Münster harbor

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View over the harbor basin, left the north side with Kreativkai, right the south side with crane, Flechtheim storage and district heating storage
Port basin (left / center) with coal / district heating storage (front) and combined cycle power plant (right)

The city harbor I , known as Harbor Münster is a river port of the city of Münster in Westphalia . It was opened by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1899 and branches off the Dortmund-Ems Canal as a port . Initially run as a municipal company, in 1953 it was handed over to Stadtwerke Münster , which has been operating since then.

From the beginning, the port was mainly designed for imports. It was badly damaged in the Second World War , but reopened in 1946 in order to be able to obtain urgently needed building materials for the reconstruction of the city. Today, the port has become almost insignificant as a transhipment point; instead, mainly cultural and gastronomic businesses have been settled on the north bank, forming the so-called “creative quay”.

The size of the port area corresponds to the size of the old town of Münster.

history

The port in 1902

construction

The construction of a port in Münster began in 1896, four years after construction began on the waterway that was to connect it, the Dortmund-Ems Canal . The city acquired 23 hectares of land southeast of the city center, but outside the city limits of the time, for the construction of the port. The cost of land acquisition and construction amounted to 1.85 million  marks . Of this, 220,000 marks were taken over by the state, the rest paid for by the city. In addition to the Dortmund-Ems Canal, the port was connected via the Münster – Hamm railway line . The city's gas and electrical works and the depot for the local tram were also located at the port .

The construction was completed in 1898, the inauguration by Kaiser Wilhelm II took place on October 16, 1899 only a few weeks after the opening of the Dortmund-Ems Canal. At the end of the harbor basin, a monument was erected that showed a seafarer with a southwestern and steering wheel . In addition, warehouses, including the Flechtheim warehouse, and a port administration building were built. The port branches off from the canal as a port, the port basin is 740 meters long and covers an area of ​​36,000 square meters. The average width is 58 meters, towards the head end it tapers to 20 meters due to the converging railway tracks. In total, the basin offers space for 19 large canal ships. The ships were loaded and unloaded using railway cranes that were fitted with tracks next to the harbor basin. Up to 19 ships with a length of up to 100 meters could moor in the port at the same time.

The first years

From the beginning, the port of the city of Münster was designed as an import port for grain and wood. Of the 38,000 tonnes handled in the first year, 35,000 tonnes were imports. Transshipment in the port reached its preliminary climax in 1913, when 220,000 tons of goods were shipped in and out of Münster. The main cargo handled, as planned, was grain and wood, as well as colonial goods . The feed barley, which the cattle breeders in the Münsterland relied on to import, accounted for the largest share of the turnover. In 1910, the Münster Chamber of Commerce characterized the port as the most important grain transshipment point in Northwest Germany after Duisburg . But the port was also responsible for the settlement of industrial companies.

During the First World War , the volume of goods handled fell sharply, among other things due to the British blockade of the port in Emden , where the grain destined for Münster was reloaded onto barges. While the grain transport could no longer reach the pre-war level, the volume handled rose sharply again, to around 375,000 tons in 1923. This was favored by the occupation of the Ruhr : The port workers in the Ruhr area had stopped working, which is why the shipments' loads were unloaded in Münster and transported southwards by rail . After the end of the blockade, however, the amount fell again in 1924 to around 125,000 tons per year. By 1930, the throughput had stabilized at between 210,000 and 235,000 tons, half of which was grain and around a quarter each of wood and building materials. At this point in time, the Raiffeisen-Centralgenossenschaft, a forerunner of the later Agravis Raiffeisen , with their granaries and Ostermann & Scheiwe with their timber warehouse, today's Osmo-Hallen, had settled at the port. In addition, the municipal gas and electricity works and the depot of the Münster tram were located at the harbor basin.

Second World War

From 1931 the global economic crisis also hit the port of Münster, the throughput figures sank to 170,000 tons by 1933. After the National Socialists came to power , however, the annual turnover rose to well over 500,000 tons, now mostly building materials for the construction of Wehrmacht buildings. In 1935 around 2000 workers were employed in around 80 companies at the port. The port remained important to the city even during the war . In 1939 575,000 tons were unloaded and loaded, in 1944 still more than 250,000 tons.

