For a long time, it was not necessary to build a Harbour in Vienna, because the existing natural landing points were sufficient for the level of trade on the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. It was only when steamships began to arrive in great numbers that a harbour offering safe berths became essential. Even then however, goods were for the most part loaded and unloaded at an unenclosed river harbour that was established at the end of the 19th century.
During the Habsburg monarchy
At the time of the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
, it was possible to berth at the natural landing points along the Danube, and at the harbour in the
Wiener Neustadt Canal
The Wiener Neustadt Canal was Austria's only shipping canal, originally meant to reach to Trieste. It became operational in 1803 and ceased to be used for transportation before World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), ...
. This harbour was originally located near where the
Wien Mitte train station now stands; in 1847, it was moved to the site of the
Aspangbahnhof.
Natural landing points
At first, ships could land in Vienna at the naturally occurring landing points on the Danube. These were flat sections of river bank with a surface of sand or gravel, onto which ships could be dragged to be loaded or unloaded.
Such landing sites required access to the adjoining ground further inland so that the goods delivered by boat could be transported further afield using horses and carts.
Landing points were located ''inter alia'' in Heiligenstadt, Nußdorf, Roßauer and Brigittenau. The Salzgries was also used as a landing site, primarily for ships carrying salt (''Salz'' in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
).
The unenclosed river harbour
Not a lot is known about the construction of the unenclosed river harbour.
The harbour was established sometime after the
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
in 1875 on the right-hand bank of the Danube. As the
Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft
The Erste (, literally ''First-Danube-Steamboat-Shipping Company'') or DDSG was a shipping company founded in 1829 by the Austrian government for transporting passengers and cargo on the Danube.
History
The company built its first steamship buil ...
essentially commanded a monopoly over cargo and passenger transport on the Danube at the time, it seems likely that the company was the sole owner of almost the entire harbour until the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the subsequent collapse of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. After this time, the shipping companies of other states on the Danube had berths with warehouses, storerooms, and sheds as well as the necessary equipment to load and unload ships. The City of Vienna also owned refrigerated warehouses here.
Farthest upstream was an oil and petrol storage facility. This stood on a section of the river bank that was approximately three kilometres long and was the site of 50 tanks belonging to the oil companies Vacuum,
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
, Nova, Fanto AG and Redeventza.
The river harbour occupied a stretch of river bank some 12 kilometres long. It offered ships no protection whatsoever when the river flooded or froze over. The harbour was connected to the surrounding area by the
Donauuferbahn and the
Handelskai, which ran parallel to the Danube, thereby limiting the space available to the harbour to a thin strip some 75 metres across.
The Danube Canal
The expansion of the
Danube Canal
The Donaukanal ("Danube Canal") is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel (since 1598), within the city of Vienna, Austria. It is long and, unlike the Danube itself, it borders Vienna's city centre, Innere Stadt, ...
into a freight and passenger harbour offering protection from flooding and winter weather was enacted in an 1892 law concerning Vienna's transport facilities. The law also called for the building of a
local rail network.
The works were to include the creation of a flood control structure near
Nußdorf.
Wilhelm von Engerth
Wilhelm Freiherr von Engerth (26 May 1814 – 4 September 1884) was an Austrian architect and engineer, known for being the designer of the first practical mountain locomotive. For his services he was elevated in 1875 to the baronetcy.
Life and w ...
's floating barrier, the
Schwimmtor The Schwimmtor (''Floating gate''), also known as the Sperrschiff (''Blocking ship''), was a floating barrier designed to protect the areas along the Donaukanal in Vienna from flooding and ice. It was built by Wilhelm von Engerth, entered service on ...
, which entered service in 1873, did not provide sufficient protection. Three, possibly four
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s with
locks
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
were also planned to ensure the necessary water depth for passing ships. Another flood control structure near the point where the Danube Canal joined the Danube was to be considered in order to prevent floodwater from the river washing back into the canal.
The law envisaged the creation of temporary
quay
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
s between the
Augartenbrücke and the
Franzensbrücke on both sides of the Danube Canal. Near the mouth of the
Wien River
The Wien is a river that flows through Austria's capital Vienna.
Geography
The river Wien is long, of which are within the city. Its drainage basin covers an area of , both in the city and in the neighbouring Vienna Woods. Its source lies in ...
