Travel Guide Stade

Stade is a charming little Hanseatic town in Lower Saxony, less than an hour from Hamburg. It is particularly attractive with its small harbor, its beautiful houses that combine half-timbering and brick, its cobbled old town and its lanterns. Most of the houses date back to the 17th century, since they were built after the fire of 1650 which destroyed two thirds of the city. The crane on the Fischmarkt dates from 1898 and was used to load and unload ships. The town hall, built in 1667 in the Renaissance style, bears the coat of arms of the Swedish kings, because Stade was occupied in 1636 by the Swedes during the Thirty Years War. And they lost control of it only in 1712!