Martin, Michelsen, Kellerwerft and Co.: A visit to the classic shipyards on Lake Constance
Lasse Johannsen
· 03.06.2023
Germany's largest inland waterway had long been used by professional sailors when, in the middle of the 19th century, a few gentlemen took to Lake Constance in boats to set sail for pure pleasure. With 273 kilometres of shoreline and 536 square metres of surface area, the scenic area in the heart of Europe was perfect for the new sport, which the growing class of well-heeled bourgeoisie indulged in under blue-blooded patronage during industrialisation.
For thousands of years, the "Lacus Bodamicus" has been the home of the Lädinen - sailing barges that transported goods and both two-legged and four-legged passengers. Now gentlemen with ties and stand-up collars sailed across the lake on Sundays and didn't earn money, on the contrary, they even spent money on it. And not too little.
The Lake Constance boats came from the coast or from other areas
The boats came from shipyards on the coast, in Hamburg and Berlin, or used equipment was purchased in neighbouring areas. What floated was right. The yacht fleet on Lake Constance consisted of dinghies, centreboards and open keelboats of all kinds. Later, it represented what was also common in the other German sailing areas: national dinghy classes, sailing length yachts, metre yachts, national cruisers or classless sea cruisers.
For a long time, the sailing community on Lake Constance was very small. The first international regatta in 1905 saw eight boats in four classes at the start off Lindau. The growing enthusiasm for spectacles of this kind meant that four years later there were already eleven. But at the end of the 1920s, the pleasure craft fleet on the Swabian Sea still only numbered 140 sailing and motor boats - today there are more than 20,000.
The first shipyards are built on Lake Constance at the end of the 19th century
But man does not live by the boat alone. Up until the First World War, sailors created harbours in Lindau, Bregenz, Constance, Überlingen and Friedrichshafen, and their own boatyards were established, such as that of Sebastian Wagner in Bodman in 1882 or that of Isidor Beck on the island of Reichenau in 1896 - both businesses still exist today.
But in the age of GRP, what still reminds us of the sailing of yesteryear on Lake Constance? A search for traces takes us to the lake and to shipyards that are the port of call for owners of traditionally built boats.
At the classic boatyards on Lake Constance, owners meet passionate wooden boat builders who are also happy to pass on their knowledge ...!" (Sylvie Schneider - the owner of two classic yachts is the contact person for the Freundeskreis Klassische Yachten in southern Germany)
After all, the lake is still home to classic boats from the early days of sailing. And that's not all. After the Second World War, classes were added with the dragons or the 30s and 40s archipelago cruisers, in which traditionally built boats also or even primarily compete. Types such as the Lacustre have been added, and class associations have been established for the 45 and 75 national cruisers, for example, which are so attractive that owners are still buying boats, bringing them to the lake and having them restored in order to expand the fleet.
A world of its own
There has never been a need for a renaissance of historic yachts on Lake Constance, says Joachim Landolt. Until two years ago, the passionate boat builder was the owner of the Michelsen shipyard in Friedrichshafen, where he began his apprenticeship in 1977. "There has always been an awareness of old boats here," says Landolt. "The classic boat scene on Lake Constance is a world of its own. People meet up at numerous events, sail on table water, and the owners wrap their boats in expensive full-ship covers and treat them like a fine living room wardrobe. They are not subjected to the same wear and tear here as on the coast."
I started my apprenticeship in 1977. Back then, nobody talked about restoring old wooden boats ...!" (Joachim Landolt - the master boat builder ran the traditional Michelsen shipyard in Friedrichshafen from 2000 to 2020)
When he carried out his first classic restoration in the mid-1980s, outsiders would have shaken their heads. Landolt spent two years completely rebuilding his father's Vertens cruiser, which was severely damaged under a GRP coating, using only traditional boatbuilding methods. "That was unusual here at the time." The old-timers were naturally kept in usable condition through repairs and actively sailed. But that changed over time. In the years that followed, Landolt restored several Vertens cruisers, numerous skerry cruisers and a total of nine L-boats in his shipyard.
Today, several shipyards on Lake Constance specialise in traditional yacht building. If you own a classic boat - and have a berth - you can get everything you need to maintain it, from winter maintenance to professional repairs and restorations to every conceivable extent. And that's not all. In some places on Lake Constance, traditionally built yachts are being built again today that are attracting international attention.
The wood is cut at the appropriate phase of the moon
One person who found his way to classic wooden boat building 25 years ago is Stefan Züst. His boatyard is located in Altnau on the Swiss lakeshore. "I couldn't become anything else but a boat builder," says Züst in his Swiss dialect and laughs. With his hair tied back in a plait and his flowing beard, he looks like a northerner stranded inland. His small empire includes four large halls, six employees and a forest. His grandfather used to manage it. He was a carpenter and felled everything he worked with in his own forest when the moon was right. And Züst does the same.
