Port Competition in Historical Perspective, 1648–2000

This chapter discusses ports of continental Western Europe. Thus it can be seen which long-term developments were decisive for the position of the different ports within the Hamburg–Le Havre range. In Cologne and Mainz, the skipper of every passing barge was obliged to enter the port and offer his cargo for sale. After it was sold, the new owner could transport it further along the Rhine, but only if he used the services of the local skipper guilds. The success of land routes competing with Rhine shipping and so of alternatives for the Dutch ports at the Rhine estuary can only be explained by taxation and regulation obstructing river navigation. Competition between ports is in substantial part competition between the connections with the hinterland. These connections are dependent on technical and political developments. For centuries the Rhine was the only more or less efficient transport route of continental Europe.