Stockholm in February 2025: A thin layer of snow lies over the small island of Beckholmen. It has symbolised the Swedish capital's maritime industrial landscape like no other place since a 200-metre-long dry dock was blasted into the island's rock around a hundred years ago. Since then, shipyards have settled here - even Sweden's most famous ship, the "Vasa", was freed from the coarsest mud here in 1961 after it was raised.
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The navy was also based here for a long time, and is now back again due to the current tensions with Russia. The eastern part of the island is home to a number of traditional sailing ships of various colours. One of them is the rigged "Svanevik", whose high, curved bow is adorned with two heavy anchors. The white-painted cargo ship made of riveted steel looks relatively inconspicuous.
Manufactured in large numbers, the fleet is reduced to a niche existence
Owner Hans-Christer Edborg is waiting at the jetty. Despite his age of 80, he is a giant of a man. With the strength of his iron will, he pulls himself on board and then up to the wheelhouse. The wooden floor creaks as he steps onto it, the smell of old wood suggests longevity and gives rise to a feeling of humility. The steering wheel, compass and the small steering wheel for adjusting the rudder angle bear witness to analogue seafaring; electronic aids are nowhere to be found. Some of the old nautical charts, which are rolled up under the ceiling, are reminiscent of old treasure maps. Covered in threads of dust, the yellowed papers with their worn edges look like evidence of times long past.
A horseshoe hangs on the companionway from the wheelhouse to the aft cabin. A lucky charm? "It was already there when I first came on board," says Edborg. "For Swedes on the west coast, it's taboo to even mention the word 'horse' on a ship. But this superstition has no place on a German ship on the Swedish east coast. Despite the horseshoes, luck was always in our favour."
Trained as an interior designer, Edborg should know, as he has been familiar with his "Svanevik" for more than half his life. It is a galiot, a type of ship that was widely used in the Frisian region until the beginning of the 20th century. One of its characteristic features is the hemispherical stern.
The mostly two-masted rigged cargo ships were originally made of wood in large numbers, but their fleet was reduced to a niche existence over time. And today there is hardly any documentation of them. The steel galiotes built later in the Netherlands in the first quarter of the 20th century were no different. Edborg's fascination with his steel cargo ship goes far beyond his own time on board and the lack of sources was more of an incentive than a hindrance to his research. Like a detective, he researched and compiled the exciting history of his ship.
Galiot "Svanevik" finds new owner
The discovery of his dream ship in the summer of 1970 was pure coincidence. While cycling through Stockholm, Edborg spotted the rounded stern of a ship in the sparkling water as he looked through the houses towards the harbour. Now such sights are nothing unusual in an old seafaring town, but this specimen attracted him like a magnet. As it is lying on the outside of the packet, he crawls over the inside of the ship and sees a woman standing on the deck. "Where's the skipper?" the young Edborg asks brashly.
It turns out that the lady is co-owner of the Galiot. Together with a friend, she has recently bought the "Svanevik" and is planning to enter the cargo business soon. He is invited to come on board, and when other guests join them later, it turns into a lively evening. A few days later, Edborg is back in front of the ship. But he is no longer just interested in the Galiot. He has butterflies in his stomach. This time he stays on the ship for a few days and the love story of Hans-Christer, Yvonne and "Svanevik" takes its course.
The co-owner soon buys out of the project and Hans-Christer stays on board for the next 55 years. "We lived together in sin for the first 16 years, we call it a Stockholm marriage." When his Yvonne became pregnant, they decided to get married. "The official marriage didn't last quite as long," recalls Edborg, who subsequently took over the ship.
Searching for clues in Germany
His first research trip takes the inquisitive Swede to Holland, where he meets the descendants of shipyard owner Jacobus F. Smit. The Galiot was launched in Sappemeer in 1914 under the name "Anna Marie". The client was a North German skipper from the Oste. In addition to the blueprint of a general plan, Edborg is given access to the handwritten calculation for the new building, which is estimated at 91,000 guilders. The client is also mentioned: Captain Hermann Dieckmann from Iselersheim near Bremervörde.
At a later date, Edborg went there in search of clues. "I had the bright idea of looking for an old photo in a seafaring pub. Although I didn't find anything, talking to the landlord led to an unexpected result: he showed me the way to a woman who introduced herself as Helga Buck, the niece of Captain Hermann 'Harm' Dieckmann." From her, the owner learns that Helga Buck was a welcome guest on the ship as a child and thus had the privilege of sailing on voyages to Denmark and Sweden.
In the midst of the turmoil of the First World War, the Galiot was suddenly renamed "Claus"; a move that is extremely unusual despite the fact that Claus was the name of his brother, an experienced captain and Cape Horn sailor. Edborg is hoping for clarification from the Hamburg shipping register.
"For Hans-Christer, the historical value of his ship was more important than its practical value."
Here Edborg was actually given access to the ship's files of the "Anna Marie", where there was also a letter from the military intelligence service of the Imperial Navy stating that the "Anna Marie" had to be given a new name for military reasons, as did the ship's master Dieckmann. The greatest possible acceleration was required.
Past as a protagonist in the First World War
It is suspected that the ship may have been used to transport goods or agents to neutral countries. This would also explain the original gift that Helga Buck had given the Swede: a framed black and white photo of a young man, framed by the high-quality embroidered flag of the Imperial Navy. Above it, a crown and the words "God with us" - a memento and thanksgiving for special service in the war?
