HGK Celebrates 100 Years of Rheinhafen Köln-Niehl with Drone Show

The exact date of the official opening is unfortunately not recorded. It is known that the Cologne City Council decided to build the Rheinhafen in Köln-Niehl in 1921, and its first section was completed 100 years ago, in 1925. For Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG (HGK), this is an occasion to celebrate the anniversary of Cologne’s largest and most significant industrial port appropriately and to continue investing in the future of the location.

(Köln) For the festive event, around 200 guests from politics, business, and Cologne’s civic society gathered aboard the KD ship “MS RheinFantasie.” “100 years of Niehler Hafen – this is not just history, but also a mandate: to think further, to build further, and to continue taking responsibility for the city, economy, and environment. We are investing not only in areas and technology but also in future viability. Niehl stands for trimodal logistics with perspective, regionally rooted, and connected across Europe,” said Uwe Wedig, CEO of the HGK Group, in his welcoming speech, announcing plans to further develop the location.

Outline of the Strategy until 2035

Peter Trapp, Head of Real Estate at HGK and head of the project company for the future industrial and logistics quarter FUSION COLOGNE, outlined the strategy behind the measures planned in the port development plan until 2035: “The Cologne ports have high economic and strategic importance as hubs of regional, national, and European logistics chains. We have defined a total of twelve action packages for the Niehl I port and want to start individual projects within this year.”
Planned investment volume of 100 million euros

In response to a question from TV presenter Gesa Eberl, who hosted the evening, regarding the investment amount HGK AG is planning, HGK CFO Susanne Pietsch mentioned the figure “100 million euros over the next five years.” The goal is to ensure economic stability and enable innovations for sustainable logistics of tomorrow. This also includes a focus on the major topic of digitization, as HGK COO Dr. Jens-Albert Oppel explained: “It is not an end in itself, but our tool to make the logistics solutions of the entire HGK Group even more efficient and future-proof.”

Spectacular Drone Show

The future of the Niehler Hafen is also of great interest to Dr. Ulrich Soénius. The historian and director of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv has intensively studied the Cologne ports. In a witty lecture, he guided the guests through the 100-year history of the location. The evening was rounded off with a spectacular drone show over the harbor basin 4, featuring various motifs from the world of logistics.

Photo: © HGK