26.06.2025 | Press Release

HGK AG celebrates 100 years of Niehl harbour - and invests in the future of the site

Cologne. Unfortunately, the exact date of the official opening is not known. What is known is that the Cologne City Council decided to build the Rhine harbour in Cologne-Niehl in 1921 and the 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 important industrial harbour and to continue investing in the future of the site.

The 100th anniversary of the Niehl harbour was celebrated on board the MS "RheinFantasie".

Around 200 guests from politics, business and Cologne's urban society gathered on board the KD ship "MS RheinFantasie" for the ceremony. "100 years of Niehl harbour - that's not just history, but also a mission: to think ahead, to continue building and to continue taking responsibility for the city, the economy and the environment. We are not only investing in space and technology, but also in future viability. Niehl stands for trimodal logistics with prospects, regionally rooted, networked throughout Europe," said Uwe Wedig, CEO of the HGK Group, in his welcoming speech and announced that the site would be developed further.

"We are not only investing in space and technology, but also in future viability."

Uwe Wedig, Chairman of the Management Board of HGK AG

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 for the port development plan up to 2035: "As hubs for regional, national and European logistics chains, the ports of Cologne are of great economic and strategic importance. We have defined a total of twelve packages of measures for the port of Niehl I and want to start with individual projects this year."

Planned investment volume of 100 million euros

When asked by TV presenter Gesa Eberl, who hosted the evening, how much HGK AG was planning to invest, HGK CFO Susanne Pietsch quoted the figure "100 million euros over the next five years". The aim is to guarantee economic stability and enable innovations for the sustainable logistics of tomorrow. This also includes a focus on the major topic of digitalisation, 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."

Dr Ulrich Soénius is also very interested in the future of the Niehl port. The historian and director of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv (Rhenish-Westphalian Economic Archive) has done a lot of research into the Cologne harbours. In a humorous presentation, he guided the guests through the 100-year history of the location. The evening was rounded off with a spectacular drone show over harbour basin 4, which included various motifs from the world of logistics.