The Pritzerbe ferry is a ferry service in the town of Havelsee and the name of the ferry boat. It connects the district of Pritzerbe and the neighboring municipality of Kützkow across the Havel. The ferry is a chain-operated car ferry that does not move freely. The ferry boat also bears the name Pritzerbe.
A ferry service between the then town of Pritzerbe on the east bank of the Havel and Kützkow on the west bank, first mentioned in 1368, existed at the latest since 1385. It was first documented in that year. In the early centuries, ferry boats were initially poled across the Havel.
Since the late 18th century, changes of ownership of the ferry have been recorded in the land registers of the town of Pritzerbe. In 1788, ferryman Johann Friedrich Hartwig acquired the rights to the ferry service from the Royal War and Domain Chamber in Magdeburg. Through inheritance, these rights passed to merchant August Wilhelm Friedrich Hartwig in 1818 and to his widow Caroline Friederike, née Hintze, in 1834. She sold her rights to merchant Wilhelm Gottlieb Robert Hartwig in 1855. In 1883, the district president of Diesberg approved a chain or cable ferry for the first time. At that time, an annual recognition fee of five Reichsmarks was charged for operating the ferry on a ferry cable. On December 27, 1922, the ferry was sold to the manor owners Gustav von Schnehen from Kützkow and Botho von Knoblauch from Buschow, and to merchant Friedrich Stimming from Pritzerbe, each with equal shares. On July 3, 1925, the Pritzerbe-Kützkow Tourist Association (VÖV Pritzerbe) took over the ferry, and on September 7, 1932, the town of Pritzerbe became the owner.
At the end of World War II, the existing ferry was blown up by German troops, so a new ferry had to be procured after the war. The leaseholders were Wilhelm Schwarz, Fritz Dammasch, and Walter Wernsdorf, who worked in three shifts. The new ferry was guided by two cables and pulled with so-called wooden clamps. Towards the end of the 1950s, a motorized ferry was used for the first time, powered by a single-cylinder diesel engine until 1990. Due to an increase in lease payments following the motorization of the ferry, the lease was terminated. The operator was initially the town of Pritzerbe and is now the town of Havelsee. Schwarz and Dammasch later abandoned the ferry service, while Walter Wernsdorf continued to work as a ferryman for the town of Pritzerbe. In 1991, the ferry was replaced by a new one from the Genthin shipyard, powered by a two-cylinder 30 hp diesel engine. This engine operates via a clutch on sprockets on a long chain laid across the river. The ferry pulls itself across the Havel using this chain. A wire rope serves as guidance and safety. In 2014, four ferrymen were employed by the municipality. During the summer months, when passenger volumes are highest, up to 500 people and 100 vehicles are transported daily. The ferry's dimensions are 28 meters long, 7.5 meters wide, and 0.5 meters deep.
Source: Wikipedia