Secret transports across the Baltic Sea - Wismar ferries during the Cold War

Between 1982 and 1986, the GDR's largest transport project was realized near Sassnitz on the island of Rügen: thousands of workers and hundreds of construction soldiers built a four-kilometre-long ferry port with 120 kilometers of track in Mukran. Five huge rail freight ferries were built at the Mathias-Thesen shipyard in Wismar. From then on, these ships handled a large part of the freight traffic with the Soviet Union from Mukran. Transit through Poland, which was in turmoil, was thus avoided. At the same time, it was possible to transport military goods across the Baltic Sea unnoticed by third parties.

The Hamburg journalist and author Wolfgang Klietz has conducted intensive research into Stasi documents for two books. At the lecture in Wismar on Thursday, November 25, 2025, he will report on ferry traffic during the Cold War, shedding light on the political background as well as the surveillance activities of the secret services and the plans for analog connections to Lübeck and Kiel.

On the same day from 1 to 5 p.m., the Federal Archive - Stasi Records Archive and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship will be holding a citizens' consultation. An employee of the Stasi Records Archive in Rostock will explain the regulations for accessing the Stasi files and help with the application process. A valid identity document is required for this. Questions about the rehabilitation of political injustice in the GDR will be answered by an employee of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship.