Template:Wp-Cuxhaven-History

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Ritzebüttel, today a part of Cuxhaven, belonged to the Land of Hadeln, first an exclave of the younger Duchy of Saxony and after its de facto dynastic partition in 1296 of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, established de jure in 1260. In 1394 the city of Hamburg conquered the fortress of Ritzebüttel and made it its stronghold to protect the estuary of the river Elbe, which connects that city with the open sea.

The Hamburg America Line built a large ocean liner terminal at Cuxhaven in 1900. Connected directly to Hamburg by a dedicated railway line and station, it served as the major departure point for German and European emigrants until 1969 when ocean liner travel ceased. The ornate assembly hall and associated buildings survived wartime damage and peacetime demolition to be restored in 1998 for use as a museum and cruise ship terminal.

On 15 March 1907 Cuxhaven gained city status within the state of Hamburg. In 1937 Cuxhaven became an urban district of the Stade Region within the Prussian Province of Hanover by the Greater Hamburg Act. In 1972 some municipalities of the neighboured rural district of Land of Hadeln were incorporated into the urban district of Cuxhaven. In 1977 Cuxhaven lost the status as urban district and was integrated into the new rural District of Cuxhaven, being its capital.

During the First World War Nordholz Airbase with its airship hangars, near Nordholz to the south of Cuxhaven, was one of the major Imperial German Navy airship stations. On Christmas Day 1914 it was attacked by Royal Navy seaplanes in the Cuxhaven Raid. It subsequently became a strategically important city as German authorities and civilians feared it would be the site of an Allied invasion.

During the Second World War, the town hosted a base of a Wehrmacht radio network, codenamed BROWN, which transmitted data regarding experimental weapon developments, including rocketry. From this location the last ENIGMA-code encrypted message of the war was transmitted on 7 May 1945. It reported the arrival of British troops and ends: "Closing down for ever - all the best - goodbye."

Between 1945 and 1964 the Hermann-Oberth-Gesellschaft performed various civilian experiments in rocketry near Cuxhaven.