The timber store on Längimoosstrasse is stocked with sawn oak, elm and Douglas fir trunks. If required, he can also harvest larch, fir, spruce, yew, ash, cherry or robinia. In order to be able to saw the logs in the way he wants the planks and boards, Züst purchased a perforated band saw three years ago and laid tracks for it. "I need rifts for planking," he says, explaining that the term rift is used when the annual rings are in place. A sawmill, he says, would not pay attention to this and would simply cut the logs into boards and planks. Züst uses the offcuts to heat his shipyard. In winter, it is home to around 100 classic boats, many of which have already undergone intensive treatment here.
Züst developed his passion for wooden boats as a young boy. "I built a canoe with my godfather when I was ten years old," he recalls. A Hallberg P 28 followed, and Züst helped with that too. He voluntarily crawled into the furthest corners of the boat to hold the nuts in place.
There was always a next ship
When he was twelve, Züst came into possession of an old Vaurien and restored that too. And then "came the next boat and then the next ...", he says, and that continued until he began his apprenticeship at Stäheli in Kreuzlingen in 1996. "We built wooden boats up to 25 metres long," he says and lists what the shipyard used to build. Folk boats in series, 6 mR yachts, 5.5s and "a bunch of stuff from Knud Reimers", by which he primarily means Stor Tumlare.
A boat like this is currently being built by Züst's employees. The lower planks have been removed and the gap reveals the structure of the boat. Iron floor frames, wooden ribs, the massive keel - everything needs a pair of hands. "It's exciting," says Züst. "When you're restoring, you're always learning because you can see what worked and what didn't."
Following his apprenticeship, he set up his own business and ten years ago was able to buy the first two of his now four halls, later adding the neighbouring two. Züst recently bought back the Hallberg P 28 that started it all. It is now in his workshop and, like so much that has accumulated here in recent years, is waiting to be revitalised.
Züst wants to translate traditional craftsmanship into the modern age
In addition to his enthusiasm for old boats, the non-conformist Züst is characterised by a philosophy that encompasses sustainability and knowledge of traditional craftsmanship as well as its translation into the modern age. At his office desk on the first floor, among nautical antiques and old sailing books, he has developed the Lake Constance Pilot Cutter, a reinterpretation of the traditional pilot launching boats that were used on the coast of southern England in the mid-19th century.
The nine-metre-long gaff cutter, which only weighs around two tonnes, was built using a moulding construction method, has a built-in diesel engine and lifting keel, but has also been reduced to the bare essentials. Züst has incorporated experience from a number of challenging voyages that he has undertaken with the 5.80 metre long Golant gaffer "Ailean Mor" to Brittany and along the Bay of Biscay, to Scotland, the North Cape and the Gulf of Bothnia.
Züst has still not been able to part with this boat either. The tiny vehicle stands covered under its rough tarpaulin in a corner of the last hall next to a motorhome. Züst looks thoughtfully at the four-wheeled white box and muses. "Economically, it would make more sense to store motorhomes," he says. But he doesn't know how he could enjoy it. And so the boat builder shares the joy of what he does with his customers, who would hardly invest their free time and savings in the preservation of their classics without a good dose of idealism.
The "Kellerwerft" is a business and restaurant at the same time
Niklaus Waser follows the same path. He sits on the opposite shore of the lake in Überlingen on the terrace of the "Kellerwerft", which opened in 2019 as a mixture of glass shipyard and restaurant after the association founded specifically for this purpose had the dilapidated historic shipyard building reconstructed.
Waser was introduced to sailing 20 years ago by his wife after the couple moved from the Lower Rhine to Lake Constance. A Norwegian BB 17 was his entry into the classic sailing scene in 2000. This led to sailing opportunities on twelve-wheelers in the Mediterranean, and Waser discovered the fascination of such ships, which in his case led to the restoration of William Fife's second-rule six-oared "Fintra". And that was the final straw for him. "I bought two more sixes that were due to be scrapped and gave them away on the condition that they were restored," he says, adding proudly that both are sailing again today.
Waser developed the idea for the cellar shipyard in 2014 with two friends at the hotel bar in the "Sube" during the Voiles de Saint-Tropez. They were so fascinated by the atmosphere at this meeting place for participating crews right on the harbour with a view of the ships that they wanted to create something similar at home. And they remember the dilapidated shipyard shed on the shores of Lake Überlingen, in which nobody seemed to have any interest and from whose roof a tree was already growing.
