Bremerhaven: Lighthouse at the mouth of the Geestemündung threatens to topple over

The city on the Weser fears for one of its landmarks: on Thursday night (18 August 2022), part of the northern pier sank. Since 1914, a reddish-brown brick tower at its head has guided sailors into the Geeste estuary and the double lock - a listed Bremerhaven landmark. It is now in danger of tipping over due to undermining.

This video from the news magazine "buten und binnen" shows the dramatic imbalance:

According to reports in various media, there were fears that the tower might not survive the low tide at midday. However, the water level is currently rising again and the tower is still leaning, as reported via the webcam of the WSA Bremerhaven can be seen.

Access to the Geeste and double lock closed

According to the water police, access to the Geeste and the double lock, and therefore also to the fishing harbour, has been closed to all shipping traffic for safety reasons. The North Sea Marina and the small marina at Luneort are therefore inaccessible to motorboats, as are the moorings in front of the lock on the Geeste, which are popular with travellers passing through. Conversely, it is also not possible to leave the harbour. It is currently not known how long the closure will last. Motorboaters travelling to Bremerhaven can use the Lloyd Marina further north.

+++ Update (18.08. 16:10) : the WSA announces that the closure will last until 15/09/2022. While commercial shipping is allowed to sail with restrictions, the entire Geesteen is closed to pleasure craft traffic. Two yellow restricted area buoys have been laid out +++

Recreational boaters who want to use the inland route between the Elbe and Weser via the Hadelner Canal and the Geeste are also stuck in Bremerhaven for the time being.

Attention: the pier light has been switched off in the meantime!

Landmark, monument and renovation case

The brick building with the red head has been a listed building since 2001. It is one of Bremerhaven's landmarks, but one that has been a report from "Weser-Maritime-News" According to the report, the Mohlenkopf stands on a dilapidated oak pile construction, which has been badly damaged by the ship's mussel, among other things, in recent decades. Currents, swell and accidents in which ships have crashed into the Mohlen head have done the rest.

The magazine continues: "For a long time, there were discussions about refurbishing the facility. According to estimates by the harbour company from 2015, this would have required around 15 million euros. At the end of 2018, the Senate decided to renovate the quay, with the northern pier to be generously swivelled to make it easier for shipping to enter the Geeste and the fishing port, which is considered difficult. So far, none of this has been realised."