, an area 95 by 200 metres was dug out to create a basin in which ships could turn around. This was however later filled in again and the Hermannpark was established in its stead.
The authorities did not have the money to build both the rail network and to carry out the envisaged work on the Danube Canal at the same time. The army also lobbied for the rail network, which connected the various military installations in Vienna. As a result, the
Wiener Stadtbahn
The Vienna Stadtbahn (german: Wiener Stadtbahn) was a rail-based public transportation system operated under this name from 1898 until 1989. Today, the Vienna U-Bahn lines U4 and U6 and the Vienna S-Bahn (commuter rail) run on its former lines.
...
was built first.
By 1923, when the project manager, engineer Ludwig Brandl, reported on progress in number 13 of the trade magazine ''Die Wasserwirtschaft'' (''Water management''), the flood barrier in
Nußdorf (which had been built between 1894 and 1898), the Kaiserbadwehr (a weir and lock built between 1904 and 1908) and the quays downstream of the
Augartenbrücke had been completed, but the money required to turn the Danube Canal into a proper harbour had not been made available.
Otto Wagner
Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau move ...
was tasked by the ''Kommission für Verkehrsanlagen'' (Commission for Transport Facilities) in December 1896 with the design of the quays. In line with his plans, the 15-metre wide quays were built with sites for a fish market, a berth for passenger ships and loading bays for freight. Wager also designed the Nußdorf and Kaiserbadwehr locks and weirs and the attached houses.
Although there was no money to finance the running of the facilities in Nußdorf, they were necessary to protect against flooding and were kept in operation. Because the income required was too great to be obtained through charging a usage fee for the locks, the construction of a hydroelectric plant near
Simmering
Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...
was proposed. According to the proposal, the electricity that the plant produced could have been sold to generate the finances necessary to operate the flood control mechanisms.
The harbour in Freudenau (the winter harbour, river kilometre 1920.1)
The harbour in Freudenau, which was designed as a winter harbour, had been envisaged in an arm of the Danube between the Danube and the Danube Canal as part of the regulation of the river in the 19th century. A lack of funding had however prevented the construction of the harbour and only preparatory works could be completed.
When part of the preparatory works was destroyed in a flood and ships that had been moored here for the winter were later damaged by ice on the river, it became necessary to increase the level of protection that the site offered.
Construction began on 8 August 1899 and the harbour was opened on 10 October 1902. Even before it had been finished, it was being used during the winter months by ships seeking a safe haven.
In 1925, the winter harbour was also home to a landing site for
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
s and
seaplanes
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
, which was used by the Austrian airline
Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hu ...
and the Hungarian company
Aero-Express.
Seaplanes were stationed here during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Their task was to eliminate mines that had been dropped on the river by Allied aircraft; the mines were intended to prevent the transport of
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
from
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n oil fields to the oil refinery in Lobau and are supposed to have sunk as many as 300 tankers. The harbour in Freudenau was furthermore used as a stop-over point for flying boats en route between the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
and northern
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
The harbour in Kuchelau
The harbour in Kuchelau was created between 1901 and 1903 by building a harbour wall that separated it from the Danube. It was intended to serve as a holding point for ships waiting to pass the lock near Nußdorf on their way towards the Danube Canal.
Plans to expand Vienna's harbours during the Habsburg monarchy and the First Republic
Although Vienna was no longer the centre of an empire after the collapse of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, thought was still put into the possibility of constructing further harbour facilities. Only plans that had already existed during the Monarchy were finally realised, adapted as and where necessary to meet new demands.
In 1923 the project manager, engineer Ludwig Brandl, wrote an article entitled ''"Die Ausgestaltung der Hafenanlagen in Wien"'' ("Plans for harbour facilities in Vienna"), in which he presented the different possibilities. These were as follows:
* A freight harbour near Albern
: This plan envisaged the creation of a freight harbour near
Albern between the Danube Canal, the Donauuferbahn and the right-hand flood barrier along the
Schwechat River
__NOTOC__
The Schwechat () is a river in Lower Austria. Its drainage basin is .
River course
The source is near the Schöpfl (893 m) in the Vienna Woods. The source streams are the Riesenbach, Lammeraubach, Agsbach, Hainbach and the Großkrottenb ...
