The P-Liner captain Robert Hilgendorf was the greatest and most famous sailor in the late 19th and early 20th century. Among other things, "the devil of Hamburg" sailed saltpetre from Chile to Europe on the Laeisz ship "Potosi", the largest sailing ship in the world at the time. And the whole world puzzled over how he not only managed to reliably keep to his schedule, but also set various records in the process.
Hilgendorf, for example, achieved a sensational 376-mile trip with the five-masted barque at an average speed of 15.7 knots - no one had ever managed that before him. And he managed the journey from the English Channel to Chile in 58 days, another unbelievable record at the time. The secret of his success: Hilgendorf was one of the first to gather scientific findings and draw the conclusions that are commonplace today. For example, that the fastest route to the destination is not always the most direct.
After studying his records and those of other captains, he was able to "read" the weather like no other. Hilgendorf, the cunning Cape Hornier, was a master at this, quite apart from the fact that he was an outstanding sailor. And: with his collected weather data, he laid the foundation for the hitherto unknown tool of forecasting. Between 1883 and 1898, he submitted 16,500 sets of observations to the German Naval Observatory in Hamburg - the basis for a methodical approach to meteorology.
Hilgendorf was clever, proud and energetic. A captain of the old mould, but always open to new ideas. And a great charismatic. When the "old master of our proud sailing ships", according to Kaiser Wilhelm II, died in 1937 at the age of 85, he was laid out in accordance with his last wishes - under a painting of his beloved "Potosi". The painting was a gift. The shipping company boss Laeisz had given it to him. In recognition of his life's work.
