Farewell After 36 Years
Sassnitz-Mukran, 27 March 2025 – At the end of March, our colleague Birgit Große will be taking her well-deserved retirement. She also started at the Port of Mukran in March, back in 1989. There have been an incredible 36 years in between - a time full of commitment and passion for our port, a time of upheaval, but also numerous exciting projects! We would like to take this opportunity to once again share a piece of life history with you, which is also port history!
When Birgit started as a social and cultural support officer at the port in 1989, Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH (Mukran Port) was still called VEB Deutfracht/Seerederei Rostock (DSR) and the largest rail ferries in the world at the time (type EGF-321) connected Mukran with Klaipeda (former Soviet Union, now Lithuania). At the beginning of the 1990s, Birgit first moved to the Port Services department and only a short time later was offered a position in the Marketing & Sales department, which was founded in 1994. “On the side”, she was also responsible for payroll accounting and was involved as an apprentice trainer for junior staff at the port.
Marketing & Sales were exactly Birgit's thing! Here she could organize, network and spread her radiant smile! Even today, she still bubbles over with joy when she talks about all the events with high-ranking international guests in the port, which she organized and accompanied herself, including two visits from Angela Merkel, former German Chancellor, or the numerous delegations from China and Russia. Whether it was Sail Sassnitz, Mukran Port Annual Summits, the Maritime Spring Ball with 250 guests or the traditional St. Nicholas Party of the Port Business Association, Birgit whirled, organized and put her heart and soul into it and was rewarded with happy participants in return!
And then Birgit talks full of energy and enthusiasm about attending the cruise fairs in Miami in the early 2000s and you ask yourself “isn't she actually far too young to retire?” But Birgit is already looking forward to having more time for her family and sporting activities, such as aqua aerobics and swimming, hiking on the island of Rügen and the Bodden landscape in Western Pomerania, as well as trips to more southerly climes, e.g. to Mallorca or Sardinia. Fun fact: Birgit loves living on the beautiful island of Rügen, but swimming in the cold Baltic Sea is not an option for her - she only makes an exception for her grandchildren!
Picture: Source: Mukran Port