. The new harbour, which would have boasted three basins and the necessary rail connections, would have been accessible from the Danube Canal.
* An industrial and freight harbour in Simmering
: The industrial and freight harbour in Simmering was planned between the
Ostbahnbrücke and the Donauuferbahn. It would have stood to the rear of the former artillery barracks in
Kaiserebersdorf where the waste processing plant now is.
: This plan also envisaged the construction of a basin alongside the Danube Canal with five subsidiary basins and a range of rail connections.
* An industrial harbour in Freudenau
: The lower reaches of the Danube Canal were to be widened, so that ships could moor there without blocking the path of other ships passing through. The additional harbour basin that the plan envisaged would have been in the area of the
Galopprennplatz Freudenau.
* An overflow sluice
: The plan for an overflow sluice was a precursor to the
Donauinsel
The Donauinsel (Danube Island) is a long, narrow artificial island in central Vienna, Austria, lying between the Danube river and the parallel excavated channel ''Neue Donau'' ("New Danube"). The island is in length, but is only wide. The Ne ...
. In his article, Brandl describes the state of the plan in 1923, but the basic idea of digging an overflow canal to protect the city of Vienna from floods had been around since 1911.
: In the plan, the approximately 80-metre wide overflow sluice would have branched away from the Danube near
Langenzersdorf
Langenzersdorf () is a town in the district of Korneuburg in Lower Austria, Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...
. It would have made its way through the flood plain and would have joined the river again some 12 kilometres downstream of Vienna.
: In the case of a flood, the sluice was meant to be able to draw in 2,400 cubic metres of water per second.
: The banks of the river which would have been raised could have been used as loading bays and for industrial installations.
: Furthermore, the plan envisaged dividing the sluice into three sections by means of two weirs, and using it in addition to its role as a canal for ships and as a harbour to generate electricity, which would have made it more profitable.
The project manager of the
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
n ''Donau-Regulierungs-Kommission'' (Danube Regulation Commission) also reported on the proposal to dig an overflow canal through the flood plain and then to turn the canal into a harbour in 1920, although not in as much detail.
It is not known why none of these projects was realised, but it can be assumed that they were victims of a lack of funding and/or of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
During the First Republic
Following the collapse of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, the winter harbour in Freudenau, which until then had been the property of the state, came into the possession of the City of Vienna. The city, which was already suffering from a shortage of funds, was not able to invest anything in the city's harbours, which only cost money and did not directly generate any income.
1938 – 1945
In a document from 1942,
Otto Broschek, the head of the harbour administration, described the state of Vienna's harbour facilities (the unenclosed river harbour and the winter harbour) and their qualities, projects (the harbour in Simmering) and works that had actually been realised (the harbours in Albern and Lobau), as well as the plans to expand them following victory in the war (
Endsieg).
Broschek's report was intended as a summary of the plans for the time after the final victory, when Vienna was to have an important role for shipping on the Danube, but it also highlights the difficulties that were being experienced in the immediate realisation of this goal due to the war.
The harbour near Albern (River kilometre 1918.3)
![Alberner Hafen Gebäude Wien](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Alberner_Hafen_Geb%C3%A4ude_Wien.JPG)
The construction of a freight harbour near Albern, the plans for which engineer Ludwig Brandl had described in 1923 as one of several possibilities for the expansion of Vienna's harbour facilities, was selected for realisation by the
Reich Ministry of Transport
The Reich Ministry of Transport (german: Reichsverkehrsministerium or ''RVM'') was a cabinet-level agency of the German government from 1919 until 1945, operating during the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. Formed from the Prussian Ministry of Pub ...
(german: Reichsverkehrsministerium) from amongst several available options on 2 January 1939.
Work began on 13 March 1939, and on 2 October 1941, the first tugboat entered the completed first harbour basin. The harbour was equipped with five granaries, as a result of which the harbour was given the nickname "grain harbour". As such, it was to serve as a logistic node of a future
geo
Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”.
GEO or Geo may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...
- and
biopolitical
Biopolitics refers to the political relations between the administration or regulation of the life of species and a locality's populations, where politics and law evaluate life based on perceived constants and traits. French philosopher Michel Fo ...
order, designated for the transshipment of grain from the annexed or economically colonized regions of
eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
south-eastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
to the heartlands of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. For the construction of the harbour basin and the granaries
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
was employed.