The first Allied bombing raids by the British Air Force on Münster in August 1940 targeted the port and the industrial companies located there, initially hitting a warehouse at Hansaring, a few days later 20,000 cubic meters of wood from the timber warehouse at the port went up in flames, and the port basin also burned five ships. The fact that such a high turnover of goods could be sustained until 1944 can only be explained by the fact that municipal and private companies had also used forced labor in the port, both for production and for clean-up work.

In 1945 the city's statistical office described the port as "completely unusable". Therefore there was no cargo handling. The quay walls and embankments as well as the administrative buildings and tracks as well as six of the seven loading cranes were destroyed or badly damaged. Wrecks of sunken ships lay in the harbor basin, and traffic in the harbor area was impossible. In the same year, the water was drained from the harbor basin in order to search for duds and to make the harbor basin and the jetties navigable again. The reconstruction of the port proceeded quickly and operations could already be resumed in March 1946. In that year 146,000 tons of goods were brought to Münster. Even afterwards, large quantities of building materials were required for the reconstruction of the largely destroyed city, which were imported via the port.

post war period

Shortly after the reconstruction, in 1953, the city of Münster handed over operation of the port to Stadtwerke Münster , which still owns it today. This fell at a time when a fundamental upward trend in the importance of the port can be seen. At the beginning of the 1960s, the port of Münster then reached its heyday. In 1962, over 1.3 million tons were handled, mostly grain and building materials. With almost 4,300 ships, the highest number of incoming ships was recorded this year. Until 1978, the ships unloaded and loaded over a million tons of goods every year, regularly over 70% of them building materials. In 1979, the waterside transshipment slipped again below the million mark for the first time and fell sharply from there to just 558,000 tons in 1985.

The reason for this was the company's own quays, which gained in importance during these years, such as the Westfalen AG oil port with tank farm in Gelmer and the Agravis WCG port . At the city harbor, on the other hand, the turnover figures fell, and the picture was soon shaped by “empty warehouses, unused company premises and fallow land”.

Present and Future

Almost all ships now pass the entrance to the port

In the 1980s, the port was discovered as an inexpensive commercial space by alternative businesses, including left-wing publishers and printers. In the 1990s, the Dockland House Discotheque opened in the harbor.

In addition, the port's importance as a transshipment point declined in favor of goods transport by truck . In 1990 483,000 tons were handled, between 1993 and 2005 the value fluctuated between 250,000 and 400,000 tons. With the closure of the coal-fired power station in the port and the opening of the Münster Hafen combined cycle power station at the same location, coal loading ceased in 2006 and, among other things, a further 50% of cargo handling. Around 118,000 tons of cargo were still discharged, mainly building materials, fertilizer and iron. In 2007, throughput sank below 100,000 tons, in 2009 it was only 63,000 tons. The main import goods continued to be building materials.

In its 2004 port concept, the NRW Ministry of Transport, Energy and State Planning anticipated a throughput of 72,000 tons by 2015 . There are no unexploited potentials for inland shipping, and no further development of the port is foreseeable. In the medium term, the over-planning at the city port will also result in the port functions being phased out.

According to the harbor master Ulrich Arndt, who has been in service since 1995, the port and canal were only frozen over in the severe winters of 1997 and 2011. Even this was unusual, as the adjacent combined cycle power plant takes cooling water from the canal and feeds it into the harbor basin heated by a maximum of eight degrees Celsius.

Todays situation

180 ° panorama of the port and surrounding residential areas

Template: Panorama / Maintenance / Para4

Kreativkai

In the 1990s, the concept for the opening of a public communication and media center in the port of the city of Münster was presented, which was rejected, but the designation “Kreativkai” survived the years.

Kreativkai
Kreativkai

With the decreasing importance of the port, the city of Münster began to develop alternative usage concepts for the waterfront in 1997 . When the long leases for many of the properties expired , the northern bank of the harbor was created as a creative quay . The aim was to establish a “small-scale mix of cultural use, gastronomy and high-quality services (architects or engineering offices, publishers), with a few remaining businesses”. For this purpose, the buildings typical of the port were partially renovated, and the port line was partially supplemented by new buildings. The harbor master's villa, built in the Wilhelminian style, was demolished and various loading cranes disappeared. The Ministry of Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia spoke of a "development of a part of the port into a non-port-related commercial and leisure establishment with restaurants".

