The Lippehafen Wesel was one of several harbors (e.g. to secure ships in case of ice, etc.) that were built along the Lippe in the 19th century, when the Lippe was navigable from the Rhine to Lippstadt.[1]
The heyday began around 1840 and ended at the beginning of the 20th century. The Lippe was provided with locks and weirs with a greater sailing depth and a more even water level; the ships were pulled by horses on towpaths. There were also some attempts with smaller steamships. However, increasing silting and the expansion of other transport routes made shipping on the Lippe unprofitable. With the start of the Haltern-Wesel-Venlo railway line in 1874, general cargo was no longer transported. Until shortly after the turn of the century, the port was still used by the August Böhme sawmill and planing mill.
the southern end of the former harbor basin
In 1863 Luyken and Tigler founded a brewery at Lippehafen. They produced the better storable bottom-fermented beer, as it was already brewed in Bavaria and Berlin. The proximity to the port not only had advantages in terms of transport, in winter the ice for the ice cellars could be cut there. In 1900 the company was taken over and modernized by Habich and Voss. In 1919 the brewing quota was sold to the Dortmunder Actien brewery. The brewery was discontinued. A bottling and sales office was set up for this purpose. In 1965 the workforce still numbered 52 employees. There was an efficient fleet of vehicles and a marquee service. The DAB/Hansa Group later changed its sales strategy and closed the Wesel branch in 1981.
The old harbor wall on the street "Am Lippehafen" in Wesel and the nearby pond, which emerged from the harbor basin, still bear witness to the expansion of the former Lippehafen. Today the canoe friends Lippe are stationed there, the canoe association NRW operates the Otto Vorberg house as a canoe home and sports school. Today's pond is used for fishing, the surrounding area as a campsite.