[Roman Tschiedl: ''BLU - Untitled/it is obvious'', in: Maria Taig, Barbara Horvath (Hg.): ''Kör vie 07-10: Public Art in Vienna, 2007-2010'', Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nuremberg 2014, p 208; see als]
Mural am Alberner Hafen
, koer.or.at, 2010 [Ortrun Veichtlbauer: ]
Braune Donau. Transportweg nationalsozialistischer Biopolitik
', in: Christian Reder, Erich Klein (Hg.): ''Graue Donau – Schwarzes Meer'', Springer, Vienna/New York, 2008, p 240 f
As another two basins were only meant to be built after the end of the war and would not have been used for loading and unloading grain, Otto Broschek felt that the notion "grain harbour" was an exaggeration. According to the thinking at the time, the lack of available space on land only made it possible to erect processing plants; there was not enough space for industrial enterprises.
In order to ensure that the water in the harbour was regularly exchanged so as to prevent
faeces
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
from the Danube Canal from flowing into the harbour, the authorities considered directing the water used to cool the power plant in Simmering into the basin. It was hoped that this water, which would be warm, would furthermore help to prevent the harbour from icing over, thus allowing it to stay open during winter.
The creation of the harbour at Albern changed the current flows in this section of the Danube. As a result, the bodies of people who had drowned in the river were rarely swept ashore here, as had been the case in the past. The remains of such individuals had previously been buried in the
Friedhof der Namenlosen (Cemetery of the Nameless).
In order to protect ships against the magnetic mines that the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
began dropping on the Danube from 1944, a de-magnetisation device was built in the harbour at Albern. All ships on the Danube had to make use of this device in regular intervals. Tugboats could be de-magnetised for around two months, motorboats around one month.
In 2010 the Italian
street artist
A street artist is a person who makes art in public places. Street artists include portrait artists, caricaturists, graffiti artists, muralists and people making crafts. Street artists can also refer to street performers such as musicians, acroba ...
BLU
Blu or BLU may refer to:
Businesses and brands
*Blu (Italian company), a telecommunications company
*Blu Manga, an imprint of Tokyopop
* blu eCigs, a brand of electronic cigarette owned by Imperial Tobacco
*BLU Products, an American mobile phone m ...
was invited to create a
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
for one of the granaries, reflecting on the overdue historical and social commemoration of the harbour's construction history and the forced labourers who built it.
The piece was destroyed in autumn 2013 in the course of renovation works on the granary's facade.
The harbour in Lobau (River kilometre 1916.4)
The construction of the harbour in Lobau (today known as the "Oil harbour") was closely linked to the construction of the
Donau-Oder-Kanal. This the plans for this long-discussed project were already drawn up for large sections of the proposed route; only the question of where in Vienna the canal should empty into the Danube river could not be answered.
Different suggestions were broached, including a canal that would run parallel to the Danube, with which the Donau-Oder-Kanal would connect, or connecting the canal with the
Alte Donau
Alte is a village and civil parish in the municipality of Loulé, in the Algarve region in the south of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 1,997, in an area of 94.33 km².
Situated away from the coast, Alte is known as one of the most typi ...
. Connecting the canal directly with the Danube would only have been possible in Langenzersdorf or Mannswörth near
Schwechat
Schwechat () is a town southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV.
Geography
Schwechat is named after the river Schwechat, whi ...
, because these were the only points where the riverbed was dredged on the left-hand (eastern) side of the river.
The Reichsverkehrsministerium resolved that the Oder-Donau-Kanal should empty in Lobau at river kilometre 1916.4, and commissioned the construction of the first harbour basin at the mouth of the canal.
Work on the harbour basin and the entrance to the harbour - which was intended to form the mouth of the canal - began on 19 December 1939. It is to be assumed that forced laboureres, presumably
Jewish Hungarians and
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
, were employed for the construction of the canal and the oil harbour as well.
[Martin Schmid: ]
Stadt am Fluss: Wiener Häfen als sozio-naturale Schauplätze von der Frühen Neuzeit bis nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg.
