Stade, Hanseatic town in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Stade is a town on the Elbe in Lower Saxony marked by narrow lanes and half-timbered houses from several centuries. The old harbor quarter shows warehouses and quays that were once used for trade along the river.
The settlement was first recorded in 994 and joined the Hanseatic League, making it a trading center on the Elbe. In the 1600s it came under Swedish control before later passing to Hanover.
The Swedish Warehouse dates from a period when the town stood under Swedish rule and now displays regional crafts and everyday objects from local life. The Open Air Museum preserves old farmhouses and a windmill from the 1600s that visitors can still walk around today.
Regular trains run from Hamburg in less than an hour, bringing visitors to the old center or surrounding fruit orchards. The lanes in the town core are best explored on foot, as many areas are closed to cars.
The wooden harbor crane at the old port is one of the last surviving timber cargo lifts used in northern German Hanseatic towns. The construction shows how goods were moved from ship to shore during medieval and early modern times.
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