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

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

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

Wedel Wedel () is a town in the Pinneberg (district), district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and west of Hamburg. History Foundation and Mi ...

on the Lower

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) 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 Republic), then Ge ...

. 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 vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, ...

heading upriver for or downriver from the

port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (, ) 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" (), it is the country's largest seaport by volume. In terms of TEU throughput, Hambur ...

are welcomed or bid farewell by dipping the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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 ...

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

sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

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, also commonly called a 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 and his team at the Dutch company ...

(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. 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.

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