My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times
21 Oct 2025
The Zoo by the Sea in Bremerhaven – History
I’ve not much experience photographing animals since I seldom have the chance, but when I was in Bremerhaven (on the way to Norway), the local zoo was close to my hotel and thus I visited. I did not manage to take photos of all the species – they are often under water, in the retirement areas, or just too fast to catch on camera –, but I got a collection of ok-ish photos of some of them.
View over part of the zoo to the Weser
The Zoo am Meer (Zoo by the Sea) in Bremerhaven, situated at the Weser estuary close to the North Sea, is a rather small zoo, with a basis ground of only 8,600 m2 that by the clever mountain-like architecture was expanded to 11,800 m2, and focusses – mostly – on animals from the polar regions. The zoo is part of the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria.
Polar fox Fenja
In this post I will tell you about the history of the zoo and some of the animals (in those cases I found information on the website or got it from the zoo keepers). The post turned out longer than I thought and is all over the place, mixing history and information about the animals and zoo technology – I hope you won’t get confused.
Fenja, posing
The first animal I met was a polar fox. Fenja joined the zoo in in July 2022 as nubile fox maiden, so to speak. She’s quite the model girl and knows how to look cute – she stood up and walked to the other side of the enclosure where I could photograph her again (with some twigs in the foreground). Her mate Milan, with a darker fur like frosted graphite, was not ready to remain standing in a good spot for a photo.
"Is there something edible in the pond?"
The history of the zoo began with an aquarium.
By the early 20th century, Bremerhaven had developed into one of the main harbours for freight and passengers in Germany. In 1897, the at the time largest chamber lock in the world and a new turning bassin had been built. Bremerhaven became a port for large-scale shipping; the Imperial Ports II and III, the Imperial Dock II (Kaiserhafen, all named for Emperor Wilhelm II) and the connecting port were constructed – they can still be seen during a harbour cruise. The municipality depended on fishing and shipping, though, and that meant the Lloyd company.
The modern aquarium: The sea around Helgoland
Thus the landing stage for the steamships of the Northern German Lloyd not only got a luxurious waiting hall with a fish food hall and restaurant for the passengers, but also an aquarium displaying fishes that could be found in the North Sea as additional attraction.
Once the city council decided on the new project, they got zoologist and teacher Dr. Heinrich Lübben as consultant for everything that had to do with the aquarium, technical equipment, budget, picking the staff etc. The aquarium in the cellar of the waiting hall opened in August 1913; Lübben became the first director.
Polar bear Lara
Lübben had ideas that went beyond an aquarium; he wanted to show animals as well, but he had to wait until after WW1. A wadden sea beach with some birds, and a bassin for seals were the first concept. It could be realised in 1921; two seals were caught in the wild – not unusual at the time.
After more years of financial strain for the town of Bremerhaven, the Tiergrotten (Animal Grottos) – called thus due to the artificial rock formations which housed the animals – were finally opened in 1928. Lübben wanted to concentrate on animals from the polar regions: The grottos showed polar bears, sea lions, seals, gannets, and later penguins as well. But the zoo also took in animals as gift, or confiscated from incoming ships, like chimpanzees and monkeys which had been sailors’ pets. This list of the first animals also included indigenous fauna like badgers and foxes.
Lara
20 year old Lara joined the zoo mid-July. The other she bear, Valeska, had finally told her grown up twin cubs to get a job and move out of the basement (they went to Brno in Czechia). Lara was introduced to keep Valeska company, but by early September when I visited, both ladies still kept to separate parts of the enclosure.
No boyfriend for Valeska after the male bear Lloyd had moved out in 2022, since her bloodline is already well represented in zoos worldwide, therefore she’s not supposed to breed again (she got several cubs over the years).
Valeska, "is this fish by the window worth the walk?"
The polar bear breeding program became one of Bremerhaven’s main successes already in the 1930/40ies – which is the more remarkable since no one had any experience with breeding polar bears in captivity, and the first enclosures were not species appropriate and much smaller than the space they got now.
One idea that helped was to sound-insulate the breeding cave with thick planks, and make sure the keepers would only whisper when near mommy bear. Polar bears turned out to be very sensitive to disturbances and sometimes refused to care for their cubs.
A parliament of penguins
Humboldt penguins are a highly endangered species with only 20,000 exemplars remaining in the wild.
The group was gathering in expectation of some juicy fish distributed by the keepers. Hand feeding has the advantage that the keepers can control the amount of food each animal gets and take a look at them as well.
"They’re talking nonsense over there."
The first pengiuns in the zoo were African penguins (breeding successes included), another species that is now endangered. I could not find information why the zoo changed to Humboldt penguins; one reason may be that African penguins prefer warmer water, while the modern bassins at the Weser estuary are filled with cold water, thus extra heating would have been required to keep African penguins. There are also world wide breeding programs that decide which zoo may be the best fit for a particular species or animal.
Juvenile cormorant
Cormorants are not endangered, but the zoo also shows some animals – including most of the fishes, the seals and more – that are just part of the arctic fauna. They had reindeer in the early years, for example.
The cormorants share an enclosure with the northern gannet and some other birds.
Northern gannet
The northern gannet was another early breeding success. The German name is Basstölpel (ʹTölpelʹ meaning someone clumsy, the ʹBassʹ part refers to the Bass Rock in Scotland, one of the main colonies of gannets).
Northern gannets are the largest and most northern species in the gannet family. They were endangered because they’ve been hunted for meat and their eggs collected, but since the hunt has been forbidden, the population has been increasing again since the 1990ies. But there is a new danger: Fishing nets. The birds get entangled in the plastic wires, or bring them to build their nests.
Kea
The keas got their own place, though. They are an endangered species. They were killed by New Zealand farmers who – mistakenly – thought they were killing sheep until the 1970ies. It is now forbidden, but still happens now and then. Another problem are introduced predators not part of the original New Zealandian fauna like rats and cats which will steal the eggs and chicks of the ground breeding keas.
South African fur seals
South African fur seals (called Seebären, ʹsea bearsʹ in German) are protected by the Washington Convention.
The water in the bassins for the various seals is exchanged every spring, and the underwater windows get a swipe down as well. 2.7 million litres of water are pumped into the Weser river The water is clean because the zoo today got one one of the most powerful seawater treatment plants in Europe; a total of 3.5 million litres of salt water can be filtered every hour. When the bassins are empty, the technical equipment like pumps, shut-off valves and pipe connections, is checked and repaired if needed. Afterwards, the bassins are filled again to ¾ with tap water, added to this is 27% brine until a seawater salt concentration of 3.5% is reached. The animals stay in the stables during the process.
