Traditionsschifffahrt: The dream of 81 degrees north: shipyard visit for the "Grönland"

The Nordische Jagt "Grönland", which carried out the first German polar expedition in 1868, has been transferred from Bremerhaven to Hvide Sande on the Danish North Sea coast for a shipyard stay. "The work there is necessary to keep the 'Greenland' fit to sail on large and small tours in the future," says the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, owner of the ship, explaining the reasons for the maintenance work.

The way to the North Pole

This is because it is possible that the aged ship, which has its home port in Bremerhaven, will be sent on another long voyage. An expedition back to the northernmost point of the former route is being considered. In the summer of 1868, the "Greenland" sailed as far as 81° 4.5' north. Reaching this position north of Spitsbergen was an enormous achievement for the crew of a pure sailing ship without engine propulsion. The aim of the voyage under Captain Carl Koldewey was to find a suspected sea route through the pack ice to the North Pole.

His crew of twelve had been travelling for months and reached Spitsbergen after 3000 nautical miles, but got stuck in the pack ice and eventually had to turn back without finding the route they had hoped for.

Courageous crews and prominent guests

The ship, a good 30 metres long, was built in 1867 as a seal catcher and coastal freighter. Carl Koldewey, 30 years old at the time, bought it for the expedition in Bergen, Norway. The hull was reinforced for use as a polar research vessel in order to withstand the pressure of the ice during wintering.

Today, the ship is one of the exhibits at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. A volunteer crew keeps it sailing - sometimes with prominent guests on board: in 2015, for example, German President Joachim Gauck took part in the opening parade of the Sail Bremerhaven windjammer meeting on the "Grönland". Other heads of state have also been guests on the historic ship.

Six-figure sum

The upcoming woodwork at the shipyard in Hvide Sande is being supported by the Friends of the German Maritime Museum. It is providing a six-figure sum for this purpose.

"We are very grateful to our sponsoring association for making the restoration of the 'Grönland' possible," says the Managing Director of the German Maritime Museum, Prof Dr Sunhild Kleingärtner: "This valuable support demonstrates a real appreciation of maritime cultural assets and what we can learn from them. We are very pleased about this."

A large boat portrait of the Nordic Hunt "Greenland" was published in YACHT 20/2016 and can be downloaded as a PDF under this article.

Downloads:

Greenland, Nordic Hunt (pdf)