Marita and Paul Joseph Gast were water sports enthusiasts and so they decided to open their own port more than 40 years ago. The first private marina on the Rhine was built in 1976 in the former harbor basin on Weizenmühlenstrasse. In 2000, a new floating facility was built from 1.4 km of concrete jetties and anchored in today's media harbor at the sea dalves. Depending on the water level, the system slides up and down independently on these steel pylons, which are anchored 10 meters deep in the harbor floor.
 

The roots of the old Gast merchant family go back to 1848, when Johann Josef Gast opened the first merchant's shop near Aachen. In 1958, Paul Joseph Gast took over his parents' business and built the first self-service store with a size of 3000 m² in 1970 with colleagues who were friends. In 1974 he turned his hobby into a career. After visits to America, he was inspired by the idea of building a private Marina - Yachthafen - in Düsseldorf. In Düsseldorf's industrial port on Weizenmühlenstrasse, where the Mercedes Sprinter loading station is today, he built a facility made of Mannesmann Stahl with 120 boat berths himself. In 1980, Marina Düsseldorf entered into exclusive sales with the Taiwan-based brand "Ocean Alexander" and presented the yachts at BOOT Düsseldorf for 30 years.
 

In 2000, he built a new patented floating concrete jetty with his own labour. In 2002, the 600 tons floating harbour master's building was built by the harbour master himself. On 500 m², the building is divided under water into a workshop, showers, guest WC and social rooms. In the basement there is an event room and offices. Private rooms are located on the first floor.