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is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the western coast of the Jadebusen, which is a bay of the North Sea.
As early as 1383, the Sibetsburg castle existed, which was owned by pirates and destroyed in 1433 by the Hanseatic League. Four centuries later the Kingdom of Prussia planned a fleet and a harbour at the North Sea. In 1853, Prince Adalbert of Prussia arranged the Jade Treaty (Jade-Vertrag) with the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, in which Prussia and the grand duchy entered into a contract: 3.13 km² of Oldenburgian territory at the Jadebusen should be ceded to Prussia. In 1869, King William I of Prussia (later also German Emperor) founded the town as an exclave of the Province of Hanover for a naval base of Prussia's developing fleet. All the hinterland of the city belonged to the Duchy of Oldenburg. In 1937, Wilhelmshaven and Rüstringen merged and the united city, named Wilhelmshaven, became a part of the Free State of Oldenburg. On 30th June 1934, Wilhelmshaven played host to the launch of Pocket Battleship Admiral Graf Spee.
World War II
After the war the harbour was used not only for military purposes, but for economy and tourism as well. Today, Wilhelmshaven is the German navy's main base at the North Sea again. It is also the third largest German port (after Hamburg and the combined ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven) with mainly oil products being loaded and unloaded. Besides the military, chemical industries and a refinery are the main employers of Wilhelmshaven which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the western part of Germany. The oil terminal and the refinery are connected with other German industrial centres by pipelines. Wilhelmshaven also provides an Applied Sciences University (Fachhochschule) for engineering and business sciences.
Economic hopes rest in following major development projects:
* the JadeWeserPort project for a deep water container port to be constructed 2006 - 2010, able to berth even the largest container vessels presently under construction
* the construction of a 800 MW power plant; completion in year 2012
* the further development of the chemical industry
* the construction of an LNG-Terminal
* the proposed coastal highway (Küstenautobahn) connecting north-western German industrial centres at the Elbe, Weser, and Ems rivers.
* Aquarium Wilhelmshaven, an aquarium with native animals from the North Sea, the information centre of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park.
* The Botanischer Garten der Stadt Wilhelmshaven, a municipal botanical garden.
* The Deutsches Marinemuseum (Navy Museum), whose main exhibits are the former German Navy] destroyer Mölders (D186), a submarine, and some smaller warships as well as an exhibition of German naval history from the 19th century onwards.
* The Küstenmuseum (Coast Museum).
* As the town's landmark the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke ("Emperor Wilhelm Bridge") is considered, which crosses an inlet of the Jadebusen. It was built in 1905 to 1907; with a length of 159 m it was once the greatest swing bridge of Europe.
* The Town Hall (Rathaus), a large brick building, constructed in 1927-1929 by the architect Fritz Höger as the town hall of the city of Rüstringen.
* The Christus-und-Garnisionskirche, the oldest church of the city. It was built in 1869 by the Prussian architect Friedrich Adler.
* Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz, a monument erected in memory of emperor Wilhelm I of Prussia in 1896, who was one of the founder of the city. After the statue had been melted down in 1942, it was reconstructed in 1994.
* The entrance building of the former Kaiserliche Marinewerft ("emperor's shipyard"), built in the 1870s.
* The building of the former Kaiserliche Westwerft ("emperor's western shipyard"), completed in 1913.

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