'' (Manuscript), University Klagenfurt, p 25f It was expected that the first ships would be able to use the harbour in spring 1942. The later expansion of the harbour, which was due to take place after the end of the war, was to fit out the harbour with a total of seven basins, the first of which was to be used during the transport of
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
from Romania to the north. Oil from
Zistersdorf
Zistersdorf is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the ...
in the
Weinviertel
The ("wine quarter") or ("area below the ") is located in the northeast of Lower Austria.
In the east, the borders Slovakia at the March River. In the south, it borders and , its limits being the Wagram, the Danube and the . Its western ne ...
(
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
) was to continue being processed by the ''Ostmärkischen Mineralölwerken'' in Austria. The oil storage facility was not relocated from the unenclosed river harbour to this new harbour because it would have created longer transport routes on land.
Besides oil and oil-based products, it was expected that the harbour in Lobau would also serve as a loading bay for
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
.
Projects (1938 – 1945)
In his document, harbourmaster Broschek detailed not only the start of work on the Donau-Oder-Kanal and the beginnings of both of the new harbours on the Danube in Vienna, which were limited to an absolute minimum because of the war and which were due to be expanded after the final victory, but he also listed two further possible projects. These were still quite vague and only preliminary deliberations about them had taken place.
* A harbour in Groß-Enzersdorf
There were proposals to build a harbour near
Groß-Enzersdorf
Groß-Enzersdorf is a town and municipality in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, directly to the east of Vienna and north of the river Danube. Apart from the town itself, it also comprises seven subordinated munic ...
in the area from kilometre 8 to kilometre 10 of the Donau-Oder-Kanal. This would have made it possible to settle industries that required a connection to the canal network in the area.
It was estimated that 3 million square metres of land were available for this project, but these plans were dependent on the flight paths for the proposed airport near
Aderklaa
Aderklaa is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in Lower Austria in Austria.
Geography
Aderklaa lies in the Marchfeld in Lower Austria between Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, ...
.
* A harbour in Fischamend
The
Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft
The Erste (, literally ''First-Danube-Steamboat-Shipping Company'') or DDSG was a shipping company founded in 1829 by the Austrian government for transporting passengers and cargo on the Danube.
History
The company built its first steamship buil ...
had already made use of the mouth of the
Fischa
The Fischa () is a river of Lower Austria. It is a right tributary of the Danube near the town Fischamend. Its drainage basin is .
References
Rivers of Lower Austria
Rivers of Austria
{{LowerAustria-geo-stub ...
River near
Fischamend
Fischamend () is a town in the district of Bruck an der Leitha District, Bruck an der Leitha in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It belonged to Wien-Umgebung District which was dissolved in 2016.
Population
Geography
Fischamend lies in th ...
as a harbour; the company had even been against the construction of a winter harbour at first, but later changed its position and lobbied for the construction of the harbour in Freudenau.
The river bank at the mouth of the Fischa is however steep and can be as much as 30 metres tall, which made the site inappropriate for a freight harbour. Nonetheless, Broschek records that an unnamed section of the army was looking for a site for a storage facility, for which the Fischa might have been appropriate.
Probably as a result of the later course of the war, the unnamed section of the army lost interest in the plans and they were thus not pursued further.
Second Republic
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the harbours in Albern and Lobau became property of the City of Vienna.
Because the area along the Danube Canal had been particularly badly damaged in the
Vienna Offensive
The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945.
After several days of street-to-street f ...
in 1945, a town planning competition was organised in 1946 to reshape the area.
Architect
Egon Friedinger's proposal envisaged the removal of the partly destroyed barracks in
Roßau
Alsergrund (; Central Bavarian: ''Oisagrund'') is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (german: 9. Bezirk, Alsergrund). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. ...
and the construction of a city museum in their stead. A harbour was also envisaged in this area.
The town planning authority's general plan for the development of Vienna's harbour facilities was approved on 1 March 1949 by the city senate. The first stage of this plan was the upgrading of the winter harbour in Freudenau to a
container terminal
A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
. On 12 July 1949, the city senate decreed a temporary ban on construction in the areas around the natural landing sites on the Danube, the Danube Canal, the quay in the first and second districts, the harbours in Albern and Lobau and for the regulation of the Schwechat River in connection with the Donau-Oder-Kanal and the Donau-Adria-Kanal in Vienna.
