Bauhof Rendsburg

Bauhof Rendsburg — historically known as the Staatswerft Rendsburg-Saatsee (State Shipyard Rendsburg-Saatsee) — is the shipbuilding and technical maintenance unit attached to the Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsamt Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (WSA NOK), the German federal waterway and shipping authority responsible for the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Kiel Canal). It is not a commercial shipyard competing in the open market; it is a state-owned industrial works organisation whose purpose is to keep the canal's floating and fixed infrastructure operational. The unit traces its origins to 1895, when the Kaiserliche Inspektion des Ingenieurwesens (Imperial Inspection of Engineering) was founded to maintain the vessels of the Kiel Canal administration. In 1912 the operation was expanded and renamed the Bureau d'ingénierie des voies navigables de Saatsee (Waterway Engineering Office of Saatsee). From 1936, in addition to maintenance and repair, the yard began building new vessels and barges, starting with two dredgers needed for canal upkeep. In 1949 it was renamed Staatswerft Rendsburg-Saatsee, and from 1950 it produced more sophisticated craft, including two chain ferries for the canal, stone dredgers, hopper barges, house barges, a diving support vessel and numerous canal ferries. Today the yard belongs to the Rendsburg construction works, an organisational unit and branch of the WSA NOK, whose headquarters are in Rendsburg. The WSA NOK is one of Germany's 17 waterway and shipping authorities and reports to the General Directorate for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS). Like its predecessor, the Rendsburg shipyard maintains the canal's vessels and technical installations. In particular it carries out maintenance and repair on the ships, installations and navigation aids of the WSA NOK, including the landing stages of the Kiel Canal ferries and the installations of the Rendsburg road and pedestrian tunnel. The public works service is also responsible for maintaining the fourteen ferries and the Rendsburg transporter bridge. It is organised into seven departments: mechanical engineering; shipbuilding/steel structures; electrical engineering; joinery workshop; warehouse; scheduled maintenance; and diving operations. Around 65 employees work in this service across the workshops, the shipbuilding hall and the harbour with its slipway. The mechanical workshop (Building VIII), with its historic steam hammer, and the Saatsee shipyard water tower are listed cultural monuments in Rendsburg. Nearly 30 apprentices train in the shipyard's training workshop and other workshops. The operation is therefore best understood as a public-sector industrial brand: a named, historically rooted technical works that supports one of the world's busiest artificial seaways. Its identity is tied to the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, which the WSA describes as the most heavily travelled artificial sea shipping route in the world, connecting the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The authority maintains a pedestrian tunnel in Rendsburg, four bridges (the Hochdonn, Grünental, Rendsburg and Levensau high bridges) and 14 ferry crossings, and employs around 750 people across its sites in Brunsbüttel, Kiel-Holtenau and Rendsburg.

The institution now known as Bauhof Rendsburg, and historically as the Staatswerft Rendsburg-Saatsee, began in 1895 as the Kaiserliche Inspektion des Ingenieurwesens (Imperial Inspection of Engineering), founded to maintain the vessels of the Kiel Canal administration. Naval inspections and those carried out within the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) were under military command; later, technical inspections were added, notably for the upkeep and repair of construction machinery and canal ferries. In 1912 the activity was expanded and the yard was renamed the Bureau d'ingénierie des voies navigables de Saatsee (Waterway Engineering Office of Saatsee). After the First World War, from 1936, new ship and barge construction was added to maintenance and repair work. This began with two dredgers needed for canal maintenance. In 1949 the yard was renamed Staatswerft Rendsburg-Saatsee. From 1950, more sophisticated vessels were built. That year, two chain ferries for the canal entered service. Other newbuildings included stone dredgers, hopper barges, house barges, a diving support vessel and numerous canal ferries. The shipyard today belongs to the Rendsburg construction works, an organisational unit and branch of the Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsamt Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (WSA NOK), headquartered in Rendsburg. The WSA NOK is one of Germany's 17 waterway and shipping authorities and reports to the General Directorate for Waterways and Shipping. Like the Staatswerft Rendsburg-Saatsee before it, the Rendsburg shipyard maintains the canal's vessels and technical installations. In particular, it performs maintenance and repair work on the ships, installations and navigation aids of the WSA NOK. This also includes maintenance of the landing stages of the Kiel Canal ferries and repair and maintenance of the installations of the Rendsburg road and pedestrian tunnel. In addition, the public works service is responsible for maintaining the fourteen ferries and the Rendsburg transporter bridge. It is organised into seven departments: mechanical engineering; shipbuilding/steel structures; electrical engineering; joinery workshop; warehouse; scheduled maintenance; and diving operations. Around 65 employees work in this service on these tasks, distributed across the workshops, the shipbuilding hall and the harbour with its slipway. The mechanical workshop (Building VIII), with its historic steam hammer, and the Saatsee shipyard water tower are listed cultural monuments in Rendsburg. Nearly 30 apprentices work in the shipyard's training workshop and other workshops. The wider authority, the WSA Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, is a federal agency within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV). It has a location in Brunsbüttel and Kiel-Holtenau, as well as an office in Rendsburg. Around 750 people work for the WSA. The Nord-Ostsee-Kanal itself is described by the authority as the most heavily travelled artificial sea shipping route in the world, connecting the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. For crossing the canal, the authority provides a pedestrian tunnel in Rendsburg, four bridges (the Hochdonn railway high bridge, the Grünental high bridge, the Rendsburg railway high bridge and the Levensau high bridge) and 14 ferry crossings.

• 1950

  Two chain ferries for the canal entered service; more sophisticated vessels built.

• 1949

  Renamed Staatswerft Rendsburg-Saatsee.

• 1936

  New ship and barge construction added, starting with two dredgers for canal maintenance.

• 1912

  Activity expanded and yard renamed Bureau d'ingénierie des voies navigables de Saatsee.

• 1895

  Kaiserliche Inspektion des Ingenieurwesens founded to maintain vessels of the Kiel Canal administration.

State-owned public works and shipyard unit of the German federal waterway authority for the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal; focused on infrastructure upkeep rather than commercial shipbuilding.

• Ship maintenance and repair

• Canal ferry and landing stage maintenance

• Navigation aid maintenance

• Rendsburg tunnel installation maintenance

• Mechanical engineering

• Shipbuilding and steel structures

• Electrical engineering

• Joinery workshop

• Diving operations

• Apprenticeship training

1. 1WSA-Nord-Ostsee-Kanal - Startseitewsa-nord-ostsee-kanal.wsv.de
2. 2Bauhof Rendsburg - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Chantier naval d'État de Rendsburg-Saatsee - Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org