Waddensea of Hamburg Waddensea of Hamburg The Waddensea of Hamburg between Elbe and Weser is a German Biosphere reserve. It was added in 1992 by the UNESCO in their ""man and biosphere"" (MAB). This site is a part of the Wadden Sea on the North Sea coast, about 40 km north of the city of Bremerhaven in the Land of Hamburg. Situated close to the mouth of the Elbe River, it represents an estuary system which is the habitat for the seal Phoca vitulina and a large diversity of birds and fish. The nutrient-rich waters of the Elbe support a high biomass production
Accession of Hamburg to the German Customs Union (Zollverein) form a wider more powerful entity. The states which joined fought vigorously against any impairment of their full sovereignty. Hence each member had a veto and the union was not permanent, but had to be renewed after 12 years. Each member sought its own economic advantage. Accordingly, the accession of any of the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Bremen or Lübeck would have to be on condition that accession served the city's own advantage. A pre-condition of such advantage was that their territory touched directly with that of the Customs Union, which only happened for Hamburg after 1854, when Hanover joined.