Key with company logo of Warnow shipyard

• 1949
• length: 65 cm

On the grounds of the former Kröger shipyard in Rostock-Warnemünde and areas of the neighbouring ARADO aircraft works, parts of which had been dismantled, boatbuilding began again after the 2nd World War at the “Warnemünde shipyard”. Small items were repaired initially. In 1946 serial production of 17m fishing boats started. From 1st August 1948 the shipyard bore the name “VEB Warnow shipyard Warnemünde.” The key was handed over on 1^st May 1949, during the inauguration of the first newly-built production hall (“Hall 1”), by the companies responsible for the construction work to the management of Warnow shipyard.

As the Wismar ship repair yard was temporarily closed, the Warnemünde boat yard became independent again in 1947 at the request of the SMAD and reported to the Association of Nationally-owned Shipyards (VVW) in Rostock. The work force consisted mainly of employees of the former Kröger shipyard and the damaged and dismantled aircraft factory. In 1947, they were joined by countless skilled workers from the Oder works in Stettin and “evacuees.” With SMAD command No. 112 from 23rd June 1948 the business was separated from the Wismar ship repair yard and incorporated into the Association of Nationally-owned Shipyards (VVW) as an independent business.

In 1949 the shipyard already employed 3,436 people, and this figure had increased to 9,634 by 1954. In accordance with the resolutions from the Potsdam Agreement of 1945 the production profile was almost exclusively focused on the payment of reparations to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union demanded compensation for the damage suffered during the Second World War primarily in material form. After the first negotiations in February 1945 the victorious allied powers concluded the “Paris Agreement on Reparations” on 14th January 1946. This specified the claims of the individual states. The Soviet claims were to be covered by the Soviet occupation zone. Industrial companies were initially demolished and sent to the Soviet Union by train. Yet most of the demolished industrial facilities were never brought into operation in the Soviet Union. From mid-1946 the remaining large firms were transferred to Soviet ownership or re-established as Soviet corporations. These companies primarily served to meet reparations payments. After the national uprising on 17th June 1953 the businesses were handed over by the Soviet Union to the GDR.