Otto Protzen, who lived in Berlin from 1868 to 1925, is known to insiders as a painter, illustrator, writer and author of specialised books. A surprising discovery now also reveals his energetic work as a yacht designer. Even the Kaiser trusted Protzen's skills and commissioned him to design racing yachts.
Gottfried Carl Otto Protzen took up sailing at the age of 14, which was unusual at the time. After completing a commercial apprenticeship, the son of a carpet manufacturer decided to embark on a career other than the supposedly predetermined one in his father's company. At the art academy, Protzen used his academic freedom to go on extended travelling trips in order to devote himself to the study of landscape painting. A habit that the enthusiastic water sports enthusiast retained throughout his life. Numerous book publications The autobiographical writings "30 years on the water" and "40 years on the water" still bear witness to this today. These are valuable accounts of a life on the water at a time when reporting in this profession was not yet common.
The former DSV president and chronicler of his club Sailing house on Wannsee Rolf Bähr, has dedicated a website to the life and work of Protzen on which he provides information about his work. According to this, the Berlin sailing pioneer was a sailor before the First World War. "Six-time winner of the Kieler Woche in the 'special class', on the occasion of which s. M. Kaiser Wilhelm II personally presented him with the 'Samoapokal' after each victory. He was on friendly terms with the imperial family to the extent that Crown Prince Wilhelm and Prince Heinrich also sailed in this boat class.
In addition to being the acclaimed star of the German sailing regatta scene, he was also a very successful rower with his gigs and also a gig regatta sailor. He was a successful writer and author of books on German water tourism with many travelling trips on German rivers. He was a great landscape painter, etcher and book illustrator. He was co-author and illustrator of the two-volume manual 'The Art of Sailing'. He was a boat designer and constructor and made his rich regatta experience available to the German sailing sport.
Because Otto Protzen earned his living with these water sports-related activities, he can also be considered one of the first professional sailors in men's sailing at the time."
Bähr writes about the latest find, 123 construction drawings and cracks by Otto Protzen:
"We were astonished when, about five months ago, after a short phone call, a lady with an affinity for sailing turned up at the club with a wooden box found in the attic measuring 1.20 metres long, 0.50 metres high and 0.50 metres wide, and said that it contained something from Otto Protzen. And the contents of this box turned out to be a sensational surprise. It was a tightly wound heavy roll with a diameter of 35 cm.
Now it turns out that after smoothing and partially gluing the documents, digitising them and listing them, there are 123 construction drawings and drawings by Otto Protzen on paper, cardboard or parchment, as well as several blueprints by Max Oertz. Some interested parties already knew that Otto Protzen had been involved in the construction and design of his special classes and that he himself had designed the houseboat 'Thea' in 1904 and had also developed sail plans with Max Oertz. Now, however, a number of drawings even show how closely he co-operated with Max Oertz in the hull development of many yachts.
This sensational find, with its diverse design documents for new boats and yachts - including 34 plans for his special classes and sailing plans from 1900 to 1911 alone - as well as for boat fittings and even for a gun carriage for boat transport, proves that Otto Protzen can rightly be described as an early German boat and yacht designer. And the question remains for me again: how is it that such a treasure trove of intellectual property had to end up in an attic until it was discovered?"