On 27 October 1953, the Vienna City Council resolved to restore the last remaining 300 metres of the heavily damaged embankment in front of the harbour in Freudenau. This was expected to cost some 450.000
Schilling Schilling may refer to:
* Schilling (unit), an historical unit of measurement
* Schilling (coin), the historical European coin
* Austrian schilling, the former currency of Austria
* A. Schilling & Company, an historical West Coast spice firm acquir ...
(around 32.700
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
).
The
Freudenauer Hafenbrücke, which crosses both the Danube Canal and the entrance to the harbour, was opened by mayor
Franz Jonas
Franz Josef Jonas (4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian politician who served as the President of Austria between 1965 and 1974.
He was a typesetter by profession and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. After World ...
on 13 December 1938. This bridge shortened the land route to the harbour in Albern, which until then had only been accessible via the Rotundenbrücke.
In 1962/63, the Wiener Hafenbetriebsgesellschaft m.b.H., a private company, was founded to operate the harbours in Freudenau, Albern and Lobau. In 1978/79, the company merged with the Wiener Städtischen Lager- und Kühlhausgesellschaft m.b.H., which ran the city's warehouse and refrigeration facilities.
In 1979, a new legal arrangement created the following bodies:
* WHG (Wiener Hafen Gesellschaft m.b.H.) (''"Vienna Harbour Society"'')
* WHV (Wiener Hafen und Lager Ausbau- und Vermögensverwaltungsgesellschaft m.b.H.) (''"Vienna Harbour and Warehouse Expansion and Financial Administration Society"'')
* WHL (Wiener Hafen Lager- und Umschlagsbetriebe Ges.m.b.H) (''"Vienna Harbour Warehouse and Loading Businesses"'')
In 1983, the WHL received the right to use the
Austrian coat of arms in its business dealings. This is an honour that the Austrian minister for the economy can award companies that have made exceptional contributions to the Austrian economy.
The harbour in Freudenau was decreed a
free port
Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which com ...
in 1965; in 1977, plans were drawn up to expand the harbour further.
On 21 September 2006, the BioDiesel Vienna GmbH opened one of Europe's largest and most modern biodiesel-facilities in the harbour in Lobau. 95,000 tonnes of
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
are expected to be produced here.
A biomass power plant in
Simmering
Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...
is for its part provisioned with
woodchips
Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, stumps, roots, and wood waste.
Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are raw material ...
via the harbour in Albern.
The automobile terminal in the winter harbour boasts a carwash capable of washing 12 cars per hour, an unpacking facility with a capacity of 20 cars per hour and space for around 5000 vehicles. In 2005, approximately 77,000 personal cars were imported via the harbour in Freudenau, or around one in three of all new vehicles sold in Austria.
References
Literature
*Donau-Regulierungs-Kommission in Wien (Herausgeber): „''Der Freudenauer Hafen in Wien - Denkschrift zur Eröffnung des Freudenauer Hafens am 28. Oktober 1902''“, k.k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien 1902
*Baudirektion der niederösterreichischen Donau-Regulierungs-Kommission: „''Die Schiffahrtsstraßen und Hafenanlagen bei Wien''“, Selbstverlag, Wien 1920
*Ludwig Brandl: „''Österr.Monatsschrift für den öffentlichen Baudienst und das Berg- und Hüttenwesen''.“ Jg. 1923,11.12., Artikel: „Die Ausgestaltung der Hafenanlagen in Wien“
*Martin Schmid: ''Stadt am Fluss: Wiener Häfen als sozio-naturale Schauplätze von der Frühen Neuzeit bis nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg''. In: Lukas Morscher, Martin Scheutz, Walter Schuster (Hg.): ''Orte der Stadt im Wandel vom Mittelalter zur Gegenwart: Treffpunkte, Verkehr und Fürsorge'' (= Beiträge zur Geschichte der Städte Mitteleuropas 24). Innsbrucker Studienverlag 2013
*Christine Klusacek, Kurt Stimmer: „''Die Stadt und der Strom - Wien und die Donau''“, DACHS Verlagsges.m.b.H., Wien,
External links
Wiener Hafen
{{Coord, 48, 9, 36.06, N, 16, 29, 38.39, E, display=title
Buildings and structures in Vienna
Transport in Vienna
History of Vienna
Ports and harbours of Austria