Challenges and Changes in Wilhelmshaven
(written 13 juni)

by: Gretyl

It seems impossible that this Rotary Group Study Exchange experience is nearing it's end, but there it is - the bitter with the sweet.  Today, we will visit the Jade-Weser-Port project and I will write a story (auf Englisch) for the Wilhelmshavener Zeitung about my impressions of their city and of the past five weeks in Lower Saxony.  I have no idea how I am going to sum this up into a very short news story.

I spent a spectacular vocational day at the WZ on Wednesday, and was really made a part of the news team.  I joined one reporter on an assignment and had the chance to interview another who has been covering the Jade Weser Port project since the planning began around 2003.

On assignment with "Wilhelmshavener Zeitung" reporter Kristin Hilbinger.

My impression of Wilhelmshaven is that it is a port city undergoing significant change.  It is a relatively young city, only about 166 years old, and was created specifically to be a Navy harbor.  Industry did not really start coming to the area until the 1950s, after more than 80 percent of the city had been destroyed by the Allied Forces during and after the war.

Phase one of the JadeWeser Port should be complete by October.

 The Jade-Weser-Port is a symbol of hope for the local economy, but they have seen these signs before.  Just last year, an oil refinery shuttered, leaving about 300 people without work.  A decline in the size of the Navy, and a nearby Air Force Base closure, have had similiar effects on the economy as the closure of Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire did in the 1990s:  schools closed and people moved out.  In the last 20 years, the population in Wilhelmshaven has dropped from about 110,000 to about 80,000.

On a vacant lot in town, a large sign announces a new grocery store will open, but nothing has happened in over a year.  There are similar stories throughout town.

A reporter told me today there are about 3,000 vacant apartments in Wilhelmshaven, and although they are cheap, there are not enough jobs to bring the people into them.

Many hope the giant container port at Jade-Weser will change this, but another reporter, who has covered the harbor and related issues for many years, thinks it will be five to 10 years before any real positive economic outcome is realized.

The Nord Frost building under construction at the port.

So far only one major container company has signed on to use the port, and on the logistics side, only one company, Nord Frost, has committed.  The rest of the logistics area is currently vacant as the sand continues to settle and corporations wait to see how things go.

The craziest thing about the project, is that it was built right out of the sea.  About 44.66 million (cubic meters?) of sand were dredged from the basin to build the port.  It is not the first dramatic change in the shoreline in Wilhelmshaven's history, and the entire industrial area was created in the same way. 

A good rendering and additional information is available at EUROGATE, the company that will operate the container port at Wilhelmshaven.

 The first feeder ship was scheduled to arrive at the port on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after we were given a personal van tour of the area up close with the giant container cranes that will unload and load the largest container vessels in the world.

The team with Rotarian hosts Rolf Fleckstein and Günther Gerhartz underneath the giant container cranes at the JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven.  It will be able to handle larger container ships than Bremerhaven or Hamburg because of its depth and proximity to the open sea.

Matthias Düßmann, Works Manager for the JadeWeserPort Realisierungs GmbH & Co. KG, also provided a detailed presentation about the reasons for locating the port in Wilhelmshaven, and the expectations for the size and capabalities of the port in the future. 

The project is certainly impressive and, if all goes according to plan, it should provide a real economic boost to the region.

But not everyone is convinced the project will be a success.

One reporter told me she moved from Wilhelmshaven to Jever a couple of years ago because people in Wilhelmshaven were too pessimistic.

"There are positive things about Wilhelmshaven, too," she said.

I, and the rest of the team, can certainly attest to this.  There are the lovely families who opened their homes to us, and shared their time with us as we visited an important museum of marine military history at the harbor, a haus introducing the Wattenmeer, a super-important migration area for birds and a recently named UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the oldest and most important aviation research centers in the world.  There is a beach, although it is grassy, and nice tea houses along the South Promenade.

The team on a U.S. built Destroyer at the Deutsches Marinemuseum.

 Our tour of the Deutsches Marinemuseum was presented by retired German Navy Rear-Admiral (2 Stars) Gottfried Hoch, who served from 1967-2008.  His stories are incredible, from his leading of NATO forces in the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom, to the evacuation of German troops from Somalia after the incident known in the states as "Black Hawk Down."  Hoch and his wife served as Christine's hosts in Wilhelmshaven, and she could not say enough good things about her experience with them.  Gisela Hoch even made sure to send her off with brötchen for the long journey back to the states.

Wilhelmshaven is also at the coast of the open sea, and as a resident of the Seacoast in New Hampshire, I think there is no better place to be than at the water.

It remains to be seen how the port will help Wilhelmshaven, but this reporter will be watching - with optimism.

As we had been throughout the trip, we were also hosted by incredible families, who went out of their way to show us new and interesting things and to make our send-off from Niedersachsen as warm as our welcome. We shared many, many laughs, heard amazing stories and history and appreciated incredible hospitality right up to the end of our journey. 

On left, Jonathan presents his sponsoring Rotary Club's banner to RC Wilhelmshaven-Friesland President Andreas Pape, who was Jodi's host during our final days in Germany, and on right, the team with all of our wonderful hosts, and now friends, in Wilhelmshaven.