This mystery will probably never be fully solved - but there are amusing parallels to the cult and spy novel "The Riddle of the Sandbank" by Erskine Childers. The ship "Medusa" of the ominous Dollmann, allegedly a Swede, was also involved in espionage in the run-up to the First World War and was described as a Dutch galiot.
Edborg also found what he was looking for with the grandson of the second owner, Christian Pieper from Westerrönfeld on the Kiel Canal. A magnificent oil painting of the "Claus" from 1928 still hangs in the Piepers' home, showing the state of construction after the first motorisation. Today's wheelhouse did not yet exist, but there was a deckhouse in front of the mizzen mast, which was both kitchen and bedroom for the two crew members. The table was hooked to the cooker with two poles and had to be removed after the meal. There was no headroom. The captain lived in the stern, where he had two berths and five square metres of free space at his disposal.
The painter captured the "Svanevik", then called "Claus", in great detail on canvas. Even the finest details were meticulously captured for posterity, right down to the spokes of the steering wheel. The oil painting, together with the grandson's stories, is one of the strongest sources about the Galiot's early years.
Flat-bottomed ship "Svanevik" in rocky waters
In 1936, Pieper junior sold the ship to Denmark, then on to Sweden. In Pukavik, the ship was not only given a new name, "Elise", but also a new engine. The single-cylinder June-Munktell engine with 60 hp is still in working order on the Galiot today. After the Second World War, in 1947, the ship was moved to Västervik and renamed "Svanevik". Twenty years later, it reached its new and final home port of Stockholm, where it was purchased by Hans-Christer Edborg's future wife Yvonne Silvén in 1970.
One interesting aspect is that the ship has continuously moved away from the shipyard or its first home port over time, heading north-east. The flat-bottomed ship with the typical centreboards was designed for tidal waters so that it could fall dry. The rocky bottoms in Swedish waters are a serious danger, especially for a flat-bottomed ship. One day, even King Carl Gustaf stumbled across the side swords, which were largely unknown in Sweden. His Majesty had actually been invited to an appointment with the neighbouring ship of the Sea Finders, but the peculiar swords caught his attention. For the shirt-sleeved Hans-Christer, this is a unique opportunity to have a chat with his king about the history of the Galiot.
"According to a horoscope I've kept, the perfect profession for me would be a detective."
Two detectives working together
In 1979, Edborg met Joachim Kaiser, a German expert on historic ships, who was travelling in Scandinavia on a research cruise. The two specialists became friends, went sailing together and regularly exchanged information and pictures over the years. Kaiser's mission is to preserve Germany's maritime heritage. To this end, he keeps a register of the remaining German traditional sailing ships and steps in to help when a historically valuable ship is in danger of being scrapped or disappearing into oblivion. His most spectacular coup was the recovery of the four-masted barque "Peking" from New York to Hamburg, where it was restored under his direction.
The "Svanevik" can also benefit from Kaiser, because at some point after the Second World War the centreboards were dismantled, never to be seen again. With a design drawing he produced, new, true-to-original centreboards can be made in Sweden.
But sometimes the little mysteries of the ship solve themselves, without any detective work. One day, an elderly gentleman who had worked on the "Svanevik" a long time ago knocks on the door. Curious, he enquires whether the old furniture is still there. Naturally, the former crew member is invited on board, where memories are brought back in the aft cabin. "He was as happy as a little child," says Edborg with a laugh and continues: "On Saturday evenings, he was always allowed to come into the captain's cabin to take part in the Kaffekask. In this drinking game, a coin is placed at the bottom of a cup and coffee is poured in until the coin is no longer visible. Then brandy is poured on top until the coin can be seen again. And then: drink up!" The captain at the time liked to cut up cubes of cheese on the corner of the table. Apparently the knife was very sharp, because the resulting notches are still visible on the table today.
Hans-Christer Edborg has spent more than half a century with the historic Galiot, researching her history down to the smallest detail. Now that the strength to look after the ship is waning, it is time to say goodbye. "I would be delighted if 'Svanevik' could return to Germany. That's where her story began, and that's where she should have a future."
The "Svanevik" in detail
Curriculum vitae of the steel galiot "Svanevik"
- 1914 Built and launched as "Anna Marie" at the shipyard of Jacobus F. Smit in Sappemeer (near Hoogezand) in Holland, commissioned by Hermann "Harm" Dieckmann from Iselersheim an der Oste, home port: Hamburg
- 1916 renamed "Claus" (same owner)
- 1918 Sale to Christian Pieper from Oldenbüttel on the Kiel Canal
- 1923 Installation of an auxiliary engine from H. Callesen from Apenrade with two cylinders / 50 hp
- 1930 Transferred from Christian Pieper to his son Johann Pieper
- 1936 Sold to Niels J. Møller, home port: Svendborg/DK, new name: "Aage"
- 1937 Sold to Niels Peder Nielsen, Nakskov/DK
- 1939 Sale to John Edvin Spindel, Pukavik/S, new name: "Elise", installation of a new engine from June-Munktell, one cylinder / 60 hp
- 1947 Sale to Harry and Erik Andersson, Västervik/S, new name: "Svanevik"
- 1967 Sale to Sven Lindberg, Stockholm/S
- 1970 Sale to Yvonne Silvén, Stockholm/S
- 1982 Sale to Hans-Christer Edborg, Stockholm/S
Technical data the "Svanevik"
- Shipyard: Jacobus F. Smit
- Length: 22,36 m
- Width: 5,60 m
- Depth: 1,90 m
- Loading capacity: 110 t
- Construction method: Steel, riveted
