Weser ferry Bremerhaven – Nordenham

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The Weser ferry Bremerhaven – Nordenham is a ferry connection that connects the independent city of Bremerhaven ( Free Hanseatic City of Bremen ) with the Blexen district of the city of Nordenham in the Wesermarsch district ( Lower Saxony ) at the mouth of the Weser. Seen from the confluence of the Fulda and Werra , it is the last ferry connection before the open North Sea on the Weser .

history

Geestervorhafen (1979)

A ferry connection across the Weser between the villages of Lehe and Blexen may have already existed in the Middle Ages, but it was not until 1573 that a corresponding ferry law was mentioned in a written source. People and loads were transferred with primitive boats. This ancient form of transport was not abandoned until 1861. In 1862, the North German Lloyd from Bremen opened a ferry service between Geestemünde and Nordenham and Blexen with a steamer and operated this until around 1871. From 1876 to 1884 a captain operated this connection with a steamer Nordenham . In 1884 the leading Bremen tug shipping company, the tugboat company "Union" (founded in 1873), acquired the Oldenburg ferry license and from then on operated its own ferry steamers between Geestemünde and Nordenham, and from 1905 also to Blexen.

Since the "Union" suffered from mismanagement of its management from around 1890 and therefore lost its once leading position in the towing business around 1900, various kinds of grievances also tore into the ferry service, so that the Oldenburg government let the contract expire in 1911 and followed suit looked around for a new operator. This was available in the form of Weser-Schiffahrtsgesellschaft mbH , which had been founded in 1910 by the Nordenham economy and the surrounding communities. With new ferries suitable for the connection, this company took over the ferry service between Geestemünde, Nordenham and Blexen. This company, which has been called Weserfähre GmbH since 1921, still operates the ferry connection between Bremerhaven and Blexen with the two car and passenger ferries Bremerhaven and Nordenham . Today's ferry pier on the Bremerhaven side was put into operation on August 19, 1954.

Until 1980 there was a direct connection to the Hude – Blexen railway line at the pier in Nordenham -Blexen . The track is still connected to the station in Nordenham, but it is no longer used.

In 1998/99 the bus line 440 from Bremerhaven to Oldenburg used the Weser ferry to cross over to Blexen. This saved the passengers from having to change between the individual modes of transport. The WeserSprinter was set up on October 10, 1998.

In 2010 the Weser ferry celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Vehicles and transportation

The two ferries of the Weser ferry in Geestemünde

The line is served by the Bremerhaven and Nordenham ferries . The ferries transport people and vehicles, the capacities of both ships are intended for 300 people and around 150 meters of vehicles.

Investors

Pier in Geestemünde
Blexen pier in Nordenham

The ferry terminal in Nordenham is located in the Blexen district ( Lage ); in Bremerhaven , the ferries dock at the mouth of the Geeste at the Old Port ( Lage ). At the piers, single-lane ramps are left for cars and two-lane ramps for pedestrians to compensate for the difference between the ferry (different due to the tide ) and the street level.

Travel time and timetable

The journey time is about twelve minutes. From Monday to Friday the ferries depart every 30 minutes in the morning from 5 a.m., every 20 minutes during the day and every hour in the evening on each side of the Weser. On Sundays, the cycle times are 40 minutes. In summer the ferries run on Saturdays according to the weekday and in spring, autumn and winter according to the Sunday schedule.

economics

The Weser ferry does not cover costs. In 2014, a one-way crossing cost € 2.40 for a pedestrian and € 5.50 for a car with a driver. The purchase of return tickets, ten and monthly tickets is much cheaper for commuters. In 2013, the two ships made a loss of 900,000 euros, which the two shareholders, the cities of Nordenham and Bremerhaven, had to take on with a quarter and three quarters. However, there is political consensus that ferry traffic should continue to operate.

In 2013, 745,855 people, 248,056 cars, 77,308 bicycles, 5050 motorcycles and 9409 trucks (2012: 7854) were carried.

Weser ferry and Weser tunnel

After the opening of the Weser Tunnel , there was initially a drop in the number of cars and trucks carried by around a third. After a new building was carried out at the Blexen jetty due to material fatigue of the old one, the number of journeys increased again rapidly as the load limit of 30 tons was lifted. The connection is still attractive for pedestrians and cyclists, as the Weser Tunnel is not accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

Interruption of ferry operations after damage to a jetty

After an ore freighter rammed the Blexen jetty on June 24, 2016 and severely damaged it, the ferry service was interrupted. A replacement bus service through the Weser Tunnel was set up for the transport of people. The ferry service resumed in September 2016.

literature

  • Weserfähre GmbH (Ed.): Commemorative publication for the 40th anniversary of the Bremerhaven Weser ferry on August 21, 1951 , Bremerhaven 1951.
  • Weserfähre GmbH (Ed.): For the 50th anniversary of the Weser ferry Bremerhaven , Bremerhaven 1961.
  • Eduard Krüger: The ferries on the Jade and the Weser estuary , Oldenburger Balkenschild, No. 29/30, Oldenburg March 1968.
  • Wilhelm Stallmann: 75 years of Weserfähre GmbH , Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt No. 439 (July 1986).
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Brandt: Ferries on the Unterweser , Oldenburg 1993, ISBN 3-89442-159-2 , pp. 96-110.
  • Weser ferry GmbH (publisher): 100 years of the Weser ferry in Bremerhaven August 1, 2010 , Bremerhaven 2010.

Web links

Commons : Weser ferry Bremerhaven – Nordenham  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Paul Homann: Bremerhaven's route networks (ÖPNV) from 1881. (PDF; 2.1 MB) P. 69: Bookmark 10.10.1998 , accessed on July 29, 2017 .
  2. ^ Paul Homann: VGB-Nachrichten. (PDF) p. 174 , accessed on July 29, 2017 .
  3. History of the Bremerhaven-Blexen ferry connection on the bremerhaven.de website ( Memento from September 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Bremerhaven.de: History of the Bremerhaven-Blexen ferry connection
  4. Timetable
  5. Tariffs 2014 in the web archive
  6. Information on current fares
  7. Nordsee-Zeitung of May 13, 2014
  8. ^ History of the Weser ferry up to 2010 ( Memento from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  9. Peter Kleinort: Weser business is out of business for a longer period of time · Pier in Blexen badly damaged · Costs in the millions · Replacement bus service . In: Daily port report of July 21, 2016, p. 15

Coordinates: 53 ° 31 '39 "  N , 8 ° 33' 52"  E