Stiftung Elbefonds

The Elbefonds Foundation is a legally established public law foundation, founded in 2007 by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and based in Grünendeich. It supports desilting measures in sport boat and recreational harbors along the tide-influenced Elbe River and its tributaries between Cuxhaven and the Geesthacht weir. The foundation covers up to 30% of eligible costs for depth maintenance measures such as dredging, scraping, or flushing procedures and appoints a volunteer awarding committee composed of experts from Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and Hamburg for this purpose.

The Elbefonds Foundation aims to maintain the navigability and usability of sport boat and recreational harbors on the tide-affected Lower Elbe. It achieves this by financially supporting measures to reduce silting and sedimentation, thereby securing the maritime heritage and recreational value of the region in the long term.

Eligible to apply and target group are operators of non-commercially used sports boat and leisure harbors with at least four berths, sanitary facilities for visiting boaters, and a minimum annual volume of ten visiting boaters. The harbors must be listed in the database of the Hamburg Water and Shipping Authority and be located between Cuxhaven and Geesthacht.