Schierstein harbor
The Schierstein harbour is a local recreation area and water sports center for the people of Wiesbaden. It is proudly known as the "Schiersteiner Riviera", as it is a wonderful place to stroll along the promenade - past yachts, sailing boats and excursion steamers, shaded by trees and surrounded by lush nature.
Where factories once produced soap and fishermen moored their large ships, the promenade of the Schierstein harbor meanders along today. The old factories have now given way to apartments and a number of restaurants. Yachts and small boats lie at anchor instead of the cargo cranes on the shore. Live music occasionally emanates from the surrounding restaurants. Another glass of cool white wine or a delicious ice cream in your hand, and yes, even in the middle of Hesse you feel like you're in the port of St. Tropez.
Wiesbaden's most Mediterranean district brings together a wide variety of people: families strolling along the promenade, hikers who find their way to Schierstein via the Rheingau Riesling Trail and water sports enthusiasts who windsurf, sail or take a relaxing pedal boat ride in the harbor basin. The ferries also depart from here, for example the "Tamara", which also transports day trippers to the Rettbergsaue island on the Rhine. Since the Dyckerhoff Bridge from the 1960s spans the harbour entrance, there is also a beautiful, three-kilometre-long circular path around the Schiersteiner Riviera.
You can walk all the way around the harbor basin via a pedestrian bridge - from here you also have an impressive view of the Rhine and the Schierstein harbor promenade. From March to October, locals gather at the wine stall right by the harbor on Thursdays to Sundays for a glass of wine from the local winegrowers and a long chat until late in the evening. And maybe you'll catch a glimpse of the stork's nest and its inhabitants on top of the old factory chimney on Hafenstrasse. The stork is the unofficial "Scheerstaan" local emblem.
History of the port
The Schierstein Rhine port was built in 1859. In almost 144 years of its history, the port of Schierstein has played a changing role. Schierstein's fishermen experienced a new heyday thanks to the construction of the port. Fish restaurants opened around the harbor, of which only the "Rheinhalle" still exists today. The completion of the harbor marked the beginning of a heyday for raftsmen in Schierstein. The narrow wooden rafts from the Main and Neckar rivers could be joined together to form larger structures under the protection of the new harbor. From here, they traveled further north to Holland.
From 1958 onwards, the port was the location of the Pioneer Battalion 706 of the River Company of the German Armed Forces. After the US Navy Rhine River Patrol had its base there for thirteen years.
The Schierstein port lost its importance as an industrial port after the Second World War. In 1961, the Osthafen was built on the Bismarcks-Aue as a new industrial transshipment site.