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I have been given a series of pictures by Klaus, who appears at Picture 01. Klaus was a great help to us during our stay in Eisenhuttenstadt. The second language (if they have one) of anyone over about the age of 25 is likely to be Russian. Klaus was one of the only English speakers in the Yacht Club where we spent the winter. He was also the club archivist. He has kindly agreed that these images may be put on the website.
To set the scene ...
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
At the end of World War Germany was invaded by the Soviet armies from the East, and by the American, British Commonwealth and French troops from the West. When they all met up in the middle of Germany a conference was called at Potsdam (near Berlin) to decide on the border between East (Soviet) and West Germany. Unfortunately, the result left Berlin deep inside the Soviet zone. Agreements were reached which split Berlin up between the four powers, with the Allies being granted air, road, rail and canal access to their sectors.
The Russians tired of this game in 1948, and closed off the canal, road and rail access to the Western powers - who responded with the Berlin Air Lift - all the needs of the western sectors of Berlin were flown in by air.
The Russians eventually gave in.
The next Russian move was to build a wall all around the Western controlled sectors of Berlin, in an attempt to stop East Germans defecting into the Western sectors.
The wall fell in 1989, and a few years later the Soviets withdrew from Germany, and the two halves of Germany were re-united.
Eisenhuttenstadt was built during the Soviet era as a centre for steel making. The site chosen was immediately adjacent to the small town of Furstenburg, which stood at the confluence of the Oder-Spree Canal and the River Oder.
Picture 01 shows Klaus (who provided all the images) and his wife Doris.
Picture 02 Shows the town centre of Eisenhuttenstadt, taken in the 1950s, just after it had been built. The rectilinear buildings and broad, open streets are typical of the era.
Picture 03 was taken at about the same time. In these modern times, the horse and cart is no longer seen on the city streets though a couple of kilometres away, on the other side of the River Oder, in Poland, it is still a not un-common mode of transport.
Picture 04 is thought to date from the 1930s. It shows the confluence of the Oder-Spree Canal (the waterway on the left) with the river Oder (on the right. The last lock on the canal is a few hundred metres off the bottom of the photo. It is some 18m deep when the Oder is at its 'normal' level. A series of groynes can be seen on the far bank of the Oder - built to help prevent erosion of the bank. The church of Furstenburg in in the centre of the photo. Eisenhuttenstadt is about half a kilometre to the left.
Picture 05 is another picture of the church. The vessel looks suspiciously like a steamer, though there is no steam coming out of the funnel. Why it should be called Freycinet (after the Frenchman who standardised the gauge of the French canals) I don't know - but would guess that the vessel is built to the Freycinet gauge. The River Oder is the boundary between Poland and Germany. Today, a hundred metres or so ahead of the vessel, is the German-Polish Customs house for vessels entering and leaving Germany.
Picture 06. This is another view of nearly the same bit of canal, but, perhaps, at a slightly earlier date. Is that a steam driven, paddle wheel tug? But what is the construction amidships?
Picture 07. This shows the same in 1944/45 following the advance into Germany by the Soviet armies …...
Picture 08 ….. and the same church today.
Picture 09 Shows the bridge that used to cross the River Oder at Furstenburg ……
Picture 10 …… but it was destroyed by the Germans in a futile attempt to halt the advancing Soviet armies.
Picture 11. This is the same bridge today. There is a bridge a few miles up-stream at Guben, and another a few more miles downstream at Frankfurt-on-Oder, so no-one has bothered to rebuild this one.
Picture 12. This is also the same bridge today, but with the River Oder in flood.
Picture 13. The single storey building in the centre of the photo is the Polish/German Customs house for vessels entering and leaving Germany. The blue vessel is a 'Wasser Politzie' boat.
Picture 14. This photo is a general view of Mielenzhafen, where we spent the winter. 'Rosy' is alongside the far side of 'Temujin'. We had only just arrived when the photo was taken.
Picture 15. Another shot of the hafen, taken on the same day as Picture 14. The hafen was a commercial dock. The bridge at the far end carries an old towing path along the Oder-Spree Canal. A few days later, all the other boats were craned or slipped out of the water to over-winter in the big shed on the left. This left Rosy and Temujin to face winter on their own ……..
Picture 16. We were iced in for a touch over a month. Nice 'n' warm in Rosy though, with a coal fire in the back cabin, and a diesel stove in the front cabin.
Picture 17. This is what the dock used to look like! We were moored near where the clunky, boxy crane is unloading 2 (or is it 3?) boats moored alongside each other. The crane travelled on railway lines which assisted operations on both sides of the dock.
Picture 18. Behold!! The home made tractor that the Yacht Club uses to tow boats around the site. It is an aging Trabant engine, modified to deliver its power through two gear boxes - one, I think, is the standard Trabant gear box. The second gives high and low ratios.
Picture 19. From left to right - Bill, Fanny, Mike, June and Doris during a very boozy, convivial and fascinating evening in the Yacht club house, when Klaus and Doris showed us many of the documents about Eisenhuttenstadt, and the club's dock and environs, that Klaus has searched out.
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