"Hello, let me tell you more about the zoo’s history."
The zoo soon became popular with the inhabitants of Bremerhaven. But the first grottos left a lot to be desired; there were no water bassins – except for the seals that were kept in a fenced-in area near the harbour – and winter shelters; the room for the keepers had no heating etc. More money than the admission fees was needed. Heinrich Lübben was successfully advertising for donations, but then double bad luck hit the fledging zoo: Lübben died unexpectedly, and the Great Depression struck.
Another fur seal
The new director, Dr. Otto Stocker, had his work cut out after the Great Depression. The infrastructure of the zoo was in a bad shape – which makes me wonder what mediocre materials had been used in 1928 – and the zoo was somewhat short of animals. Stocker got that sorted out and achieved his goal to have many different species living in natural groups with adult and young animals. That was a different way to present them compared to the single (or nursing mother) ʹpresentationʹ in cages that had been the standard.
Stocker and his successor Hermann Junker had considerable success in breeding several of the species, especially polar bears and seals, so the zoo became known in the professional world.
South American sea lions
During WW2, Bremerhaven was a main target for Allied bomb attacks because of the harbour. The zoo was damaged during those attacks, and a number of animals killed, or died in cause of the stress (an ice bear killed her cubs) or malnutrition (several seals); fresh herring was hard to come by. There was also a problem to get materials to repair the damaged enclosures, and the office building went up in flames, with many papers like breeding registers been lost.
Fortunately, the allied soldiers became very fond of the zoo and its inhabitants (among them the only sea lions and penguins to survive in German zoos). The military administration organized building materials like concrete, bricks, timber, roofing felt, and – most important – fresh fish for the seals and penguins, so the Animal Grottos could be opened to the delighted Bremerhaven citizens already in July 1945.
"Monday morning? – No, I feel like that all the time."
Junker who had guided the zoo and the aquarium through the difficult times of war and post-war, retired in 1953. His successor was Dr. Kurt Ehlers who brought the zoo back to an internationally acknowledged level. One of his successes was not only the breeding of seals and polar bears, but the raising of abandoned baby seals (called Heuler in German). The poor little things often died until he got the idea to replace the rearing milk with herring fillets and extra vitamins. I suppose the nursing milk avaliable in the 1960ies was not rich enough for baby seals – seal milk contains 45% fat (cow milk has less than 4%). Today, there is a station caring for baby seals in nearby Friedrichskoog.
Harbour seals under water
On Februar 16th/17th 1962, the great North Sea flood hit Bremerhaven. Gusts of up to 200 km/h pushed the water into the German Bight, flooding the dykes along the coast and surging up the rivers of Weser and Elbe – the flood hit Hamburg 100 km inland especially hard. The coastal land is rich in grazing, so many animals – cattle, sheep, horses – died, and 347 people (most of them in Hamburg, the settlements near the coast mostly evacuated in time). 60,000 people were unhomed.
The brick flood wall protecting the zoo was destroyed and parts of the zoo flooded, so many animals that could not swim well, like monkeys and raccoons, died in the flood. Nevertheless, director Ehlers and main keeper Bartmann and his wife managed to save several animals, risking their own lives. Bremerhaven itself got off rather well thanks to not only the fire fighters, police and volunteers, but also the US Army stationed there who all joined efforts to strengthen and repair the dykes with sandbags.
Sea lion yoga
The Animal Grottos were renamed Zoo by the Sea in 1984, but the inhabitants of Bremerhaven called their Zoo ʹTiergrottenʹ still for a long time. They were not the only visitors; since the 1960ies, more and more guests came from Germany and soon from abroad as well.
But despite ongoing repairs and attempts to change the enclosures to better fit the requirements of the animals, it became clear that the zoo needed a general overhaul. By they 1990ies, the technology (like the water filtering system) was old-fashioned, the building structure derelict, and the enclosures and bassins too small. The new directress, Dr. Heike Kück, would have to supervise a complete rebuilding of the zoo.
Asian small clawed otter
The municipal property company of Bremerhaven bought the ground of the zoo (and an additional piece of land), so the financial strain was divided between the company and the zoo, with a subsidy by the EU. After the usual discussions about budgets, architectural plans, ideas (an idea from an US company to turn the zoo into a part of an entertainment park was fortunately not accepted), responsibilies and whatnot, the complete reconstruction of the zoo started in January 2001, first on the additional bit of land. Already in November 2002, the chimpanzees, polar bears, polar foxes and all species of seals could move into their new enclosures. The next step took place from March 2003 (the animals were put in preliminary quarters either within the zoo or in other zoos), and in March 2024, the entire zoo was reopened for the public.
Asian small clawed otters Bonnie and Clyde
Some of the cutest inahbitants: Two young Asian small clawed otters, another species protected by the Washington Convention.
I was lucky since they had joined but a few days before my visit. The prior couple had to be taken down due to illness within a few months of each other at the age of 18/19 – much older than they would ever get in the wild. But it was always clear that the zoo would take in new otters; they’re very popular.
Peek-a-boo
The zoo today (by January 2025) houses 1,164 animals of 109 species. Most of them are fishes, though; there are only 13 species of mammals in the zoo (plus birds, turtles, snakes, and a green iguana). I didn’t manage to takes photos of all the species, though (too fast, hiding, reflections in the glass windows esp. in the aquarium, etc.).
The visitor number for 2024 was 305,113, a good average. 70% of the zoo's running costs are covered by admission fees and the sale of souvenirs in the zoo shop. The zoo receives the remaining 30% as institutional funding from the city of Bremerhaven. Additionally, legacies and sponsorships are used to finance educational and research work to increase the zoo's attractiveness, such as new enclosures.
Russian red tree squirrel
The otters and the Russian red squirrel – which suffers the same fate as the European red squirrel in Great Britain, being replaced by the larger grey squirrel in its habitat – were added to the zoo after the rebuilt. Other than European red squirrels, the Russian variant changes to a whitish winter fur.
Mountain lion
There are two mountain lions, Makiri and Yakawi, but I don’t know who’s who on the photos.
The modern enclosures are much larger, imitating the natural habitats of the animals, with glass fences wherever possible, and windows to watch them under water. Most enclosures have several spots – sometimes high enough to offer an overview – where you can watch the animals. They also got places to hide from the public, and all enclosures have outdoor and indoor spaces, though on a warm September afternoon, most of the animals were outdoors.
