The Ports of Bremen, Bremen Ports or Bremish Ports, 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 ...
"Bremische Häfen" consist of the commercial ports in
Bremen and
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...
. They are managed by ''bremenports GmbH & Co. KG'', a company of private status in public property.
In 2011, in the Ports of Bremen more than 60 million tons of goods were transported, including 6 million containers and 2.1 million cars. Bremerhaven Harbour is the world's busiest port transporting cars.
History
Medieval harbours
The first port of Bremen was the
Balge
Balge is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Weser river. The community belongs to the ''Samtgemeinde'' Weser-Aue which consists of six municipalities including Balge.
History
On March 1, 1974 ...
, a narrow branch of the
Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
river. In the mid-13th century, on Bremen city's riverside of the main river, a quay was built, called the
Schlachte
The Schlachte is a promenade along the east bank of the River Weser in the old town of Bremen in the north of Germany. Once one of the city's harbours, it is now popular for its restaurants, beer gardens and river boats.
Etymology
''Schlachte'' ...
. For about three centuries, both ports were used in parallel, before Balge harbour stopped being used.
Outer Harbours
Like in many other European regions, the medieval extension of agriculture increased erosion of soil in the Weser basin. Since about 1400, the bed of the lower Weser was choked with sand, dramatically. Laden sea vessels could no longer run upriver to Bremen city.
Ships were discharged on riverboats in the open lower Weser. In 1622/23, Bremen's first outer harbour was founded in
Vegesack
Vegesack is a northern district of the city of Bremen.
Geography
''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the river Weser (). Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is ...
, 20 km downstream of Bremen. Soon it was lacking depth, too.
Finding a more durable outer harbour site was difficult, as the neighbouring territorial states preferred to patronize their own ports. Finally in 1827, the
state of Bremen succeeded to buy the ground of the relics of
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
foundation
Carlsburg on the mouth of the
Geeste river into the
Weser estuary
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of ...
. In 1830 the first port of Bremerhaven was opened.
Emigrants
In 1832, Bremen passed a law for human standards for emigrant passengers in overseas traffic. For some decades the ports of Bremen became the most important emigrant harbour of central Europe.
Weser Correction and modern basins
After Bremen in 1847 was linked to the
Royal Hanoverian State Railways, the Bremish state built its own short railway line from the (Hanoverian) station to the bank of the river Weser near the edge of the old city. The goods station on the new quay, called ''Weserbahnhof'', was one of the most modern links between land transport and sea trade of that age.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, a way was found to employ the help of natural powers to use the lower Weser as an efficient waterway for modern sea vessels.
Ludwig Franzius, building superintendent of Bremen, recorded the hydrology of the lower Weser for several years. In 1881, he published a convincing project. In 1887 to 1895, works were done under his management. In the meantime, in Bremen city some modern basins were built. When in 1888 the state of Bremen joined the
German Customs Union
The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had b ...
, the ''Europahafen'' became 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 co ...
that was later enlarged by other new basins.
Since mid 20th century
Over the last decades, the ports of Bremen have seen the same developments as most other ports of the world:
* Overseas passenger traffic has switched to
air transport.
* Mixed cargo has been displaced by container transport.
* The increase of the size of sea vessels.
The reactions were:
* In 1964, Bremen's first container port was opened, the ''Neustädter Hafen''.
* Since the 1970s, a line of
container terminals were built north of the older ports of Bremerhaven, on the bank of the Weser estuary on the edge of the open sea.
* The ''Überseehafen'', which opened in 1906, was taken out of service in 1991. In 1998, the basin was filled up with soil excavated in the maintaining of the shipping lane of outer Weser estuary. This reclaimed land has provided space for a new urban district, called
Überseestadt.
List of basins and other sites
– except for
marinas and regional passenger traffic –
Bremen
''Hemelingen'' urban district comprises the basins for inland navigation:
* Fuldahafen
* Werrahafen
* Allerhafen
''Überseestadt'' urban area, besides the former Überseehafen area, still contains some active basins:
* Europahafen
* Holz- und Fabrikenhafen ("Wood and Factories Harbour")
* Getreidehafen ("Cereal Harbour")
''Häfen'' urban district, right bank:
* Dock harbours, protected by ''Oslebshausen lock'': 7 basins called ''Industriehäfen'' ("Industrial Harbours")
* open river bank beneath
Stahlwerke Bremen metallurgic plant: ''Mittelsbürener Hafen'', also called ''
Klöcknerhafen'' from a former owner of the plant
''Häfen'' urban district, left bank:
* the small ''Hohentorshafen''
* ''Neustädter Hafen'' (named from the urban district of ''Neustadt'' – "New City") with 2 basins near the dispatching area of ''Güterverkehrszentrum Bremen''
''Blumenthal'' urban district:
* the sea port of Farge power station
* the petrol port of a federal petrol reserve
* the car shipping port on the quay of the former
Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement.
All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 s ...
shipyard.
Bremerhaven
''Fischereihafen'' urban district:
* Dock harbour of deep-sea fishery
Exclave of Bremen city:
* Dockports:
** ''Kaiserhäfen ("Emperor's Ports")''
** Car shipping port
**
Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
It forms a semi-enclave in ...
shipyard
* Passenger port ''Columbuskaje''
* Open container terminals I to III
''Weddewarden'' urban district:
* Open container terminal IV
Sources & weblinks
* Manfred Rech, ''Gefundene Vergangenheit – Archäologie des Mittelalters in Bremen'', Bremer Archäologische Blätter, Beiheft 3/2004, , (background informations of an exhibition on archeological findings of medieval Bremen in Bremen state museum of cultural history), p. 104 ff., chap. IV.C.: ''Die Häfen an Balge und Schlachte'' ("The ports on Balge river and Schlachte quay")
* Ludwig Franzius: ''Die Korrektion der Unterweser'' (1888), with a collection of maps as supplement, available without reservation in the reading-room o
Staatsarchiv Bremen* http://www.bremenports.de/files/2/65/128/ZahlenDatenFakten.pdf PDF
* Heinrich Flügel (1914, thesis): ''Die deutschen Welthäfen Hamburg und Bremen''. 420 pages (Reprint 2012,
example of the text(PDF; 2,3 MB)
www.bremenports.deWeserKontor GmbH (26. Februar 2014): Seehäfen & Seeschifffahrt → Bremische HäfenSenator für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Häfen (Bremish Department for Economics & Ports, 06.03.2014): Neues Hafenkonzept setzt auf Nachhaltigkeit
{{coord, 53.5700, N, 8.5440, E, source:wikidata, display=title, format=dms
Bremen