© Kiel-Marketing
SPRATS, SALTWATER, SAILING CITY: Ralf
“My journey to work takes me across the water of the Kiel Fjord.”
We at Kiel-Marketing are closely connected to Kiel, the sea and our job. Here we tell you what we like best about our city on the Kiel Fjord.
Ralf's journey to work in the morning takes him across the water of the Kiel Fjord, the trip on the fjord steamer seems like something from another world.
I live in Möltenort, on the east side of the Kiel Fjord. Sometimes it's still like it was a hundred years ago, the tourists have not yet discovered this small town. And as the range of leisure parks, swimming pools and restaurants is limited, it will stay that way. Limited actually means ... apart from two small restaurants, there are no other attractions.
My journey to work takes me across the water of the Kiel Fjord. I take the fjord steamer across to the west bank to the city centre of Kiel. The steamer juggles back and forth between the shores until it reaches the city centre of Kiel. My job is communications and partner acquisition for the Ocean Race Europe, which will start from Kiel in August 2025.
Ralf Löwe
Communications & Commercial, Kiel-Marketing
It gets particularly quiet in winter, the ferry timetable offers only a few options, everything becomes quiet. Even quieter. When it's foggy, you're completely on your own here. By yourself.
An hour ago, fisherman Björn Fischer (yes, that's his real name) moored up in the harbour. There is butt. At six o'clock in the morning, three tired figures are already standing by the cutter and Björn hands them a few fish. When I'm up early, I shuffle over to Björn's in the morning, Adilettes on, coffee mug in hand, and pick up a kilo of butt for a tenner.
Moin.
Jo, Moin.
Here you know that "Moin-moin" is already babble.
It doesn't have to be.
“I can feel the cosy rumble in the hull and the gentle rocking.”
Ralf Löwe
Seagulls greet me at the jetty, but even they are still tired. Only when the ferry steamer arrives do they leisurely fly off the dolphin with the mooring line.
On board, I prefer to stay outside. It's only a short trip for me, once next door to Mönkeberg, then over to Bellevue, past the Blücherbrücke, where the Ocean Race yachts will moor in the summer.
When the guests from Gothenburg pass the narrow passage at Möltenort in the Kiel Fjord on the Stenaline in the morning, my fjord steamer is just casting off. Together we travel to Kiel, right into the city centre. Some to go on holiday. Me, to work there. As we sail side by side through the fjord, I can feel the rumbling in the hull and the shallow rocking, past the red and then the green fairway buoys, hazy weather.
“The grey immerses water, air, shore and people in something that unites everything.”
Ralf Löwe
The grey immerses water, air, shore and people in something that unites everything. Only the white bubbling wake matches the villas on Düsternbroker Ufer. Bellevue is the name of the stop there, and I can't say which is more beautiful: the view from the large windows or my view of the water from the edge of the boat.
Behind me is the Falkenstein lighthouse, in front of me my desk. Everything comes together in these moments, time stands still when I'm on my way to work. I love it.
~~~
As a child and teenager, Ralf Löwe sailed dinghies and on a brigantine in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
For the past 25 years, he has worked as a strategist, consultant and concept developer for agencies and companies throughout the DACH region (including Jung von Matt, Scholz & Friends, Grey Düsseldorf and Hamburg, Zum Goldenen Hirschen, LURE Berlin, McCann Vienna, evoq AG Zurich, etc.). He has worked for brands and companies from a wide range of industries, from global corporations to regional SMEs.
In 2024, Ralf founded the content marketing agency SON OF A SAILOR, focussing on content marketing strategy and fundraising. His initial client was the City of Kiel, where he is responsible for Communications & Partnerships for The Ocean Race Europe.
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