On the German Baltic coast, Jaich was what you would rightly call an original and, on top of that, one of the most successful businessmen in the water sports industry. Over the past decades, he had always worked closely with his family to create a small empire from the nucleus in Arnis on the Schlei. Today, the Im-Jaich Group operates nine of its own marinas on the Baltic and North Sea, manages the Water Holiday World in Lauterbach and a hotel in Bremerhaven. In addition, Ostseedienst, Ingo Jaich's first company specialising in everything to do with harbour construction, is still one of the top addresses for marina construction on the coast.
Jaich, who went to sea as a teenager and later became a captain, proved in the sixties and seventies that he had a feel for the development of the sailing scene. When nobody had a boat on the Schlei apart from fishermen and local sailors, he recognised the attractiveness of the region and began buying up waterfront properties from his first wages as a teenager. In 1967, he built the marina in Arnis, one of the first yacht harbours, primarily for owners from the Hamburg area. In 1976, he founded Ostseedienst, a company specialising in harbour construction, and was instrumental in the design of many harbours along the coast from Flensburg to Rügen.
Jaich has always shown an unerring business sense and original qualities as a lateral thinker. For example, 15 years ago, when the coast began to be plagued by worms and harbour operators found rows and rows of dolphins and wooden structures eaten away. While others were still complaining and investing in expensive new timber, Jaich was already buying up large quantities of old drill rods from drilling platforms at dumping prices, which from then on proved their worth as new stern piles in the Baltic Sea. By the time the prices for the steel rods exploded, the Baltic Sea Service had long since stocked up.
His harbour concepts on the Baltic Sea were similarly visionary and can almost be considered style-defining today. When the Wall came down in 1989, Ingo Jaich was one of the first to travel to the former GDR, was fascinated by the beauty of the landscape and bought the site of today's Marina Lauterbach near Putbus. There, in the 1990s, he developed the concept of a harbour that merges with a holiday resort - the Water Holiday Worlds: Floating houses for rent in the harbour, holiday facilities on land, boat hire and sailing school included. Today, dozens of operators are copying the idea. However, the traditional marinas of the Jaich Group have always been among the trendsetters in the industry, especially when it comes to service.
Jaich himself was a passionate sailor who liked it sporty: In the 1980s, he had Georg Nissen design the moulded lightweight racer "Concordia", which caused a furore on the regatta courses from then on and is still sailed by his son Till on the Baltic Sea today.
Jaich was also famous for his unusual flashes of inspiration. For example, when a wealthy architect had a beautiful half-timbered thatched house built on the Schlei directly on the waterfront without planning permission and was subsequently forced by the authorities to have it demolished. Jaich offered to carry out the demolition and disposal free of charge and was awarded the contract. He travelled to the appointment with a floating crane and barge and moved the entire house to his own property on the other side of the Schlei without further ado, says his son Till.
His father had always ignored conventions, he had never worn a tie his whole life and never allowed himself to be misled by self-appointed "experts" when assessing harbour projects. He was usually right, as the success of his companies proved.
His two sons Till and Hans and Jaich's nephew Nils, who today manage the Jaich Group and Ostseedienst in various roles, are proud that they are continuing to run the companies in their father's spirit. Until a few weeks before his death, Jaich was still involved in the management of the company. The industry on the coast mourns the loss of one of its founding figures.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
