The Schiffsbegrüßungsanlage Willkomm-Höft (literally, Ship Greeting Station Welcome Point, ''Höft'' being

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

for headland or point) is a facility at the Schulauer Fährhaus (Schulau Ferry Building, a restaurant) in

Schulau Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and west of Hamburg. History Foundation and Middle Ages The first known mention of ...

, the southern district of

Wedel Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and west of Hamburg. History Foundation and Middle Ages The first known mention of ...

on the Lower

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

. It was founded by Otto Friedrich Behnke on 12 June 1952. Currently, it is sponsored by Nautische Kameradschaft HANSEA.

Ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

heading upriver for or downriver from the

port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...

are welcomed or bid farewell by dipping the

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

flag and by hoisting the international flag signal for "bon voyage" (letters U and W). For vessels over 1,000 GT leaving German waters, the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of their country of registry is additionally played between 8:00 AM and

sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

or 8:00 PM. Occasionally, the ship will return the greetings by dipping her flag or sounding her whistle. For the welcomes and farewells, there are recordings of 152 different national anthems of maritime nations, or rather of those that keep a register of shipping, and welcoming and farewell messages in the local language. These are available on

compact cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

(red lettering for welcome, black lettering for farewell) and computer. Both systems can be used interchangeably. The ship welcoming station is notified on arriving and departing vessels by the Hamburg nautical registration office once an inbound ship has passed Stadersand or an outbound ship, Hamburg

Finkenwerder Finkenwerder (; Low German: ''Finkwarder'', ''Finkenwarder'' or ''- wärder''; German: ''Finkeninsel''; translation: Island of finches) is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany in the borough Hamburg-Mitte. It is the location of a plant of Airbus and its a ...

. Visitors are briefed on each ship by loudspeaker. Information includes name, nationality, date of construction, builder, operator, length, beam, and draught. Plus, if applicable and known, container capacity and trivia. These data are stored in a constantly updated, handwritten card index on about 17,000 ships.Website of the Schulau Ferry Building
/ref> The ceremony of ship welcoming and farewell is performed by five so-called "welcoming captains." As of late 2021 the captains are Eckart Bolte, Wolfgang Adler, Hartmut Hoffmann, Uwe Mohr and Wolfgang Eder.

Ferry services

Willkomm-Höft can be reached by ferry from Hamburg's

St. Pauli Piers The St. Pauli Piers (german: St. Pauli Landungsbrücken, often only referred to as ''Landungsbrücken''; ), is the largest landing site in the Port of Hamburg, Germany, and also one of Hamburg's major tourist attractions. Other English language tr ...

References

External links

Welcome Point on the website of the Schulau Ferry Building
* ttp://www.spiegel.de/reise/aktuell/willkomm-hoeft-an-der-elbe-schulauer-faehrhaus-mit-neuem-paechter-a-842780.html "Traditionslokal an der Elbe: Willkommen, Zeitgeist,"article by Jan Keith in ''Spiegel Online'', July 6, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schiffsbegrussungsanlage Willkomm-Hoft Transport in Schleswig-Holstein Tourist attractions in Schleswig-Holstein Buildings and structures in Pinneberg (district) Elbe