The Customs Fence Comes Down: Free Access to the Spreehafen

As the customs fence comes down, so does Wilhelmsburg’s “iron curtain”. Olaf Scholz, Mayor of Hamburg, made his own contribution to this major event today, wielding a blowtorch and beginning the work of demolishing the fence. In addition to the mayor, welcoming speeches were also made by Colette Hercher, President of Bundesfinanzdirektion Nord, which has been responsible for the customs fence until now, Liesel Amelingmeyer, founder member of the Zukunft Elbinseln association, and IBA Director Uli Hellweg. In the space of a few weeks, the path between the district and the water’s edge has been completely cleared. The International Building Exhibition IBA Hamburg 2013 celebrated this historic day with the people behind the project, its supporters, and local residents. The opening of the customs port marks the fulfilment of a long-cherished wish among the population and will bring the Elbe islands closer to Hamburg’s inner city

Hamburg, 12 January 2013: “Although a large number of our customs officers, many of whom have spent their whole professional career working around the customs fence, may see its abolition as a melancholy moment, we are nevertheless pleased that the customs border that runs through the heart of the town can now come down,” said Colette Hercher, President of Bundesfinanzdirektion Nord. As the authority previously responsible for the Free Harbour and its customs stations, Bundesfinanzdirektion Nord officially abolished the customs fence as part of the Free Harbour on 1 January 2013, so that the last visible reminder of the area’s former function as dockland can now be removed. Hamburg’s Mayor, Olaf Scholz, took the first step by starting the demolition of the customs fence with a blowtorch, thus realising the long-expressed desires of the residents to make the path to the shore of the Spreehafen accessible from elsewhere in the district.

Olaf Scholz, Mayor of Hamburg, said, “We are bringing down the customs fence. We are doing so not out of disdain for its historical role, for it has certainly played an important part. Since 1903, 110 years ago, this 3 metre high mesh topped with barbed wire has blocked the direct path between the area’s residential districts and the harbour for smugglers and residents alike. However, 2013 is the year of the IBA, the International Building Exhibition, and the year of the igs, the international garden show. It is the year of the people of Wilhelmsburg. There is no longer any place for such a fence. Today is also about acknowledging that these barriers no longer have any importance within Hamburg, and are fading from view.”

Liesel Amelingmeyer, a founding member of the Zukunft Elbinseln association, has campaigned hard for the interests of Wilhelmsburg and Veddel residents and has supported their campaign for the waterfront to be opened up. She is a driving force behind this event. “The people of Wilhelmsburg and Veddel share the credit for successfully bringing down the customs fence. They have made round-the-clock access to the Spreehafen possible using flimsy wicket gates, and have blocked plans for a new link road over the harbour.”

The Spreehafen has unique charm. Crossing points for pedestrians and cyclists over the dykes have now made the area more accessible, while new outdoor steps invite visitors to sit and rest, and ramps and a new set of traffic lights now mean that there is a quick route between the harbour and the Stübenplatz, at the heart of the Reiherstieg district. Walking from here to the waterfront now takes only a few minutes. Two more paths across the dykes and a new set of pedestrian lights also make the route along Harburger Chaussee towards the water much easier. Walkers and cyclists can drink in the authentic harbour ambience and experience echoes of the industrial age on a 4.5 kilometre path around the whole Spreehafen. En route, they will glimpse long dykes and polder embankments, hills of cocoa beans in large warehouses, barges moored on the water, and floating port vessels.

Uli Hellweg, Director of the IBA, said, “By opening up the Spreehafen, the IBA is responding to the longstanding wishes of people from the neighbouring districts. The opening of the Spreehafen today will bring the Elbe islands and Hamburg’s inner city closer together. In addition, the newfound combination of harbour activity and recreation will improve the quality of life for local residents. As part of this project, the dyke is being given open stairways that blend into the overall design of the dykes and give them a new feel.”

For more than 100 years the Free Harbour was fully enclosed. The installation of two gateways in the customs fence in July 2010 allowed Veddel and Wilhelmsburg residents to access the water freely, October 2011 saw the completion of the foot- and cycle path along the new port railway bridges. This step closed the last gap, and since then people have been able to travel all the way around the harbour. In autumn 2012 all of the stakeholders celebrated the resumption of the ferry service to the Ernst-AugustLock jetty on Klütjenfelder Strasse. The demolition of the customs fence today marks the most important step in the IBA’s “Opening the Spreehafen” project.

The latest images of the customs fence and the Spreehafen can be found via the following link:
http://iba-hamburg.eyebase.com
Pin-code: AJobyE7x

For queries please contact:

IBA Hamburg GmbH, Rainer Müller, Head of Press Department, rainer.mueller@iba-hamburg.de, Tel.: 040 / 226 227 335, or Anna Vietinghoff, Press Department, anna.vietinghoff@iba-hamburg.de, Tel: 040 / 226 227 – 331, or email presse@iba-hamburg.de

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