Catwalk
There are no public performances, except for the feeding of seals and penguins that can be watched. Some animals learn a few tricks, but that serves to mentally stimulate them and to make it easier for the vet to get close without sedating the animal.
There are programs teaching about species protection, biodiversity, and the dangers of environmental destruction, many of them specially aimed for kids. The zoo also offers guided tours with different thematic focal points.
Aquarium, bassin ʹWeser estuaryʹ
During the rebuilding of the zoo, the aquarium that had started everything had to go, and the zoo was reopened in 2004 without an aquarium. But visitors missed it – a zoo with a focus on Nordic and water loving animals should have an aquarium.
There was another argument in favour: Due to the focus of the zoo on Polar regions, there are no warmhouses and spots for the visitors to get out of cold and wet weather, thus the visitor numbers decreased in winter. An aquarium would offer a sheltered spot.
Bassin ʹharbourʹ
Conditions were good: There was an empty area of 325 m/2 beneath the polar bear enclosure, access to natural sea water, and modern filter technology avaliable (see above).
Thus, in 2013, a new aquarium world opened, specialising on the marine life of the North Sea, and the visitors numbers during winter increased, as it was hoped. The light and colours in the hall give you an impression of walking under water yourself.
Skagerrak underwater landscape
There are 9 aquariums with a water volume ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 litres. The shell is 24 cm waterproof concrete, the acrylic glass panes are up to 90 mm thick, the largest measures 4.40 x 1.75 metres. Add to that the various light spots and reflections, and it’s photographer’s hell, though the underwater landscapes and fish and other critters are pretty to watch.
Besides a lot of different fish (among others: eel, rudd, gobio, stickleback, mullet, goldsinny wrasse, dragonet, catshark, thornback ray, Atlantic wolffish, sea robin - but don't ask me who's who, lol), you’ll also find crabs, lobster, mussels, sea urchins, starfish, sponges, corals and other creatures that live in the North Sea. Though you won’t find some of the larger fish that eat smaller fish, like cod, for obvious reasons.
Seagrass meadow
Seagrass meadows are some of the most productive marine habitats. They filter pathogens and sediments from the water, and fix large quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. They also offer a home for a large number of small animal species. Unfortunately, they are in decline in many regions.
There are several examples of non-indigenous fish – including seahorses – in the various bassins to give an image of the North Sea as it is now, with species moving in either because the water gets warmer, or because they traveled with ships – often as larvae – and like the North Sea.
West African chimpanzees
Chimpanzees have always been part of the zoo. Several members of the current group were taken in after confiscations in the 1980ies (one was caught when the mother was shot and ended up a ship mascot); they had been brought up in contact with humans and did not display proper chimpanzee behaviour, though the chimpanzees in Bremerhaven eventually developed into a functioning group. It was considered moving them to some place specialising in primates when the zoo was renovated in 2004, but that would have proven a lot of emotional stress for the chimpanzees, so it was decided to keep them.
This West African species is endangered, and the bloodline of the zoo is a rare one since it goes back directly to chimpanzees captured in the wild.
Emperor tamarin
That tail is too long to fit on the photo.
Monkeys also have been part of the zoo since its beginning. They usually came as gifts, former sailors’ pets and ship monkeys kept for good luck.
The zoo continues to breed some non-polar animals since every zoo participating in breeding programs expands the genetic stock of animals that are, or may soon be, counted as endangered species. The emperor tamarins live at the Amazonas where the rainforest is decreasing rapidly; they are not yet endangered but their habitat is getting smaller every day.
Horst, the two-toed sloth. Sleeping again.
The latest addition to the park is a sloth called Horst who joined just a few days before my visit. He was born in the Weltvogelpark Walsrode (World Bird’s Park Walsrode) that has kept sloths for years. He shares the Amazonian rainforest habitat with the tamarins, like he would in the wild.
One reason to keep those roommates of tamarins, turtles, a green iguana, and a sloth may be the plans to build a Biodiversity Center (see below) that would focus on the Amazonian rain forest; the animals could then be moved to a habitat there.
Aquarium, cold water species
The Zoo am Meer is part of the Havenwelten quarter in Bremerhaven, situated around the remains of the Old Harbour (1830) and New Harbour (1852) – both are no longer used as habours for large ships, though the New Harbour has a marina. The Havenwelten include several museums: The Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum (German Maritime Museum), the Deutsches Auswandrerhaus (German Emigration Center – Bremerhaven was a main port for ships going to America) and the Klimahaus Bremerhaven (Climate House).
There are plans for another educational center, a "Biodom Bremerhaven" focussing on biodiversity and its challenges by example of the Amazonian rain forest. The center is intended to be connected to the zoo. But what exists until now are some pretty plans and models, with only vague ideas about the financing (planned: 48 million €, if you have something to spare *grin*).
Sea lion bassin with the Weser estuary behind
Sources
Zoo Website
80 Jahre Zoo am Meer
¶ October 21, 2025 1 comments
I’ve not much experience photographing animals since I seldom have the chance, but when I was in Bremerhaven (on the way to Norway), the local zoo was close to my hotel and thus I visited. I did not manage to take photos of all the species – they are often under water, in the retirement areas, or just too fast to catch on camera –, but I got a collection of ok-ish photos of some of them.
The Zoo am Meer (Zoo by the Sea) in Bremerhaven, situated at the Weser estuary close to the North Sea, is a rather small zoo, with a basis ground of only 8,600 m2 that by the clever mountain-like architecture was expanded to 11,800 m2, and focusses – mostly – on animals from the polar regions. The zoo is part of the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria.
In this post I will tell you about the history of the zoo and some of the animals (in those cases I found information on the website or got it from the zoo keepers). The post turned out longer than I thought and is all over the place, mixing history and information about the animals and zoo technology – I hope you won’t get confused.
The first animal I met was a polar fox. Fenja joined the zoo in in July 2022 as nubile fox maiden, so to speak. She’s quite the model girl and knows how to look cute – she stood up and walked to the other side of the enclosure where I could photograph her again (with some twigs in the foreground). Her mate Milan, with a darker fur like frosted graphite, was not ready to remain standing in a good spot for a photo.
The history of the zoo began with an aquarium.
