Cuxhaven in the context of "Elbe"

Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers, or ISO containers). Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes today, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.

Containerization originated several centuries ago but was not well developed or widely applied until after World War II, when it dramatically reduced the costs of transport, supported the post-war boom in international trade, and was a major element in globalization. Containerization eliminated manual sorting of most shipments and the need for dock front warehouses, while displacing many thousands of dock workers who formerly simply handled break bulk cargo. Containerization reduced congestion in ports, significantly shortened shipping time, and reduced losses from damage and theft.

The German Federal Coast Guard (German: Küstenwache des Bundes) is a civilian law enforcement organisation whose primary missions are border protection, maritime environmental protection, shipping safety, fishery protection and customs enforcement. The Küstenwache is an association of several federal agencies, not a single entity like the United States Coast Guard.

The agencies that make up the Küstenwache have a common plan of action and direct their operations from two Coast Guard Centers (German: Küstenwachzentren), Neustadt (Holstein) for the Baltic Sea and Cuxhaven for the North Sea.

Heligoland (/ˈhɛlɪɡoʊlænd/; German: Helgoland, pronounced [ˈhɛlɡoˌlant] ; Heligolandic Frisian: deät Lun, lit. 'the Land', Mooring Frisian: Hålilönj, Danish: Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea, administratively part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The islands are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea and are the only German islands not in the vicinity of the mainland: they lie approximately 69 kilometres (37+1⁄2 nautical miles) by sea from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe.

The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of Great Britain from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, they have been part of Germany, although after World War II they along with the rest of Schleswig-Holstein were administered by the United Kingdom as part of the British occupation zone in Germany. British control of Heligoland lasted until 1952, when it was turned over to the control of West Germany.

Carsten Niebuhr, or Karsten Niebuhr (17 March 1733 Lüdingworth – 26 April 1815 Meldorf, Dithmarschen), was a German mathematician, cartographer, and explorer in the service of Denmark-Norway. He is renowned for his participation in the Danish Arabia expedition (1761-1767). He was the father of the Danish-German statesman and historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr, who published an account of his father's life in 1817.

The Unterelbe (German pronunciation: [ˈʊntɐˌʔɛlbə] ) or, in English usually the Lower Elbe, refers to the lower reaches of the river Elbe in Germany influenced by the tides.

It starts at kilometre 586, at the sluice of Geesthacht, where the Elbe forms the border between Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. It continues downstream, then forming the border between Lower Saxony and Hamburg, before fully entering Hamburg territory. In Hamburg the Unterelbe forms two anabranches, Norderelbe and Süderelbe, the latter now partially a cut-off meander. Where Norderelbe and Süderelbe used to reunite, at kilometre 634 there is a bay called the Mühlenberger Loch [de; nds]. This marks the beginning of the section of the Unterelbe which called the Niederelbe. After leaving Hamburg it forms the border between Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, again. The end it defined by the Kugelbake in Cuxhaven at kilometre 727.73. It continues further into the Wadden Sea as the Außenelbe, where it passes the Hamburg islands Scharhörn and Nigehörn.