The Alte Hafenstrasse is a historic street in the Vegesack ferry district. The Havenstrasse - probably the oldest street in Vegesack - was renamed Alte Hafenstrasse in around 1950 in memory of the first artificial harbor in Germany. The street has notable buildings and many listed buildings. It was one of the most important streets in Vegesack with shops and restaurants in the 18th/19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
After the Second World War, many older houses increasingly fell into disrepair. Traffic conditions in and around Vegesack were desolate. There was no bypass road to relieve the pressure and the traffic leading through the Alte Hafenstrasse to the ferry dock on the Weser was disorganized, which is why relocating the ferry dock to the Fährgrund was discussed. Ultimately, the ferry feeder was led right through the oldest part of Vegesack, which meant that many old buildings, some of which date from the 18th and 19th centuries, were demolished on the Alte Hafenstrasse. The area around Alte Hafenstrasse was left desolate and empty after the area was demolished in the 1970s. The historic character of Vegesack's old town was largely lost as a result of the area's redevelopment.
The area on Alte Hafenstrasse was completely flooded during the storm surge in 1962, which is why effective protective measures were taken during all subsequent construction work.
In 1973/75, the core of Vegesack was finally declared a redevelopment area and various redevelopment concepts were developed. The Bremische Gesellschaft was commissioned to carry out the redevelopment, and the Nordbremische Gesellschaft für Wohnungsbau - temporarily a property developer - and the Vegesack Citizens' Initiative oversaw the development. In November 1975, an urban development plan for the redevelopment was approved. In 1978, traffic was able to flow to the ferry via the new road, thus relieving the pressure on Alte Hafenstrasse. The architect Gert Schulze won an urban development competition for the ferry quarter in 1978. In the following period, the remaining buildings were renovated and the brownfield sites were built with three- to five-storey new buildings, often with redstone facades.