THE RESTORATION OF SEAWAYS AND SEAPORTS IN THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070345-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 345
• Publication Date: July 18, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION RESTRTED
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
REPORT
CD NO.
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
HOW
German Democratic Republic
Transportation - Water, ports, seaways
DAVE OF
DATE DIST. /3
Jul 1952
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
Monthly periodical
Berlin, GDR
NO. OF PAGES
4
DATE
PUBLISHED
Apr 1951
LANGUAGE
German
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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t. r. C.. 11 ANC i1.M ?fl UGtt. ITS T AIINISOIOI 0D TMC SCTRATlat
eiuiin ItTLAW nnooucnoi or ini ioti ii PNCNI.ITTio. is no
SOURCE Der Verkehr, Vol V, No 4, 1951.
THE RESTORATION OF SEAWAYS AND SEAPORTS
IN THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIr
After World War II, not only were the seaways and seaports of the i,altic
Sea almost unusable due to mines and wrecks, but the port buildings, in addition
to war damage, bore the marks of years of neglect. The first part of the resto-
ration, therefore, required from the administration the protection of the re-
mainder against further deterioration and the clearing and marking of the most
important navigation routes. This first phase was, in the main, completed in
1948..
For the present stage of new construction and reconstruction, new steps
had to be taken. To the extent to which the producing economy set up long-term
plans which were harmoniously adjusted to each other, plans were also established
for the transportation performances, in accordance with which freight traffic
is rarried,pn today. From this conscious steering of the flow of goods arose
the problems of reconstruction and new investments for the administration of
She waterways. But here too, the concept of the economic unity of all Germany
was adhered to. The GDR(German Democratic Republic) consciously refrained from
creating competitive harbors to Hamburg, Bremen, or Luebeck. Walter Ulbricht,*
Deputy Minister-President, emphasized before the People's Chamber in his ex-
planation of the .'raft for the Five-Year Plan that an enlargement of the Baltic
ports of Rostock, Warnemuende, and Wismar for overseas traffic is not planned.
After the most important navigation routes had been cleared of wrecks
and mines, it became urgently necessary, through the sudden growth of the
fishing fleet, to search the entire sea region for wrecks and salvage them.
The Directorate General for Water Transport, which is the central administration
of waterways, created in the Economy Enterprise of Ship Salvage and Diving the
necessary instrument for th solution of these problems. Experienced seamen
volunteered and, with seaworthy ships and newly developed wreck-searching
implements, patrolled the sea region, determined navigation obstacles by
coordinates, and marked them with wreck buoys. Seamen activists developed new
salvage methods, determined priorities, worked out performance norms for the
various implements and vehicles, and set up competitive programs for the given
tasks. To the salvage group of the Free German Youth, because of their top
(1-
NSRD
FBI
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performances in the^contett, was given the largest salvage ship, the youth shin
1 Mai, with a winch power of 100 tons; today it works at a norm of 3 tons of
scrap metal per hour. Salvage activities in 1950 brought from the sea waters
of the GDR around 12,000 tons of the most valuable ferrous and nonferrous scrap
metal and, thus, in addition to the clearing of navigable waters, mats a very
valuable contribution of raw material for the steel industry of the CDR.
To restore the depth of navigable water, the maintenance of which had been
neglected for more than a decade, to ensure the transshipping capacity of the
seaports, and to make possible the approach in the necessary water depth to
the shipyards (for seagoing vessels) which were then being enlarged or con-
structed, unusual dredging achievements were needed. Thus, with outmoded
equipment, sometimes in heaviest silt, more than 2,240,000 cubic meters of
spoil were raised in the years 1946 - 1949. Through the creation of an ecuin-
ment control station which centrally directs the application and the repair of
dredges, barges, tugboats, etc., through exemplary performances of the activists,
through contests ou the equipment unit level, and through introduction of multi-
shift operation, it was possible, in 1950, to surpass even the achievements of
the previous years, so that a yearly output of around 1,60o,ooo cubic meters
coul,1 be achieved.
In addition, something had to be done to counteract the heavy silting of
the navigable waters, caused primarily by increased shifting of sand with the
coastal currents due to the vast deterioration of the breakwater systems. It
proved necessary, therefore, also to take up again, in cooperation with the
water economy management, the tasks of coastal protection, neglected during
the Nazi period. For the protection of the particularly imperiled north-west
navigation channel to Stralsund, new, heavy sea dikes of great length were
built, and on the Bock Peninsula, large areas of protective plantings were
newly set up. In close connection with this, the Hydrographic Service of the
OR conducted extensive soundings and current, sand shifting, and wave measure-
ments, as well as ground surveys, to establish the bases for further tasks in
such a manner that faulty investments will with certainty be avoided. In the
sea district of Warnemuende, also, such measurements and soundings were con-
ducted as bases for model experiments to create for the shipyards and ocean
fishing bases arising in this area the required navigable water conditions.
