Ernst Menzer shipyard

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The shipyard Ernst Menzer KG was a shipbuilding company founded in 1889 with branches in Hamburg-Bergedorf and Geesthacht . The branch yard, which opened in Geesthacht in 1927, was closed in July 1982. The shipyard in Hamburg-Bergedorf existed until the end of 1999.

history

The first three decades

The shipbuilding company was founded in Hamburg-Bergedorf in 1889. Initially, the company's founder, Wilhelm Menzer, built new commercial and official motor boats and repaired ships on two small and one 200-tonne slip. The shipbuilder Menzer soon began not only to work on wooden structures at his shipyard located on the Schleusengraben near the city, but also switched to iron and steel shipbuilding. Wilhelm Menzer died early, so that his 23-year-old son Ernst had to take over the shipyard in 1913. During the First World War, Ernst served in the army and had to close his shipyard for four years. In 1919 he began building motor tugs and barges.

extension

In 1927 Menzer expanded his company to include a branch in Geesthacht, which mainly built motor and barges. The years from 1930 to 1933 were marked by a profound shipbuilding crisis. In addition, the Geesthacht factory burned out almost completely in 1932, but was rebuilt.

An economic boom followed from 1933 and from 1935 the shipyard was considered one of the leading shipyards in the development and construction of modern inland motor vessels. Up until the beginning of the Second World War, Menzer mainly pushed for the introduction of a tunnel to improve the advance. In addition, numerous tank barges were built, most of which were exported. In the summer of 1938, the Geesthacht shipyard delivered three water tankers to Turkey, two of which were used in the port of Istanbul .

The Bergedorf company continued building tugs and barges until 1938 , when it too fell victim to a fire and had to be rebuilt. During the war years, mainly supply vehicles for the navy were built in Bergedorf and Geesthacht.

post war period

After two coasters were launched at Menzer in 1949/50 , the shipyard relied largely on its old construction program. In 1956, the two Menzer sons took over the company. Wilhelm Menzer managed the company in Geesthacht, his brother Kurt continued the work in Bergedorf. In the course of the following years, the importance within the company shifted more and more from the Bergedorf operation, which was soon only used as a repair yard, to the Geesthacht shipyard, as it was better equipped for the growing ship sizes. In addition to many inland vessels, numerous seagoing vessels were built there later.

In 1982, the Geesthacht company with its 90-strong workforce went bankrupt when building a container ship with 7000 tonnes of cargo and was taken over by Bor-Offshore GmbH . The successor company did not have a long life. The Menzer Platz at the Geesthacht harbor is reminiscent of the shipyard today.

Ships continued to be built and repaired in Bergedorf. With effect from December 31, 1999 this yard was also closed due to a lack of orders. If you go to the large hardware store in Bergedorf on the Schleusenkanal by boat today, you are on the former shipyard site.

gallery

New buildings from Geesthacht

  • Liman IV ,
    № 358, built in 1938

  • Liman V ,
    № 359, built in 1938

  • Ruth ,
    built in 1950

  • Käthe-Marie (II),
    № 458, built in 1952

  • Nordwind ,
    year of construction: 1954

  • Alchemist Kiel ,
    № 478, built in 1964

  • Margita ,
    № 488, built in 1971

  • Alchemist Emden ,
    № 489, built in 1971

  • Elbingerode ,
    year of construction: 1972

  • Vinlandia ,
    № 508, built in 1979

New buildings from Hamburg-Bergedorf

  • Elbe 27 ,
    year of construction: 1959

  • Deepenschriewer II ,
    built in 1970

  • Senator Emil Peters ,
    year of construction: 1972

  • Argus ,
    year of construction: 1986

literature

  • Detlefsen, Gert Uwe: From the Ewer to the container ship . The development of the German coasters. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1983, ISBN 3-7822-0321-6 .
  • Boie, Cai: Shipbuilding in Germany 1945-52 . The forbidden industry. 1st edition. Publishing house Gert Uwe Detlefsen, Bad Segeberg and Cuxhaven 1993, ISBN 3-928473-11-5 .