Moldauhafen


Moldauhafen is a lot in the port of Hamburg, Germany that Czechoslovakia acquired on a 99-year lease in 1929 pursuant to the Treaty of Versailles. In 1993, the Czech Republic succeeded to the rights of Czechoslovakia. The lease will expire in 2028.
The lot is not an exclave as it is not sovereign Czech territory. Previously, a similar arrangement existed for the port of Stettin, now Szczecin, Poland.
The lot is one of three lots that the Czech Republic has rights over. The other two are Saalehafen and Peutehafen. Saalehafen comes under the Versailles Treaty but then-Czechoslovakia purchased Peutehafen in 1929. Both Moldauhafen and Saalehafen are part of the Hamburg free port, and sit on the embankment of Dresdner Ufer and Hallesches Ufer. The area comprises about. The leased premises constitute a duty-free zone that were called the Czecho-Slovak rental zone for inland navigation in the free port of Hamburg.
Peutehafen comprises an area of about. It lies on the narrow peninsula between the Peutekanal and the Peutehafen dock, and is just outside the Hamburg free port.

Recent developments

In 2004, the city of Hamburg expressed interest in acquiring the two leased areas, as its proposed plan for hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics would have blocked access to Moldauhafen. The city also desired to develop the two areas. The city offered the Czech Republic a new site in exchange, with the inducement of a better location. For its part, the Czech Republic wished to continue to use its ports in Hamburg even after the expiration of the 99-year leases.

History

The 1919 Treaty of Versailles stated in articles 363 and 364:
;Article 363
;Article 364
The deal thus allowed the landlocked country free ports where goods transported over the Vltava and the Elbe or the Oder, respectively, could be transferred to seagoing ships in Hamburg or Stettin without the interference of a third state.
Even though Germany had already declared in advance that it would follow the decisions of the Commission, the lease was formalised in an agreement between Germany and Czechoslovakia, signed in Prague on 16 February 1929.
The lot was leased for 99 years. Until 2002, the company ČSPL used Moldauhafen before the company went bankrupt.
With the abandonment of the Treaty of Versailles after World War II, the lease now has the character of a private contract between the city of Hamburg as property owner and the Czech Republic.