Hansestadt Rostock: vom maritimen Tor zur Welt zum Regionalhafen für die Ostsee

Abstract

After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the integration of the GDR into the federal marked economy of the FRG, Rostock lost its special position. It just did not have the access to the cent res of the world-economy like the ports of the Hamburg-Antwerp-range and the result of it was it lost its freight- and ferry-services. After a brief outline of the historic and spatial devel opments of Rostock up to 1945, this paper will discuss first the socialist expansion of the seaport to an international Gateway and secondly the restructuring after the introduction of the market economy in 1990. The main focus will be on the four major leading port fuctions: cargo handling, shipping, fishing-industry and ship-building. The corresponding spatial consequences of the economic upswing and decline of the city will be illustrated on general maps. Future prospects will be examined briefly in the conclusion.