By the early 20th century, Bremerhaven had developed into one of the main harbours for freight and passengers in Germany. In 1897, the at the time largest chamber lock in the world and a new turning bassin had been built. Bremerhaven became a port for large-scale shipping; the Imperial Ports II and III, the Imperial Dock II (Kaiserhafen, all named for Emperor Wilhelm II) and the connecting port were constructed – they can still be seen during a harbour cruise. The municipality depended on fishing and shipping, though, and that meant the Lloyd company.
Thus the landing stage for the steamships of the Northern German Lloyd not only got a luxurious waiting hall with a fish food hall and restaurant for the passengers, but also an aquarium displaying fishes that could be found in the North Sea as additional attraction.
Once the city council decided on the new project, they got zoologist and teacher Dr. Heinrich Lübben as consultant for everything that had to do with the aquarium, technical equipment, budget, picking the staff etc. The aquarium in the cellar of the waiting hall opened in August 1913; Lübben became the first director.
Lübben had ideas that went beyond an aquarium; he wanted to show animals as well, but he had to wait until after WW1. A wadden sea beach with some birds, and a bassin for seals were the first concept. It could be realised in 1921; two seals were caught in the wild – not unusual at the time.
After more years of financial strain for the town of Bremerhaven, the Tiergrotten (Animal Grottos) – called thus due to the artificial rock formations which housed the animals – were finally opened in 1928. Lübben wanted to concentrate on animals from the polar regions: The grottos showed polar bears, sea lions, seals, gannets, and later penguins as well. But the zoo also took in animals as gift, or confiscated from incoming ships, like chimpanzees and monkeys which had been sailors’ pets. This list of the first animals also included indigenous fauna like badgers and foxes.
20 year old Lara joined the zoo mid-July. The other she bear, Valeska, had finally told her grown up twin cubs to get a job and move out of the basement (they went to Brno in Czechia). Lara was introduced to keep Valeska company, but by early September when I visited, both ladies still kept to separate parts of the enclosure.
No boyfriend for Valeska after the male bear Lloyd had moved out in 2022, since her bloodline is already well represented in zoos worldwide, therefore she’s not supposed to breed again (she got several cubs over the years).
The polar bear breeding program became one of Bremerhaven’s main successes already in the 1930/40ies – which is the more remarkable since no one had any experience with breeding polar bears in captivity, and the first enclosures were not species appropriate and much smaller than the space they got now.
One idea that helped was to sound-insulate the breeding cave with thick planks, and make sure the keepers would only whisper when near mommy bear. Polar bears turned out to be very sensitive to disturbances and sometimes refused to care for their cubs.
Humboldt penguins are a highly endangered species with only 20,000 exemplars remaining in the wild.
The group was gathering in expectation of some juicy fish distributed by the keepers. Hand feeding has the advantage that the keepers can control the amount of food each animal gets and take a look at them as well.
The first pengiuns in the zoo were African penguins (breeding successes included), another species that is now endangered. I could not find information why the zoo changed to Humboldt penguins; one reason may be that African penguins prefer warmer water, while the modern bassins at the Weser estuary are filled with cold water, thus extra heating would have been required to keep African penguins. There are also world wide breeding programs that decide which zoo may be the best fit for a particular species or animal.
Cormorants are not endangered, but the zoo also shows some animals – including most of the fishes, the seals and more – that are just part of the arctic fauna. They had reindeer in the early years, for example.
The cormorants share an enclosure with the northern gannet and some other birds.
The northern gannet was another early breeding success. The German name is Basstölpel (ʹTölpelʹ meaning someone clumsy, the ʹBassʹ part refers to the Bass Rock in Scotland, one of the main colonies of gannets).
Northern gannets are the largest and most northern species in the gannet family. They were endangered because they’ve been hunted for meat and their eggs collected, but since the hunt has been forbidden, the population has been increasing again since the 1990ies. But there is a new danger: Fishing nets. The birds get entangled in the plastic wires, or bring them to build their nests.
The keas got their own place, though. They are an endangered species. They were killed by New Zealand farmers who – mistakenly – thought they were killing sheep until the 1970ies. It is now forbidden, but still happens now and then. Another problem are introduced predators not part of the original New Zealandian fauna like rats and cats which will steal the eggs and chicks of the ground breeding keas.
South African fur seals (called Seebären, ʹsea bearsʹ in German) are protected by the Washington Convention.
The water in the bassins for the various seals is exchanged every spring, and the underwater windows get a swipe down as well. 2.7 million litres of water are pumped into the Weser river The water is clean because the zoo today got one one of the most powerful seawater treatment plants in Europe; a total of 3.5 million litres of salt water can be filtered every hour. When the bassins are empty, the technical equipment like pumps, shut-off valves and pipe connections, is checked and repaired if needed. Afterwards, the bassins are filled again to ¾ with tap water, added to this is 27% brine until a seawater salt concentration of 3.5% is reached. The animals stay in the stables during the process.
The zoo soon became popular with the inhabitants of Bremerhaven. But the first grottos left a lot to be desired; there were no water bassins – except for the seals that were kept in a fenced-in area near the harbour – and winter shelters; the room for the keepers had no heating etc. More money than the admission fees was needed. Heinrich Lübben was successfully advertising for donations, but then double bad luck hit the fledging zoo: Lübben died unexpectedly, and the Great Depression struck.
The new director, Dr. Otto Stocker, had his work cut out after the Great Depression. The infrastructure of the zoo was in a bad shape – which makes me wonder what mediocre materials had been used in 1928 – and the zoo was somewhat short of animals. Stocker got that sorted out and achieved his goal to have many different species living in natural groups with adult and young animals. That was a different way to present them compared to the single (or nursing mother) ʹpresentationʹ in cages that had been the standard.
Stocker and his successor Hermann Junker had considerable success in breeding several of the species, especially polar bears and seals, so the zoo became known in the professional world.
During WW2, Bremerhaven was a main target for Allied bomb attacks because of the harbour. The zoo was damaged during those attacks, and a number of animals killed, or died in cause of the stress (an ice bear killed her cubs) or malnutrition (several seals); fresh herring was hard to come by. There was also a problem to get materials to repair the damaged enclosures, and the office building went up in flames, with many papers like breeding registers been lost.
Fortunately, the allied soldiers became very fond of the zoo and its inhabitants (among them the only sea lions and penguins to survive in German zoos). The military administration organized building materials like concrete, bricks, timber, roofing felt, and – most important – fresh fish for the seals and penguins, so the Animal Grottos could be opened to the delighted Bremerhaven citizens already in July 1945.