Both the restaurant and the shipyard have an excellent reputation
Back at the lake, the friends founded the Förderverein Yachtsport Überlingen and applied to the town for permission to turn the old cellar shipyard into a boatbuilding business with an adjoining clubhouse-style restaurant. From 1912 until the 1980s, boats were built on this site, and in the end a passenger ship and a boat hire company were also operated. The association wants to build on this tradition and restore classic boats in front of restaurant visitors, separated only by a panoramic window. Joachim Landolt from the Michelsen shipyard in Friedrichshafen was on board at the time and agreed to take on the boat-building part to begin with.
The Italian restaurant is now recommended in the relevant gastronomy guides. However, Waser is particularly proud of the fact that it is the boat building that attracts guests. "We restored an L-boat here the winter before last, and an elderly gentleman regularly came from far away. I spoke to him and he said he was fascinated by it. At first, he wondered who would spend money on something like this. Since then, he would come every four weeks to see what it looked like. At first, he thought he wouldn't accept something like that as a gift. And then in the end he was thrilled with how beautiful it turned out."
Kellerwerft expands and is professionalised
What started out as a hobby has long since become something more for Waser. In order to professionalise the operation of the Keller shipyard, he has had halls with an area of 2,500 square metres built on the nearby industrial estate, where North Sails, a boat engine technology company and an interior and boat outfitter will move in alongside the Keller shipyard. In addition to boat storage and repair and service work, the complex will offer everything that a modern boatyard can provide. However, classic motor and sailing yachts will also be restored on a larger scale, if Waser has his way. The glass shipyard will remain as a showroom and be the place for the most beautiful restoration projects.
Some of these examples are already here, waiting for solvent enthusiasts. The 8 metre MR yacht "Marotte", for example. The boat was built in Marseille in 1925. Rumour has it that it was a replacement boat for the French Olympic team of 1928, but, according to Waser, the eight was never actually used in the Olympics. According to Waser, the boat will be completed for its 100th birthday on 5 February 2025, even if no customer is found.
When asked why he does all this in his spare time alongside his demanding job as a digital manager for a large mechanical engineering company, Waser simply replies: "Everyone has their own passion. Preserving old boats fascinates me, it's fun, I enjoy it."
Michelsen stands for more than 100 years of boat building on Lake Constance
With the Michelsen shipyard, he had the right start-up support. The boatbuilding company in Friedrichshafen can look back on over 100 years of history. Heinrich Michelsen, originally from Kiel, founded the company in Kressbronn back in 1921. The shipyard has been based on the former Dornier site on the shores of Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen since 1925. It was rebuilt here twice more, after an air raid in 1944 and after a fire in 1957. Heinrich Michelsen was already 67 years old when this stroke of fate befell him.
Today, the Michelsen shipyard remains almost exactly as the founder left it to his son-in-law and as Joachim Landolt later took it over. Two years ago, he handed it over to his successor Karsten Timmerherm, who has been running the museum business ever since. "The work has remained the same as always, but so have the high quality standards," says Timmerherm during a tour of his premises.
He runs into an old acquaintance, Jochen Frik. In the mid-1950s, before the shipyard fire, Frik was apprenticed to the old Michelsen. "It was a good time," he remembers, "hard, but I learnt a lot!" Old-style boat builders taught him the trade, his master was tough on him and closed-minded, "just North German", says Frik and laughs.
At the time, the Michelsen shipyard was building numerous new vessels: the Lacustre, an open keelboat unit class from Switzerland, or the in-house shipyard class "Marion", a 5.5-KR sea cruiser.
Work on the wooden boats continues after hours
Timmerherm still looks after eight of these boats today. Around 50 boats spend the winter with him, 95 per cent, he says, are made of wood and keep him and his ten employees so busy that there is usually only a short break in the summer to pursue other projects, such as the current refurbishment of the "Altenrhein", a transport ship built by Dornier-Werke in 1928. At the time, aircraft construction was banned in Germany. Dornier built a factory in Altenrhein on the Swiss lakeshore and delivered prefabricated parts in Germany by ship at night when it was dark.
Timmerherm himself describes the character of his shipyard as historical, but appreciates its advantages. For example, the natural flooring, which means there are no problems with swelling and shrinkage on the hulls. Or the robust tools and machines made to order.
Working with wood is so beautiful because it is alive. The material has a lot to offer. So every job is something new and always exciting ...!" (Clara Böckenhoff - the apprentice at the Michelsen shipyard restored an old H dinghy with her friend after work)
Pride resonates when the boss talks about his workforce. Motivated wooden boat builders who are also involved with wooden boats in their private lives. "They don't just come to work and leave again at 5 pm," he says and talks about Paul Winter and Clara Böckenhoff, two apprentices who restored an old H dinghy after work. "When they were working in the evenings, everyone pitched in, and even former employees joined in!"
