Hanse Sail
Encyclopedia
.jpg)
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
is the largest maritime festival in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and one of the largest in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
About 250 traditional sailing ships of all types and sizes from a vast variety of countries visit the coast off the city of Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
every year during the second weekend of August. Today, the Hanse Sail forms part of the joint Baltic Sail, which takes place in several countries bordering the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
during July and August.
History
The first Hanse Sail took place between July 22 and July 28, 1991. Despite initial skepticism, the first Hanse Sail turned out to be a great success. This might have been mainly due to enthusiasm sparked by the German reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, as the sea border was open for the first time in decades.
Main attractions in past years were Germany's navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...
training ship Gorch Fock
Gorch Fock (1958)
The Gorch Fock is a tall ship of the German Navy . She is the second ship of that name and a sister ship of the Gorch Fock built in 1933. Both ships are named in honor of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and died in the battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916...
, the Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
and the Peace from Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Every Hanse Sail is usually opened by prominent personalities of the time such as Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
or Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse is a German politician .- Early years in the GDR :Thierse was born in Breslau . He is a Roman Catholic and grew up in East Germany. After his A-levels he first worked as a typesetter in Weimar...
. This underlines the importance of the event, also for the local tourism industry.
Today
Every year about 1 million visitors visit the Hanse Sail. Even though it is accompanied by other cultural events, the ships remain the center of the festival. Besides watching ships, it is also possible to sail on them or enter them while they are anchored.Many cruise ships head for the cruise port at Warnemünde
Warnemünde
Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
during this time, because the shipping companies think that staying in Rostock during the Hanse Sail is a special highlight for their guests.
There are also sea planes and a helicopter parallel to the festival. They offer the opportunity to fly with them for about 20 minutes.
On the Saturday of the event there are fireworks in Warnemünde and the city harbour.
Next Hanse Sails
- 2011: 11 August - 14 August
- 2012: 09 August - 12 August
- 2013: 08 August - 11 August
Public transport
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
plies between Rostock Hauptbahnhof (Rostock Central Station) and Warnemünde
Warnemünde
Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
with up to five bilevel car
Bilevel car
The bilevel car or double-decker coach is a type of rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation, as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity ....
s. Also many chartered trains come to Rostock, some even steam powered, and Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
operates extra trains.
The tram and bus services in Rostock operate a special timetable and on some nights go 24 hours non stop. Due to limited parking lot capacity, a shuttle service with busses is offered to bring the people to Warnemünde.
Funding
Sponsors have included Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock (German brewery), Ostdeutscher Sparkassenverbund, and OstseeSparkasse Rostock. Further sources of revenue are letting of boat parking spaces and trading places on markets as well as commercial advertising.The City of Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
supports the Hanse Sail financially, because the city largely profits from the event. During the sail, most hotels are usually fully booked and visitors spend money in the town, in pubs and shops. Last, but not least, the sail is good promotion for Rostock and a good percentage of Hanse Sail visitors usually return for a holiday.