The Kreativkai is home to Power-Sports ( Power-Fitness-Center GmbH ), Coppenrath Verlag , the Hot Jazz Club , the contemporary art exhibition hall in Münster and the Wolfgang Borchert Theater . At the front of the port, the Hafenplatz is an open space with the headquarters of Stadtwerke Münster in the south and PSD Bank Westfalen-Lippe in the north. The port has existed since June 2012 as part of the Münster model , which was temporarily exhibited in the Rhenusspeicher on the south side of the central port .

The city has often described the conversion as successful. In 2004 she wrote in her master plan for the Münster city ports: “The location is in demand with investors. Citizens frequent the quayside as a recreational and leisure area. ”On Hafenweg, which is behind the first row of buildings on the north bank, ie includes the first and second row of buildings, in 2010 only eight of 244 properties were vacant. The city's economic development agency in Münster wrote in 2010 that the port "with its Kreativkai scores with its now popular and established location". The top rents for office space in new buildings or modernized and prestigious old buildings were € 12.50 / m² in the waterfront as much as in Münster's city center, the average rent of € 9.50 / m² is just € 1 below the city center price.

Osmo halls

The future of the last third of the north bank in the area of ​​the Osmo halls is still unclear . These belonged to the company Ostermann und Scheiwe , which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Until 2012, the halls were used for occasional events, for example as a public viewing arena for football world and European championships. Osmo insolvency administrators had sold the northern part of the halls to the architects Rainer Kresing and Andreas Deilmann, while part of the property facing the water is owned by Stadtwerke Münster. In January 2012 the Osmo halls were partially closed due to the risk of collapse.

The development of the port is discussed with residents and other interested parties in the context of public events known as the “port forum”. This should result in results that can be agreed and implemented.

The harbor festival has been held once a year since 2001 along the Kreativkai and on the Hafenplatz . This three-day festival attracts several thousand visitors to the port.

South side

Heat storage on the right, behind it Flechtheim storage with harbor crane

The south side of the harbor basin has not yet been developed in terms of urban development. The former coal bunker of the Stadtwerke's coal-fired power station, which was shut down in 2005, is located on the southern end. In 2007 it was converted into a heat storage system for district heating of the new combined cycle power plant, so that it will remain. Next to it is the Flechtheimspeicher , an old, listed grain store owned by the municipal utilities. In 2012 the municipal utilities decided to convert this and the adjoining Rhenusspeicher for office, archive and cultural use. The emblem of the harbor, an old crane from 1962, is also located at the Flechtheimspeicher.

The dairy Söbbeke was early February of 2012, on the open space next to the Flechtheimspeicher a glass factory as Schau- dairy build to want for their operation, the location near the gas and steam power plant from where the large amount needed for cheese production is ideal, warm Air can be obtained. In June 2012 it was announced that the Stadtwerke had decided to sell the property to the entrepreneur Paul Söbbeke, whereupon an architecture competition for the show cheese dairy was started.

A hazardous goods warehouse from Lehnkering follows this open space . That was one reason why the south side has not yet been further developed. For example, residential buildings within a radius of 500 meters cannot be approved - this also applies to the area of ​​the Osmo halls on the north side. The Lehnkerings lease ran until 2017. Even the combined cycle power plant, which is a bit back, makes residential development on the south side unlikely, even in the long term.

In June 2012, the municipal utilities, which own most of the properties on the south side of the port, had received several inquiries for several properties on the south side of the port. In April 2014 it was announced that the company headquarters of the consulting firm Cronos and SuperBioMarkt AG (from west to east) will be built on the open space between the Flechtheimspeicher and the show cheese dairy of the Söbbeke dairy . Both buildings are to have underground car parks .

Statistics: turnover development

Handling development

This table lists the development of cargo handling in City Harbor I on selected years as an example.

year Handling
in 1000 t
comment
1899 38
1911 235
1913 220
1923 374 Ruhr occupation
1924 125 The occupation of the Ruhr is lifted
around 1930 210-235
1933 170
1936 630 National Socialist Armament
1939 575
1944 > 250 War year
1946 146 Year of reconstruction
1962 1,315 absolute maximum
1975 1,099
until 1978 > 1000
1979 <1000
1984 651
1985 558
1990 483
1993-2005 250-400
1998 297
2006 118 Elimination of coal loading
2007 <100
2009 63
2011 66

literature

  • Stadtmuseum Münster (ed.): The port of Münster. 100 years of the Dortmund-Ems Canal . Münster 1999, DNB 959964517 .