Junker who had guided the zoo and the aquarium through the difficult times of war and post-war, retired in 1953. His successor was Dr. Kurt Ehlers who brought the zoo back to an internationally acknowledged level. One of his successes was not only the breeding of seals and polar bears, but the raising of abandoned baby seals (called Heuler in German). The poor little things often died until he got the idea to replace the rearing milk with herring fillets and extra vitamins. I suppose the nursing milk avaliable in the 1960ies was not rich enough for baby seals – seal milk contains 45% fat (cow milk has less than 4%). Today, there is a station caring for baby seals in nearby Friedrichskoog.
On Februar 16th/17th 1962, the great North Sea flood hit Bremerhaven. Gusts of up to 200 km/h pushed the water into the German Bight, flooding the dykes along the coast and surging up the rivers of Weser and Elbe – the flood hit Hamburg 100 km inland especially hard. The coastal land is rich in grazing, so many animals – cattle, sheep, horses – died, and 347 people (most of them in Hamburg, the settlements near the coast mostly evacuated in time). 60,000 people were unhomed.
The brick flood wall protecting the zoo was destroyed and parts of the zoo flooded, so many animals that could not swim well, like monkeys and raccoons, died in the flood. Nevertheless, director Ehlers and main keeper Bartmann and his wife managed to save several animals, risking their own lives. Bremerhaven itself got off rather well thanks to not only the fire fighters, police and volunteers, but also the US Army stationed there who all joined efforts to strengthen and repair the dykes with sandbags.
The Animal Grottos were renamed Zoo by the Sea in 1984, but the inhabitants of Bremerhaven called their Zoo ʹTiergrottenʹ still for a long time. They were not the only visitors; since the 1960ies, more and more guests came from Germany and soon from abroad as well.
But despite ongoing repairs and attempts to change the enclosures to better fit the requirements of the animals, it became clear that the zoo needed a general overhaul. By they 1990ies, the technology (like the water filtering system) was old-fashioned, the building structure derelict, and the enclosures and bassins too small. The new directress, Dr. Heike Kück, would have to supervise a complete rebuilding of the zoo.
The municipal property company of Bremerhaven bought the ground of the zoo (and an additional piece of land), so the financial strain was divided between the company and the zoo, with a subsidy by the EU. After the usual discussions about budgets, architectural plans, ideas (an idea from an US company to turn the zoo into a part of an entertainment park was fortunately not accepted), responsibilies and whatnot, the complete reconstruction of the zoo started in January 2001, first on the additional bit of land. Already in November 2002, the chimpanzees, polar bears, polar foxes and all species of seals could move into their new enclosures. The next step took place from March 2003 (the animals were put in preliminary quarters either within the zoo or in other zoos), and in March 2024, the entire zoo was reopened for the public.
Some of the cutest inahbitants: Two young Asian small clawed otters, another species protected by the Washington Convention.
I was lucky since they had joined but a few days before my visit. The prior couple had to be taken down due to illness within a few months of each other at the age of 18/19 – much older than they would ever get in the wild. But it was always clear that the zoo would take in new otters; they’re very popular.
The zoo today (by January 2025) houses 1,164 animals of 109 species. Most of them are fishes, though; there are only 13 species of mammals in the zoo (plus birds, turtles, snakes, and a green iguana). I didn’t manage to takes photos of all the species, though (too fast, hiding, reflections in the glass windows esp. in the aquarium, etc.).
The visitor number for 2024 was 305,113, a good average. 70% of the zoo's running costs are covered by admission fees and the sale of souvenirs in the zoo shop. The zoo receives the remaining 30% as institutional funding from the city of Bremerhaven. Additionally, legacies and sponsorships are used to finance educational and research work to increase the zoo's attractiveness, such as new enclosures.
The otters and the Russian red squirrel – which suffers the same fate as the European red squirrel in Great Britain, being replaced by the larger grey squirrel in its habitat – were added to the zoo after the rebuilt. Other than European red squirrels, the Russian variant changes to a whitish winter fur.
There are two mountain lions, Makiri and Yakawi, but I don’t know who’s who on the photos.
The modern enclosures are much larger, imitating the natural habitats of the animals, with glass fences wherever possible, and windows to watch them under water. Most enclosures have several spots – sometimes high enough to offer an overview – where you can watch the animals. They also got places to hide from the public, and all enclosures have outdoor and indoor spaces, though on a warm September afternoon, most of the animals were outdoors.
There are no public performances, except for the feeding of seals and penguins that can be watched. Some animals learn a few tricks, but that serves to mentally stimulate them and to make it easier for the vet to get close without sedating the animal.
There are programs teaching about species protection, biodiversity, and the dangers of environmental destruction, many of them specially aimed for kids. The zoo also offers guided tours with different thematic focal points.
During the rebuilding of the zoo, the aquarium that had started everything had to go, and the zoo was reopened in 2004 without an aquarium. But visitors missed it – a zoo with a focus on Nordic and water loving animals should have an aquarium.
There was another argument in favour: Due to the focus of the zoo on Polar regions, there are no warmhouses and spots for the visitors to get out of cold and wet weather, thus the visitor numbers decreased in winter. An aquarium would offer a sheltered spot.
Conditions were good: There was an empty area of 325 m/2 beneath the polar bear enclosure, access to natural sea water, and modern filter technology avaliable (see above).
Thus, in 2013, a new aquarium world opened, specialising on the marine life of the North Sea, and the visitors numbers during winter increased, as it was hoped. The light and colours in the hall give you an impression of walking under water yourself.
There are 9 aquariums with a water volume ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 litres. The shell is 24 cm waterproof concrete, the acrylic glass panes are up to 90 mm thick, the largest measures 4.40 x 1.75 metres. Add to that the various light spots and reflections, and it’s photographer’s hell, though the underwater landscapes and fish and other critters are pretty to watch.
Besides a lot of different fish (among others: eel, rudd, gobio, stickleback, mullet, goldsinny wrasse, dragonet, catshark, thornback ray, Atlantic wolffish, sea robin - but don't ask me who's who, lol), you’ll also find crabs, lobster, mussels, sea urchins, starfish, sponges, corals and other creatures that live in the North Sea. Though you won’t find some of the larger fish that eat smaller fish, like cod, for obvious reasons.
Seagrass meadows are some of the most productive marine habitats. They filter pathogens and sediments from the water, and fix large quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. They also offer a home for a large number of small animal species. Unfortunately, they are in decline in many regions.
