Moldauhafen

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Moldauhafen (Vltava port) is a lot of about 30.000 m² in the harbour of Hamburg, which has been leased in 1929, pursuant to art. 363 and 364 the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, to Czechoslovakia for a period of 99 years. In 1993, the Czech Republic succeeded to the rights of Czechoslovakia.

The Treaty of Versailles qualifies the said areas as being under a "general regime of free zones" and stipulates that they "shall be used for the direct transit of goods coming from or going to that State" (i.e. Czechoslovakia). The deal thus allowed the landlocked country a free port where goods transported over the Vltava and the Elbe could be transferred to seagoing ships without the interference of a third state.

Art. 364 of the Treaty established a Commission consisting of one delegate of Germany, one delegate of the Czecho-Slovak State and one delegate of Great Britain to decide upon the delimitation of the Hamburg and Stettin areas, and their equipment, their exploitation, and in general all conditions for their utilisation, including the cost of the rental. Even though Germany had already declared in advance that she would follow the decisions of the Commission, the lease was formalised in a Harbour Agreement between Germany and Czechoslovakia, signed in Prague on 16 February 1929.^[1]

The lot is not an exclave, since it is not sovereign Czech territory. Nevertheless, it enjoys extraterritoriality and is therefore exempt from German legislation, and subject to Czech law. Previously, a similar arrangement existed for the port of Stettin, now in Poland. Until 2002, the Moldauhafen was used by the company ČSPL, which went bankrupt. The lease is set to expire in 2028.