Home port: Memories of Olpenitz

Stele opened in memory of another time

The German Navy once again has a place in Kappeln - Olpenitz between the Baltic Sea and the Schlei. In the middle of the harbour, on the large square near a food market on the harbour promenade. A 2 metre high stele now stands there, a reminder of the times of the Olpenitz naval base. The stele has the stylised shape of a ship's bow and symbolically bears the silhouettes of minesweepers and speedboats that were stationed here. A metal inscription tells tourists and mostly unsuspecting visitors what kind of historical site they are standing at. The QR code will take you via smartphone to a page on marineforum.online. There you can read, see and understand the significance of this base. The associations, units and key data are listed. There are also links to the German Navy, the Schnellbootfahrer circle of friends and stories about the harbour.

Home port Olpenitz

A look into another world for tourists.

The stele in the shell of the shipyard hall

Those in the know and alumni have the opportunity to add to this page via the Naval Officers' Association (MOV) and enrich it with their expertise and memories. Photos and stories are still missing. And now you can also see where the idea came from: this extraordinary ceremony originated with the MOV's association board. It was realised by the Abeking & Rasmussen (A&R) shipyard in Lemwerder. The work of art, which weighs around 700 kilos, was built by the shipyard's training workshop. The shipyard designed all the minesweepers that were stationed in Olpenitz and manufactured the majority of them. This is why the stele is made of the same non-magnetic steel as the German Navy minesweepers still in service today. The speedboats formerly stationed in Olpenitz, which can be recognised on the stele, were built by the Lürssen shipyard in Bremen Vegesack.

The production of the silhouettes in the A & R training workshop

The stele was officially opened on Saturday. In the presence of the Chairman of the Naval Officers' Association, retired Rear Admiral Thorsten Kähler and the representative of the naval command from Rostock, Captain Joachim Brune, the stele was ceremoniously handed over.

The representative of the Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard emphasised how important it was to remember a very good time. "The cooperation between the Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard and the navy goes back a long way. Our international expertise and market leadership in modern minesweepers also has its origins in the experience gained here in Olpenitz," said Stefan Nievelstein, himself a former naval officer.

The somewhat sober harbour promenade has finally been given the tradition that this place deserves. 66 years after the ground-breaking ceremony, 61 years after the opening and 19 years after the closure.