Bremerhaven, Am Geestevorhafen

In the location's words:

The expansion of the Geestevorhafen (1921 to 1925) into its current form must be linked to the major expansion of the fishing port after the First World War. Fishing Port II was built between 1926 and 1928, but the construction of the double lock inaugurated in 1925 and the lock outer harbor (1922 to 1925) should also be mentioned here.

In its preliminary form, the Geestevorhafen or Geeste estuary is particularly noteworthy as a tugboat station. Before 1900, the Bugsirgesellschaft "Union", founded in Bremen in 1873, was the leading tugboat shipping company on the Lower Weser. At least since the 1890s, if not earlier, several "Union" tugs were on standby in the Geestemündung, waiting for the appropriate "jobs", as tugboat orders are known in the relevant trade circles.

Due to short-sighted management, the "Union" fell into crisis despite a flourishing shipping industry, had to withdraw from the tugboat business after 1900 and was dissolved in 1914.

The legacy of the "Union" was taken over by the tugboat shipping company "Unterweser" (SGUW), founded in Bremen in 1890 and since 1923 known as Unterweser Reederei AG (URAG, since 1961 GmbH, although the catchy abbreviation still exists). This shipping company still holds a leading position in the tugboat business on the Lower Weser today. After initially working with independent agents in Bremerhaven, but not always with good results, the SGUW established its own base at the mouth of the Geest in 1901. Not only was the Lower Weser traffic with its numerous potential customers monitored there, but the URAG tugs were also stationed there for decades. The agency building was restored in 1948 and extended in 1962. URAG withdrew from the site in 1999. The agency building was demolished to make way for a multi-storey stepped residential and office building, the "Weser Terraces". Today, the tugboats are moored on a 254-metre-long pontoon set up specifically for this purpose north of the lock to the New Harbour.