During the industrial era, the village of Schlutup on the Trave River, known for its smoked fish since the 1860s, became a centre for fish processing and canning. By the end of the 1920s, some 40 different companies had set up business there, including Hawesta, founded in 1909, and a vinegar factory belonging to the Kühne company. The idyllic fishing colony of Gothmund originally served as a way station for Lübeck fishing boats on their way to the Baltic. The fishing shacks nestled between the bluffs and the banks of the Trave developed into a town with 20 houses and an inn. The natural boundaries prevented it from expanding any further.