Lake Constance ports
The boat trip on the Lake now has seven ports for passenger ships of the White Fleet . In addition, in Konstanz - Staad and in the northwest of Meersburg the ports of the ferry Konstanz-Meersburg and many smaller places pier .
history
Ports offer protection to ships from storms and waves. Most of them were also the location for markets and warehouses (" Greth ", " Kornhaus ", " Salzstadel ", " Council building "). They were used for loading, unloading and reloading of goods, their storage, customs clearance and often also for shipbuilding; today they are only used for boarding passengers on Lake Constance.
From antiquity to the beginning of steam shipping (1824)
The Roman rule on Lake Constance lasted from AD 15 to the 5th century. The late Roman port facilities discovered in Bregenz (Roman: Brigantium ) in 1969 date from this period . No port facilities have survived from shipping in the following centuries. They used natural shelters such as estuaries and bays in the lee of "horns" (headlands) or artificial "stedi" (unpaved landing areas, protected by stones and fascines ). In 1390 an artificial harbor was built from “sea piles” in front of Bregenz: main piles for mooring and common piles as signposts. It was not allowed to sail in the harbor, only “switched” ( poked ). Incoming and outgoing ships were "blown" (announced) with signal horns. Such simple harbors soon became more common. In 1764 those in Bregenz and Lindau were the largest; the first port with stone walls was built there in 1811.
Shape of the Lake Constance ports
The size and structure of the harbor basin were determined by the length and maneuverability of the steamships, the harbor floor and the number of ships based there. On the other hand, the size of the port still limits the length of modern motor ships. Their Voith-Schneider drive improved the maneuverability so that three large ships can dock at the same time in the small port of Meersburg. The required water surface was getting smaller. The unneeded water area and the moles in the “rear harbors” made ideal berths for private motor boats and sailing yachts. The associated infrastructure was made possible by eliminating shipyards, storage areas and track systems.
After the start of steam shipping
In 1824, when steam shipping began on Lake Constance , there was only another port with a stone pier, the Mantelhafen in Überlingen . In the following 50 years, new harbors for steamships were built in the most important places , and they were repeatedly enlarged and structurally improved. This process was accelerated considerably by the construction of new railway lines to the ports on the Obersee . These were also the home ports of the Lake Constance shipping companies of the state railways, whose freight and passenger stations were located directly next to the port facilities. In 1920 the Deutsche Reichsbahn became the owner of the ships and ports. After the occupation, the legal succession was transferred to the Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1952 , and in 1996 to Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe GmbH (BSB), a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG . In 2003, Stadtwerke Konstanz , which was already successfully operating the Konstanz – Meersburg car ferry , took over BSB shipping. Another wholly-owned subsidiary, Bodensee-Hafen-Gesellschaft (BHG), is responsible for the operation of 13 port facilities.
The data of the most important ports on Lake Constance
- Constance : 1839/41 construction of the northern port (13,000 m²) on the “Council building”; 1846/55 construction of the shipyard ; 1863 connection to the railway with train station and second, southern port (55,000 m²) for railway trajectories to Lindau and Bregenz (until 1917); 1890 The two parts of the port are united. Since 1993 the "Imperia" has been the symbol of the port. From 2005 construction of floating jetties for the catamaran and two scheduled boats. All connections are direct from Constance: to Schaffhausen, Überlingen, Bregenz and Rorschach. The shipyard is only used as a workshop. The city is the home port of the "Baden" ships, the seat of the BSB and the Stadtwerke Konstanz.
- Meersburg : 1851/1852 construction of the stone pier . Today there are two floating jetties in the harbor; another berth is at the outer pier. Small but important transfer port to Überlinger See with the island of Mainau . Until 1974 the port of Meersburg was officially a DB station, the only one in Germany without a siding.
- Friedrichshafen : 1811 construction of the “city harbor”, later for steam ships; 1846 expansion, 1851 expansion (partly with rows of piles) and shipyard; 1854 railway connection and first port station ; 1869 railroad project to Romanshorn (until 1976), from 1929 also for motor vehicles; 1933 today's port station building ; 1944 severe damage from air raids ; 2005 construction of a catamaran jetty; Berth for boats of the water police , customs and fire brigade ; the shipyard is only used to repair and overhaul the ships. Friedrichshafen is the home port of the "Württemberg" ships of the BSB and an important traffic junction , not only for shipping from the western and eastern Obersee, the car ferry to Romanshorn and the catamaran to Constance, but also with the rail and air connections and sightseeing flights with the Zeppelin NT .
