''Schulschiff Deutschland'' ("''School Ship Germany''") is a German

full-rigged A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing ship, sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more mast (sailing), masts, all of them square rig, square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels ...

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on and ...

ship, maintained as a historical monument and

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

. She was employed as a

school ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

for the merchant marine beginning in 1927. The ship is moored at the Neuer Hafen in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

, in the Federal State of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Since the name ''Deutschland'' was at the time of its construction already assigned to an unbuilt naval warship (a

pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

, later renamed the '' Lützow''), its official name is ''Schulschiff Deutschland''. The ship carries 25 sails with a total sail area of 1950 square meters. The top speed on engine is 12

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

, and on sail 18.2 knots.

History

''Schulschiff Deutschland'' was launched on 14 June 1927 at the Joh. C. Tecklenborg shipyard in

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

(today

) for the Deutscher Schulschiff-Verein (German Training Ship Association) as its fourth merchant marine training ship. From 1927 to 1939 she undertook training trips overseas and in the North and Baltic Seas. During World War II cruises were limited and these trips were only held in the Baltic Sea. Her brief stint as a hospital ship in the final months of World War II saved her from having to be delivered to the Allies as war reparation. Between 1949 and 1952, she served three years as a hostel before becoming a stationary training ship in Bremen for seamen students. In 1994 she was protected by law as a floating monument and renovated in 1995/1996 in Bremen-Vegesack. Until July 2001 ship mechanic students lived on board, taking their classroom training in a school center in Bremen. With the cessation of such training in Bremen, this aspect of the ship's Nautical School was closed. ''Schulschiff Deutschland'' is located in Bremerhaven where she can be viewed as a maritime memorial or used as overnight accommodation. She can also be booked for celebrations, seminars and exhibitions for events. Once a month (all year), civil weddings are performed and participants can stay overnight in 30 double cabins and in the master's suite.

Voyages

For training in maritime practice up until the Second World War the ship made regular ocean voyages. In the winter destinations were overseas (mostly in German colonial Africa and in South America), while in the summer ports in the North and Baltic Sea were destinations. From 1927 to 1939, twelve overseas trips were made. From 1928 to 1944 seventeen North Sea and Baltic Sea tours were made. Between trips

Elsfleth Elsfleth () is a town in the district of Wesermarsch, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Hunte with the Weser, on the left bank of the Weser. It has a school of navigation (university of applied sciences), a harbour an ...

was the ship's base as owing to the draft of the ship its registered home port of

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

could not be used. For Sail Bremerhaven 2005, the ''Schulschiff Deutschland'' was re-entered on the ship list.

Captains

* Reinhold Walker (1927–1933) * Walter von Zatorski (1933–1936) * Ernst Sieck (1936–1938) * Otto Bauer (1938–1945) * O. Hattendorf (1945–1953) * K. Köppl (1953–1961) * O. Hattendorf (1961–1977) * Harm Müller-Röhlck (1977–2002)

Sister ships

The three sister ships of ''Schulschiff Deutschland'' also survive: *''

Dar Pomorza The ''Dar Pomorza'' ( en, Gift of Pomerania) is a Polish full-rigged sailing ship built in 1909 which is preserved in Gdynia as a museum ship. She has served as a sail training ship in Germany, France, and Poland. ''Dar Pomorza'' won the Cutty ...

'' (originally ''Prinzess Eitel Friedrich'') *'' Duchesse Anne'' (originally ''Großherzogin Elisabeth'') *''

Statsraad Lehmkuhl ''Statsraad Lehmkuhl'' is a three-masted barque rigged sail training vessel owned and operated by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation. It is based in Bergen, Norway and contracted out for various purposes, including serving as a school ship for the ...

'' (originally ''Großherzog Friedrich August'')

References

External links