The condition of the sea moles at the end of the war gave cause for the
greatest alarm. Very heavy war damage, as well a! a 10-year interruption of any
maintenance work, had seriously imperiled the continuance of these constructions
Especially the Warnemuende east mole, which is more than one kilometer long,
was in an almost hopeless condition. The difficulties of reconstruction were
increased through the lack of steel-sheet piling. In 1948, there was an immediate
danger of collapse of the pier head and the entrance light. Today, once more,
the mole stands secure because of extraordinary performances by w rkers and
engineers. Similar conditions existed at the west mole in Warnemuende and the
moles in Sassnitz and Stralsund which, in addition to the natural signs of
deterioration, also showed extensive damages from the war. In Stralsund, due
to the neglected condition of the north and east moles, the entire traffic in
the harbor, which opens to the northeast, was endangered. In 1949, the north
mole was made safe again for operation in its old form. That was not possible
with the east mole, which had been constructed in 1925 - 1927 as part of an
enlargement of the harbor. Already in 1939 - 1940, the mole needed a general
overhauling since, in the meantime, due to unfavorable conditions of foundation
soil (solid supporting soil does not begin in part until 26 meters below the
mean water level), settlement of up tc 2 meters had occurred. But the overhaul
did not stop the settling either; rather, the damages increased in the war years
through lack of maintenance. Thus, the construction method had to be changed
fundamentally. On both sides of the partly sagging row of piles, between which
had been placed fascines and rocks, additional rock fillings at a slope of 1:2
are now being added on fasciae mattresses, and thus, an embankment profile up to
2 meters is produced, which can oe tempeo further in case of further settlement.
STAT
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As already mentioned, the capacity of the seaports is going to be increased
only to such an extent as seems feasible in the scope of the total German picture.
Therefore, after repair of the war dama;-es, only investments were undertaken
which were required for the transshipping of such goods as will also flow through
these ports after the restoration of the unity of all of Germany. Thus, there
is no room for the old principles of local planning as applied by the seaport
In 1948, harbor associations were incorporated for the management of the
most important commercial ports: Rostock-Warnemuende, Wismar, and Stralsund.
In them are represented, with an equal number of votes, the government of the
OR through the Directorate General of Water Transport, the government of Land
Mecklenburg, and the city administrations.
The harbor associations are charged with, among other things, the mainte-
nance of the harbo:rs and all harbor installations. The Directorate General of
Water Transport, through its representation 'n the harbor associations, is in
a position to enforce the coordination of harbor-enlargement plans with those
of the sea waterways.
During the Nazi period, the Baltic seaports of our coastal district had
been extremely neglected, so that the available pier installations in many
cases had to be completely renewed. In places, a greater water depth has been
provided for, in which case, due to the lack of steel-sheet piling, completely
new methods often had to be employed. Thus, in Wismar, a new, 300-meter-long
quay wall on pile cluster with projecting slope was constructed for the first
time with prefabricated reinforced-concrete parts. At the construction of
this wall, wooden pilings, rerting on.reinforced-concrete tips, were used to
a great extent. This method of construction prevents rotting of the piles
driven in open water and, at the same time, saves erection of the expensive
cofferdr-i (see also, Der Verkehr, Vol VI, 1950, p 177; Vol I, 1951, p 27).
In Wismar, a car-tipping installation for potash was built. This in-
stallation makes possible the transloading of 400 tons of potash per hour
directly from the railroad cars to the seagoing vessels by means of large
conveyer belts. At present, a potash storage hall of 20,000 tons' capacity
is being built as an intermediary storage, which likewise can be loaded
mechanically and can be emptied over conveyer belts through scrapers. At
present, almost 500 special railroad cars shuttle between the Thueringen
production districts and Wismar to transport the potash, one of the GDR's
most important export goods, to the international water transport route.
The crane installations, in many places outmoded and damaged by the war,
were replaced by new portal cranes and bridge cranes. In Rostock, in addition
to smaller freight sheds, loading halls, etc., a new three-story harbor ware-
house was erected with a reinforced-concrete floor for a load of 200 kilograms
of freight per square meter. This structure was made with extensive use of pre-
fabricated structural units. As a complement to these transloading installations
and constructions, extensive social Installations were set up in accordance with
the GDR's concept of concern for human beings. In particular, exemplary shower
installations were provided at the places where coal, potash, etc., are being
transloaded, and first-aid stations were set up in all harbor districts.
Especially high expendi.ures were required oy the seamark system, which
is of increased importance for the security of maritime navigation, most
particularly in the sea areas affected by the war. Since, in all these areas,
mines and wrecks endanger. navigation even today, the marking of the navigation
channels is more important than ever. This requirement is principally served
by the so-called compulsory routes, whose me agement in the sea waters of the
GDR was again taken into German hands to their full extent of approximately
150 nautical miles in 1950.
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The expansion of the buoy maintenance shops in Wismar, Sassnttz, and
Ueckermuende and the setting up of new ones in Warnemuende and Stralsund pro-
vide the opportunity of better maintenance of these installations, which are
constantly controlled by four seamark ships of diflerent types. Thus, it was
possible to resume regularly everywhere the exchange of summer and winter buoys.
Simultaneously, the old wooden seamarks which were still in use in some places
were replaced at all important navigation routes by steel marks. The unattended
direction lights and alternating beacons were equipped with control instruments
and new light-source changing devices, which, in case of breakdowns, cause an
automatic ctange-over of the lights from electricity to propane gas. Work for
night lighting of the navigation channel in Wismar Bay, a completely new project,
assumed particularly large proportions. There, among others, four direction
lights had to be placed in open water on a foundation of pilings (see, Der
Verkehr, Vol I, 1951, p 29).
At the same time, a seamark proving ground whicb had been completely
destroyed at the end of the war was rebuilt and newly equipped with testing
and measuring instruments.
A new office with the title, Chief of Pilot Affairs, with headquarters
in Rostock, has been established. It is subordinated directly to the Directo-
rate General of Water Transport. This means that the pilots are no longer
employees of the waterway offices but have received, in conjunction with a
substantial improvement in their economic position, their own administration.
The pilot stations in existence, in conformity with increased coastal
navigation, were enlarged and supplied with personnel.
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