There are several examples of non-indigenous fish – including seahorses – in the various bassins to give an image of the North Sea as it is now, with species moving in either because the water gets warmer, or because they traveled with ships – often as larvae – and like the North Sea.
Chimpanzees have always been part of the zoo. Several members of the current group were taken in after confiscations in the 1980ies (one was caught when the mother was shot and ended up a ship mascot); they had been brought up in contact with humans and did not display proper chimpanzee behaviour, though the chimpanzees in Bremerhaven eventually developed into a functioning group. It was considered moving them to some place specialising in primates when the zoo was renovated in 2004, but that would have proven a lot of emotional stress for the chimpanzees, so it was decided to keep them.
This West African species is endangered, and the bloodline of the zoo is a rare one since it goes back directly to chimpanzees captured in the wild.
That tail is too long to fit on the photo.
Monkeys also have been part of the zoo since its beginning. They usually came as gifts, former sailors’ pets and ship monkeys kept for good luck.
The zoo continues to breed some non-polar animals since every zoo participating in breeding programs expands the genetic stock of animals that are, or may soon be, counted as endangered species. The emperor tamarins live at the Amazonas where the rainforest is decreasing rapidly; they are not yet endangered but their habitat is getting smaller every day.
The latest addition to the park is a sloth called Horst who joined just a few days before my visit. He was born in the Weltvogelpark Walsrode (World Bird’s Park Walsrode) that has kept sloths for years. He shares the Amazonian rainforest habitat with the tamarins, like he would in the wild.
One reason to keep those roommates of tamarins, turtles, a green iguana, and a sloth may be the plans to build a Biodiversity Center (see below) that would focus on the Amazonian rain forest; the animals could then be moved to a habitat there.
The Zoo am Meer is part of the Havenwelten quarter in Bremerhaven, situated around the remains of the Old Harbour (1830) and New Harbour (1852) – both are no longer used as habours for large ships, though the New Harbour has a marina. The Havenwelten include several museums: The Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum (German Maritime Museum), the Deutsches Auswandrerhaus (German Emigration Center – Bremerhaven was a main port for ships going to America) and the Klimahaus Bremerhaven (Climate House).
There are plans for another educational center, a "Biodom Bremerhaven" focussing on biodiversity and its challenges by example of the Amazonian rain forest. The center is intended to be connected to the zoo. But what exists until now are some pretty plans and models, with only vague ideas about the financing (planned: 48 million €, if you have something to spare *grin*).
Sources
Zoo Website
80 Jahre Zoo am Meer
¶ October 21, 2025 1 comments
28 Sept 2025
Autumn Tour 2025 – The Fjords of South-Western Norway
Another journey, or rather, voyage this year was to Norway via Bremerhaven in Germany. I had traveled along the coast of Norway on the Hurtigruten Tour in 2011, but most of the fjords aren’t part of the tour (and Geiranger is not called at due to ice and avalanches). This voyage – on a smaller ship, not one of those 6,000 passenger monsters – concentrated on the fjords of south-western Norway. Bus tours to some of the most scenic sites were offered while the ship was at anchor. In for some spectacular Norwegian landscape? *grin*
Fossen Bratte waterfall in Eikedalen
We start with one of the many waterfalls. This was on a tour from Bergen to Øystese at the Hardangerfjord, across the Eikedalen/Kvamskogen area popular for its skiing resorts. It’s not always possible to take photos out of the moving bus, but besides the longer official stops, the driver added a few what he called 'Japanese stops' ("five minutes for photos and don’t dither").
Closeup of the Fossen Bratte waterfall
The waterfall is also called Eikedalsfoss or Brudesløret (bridal veil, since it looks like one, but there’s another fall with that name in Norway). The Eikedalselva river falls 79 metres into the valley; measured by laser. You can get closer to the fall, of course, but for a quick stop the roadside parking lot is sufficient. We got some time at several more waterfalls during the tours.
Mountains surrounding the Eikedalen
I liked how this photo came out, with the sun shining into the ravine between the mountains.
Eikedalen Valley
And here is one of the valley.
Steinsdalsfossen
That’s one of the falls we got time to explore: the Steinsdalsfossen ('fossen' meaning waterfall) near Norheimsund. It is part of the river Fosselva which springs from the Myklavatn Lake 814 metres above sea level, and empties into the Steindalselva (you may have guessed that 'elva' means river). The waterfall developed when the Fosselva changed its course in 1699; its height is 50 metres.
Behind the Steinsdalsfossen
What makes this fall a tourist destination is the fact that you can walk behind the fall without getting wet. So here’s a photo from that angle.
View from Øystese to the Hardangerfjord
The Hardangerfjord which is located east of Bergen, is 180 km long – making it the second largest fjord after the Sognefjord (more than 200 km). The shores alternate between mountains and more gently sloping districts where orchards thrive; the apples of Hardanger are famous in Norway.
The weather was a mixed affair that day, clouds and sunshine, a few raindrops, and an overall rather hazy atomsphere that veiled the more distant mountains, turning them into fairy tale shadows.
Impressions out of the Flåm Line train
Next stop was Flåm in the Aurlandsfjord which is a branch of the Sognefjord. The tour included taking the Flåm Line to Myrdal and another train further to Voss, then changing into a bus that would take us up to Stahlheim and then along the Nærøyfjord (another branch of the Sognefjord) back to Flåm, going through several long tunnels on that last part.
Another view from the Flåm train
The Flåmsbana is a 20 km long railway between Flåm at the fjord and Myrdal which is at 866 metres above sea level, so no wonder the gradient can be as steep as 5.5 percent. The railway connects the district of Sogn to the train line from Oslo to Bergen that stops at Myrdal. Construction started in 1924, but it took until 1940 for the railway to be operational. Not an easy terrain to build 20 tunnels and a bridge.
Kjosfossen
Even the Flåm line got a 'Japanese stop', at the Kjosfossen. Its fall is 225 metres, so it’s one of the more spectacular ones. The fall continues under the railway bridge to the other side and powers a small power station for the railway. Norway gets its electricity cheap due to the many waterfalls.
Myrdal station
It was the only day with lots of rain, so the photos tended to turn out a bit darker and melencholic.
Tvinde Waterfall
A stop during the bus part of the tour: Tvinde Waterfall. It is one of the prettiest falls due to its many strands and cascades. The waterfall ist 110 metres high (other sources say 152 metres). It is one of the falls that sometimes runs dry in summer, so we were lucky that it was displaying quite nicely.
