The Skandinavienkai in Travemünde - the gateway to the Baltic Sea

The Skandinavienkai in Lübeck-Travemünde is one of the most important hubs on the German Baltic Sea coast for connections to Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States. The ferry dock was inaugurated on March 28, 1962.

by Janine Kuehl

With the "Nils Holgersson" to northern Europe:On March 28, 1962, the ferry took passengers from Travemünde to Trelleborg in Sweden for the first time. This lays the foundation for the TT line (Travemünde-Trelleborg), which meets the demand for faster connections between Germany and Scandinavia. Not only the ship is new, but also the ferry dock on the Untertrave:Lübeck's Mayor Max Wartemann will be opening the Skandinavienkai this Wednesday. The decision to build a new quay at a cost of DM 1.5 million was made because the Ostpreußenkai in Travemünde no longer offered enough space. So, at the instigation of Wartemann, a new ferry dock with land facilities was built on the site of a former fishing settlement and fur farm.

New dimensions with the "Nils Holgersson"

The new ship, around 100 meters long, built by the Hamburg shipbuilding company Hanseatische Werft GmbH, can carry up to 900 people and 120 cars. And with it there is now the first regular and year-round ferry connection from the Federal Republic of Germany to Scandinavia. The line supplements an existing connection from Travemünde to Trelleborg as well as the trips of various ferries to Helsingborg, Helsinki, Hanko and Ystad, which, however, only run irregularly and sometimes only in summer. The TT line takes passengers and goods to Sweden and back to Travemünde every day within six to eight hours.

"Thousands of people from Trelleborg welcomed (...) the new Baltic Sea ferry 'Nils Holgersson', which arrived in the southern Swedish port town after a good six-hour journey from Travemünde," says the "Hamburger Abendblatt" on March 29, 1962.

Economic upswing also allows Skandinavienkai to grow

The expansion of ferry and freight traffic with the countries bordering the Baltic Sea goes hand in hand with the economic boom of the 1960s. In view of the increased European cooperation, the shipping companies are hoping for more truck transport. With the increasing prosperity in the Federal Republic, the Germans' desire to travel is also growing. Already in its first year, the "Nils Holgersson" transported 68,268 passengers and 541 trucks.

In the second year after the opening of the Skandinavienkai, both the number of passengers and cars doubled:while in 1962 there were still 126,000 passengers and 21,800 cars, a year later 251,000 people and 43,400 cars embarked. The number of trucks transported even increased from 125 to 1,269. And that despite the fact that from 1963 the so-called Vogelfluglinie took over part of the goods and passenger transport to Denmark and Sweden via the Fehmarn Sound Bridge.

Trelleborg is followed by Gedser and Helsinki

The expansion of the connections at the Skandinavienkai is also progressing rapidly - Travemünde quickly develops into the ferry metropolis of the German Baltic Sea coast. The connection to Trelleborg was followed in the summer of 1962 by a new ferry service via Visby in Gotland to Hanko in Finland with the "Hansa Express", also built by the Hanseatische Werft. Since the small port in Hanko soon reached the limits of its capacity, the ferry operated via Kalmar to Helsinki from 1963. In 1963, the connection to the Danish town of Gedser with the ship of the same name was included in the timetable. For the beach visitors there, the ferries that regularly pass close to the beach will soon become a familiar sight.

"Collect ferries like other people collect stamps"

In the summer of 1963, seven ferry lines bound for Scandinavia left Travemünde. And so, in the years that follow, more ferry docks are built for the services of other shipping companies. Whereas the Skandinavienkai started operations in 1962 with just one ferry dock, by 1965 there were already four. The ex-Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Björn Engholm (SPD), said the following about Lübeck's mayor at the time:"It was once said about Max Wartemann that he collects ferry lines like other people collect stamps."

Rails and roads:connection to the hinterland

In 1972 the Skandinavienkai was connected to rail traffic. The facility is constantly growing:through new or expanded piers, larger handling areas, harbor buildings and access routes. In the years 2006/2007 the site will be extensively expanded to include port areas and commercial areas. As part of the measures, the Lübeck-Travemünde railway line has to be relocated several hundred meters to the west over a length of 1.5 kilometres. The port is also directly connected to the A1 motorway via the four-lane B75. In 2017, the city of Lübeck invested around 40 million euros in the construction of additional areas for roll-on-roll-off handling and several multifunctional halls.

Germany's largest Baltic Sea ferry port continues to grow

Today, the Skandinavienkai is the largest German ferry port on the Baltic Sea. There are connections to Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The ferry service from Travemünde to St. Petersburg in Russia has been suspended indefinitely due to the war in Ukraine. When it comes to freight transport, Skandinavienkai specializes in roll-on-roll-off traffic:trucks and containers make up a large part of the handling. But also export and import cars, paper and cardboard or heavy goods such as steel are among the most common goods that are handled on the 2,065 meter long quay. In addition, around 400,000 passengers start their journey to the Baltic Sea region from here every year - or arrive in Travemünde.

And the expansion of the port facility continues. After investing primarily in the connection to the hinterland in recent years, it is now the turn of the quay facility. At the beginning of 2022, the state of Schleswig-Holstein handed over 13.3 million euros to the operators - more than half of the costs for the expansion of Pier 5, where ships up to 250 meters long and 38 meters wide are to moor in the future.