Bubendey-Ufer Unterfeuer

The Unterfeuer Bubendey-Ufer lighthouse stands beside the Elbe in Hamburg-Mitte’s Waltershof district. It forms a leading light pair with the Oberfeuer Bubendey-Ufer to guide ships upriver. The tower is painted in bold red-and-white stripes and carries a square wooden topmark edged in red. It sits almost 1 010 metres from its partner, right next to the Bubendey-Ufer ferry landing stage. The lighthouse was due for rebuilding in 2013–14 because both lights had to be removed for a terminal expansion. Plans called for a 70-metre tower, but work was postponed until the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig rules on the Elbe’s deepening project. To prevent confusion with container cranes, the new tower would have black-and-white stripes instead of red and white. Visitors reach the site along the riverbank path beside the ferry dock. The red-and-white tower and its partner mark the shipping channel clearly by day. At night their lights guide vessels safely past the harbour’s busy quays. The spot offers views across the Elbe to passing ships and the distant cranes of Waltershof.