Tvinde Waterfall, the lower part
Legends say that the waterfall can give you back youth and well ... potency. Obviously, people believe in that since there are some filling up bottles with water from the fall, we were told.
View from Stahlheim to the Nærøy Valley
There has been a way from the eastern provinces around Oslo and Telemarken to the Vestlandet around the fjords since the Middle Ages. It led from Voss to Stahlheim and down to Gudvangen at the end of the Nærøyfjord, and from there to the Sognefjord and the open sea by boat. In 1647, it was elevated to Royal Postway between Oslo and Bergen; Stahlheim farm became a postal station and inn.
Zoom in of the valley in the rain
Since 1865, Gudvangen could be reached by steam ships, and horse carriages would bring people up to Stahlheim. It was the beginning of the tourism in the area. The German emperor Wilhlem II regularly spent some time there; he was a great Norway fan.
View to the Stahlheimselva
Stahlheim is situated 330 metres above sea leve, the Nærøy Valley about 100 metres. The Stahlheim brook passes the hotel and thunders down as 126 metres fall below (you can see the brook and the edge, and the river below, but not the fall itself).
View from Stahlheim in another direction
I had loaned an umbrella to protect my camera, and went a bit wild about photographing those dramatic clouds, lol, while most of the others had a coffee at the hotel.
Flåm in the rain
Flåm is a documented settlement since 1340, but the village became popular only with the builing of the Flåm railway which soon attracted tourists who got there by steamships. Nowadays, the number of cruise ships allowed in the harbour is limited per day, bringing the overall number down to 170 per annum (it was more than 300 at the peak).
Ålesund seen from Mount Aksla
St. Peter seems to have felt bad about that rainy day and brought the sun out for most of the rest of the voyage. So we got Ålesund in the sunshine and warm weather, and most of the Geiranger tour the next day as well.
At the Fjord Center near Geiranger
The tour to the Dalsnibba Mountain and up the Eagle Road with its spectacular views was a hightlight of the cruise. Those winding roads are bad enough with a car, but the bus driver got us around safely albeit it looked dangerous at some points.
On the way up the Dalsnibba: Blåbreen Glacier with Djupvatnet Lake
That is one of the few photos I took from the bus that turned out ok. Serpentine roads, a swaying bus, and reflections on the windows don’t make it easy. But we got several stops, so it was no problem to catch a lot of breathtaking views – life and on camera.
On the Dalsnibba Mountain
The road up to the Dalsnibba is called Nibbevegen. It starts at Djupvatnet (1035 metres above sea level) and leads to the summit of Dalsnibba at 1476 metres above sea level. This is the highest road in Norway; 5 km long, with a gradient of 10%.
View from Dalsnibba to the Geirangerfjord
The Dalsnibba offers a spectacular view to the Geirangerfjord which is 7 km away (though the distance by road is about 20 km). Due to its height the mountain is often covered by snow far into summer, and frequently wreathed in clouds. We were lucky since the clouds were only on one side, leaving the view to the fjord clear if somewhat hazy.
View to the Blåbreen Glacier
A skywalk with an iron grid floor and a glass guardrail has been built on the mountain some years ago, offering an even better view to the Blåbreen (also called Blåfjell) glacier and the Geiranger valley. A descent of 500 metres under my feet was not my favourite spot, but I did enter.
View from Dalsnibba
Just some picture spam.
View from Flydal’s Gorge to the fjord
This is the typical postcard motive, the view to the Geiranger Fjord from the parking lot at Flydalsjuvet. Everyone stops there for a photo and so did we.
The zigzag band at the lower right corner is the Eagle Bend road which leads to another famous viewpoint. I was on the smaller of the two ships.
View into the Flydalsjuvet
The gorge itself looks quite spectacular as well, though I could not find any information about it; everything Google offers is about the viewpoint. But there is a – rather tricky – way down the cliff of the gorge to Geiranger.
Geirangerfjord seen from the Eagle Bend
Next was up the serpentine road called Eagle Bend to a viewpoint on the other side of the fjord. Another winding road with a gradient of 10% (bus driver in Norway looks like a fun job). The viewing platform is 620 metres above sea level. A bit crowded at times, but really worth it – and it wasn’t so bad when we got there.
Geirangerfjord seem from the ship
The Geirangefjord, together with the Nærøyfjord – though the latter follows a different was to the sea via the Sognefjord – are part of the UNESCO world heritage. The Geirangerfjord is only 15 km long, but those 15 km are really spectacular since the fjord is so narrow, with steep mountain slopes on both sides.
Another view of the fjord
And more picture spam.
The Seven Sisters Waterfall
The Seven Sisters is the most popular waterfall along the fjord, though at the time we got there some of the sisters were on holiday. At its heighday in spring, seven falls thunder down into the fjord close to each other.
Stavanger, the old town
The last day of the cruise the ship anchored in Stavanger with its charming old town. Walking those lanes, you won’t imagine that the city is the centre of the Norwegian oil industry, but when the ship approaches the city, you can see the modern harbour, oil platforms and such.
Well, I brought home some 1,500 photos of fjords and mountains, so there will be more pictures in the future.
¶ September 28, 2025 3 comments
Another journey, or rather, voyage this year was to Norway via Bremerhaven in Germany. I had traveled along the coast of Norway on the Hurtigruten Tour in 2011, but most of the fjords aren’t part of the tour (and Geiranger is not called at due to ice and avalanches). This voyage – on a smaller ship, not one of those 6,000 passenger monsters – concentrated on the fjords of south-western Norway. Bus tours to some of the most scenic sites were offered while the ship was at anchor. In for some spectacular Norwegian landscape? *grin*
We start with one of the many waterfalls. This was on a tour from Bergen to Øystese at the Hardangerfjord, across the Eikedalen/Kvamskogen area popular for its skiing resorts. It’s not always possible to take photos out of the moving bus, but besides the longer official stops, the driver added a few what he called 'Japanese stops' ("five minutes for photos and don’t dither").
The waterfall is also called Eikedalsfoss or Brudesløret (bridal veil, since it looks like one, but there’s another fall with that name in Norway). The Eikedalselva river falls 79 metres into the valley; measured by laser. You can get closer to the fall, of course, but for a quick stop the roadside parking lot is sufficient. We got some time at several more waterfalls during the tours.
I liked how this photo came out, with the sun shining into the ravine between the mountains.
And here is one of the valley.
