Brunsbüttel

Brunsbüttel is a small town of some 12,500 (2018) people in Schleswig Holstein. Its main claims to fame are being the start (from the North Sea end) of the Kiel Canal and it being the site of the former nuclear power plant Brunsbüttel that was shut down in 2011 and whose demolition started in 2019 and is expected to take 15 years.

Understand
Brunsbüttel became an industrial area in the 1960s and 1970s. The ChemCoast Park Brunsbüttel is still the most important enterprise zone and with 2,000 ha also the largest industrial area in Schleswig-Holstein.

History
The earliest reference to the town is in a document dated 14 July 1286.

With the construction of the Kiel Canal (Kiel Canal) in 1911, the town was divided in two.

During the opening days of World War II, the British Royal Air Force carried out the second bombing of that war, targeting warships near the town.

Get in
There has been no passenger train service to Brunsbüttel since 1988.

By yacht
Brunsbüttel is on the right (northern) shore of Elbe near its mouth, at the North Sea end of the Kiel Canal. Especially arriving from the North Sea, you need to take the shipping and the tides into consideration. There are two marinas in Brunsbüttel: one a bit downstream from the canal, the other by the canal entry. Cuxhaven is at the mouth of the river, on the left bank some 15 nautical miles downstream.

Get around
As the Kiel Canal cuts right through town and there is no bridge usable for pedestrians (the B5 bridge is car-only) you'll need a ferry to cross the canal. Thanks to a decree by Wilhelm II all ferries are free of charge for pedestrians.