Web links

Commons : Hafen Münster  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Carsten Krystofiak: In the new bank - From Schmuddel corner for entertainment mile to Wohnkai: Minster history port will soon be updated. In: Ultimo No. 13/12, June 11, 2012 - June 24, 2012, p. 8f.
  2. a b Karin Völker: Münster model is growing: The port in toy format. In: Westfälische Nachrichten . June 24, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 . .
  3. a b Stadtmuseum Münster 1999, p. 18.
  4. Stadtmuseum Münster 1999, p. 19f.
  5. a b Stadtmuseum Münster 1999, p. 34.
  6. Forced labor for the city administration - sweeping streets, disposing of garbage, clearing rubble. In: muenster.de. Münster City Archive: accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  7. Gabriele Hillmoth: Solution to parking problems: With the water taxi to the storage facility? In: Westfälische Nachrichten. January 31, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  8. a b Stadtmuseum Münster 1999, p. 42.
  9. ^ Annual reports of Stadtwerke Münster 1975–1985
  10. a b City of Münster: 2009 annual statistics for the city of Münster. (PDF; 3.6 MB) In: stadt-muenster.de. Office for Urban Development, Urban Planning and Transport Planning, p. 207 , accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  11. Transport + Logistics: Inland shipping is booming - clear increase in handling in NRW ports. January 31, 2007, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  12. a b Waterway traffic and port concept North Rhine-Westphalia. (PDF; 3.3 MB) Ministry of Transport, Energy and State Planning of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, January 31, 2005, pp. 75, 90 , accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  13. Waterway traffic , inland ports and logistics in North Rhine-Westphalia. Update of the waterway traffic and port concept for North Rhine-Westphalia. Ministry for Building and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, February 2008, p. 61 , accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  14. a b c Malte Limbrock: It smelled of work: Ulrich Arndt, who has been harbor master of the Stadtwerke for 17 years, in an interview. In: Hafenfreunde - The magazine for Münster's harbor , 4/2012, pp. 45–49.
  15. a b Restructuring in the city harbor: Münster harbor district "Kreativkai". In: nationale-stadtentwicklungspolitik.de. Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR) at the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR), June 17, 2014, accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  16. City of Münster:  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Masterplan / Integrated Action Concept City Ports of Münster, 2004, p. 7.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.muenster.de
  17. Christian Krajewski: Change in the usage structures at City Harbor I in Münster (all floors). (JPEG; 774.12 kB) Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe , Institute for Geography, City of Münster, Münster Economic Development Agency, accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  18. ^ Münster Economic Development Agency: Office market study 2010: Münster - stable in the crisis year. ( Memento from March 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  19. Osmo halls partially blocked: Hall roof endangered / Canal path blocked / Heaven is stable. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. January 26, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  20. Start of the port forum: What will happen to the city port? In: Westfälische Nachrichten. September 10, 2010, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  21. Klaus Baumeister: Hotel plans from the table: Flechtheimspeicher: Politics pleads for theater and archive. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. March 9, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  22. Helmut P. Etzkorn: Steel funnels are disappearing from the Rhenus warehouse at the port. In: Münstersche Zeitung , October 16, 2008.
  23. Show cheese dairy as a glass factory: Fresh cheese from the port? In: Westfälische Nachrichten. February 2, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  24. Klaus Baumeister: Preparatory work at the Münster city harbor soon: The transparent cheese dairy is coming. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. June 1, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  25. Klaus Baumeister: Dangerous goods warehouse prevents construction projects worth millions at the port. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. March 6, 2009, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  26. Günter Benning: First prospective buyers for property: Port conversion: Müller-Tengelmann sees it rosy. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. June 22, 2012, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  27. Klaus Baumeister: Glass company headquarters next to the warehouse. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. April 11, 2014, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  28. Christoph Ueberfeld: Super organic market moves into port at the end of 2015 ( Memento from May 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Münstersche Zeitung , April 22, 2014.
  29. Münster City Museum, 1999.
  30. ^ Annual reports of Stadtwerke Münster 1975, 1984, 1998.
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 7, 2011 in this version .

Coordinates: 51 ° 57 ′ 5 "  N , 7 ° 38 ′ 41"  E