elbe estuary and replaced by an unmanned lightship. With the hauling in of the last lightship in the Elbe area, the name of the position also changes. The position “Elbe 1” will in future only be called “Elbe”. The city of Cuxhaven is now the owner of the lightship, which has received its final berth at the Zollkaje as a maritime monument. The care and maintenance of the lightship, however, has taken over the citizens of Cuxhaven, who are united with many foreign enthusiasts in the lightship association Elbe 1 von 2001 e.V. The board of directors does not lose sight of the goal of always keeping the lightship ready to sail.