Stade - 1000 years of history
Although the oldest reference to Stade dates back to the year 994, the town
itself is thought to have been in existence since the early 9th century, when
Charlemagne settled the northers parts of what is today Germany with reliable
subjects - meaning christened people of course. These people settled on the
area that now forms the core of Stade around the old harbour. When a fire
destroyed about two thirds of the town in 1659, the houses were rebuilt, but
the structure of the town remained, lending some parts of Stade a rather
charming medieval aspect with narrow lanes, old churches (the tower of
St. Wilhaldi, one of Stade's main churches, is on the picture above), the
convent of St. Johannis, the old armoury and a number of restored merchant
houses from the 17th century.
Follow this link for a number of
pictures of Stade and its vicinity (beware of the loading time if your
connection is slow...!).