The history and a lot of INFO is on the above Read website:
The Natureum Niederelbe was built in 1990 as a natural history museum by the district of Stade. The location is unusual. Why in Balje at the east mouth and not in Stade itself?
The story begins with the great storm surge in February 1962 that cost many lives. Hamburg was hardest hit, but it also caused severe damage to the Oste and the Stade district.
After this storm surge, nothing should be the way it was. People literally wanted to keep the water away and locked themselves off the rivers. Dykes were raised on both sides of the Elbe, entire dyke lines were laid and barriers were built on the tributaries.
As a result of these measures, the river lost space and the opportunity to work in it. Today you can only see in a few places what it once looked like in the entire Elbe estuary. Of the previously extensive and richly structured dyke forelands, only narrow strips with a simple structure remained.
A difficult situation for the unique bird life in this region! The populations of resting and breeding birds decreased drastically, many species disappeared entirely. Interventions in a bird sanctuary of international importance could not remain without consequences.
Therefore, the district of Stade decided to build a natural history museum to compensate. The idea for the Lower Elbe Natureum was born. With the construction of the east barrier an artificial peninsula was heaped up. It consists of the excavation for the new river bed, into which the Oste was diverted after completion.
The Nature Elbe Niederelbe was built directly on the site of the intervention - on this artificial peninsula in the middle of the nature reserve. First as a pure natural history museum with a bird watching station. Later, the site was increasingly included in the planning and expanded into an adventure park.