- Lindau : port city fortified since 1200; 1812 stone pier for almost 100 sailing ships; 1848 shipyard (until 1961); 1854 railway connection of the port over the Lindau Bodenseedamm to the main station on the island; 1856 Expansion of the port with a lion statue and “New Lighthouse” at the entrance; 1869 ferry connection to Romanshorn and Constance; Home port of the "Bavarian" ships of the BSB.
- Bregenz : 1842/46 construction of a wooden port facility for six steamships; 1850 replacement by a stone pier; 1872 railway connection; 1884 Foundation of the Austrian Lake Constance fleet with its home port in Bregenz; from 1881 port expansion with dry dock (until 1940) and ferry connections to Romanshorn, Konstanz and Friedrichshafen (until 1913/17). Since then, the port has consisted of a “large mole” as a breakwater, a medium-sized “passenger molo” with a port building and berths for three ships in use, and a “reserve mole” for ships out of service. Between these two an iron walkway with a gas station was built in 1977. During the renovation in 1996, berths for private boats were created.
- Rorschach : 1840 new pier for the still too small port, therefore in 1862 expansion to today's size; 1856 direct railway connection; Home port of the three small SBS ships of the former Rorschach shipping company .
- Romanshorn : From the small port (1844) of the fishing village, the largest port on Lake Constance in terms of area with a rail connection (1855) and train station directly at the port and ferry connections to Germany was created by 1870. The home port of the four large SBS ships became so important as a transport hub that the place developed around the port. The routes were replaced by the Friedrichshafen-Romanshorn car ferry line. The efficient shipyard is the only one of its kind on Lake Constance today.
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In addition to these ports, there are others that were once of great importance such as Radolfzell , Ludwigshafen (Sernatingen), Hard and Arbon , or the relatively new port of Kreuzlingen . In smaller places on the shores of Lake Constance, the ships of the White Fleet can be reached via landing stages, the length of which depends on the water depth at low tide. The length ranges from a few meters on the "Lände" in Überlingen to 270 meters in Altnau .
Legal Regulations
After a few accidents, including in the port area, in 1867 the countries bordering Lake Constance, an international body of water, passed the International Shipping and Port Regulations for Lake Constance , the current version of which is binding today.
Current situation
After the end of freight and trajectory shipping, most ports were too big. Real estate was built there on the land side and berths for yachts on the sea side . Today almost every place on Lake Constance has a yacht harbor and sometimes a huge marina . Ports for the boats of professional fishermen, private excursion boats and the last gravel ships are of minor importance. The two ferry ports of the Konstanz-Meersburg car ferry are becoming increasingly important.
The close connection between Lake Constance shipping and the railroad had its peak in the 1930s, when up to 1500 passengers at Lindau's main train station switched directly from the special train to special ships like the Allgäu . After a brief recovery in the 1950s, the port railway stations almost completely lost their original meaning. The Lindau train station is being dismantled , and the Zeppelin Museum has been located in the Friedrichshafen port station since 1996 .
See also
- Lake Constance shipping
- White Fleet (Lake Constance)
- Lake Constance shipping operations
- Steam boat trip on Lake Constance
Web links
literature
- D Bögle, Erich Hofmann: 100 years of the port of Constance . Constance, OCLC 312812141 .
- Dietmar Bönke: paddle wheel and impeller. The shipping of the railway on Lake Constance . GeraMond Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-86245-714-4 .
- Karl Heinz Burmeister: From cargo ship to pleasure ship. On the history of shipping on Lake Constance . Universitätsverlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1992, ISBN 3-87940-426-7 .
References and comments
- ↑ Other local names: ship landing stage, (ship) landing stage, landing stage or landing stage.
- ↑ Etching by Nikolaus Hug. In: 100 Years of the Port of Constance.
- ↑ Burmeister: From cargo ship to pleasure ship
- ↑ Information on the port of Lindau
- ↑ Information on the port of Bregenz
- ↑ Over 100 years of Austrian shipping on Lake Constance 1884–1984. Local history lesson picture series. Publisher: Office of the Vorarlberg State Government School Media Center, Bregenz 1984/2003. [1]
- ↑ Rorschach port plan
- ^ Romanshorn harbor plan
- ↑ Bönke: paddle wheel and impeller. Pp. 158-172.