That’s one of the falls we got time to explore: the Steinsdalsfossen ('fossen' meaning waterfall) near Norheimsund. It is part of the river Fosselva which springs from the Myklavatn Lake 814 metres above sea level, and empties into the Steindalselva (you may have guessed that 'elva' means river). The waterfall developed when the Fosselva changed its course in 1699; its height is 50 metres.
What makes this fall a tourist destination is the fact that you can walk behind the fall without getting wet. So here’s a photo from that angle.
The Hardangerfjord which is located east of Bergen, is 180 km long – making it the second largest fjord after the Sognefjord (more than 200 km). The shores alternate between mountains and more gently sloping districts where orchards thrive; the apples of Hardanger are famous in Norway.
The weather was a mixed affair that day, clouds and sunshine, a few raindrops, and an overall rather hazy atomsphere that veiled the more distant mountains, turning them into fairy tale shadows.
Next stop was Flåm in the Aurlandsfjord which is a branch of the Sognefjord. The tour included taking the Flåm Line to Myrdal and another train further to Voss, then changing into a bus that would take us up to Stahlheim and then along the Nærøyfjord (another branch of the Sognefjord) back to Flåm, going through several long tunnels on that last part.
The Flåmsbana is a 20 km long railway between Flåm at the fjord and Myrdal which is at 866 metres above sea level, so no wonder the gradient can be as steep as 5.5 percent. The railway connects the district of Sogn to the train line from Oslo to Bergen that stops at Myrdal. Construction started in 1924, but it took until 1940 for the railway to be operational. Not an easy terrain to build 20 tunnels and a bridge.
Even the Flåm line got a 'Japanese stop', at the Kjosfossen. Its fall is 225 metres, so it’s one of the more spectacular ones. The fall continues under the railway bridge to the other side and powers a small power station for the railway. Norway gets its electricity cheap due to the many waterfalls.
It was the only day with lots of rain, so the photos tended to turn out a bit darker and melencholic.
A stop during the bus part of the tour: Tvinde Waterfall. It is one of the prettiest falls due to its many strands and cascades. The waterfall ist 110 metres high (other sources say 152 metres). It is one of the falls that sometimes runs dry in summer, so we were lucky that it was displaying quite nicely.
Legends say that the waterfall can give you back youth and well ... potency. Obviously, people believe in that since there are some filling up bottles with water from the fall, we were told.
There has been a way from the eastern provinces around Oslo and Telemarken to the Vestlandet around the fjords since the Middle Ages. It led from Voss to Stahlheim and down to Gudvangen at the end of the Nærøyfjord, and from there to the Sognefjord and the open sea by boat. In 1647, it was elevated to Royal Postway between Oslo and Bergen; Stahlheim farm became a postal station and inn.
Since 1865, Gudvangen could be reached by steam ships, and horse carriages would bring people up to Stahlheim. It was the beginning of the tourism in the area. The German emperor Wilhlem II regularly spent some time there; he was a great Norway fan.
Stahlheim is situated 330 metres above sea leve, the Nærøy Valley about 100 metres. The Stahlheim brook passes the hotel and thunders down as 126 metres fall below (you can see the brook and the edge, and the river below, but not the fall itself).
I had loaned an umbrella to protect my camera, and went a bit wild about photographing those dramatic clouds, lol, while most of the others had a coffee at the hotel.
Flåm is a documented settlement since 1340, but the village became popular only with the builing of the Flåm railway which soon attracted tourists who got there by steamships. Nowadays, the number of cruise ships allowed in the harbour is limited per day, bringing the overall number down to 170 per annum (it was more than 300 at the peak).
St. Peter seems to have felt bad about that rainy day and brought the sun out for most of the rest of the voyage. So we got Ålesund in the sunshine and warm weather, and most of the Geiranger tour the next day as well.
The tour to the Dalsnibba Mountain and up the Eagle Road with its spectacular views was a hightlight of the cruise. Those winding roads are bad enough with a car, but the bus driver got us around safely albeit it looked dangerous at some points.
That is one of the few photos I took from the bus that turned out ok. Serpentine roads, a swaying bus, and reflections on the windows don’t make it easy. But we got several stops, so it was no problem to catch a lot of breathtaking views – life and on camera.
The road up to the Dalsnibba is called Nibbevegen. It starts at Djupvatnet (1035 metres above sea level) and leads to the summit of Dalsnibba at 1476 metres above sea level. This is the highest road in Norway; 5 km long, with a gradient of 10%.
The Dalsnibba offers a spectacular view to the Geirangerfjord which is 7 km away (though the distance by road is about 20 km). Due to its height the mountain is often covered by snow far into summer, and frequently wreathed in clouds. We were lucky since the clouds were only on one side, leaving the view to the fjord clear if somewhat hazy.
A skywalk with an iron grid floor and a glass guardrail has been built on the mountain some years ago, offering an even better view to the Blåbreen (also called Blåfjell) glacier and the Geiranger valley. A descent of 500 metres under my feet was not my favourite spot, but I did enter.
Just some picture spam.
This is the typical postcard motive, the view to the Geiranger Fjord from the parking lot at Flydalsjuvet. Everyone stops there for a photo and so did we.
The zigzag band at the lower right corner is the Eagle Bend road which leads to another famous viewpoint. I was on the smaller of the two ships.
The gorge itself looks quite spectacular as well, though I could not find any information about it; everything Google offers is about the viewpoint. But there is a – rather tricky – way down the cliff of the gorge to Geiranger.
Next was up the serpentine road called Eagle Bend to a viewpoint on the other side of the fjord. Another winding road with a gradient of 10% (bus driver in Norway looks like a fun job). The viewing platform is 620 metres above sea level. A bit crowded at times, but really worth it – and it wasn’t so bad when we got there.
The Geirangefjord, together with the Nærøyfjord – though the latter follows a different was to the sea via the Sognefjord – are part of the UNESCO world heritage. The Geirangerfjord is only 15 km long, but those 15 km are really spectacular since the fjord is so narrow, with steep mountain slopes on both sides.
And more picture spam.
The Seven Sisters is the most popular waterfall along the fjord, though at the time we got there some of the sisters were on holiday. At its heighday in spring, seven falls thunder down into the fjord close to each other.
The last day of the cruise the ship anchored in Stavanger with its charming old town. Walking those lanes, you won’t imagine that the city is the centre of the Norwegian oil industry, but when the ship approaches the city, you can see the modern harbour, oil platforms and such.
Well, I brought home some 1,500 photos of fjords and mountains, so there will be more pictures in the future.
¶ September 28, 2025 3 comments
