Emden
Emden is a city in Lower Saxony, a state in Germany.
and museum ship "SAR Georg Breusing"
Understand
Emden is primarily known in Germany as the "capital" of the region East Frisia and for its most famous son, comedian Otto Waalke, who frequently alludes to his East Frisian heritage. While Emden does have a somewhat important harbor, it is a rather small city in a mostly rural area and has struggled economically in recent years. Besides the harbor and a big Volkswagen car plant the main economic draws in the area are tourists who pass through on their way to Borkum and the production and sale of windmills for the generation of energy.
Get in
By train
Emden sees regular hourly train service from Bremen. There is also Inter-City service from further away with direct service to/from Cologne and Leipzig among others.
By car
A31 connects the city to the German Autobahn network.
By plane
While Emden does have a small airport that accommodates general aviation as well as a limited number of flights mostly to the East Frisian islands. If you are arriving from farther away, Bremen (BRE IATA) and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS IATA) are your best bet.
By boat
AG EMS runs ferries to Borkum and a couple of other places. The ferry to Borkum is able to carry cars.
Get around
See
- 1 Dat Otto Huus, Große Straße 1, ☏ +49 4921 22121. Shop and museum of the German actor and comedian Otto Waalkes.
Do
- VW factory, ☏ +49 4921 86 23 90, besucherdienst.emden@volkswagen.de. Mo-Fr 9:45-13:15. You can tour the local Volkswagen factory (prior advance notice necessary) at every weekday when it produces free.
Buy
Eat
- Hafenhaus, Promenade am alten Binnenhafen 8, ☏ +49 4921 689 56 90, hafen@hafenhaus.com. 9AM tp 1AM. lunch from 6.30€.
Drink
Sleep
- Heerens Hotel, Friedrich Ebert Straße 67, ☏ +49 4921 23740. Free Wifi for guests single from 77€ double from 95€ suite from 90€ (one person) or 118€ (two people).
Go next
- Aurich
- Norden Norddeich
- Leer
- Delfzijl (Netherlands)
- Groningen (Netherlands)
- Many visitors to Emden only pass through on their way to Borkum, the largest by area of the East Frisian islands