Hardly anyone stands for wooden boat building on Lake Constance like Josef Martin
In the far west, behind the Constance funnel, the Untersee opens up a very special, smaller area, attractively divided into four lake areas by several bays, in the centre of which lies the island of Reichenau. To the north of this idyll is Radolfzell, home to Josef Martin and his shipyard. Anyone interested in wooden boat building on Lake Constance should start their search here or save a visit for last.
Josef Martin himself spent his entire life here. He only left for his apprenticeship at the old Michelsen in Friedrichshafen. "I was born and grew up here at the shipyard," he says as he welcomes us and tells us how he took over the business in 1974 at the age of 24 because his father died young. Until then, the Martin shipyard had been a small one-man business, with his father working in the workshop he set up on the lake after the war, which was only big enough to build a pirate or a 15-metre dinghy cruiser, but no more. His mother made the office in the house, which still stands in the centre of the shipyard today. There was no harbour, just a small slipway.
That was over 50 years ago, a time in which Josef Martin continuously expanded his father's business into a modern shipyard, a family business that he runs together with his son Sven and his wife Silke. With large halls, a paint booth, a travel lift and its own harbour. He has 200 boats in the summer and 320 in the winter, which generates a steady income and allows him to pursue his real passion: Josef Martin has immortalised 86 new builds in his list of build numbers, with number 1 being his masterpiece in the early 1970s. This was followed by customer orders of all kinds, from rowing boats and modern cruiser-racers to 20-metre ocean-going yachts. What they all have in common is the material wood, but the spectrum is broad. Traditionally built according to the classic cracks of the old masters or moulded according to modern designs by Judel/Vrolijk, Juliane Hempel or from his own pen - Josef Martin has constructed 30 new builds himself.
At Lake Constance, classic boats have always been looked after with love, even when it was not yet fashionable to sail a vintage boat. They are members of the family here ...!" (Juliane Hempel - the designer from Radolfzell is an expert in the computer optimisation of classic cracks)
Josef Martin's heart beats for classic cars
"At some point, however, I realised that my heart actually beats for classic cars," he says and explains how he initially started "customising" them as a hobby. The 12-KR yacht "Hadumoth", for example. Designed by Henry Gruber in 1949 and built by Ernst Burmester for his son-in-law Magnus Müller as "Tanja", the ship once became famous for numerous ocean voyages and now floats in the shipyard harbour on the Untersee.
Or "Sposa II", his classic eight, which was designed and built by Bjarne Aas in 1929. Josef Martin reveres the Norwegian for his balanced lines. He has a very special relationship with "Sposa II". The restoration 15 years ago marked the beginning of his passion for the old racing yachts. "You have to preserve things, it's a piece of culture," says Martin, who not only looks after the 1929 racing boat, but also sails it. He has already won the European Championship with his crew, and next summer they want to go to the World Championship in Geneva.
The hobby developed into an entire line of business at his shipyard. With such spectacular restoration projects as the twelve-seater "Anitra", Martin has established himself internationally as one of the top addresses in this field. Today, the turnover from new construction and restoration is roughly the same. In the end, however, a restoration is often indistinguishable from a new build.
I really appreciate the fact that I have these opportunities here. I enjoy doing it. Every day after work, that's time for me and time for the ship ...!" (Moritz Eider - the Martin shipyard apprentice is also restoring his 45 National Cruiser "Onkel Otto" here)
Even a restored ship is like new
On his tour, the shipyard manager opens the door to the new building hall, behind which the huge 100-ship cruiser "Marabu" is being rebuilt. The ship, built by A&R for the Luftwaffe in 1939, was brought to Untersee from England for restoration. In the end, only a few original parts of the ship designed by Henry Rasmussen will remain. "We can hardly use anything from the old one," says Josef Martin. "The lead, a few old frames, the coker and the hook fitting, which is made of bronze. The rest is new. It will practically be a new ship."
Enthusiasts who commission such a project must be able to rely on the fact that "Martin builds like this", as it is not possible to describe a ship before it is built. It is a matter of trust. The shipyard can now boast numerous references. With the Gustaf" skerry cruiser and the eighth "Starling Burgess", for example, two classics were created in the recent past based on old cracks that were never realised. This, too, is a contribution to preserving the heritage of the ancients. And, as Josef Martin says with a satisfied tone in his voice: "It's always fun when a ship is created."
