Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus)

Itzehoe (IPA: [ɪtsəˈhoː]) is a city in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Understand

Despite what you may think, Itzehoe is not pronounced with a German "ö" sound at the end, but rather with a long "o", so the correct pronunciation sounds almost like "It's a hoe".

• Tourist Info (Stadtmanagement Itzehoe GmbH), Breite Straße 4, ☏ +49 4821 949 0120, fax: +49 4821 949 0126, stadtmanagement@itzehoe.de. M-F 10:00-18:00, Sa 10:00-16:00. (updated Jun 2015)

Get in

By train

• 1 Itzehoe Station. There are several Intercities daily from places as far away as Cologne or Dresden, some trains even go to Frankfurt. They all go on to Westerland on the island of Sylt where they terminate. Furthermore there is service by regional trains to the rest of Schleswig Holstein and to Hamburg-Altona. Why do so many trains stop in this rather modest town, you might ask. Well, the electrification of the mainland towards Sylt ends/begins here and thus all trains passing through must change their motive power from diesel to electric and vice versa - and while they are stopped for that anyway, they might as well load and unload passengers. (updated Nov 2023)

By car

Autobahn A23 as well as Bundesstraße B 5, B 77 and B 206 connect the town with the surrounding places.

By boat

• Harbor, ☏ +49 48 21 77 07 12, fax: +49 48 21 77 07 32. Despite not being directly at the coast, Itzehoe has a small harbor, where you could tow your boat when cruising in small craft (updated Jun 2015)

Get around

Itzehoe is a rather small city with a spacious pedestrianized core. You should be able to get to all points of interest without a car.

See

• Wenzel Hablik Museum, Reichenstraße 21, museum@wenzel-hablik.de. Museum dedicated to a painter and graphic artist who lived in Itzehoe between 1907 - 1934. Adult €3.50, reduced €2.00. 
• 1 Germanengrab.  
• 2 Kloster Itzehoe, Klosterhof 7, ☏ +49 4821 3163. (updated Sep 2023)
• 3 Nagelsche Fachwerkhäuser. Brick and timber houses built in 1659  

Churches

• 4 Stadtkirche St. Laurentii, Kirchenstr. 8, ☏ +49 4821 61025. (updated Sep 2023)
• 5 St.-Jürgen-Kapelle. (updated Sep 2023)

Buy

The inner city is a prime shopping destination for locals and tourists alike.

• 1 Holstein Center, Brunnenstraße 17, ☏ +49 4821 68 50 55, info@holstein-center.de. M-F 09:00-19:00, Sa 09:00-18:00. A shopping center (updated Jun 2015)

Eat

• 1 Restaurant Himmel+Erde, Kirchenstraße 5, ☏ +49 4821 604 8234, fax: +49 4821 604 8235, info@himmelunderde.sh. (updated Jun 2015)
• 2 Ristorante La Grappa, Feldschmiede 78, ☏ +49 4821 7796460. M-Sa 17ː30-22ː00, Su closed. Italian restaurant serving soups, salads, pizza and pasta. Value not only to tradition, but also fresh culinary ideas (updated Nov 2023)
• 3 Sabai Jai, Bahnhofstr. 32, ☏ +49 4821 9579977. M-Sa noon-15ː00 and 17ː00-22ː00, Su noon-22ː00, Tu closed. Traditional Thai restaurant (updated Nov 2023)

Sleep

• 1 Hotel Adler, Lindenstraße 72, ☏ +49 4821 13420, hotel-adler-itzehoe@t-online.de. single from €45 double from €80 without breakfast. (updated Jun 2015)
• 2 Mercure Hotel Itzehoe Klosterforst, Hanseatenplatz 2, ☏ +49 4821 15200. 4 star hotel. 24 hour reception. double room from €115, breakfast included. (updated Nov 2023)

Go next

Itzehoe is a good point of origin if you want to explore the German North Sea coast. Furthermore the Kiel Canal, the busiest in the world, is just a couple of kilometers to the northwest (A23 crosses it) and also easily reachable by bike. If you haven't been to Sylt already, take a train and take it all in. Büsum, some 30 km to the northwest is the point of departure for ferries to Heligoland, and rather well known locally for its Krabben (scientifically: Crangon crangon). If you feel a big city is what you want to experience next, Hamburg is a little less than 50 km in the other direction.

Wacken

The hamlet of Wacken, famous for its heavy metal festival is not far from Itzehoe. Itzehoe is the closest train station to the festival from where an official shuttle service gets metalheads to the festival.