The three-masted barque Alexander von Humboldt

Monday, 12 October 2015 - 09:12 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, Tall ships
Reading Time:  4 minutes

All sails set © Winfried Huber

All sails set © Winfried Huber

Alexander von Humboldt is a German ship originally built in 1906 by the German shipyard AG Weser at Bremen as Reserve Sonderburg. She was operated throughout the North and Baltic Seas until being retired in 1986. Subsequently she was converted into a three masted barque by the German shipyard Motorwerke Bremerhaven and was re-launched in 1988 as Alexander von Humboldt.

Planned and ordered in 1906 as a reserve lightvessel (to stand in for other lightvessels during scheduled yard maintenance), the ship was launched on 10 September 1906 at AG Weser with construction serial number 155 as the first of its class. Her hull was based on a sailing ship, as was common in this class. There is no clear record if she was christened Reserve Fehmarnbelt (after her first station) or Reserve Sonderburg, as both names are documented. On the ship’s bell appears Reserve; a first home port at Sonderburg (today Sønderborg, Denmark) is most likely. From 1920 to 1945 the ship was home ported at Kiel-Holtenau and served in many locations, but mainly along Baltic shores.

She was installed in 1945 as a permanent replacement for the bombed and damaged light vessel Kiel. In the spring of 1957 she was rammed by a Swedish freighter and sank, was raised and after a two-year overhaul returned to service in 1959.

© Zeglarz Kiel 2007 © VollwertBIT © Ralf Künnemann © Dirk Unger Tall Ships Race - Gdynia 2009 © Marcin Sochacki All sails set © Winfried Huber
<
>
Tall Ships Race - Gdynia 2009 © Marcin Sochacki
During the summer of 1967 her location was upgraded to a lighthouse and she returned to stand-by reserve for North Sea deployment. Eventually she was assigned as permanent replacement for the retired Amrumbank. Being supplanted again by a fully automated light vessel – and following another collision and overhaul in Wilhelmshaven – was towed to Bremerhaven and named Confidentia.

A newly established foundation, the Deutsche Stiftung Sail Training or DSST [German Sail Training Foundation] bought the vessel and transformed her into a tall ship based on her sailing ship hull. On 30 May 1988 she was christened Alexander von Humboldt after the celebrated German explorer. In a historical reference to the sailing ships of the Rickmers shipping company of Bremen, her hull was painted green. Green sails were installed as a marketing tool for advertising campaigns by the ship’s sponsor, the German brewer Beck’s.

“Alex”, as she is called by her crew, serves as a sail training ship and is the flagship of DSST and has traveled over 300,000 nautical miles (560,000 km) in 20 years (equal to 14 times around the equator). High points every year are tall ships’ races and winter cruises to the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. During summer months she sails in the North and Baltic Seas.

Read more on Wikipedia Alexander von Humboldt. Learn more about the use of photos.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Theme Week Palestine - Beit Hanoun

Theme Week Palestine - Beit Hanoun

[caption id="attachment_171116" align="aligncenter" width="484"] © Lencer/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Beit Hanoun is a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip with a population of 49,000. It is located by the Hanoun s...

[ read more ]

The Albatros

The Albatros

[caption id="attachment_209925" align="aligncenter" width="590"] entering Cairns, Australia © Summerdrought/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]MS Albatros is a cruise ship, operated by the Germany-based travel agency Phoenix Rei...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Turkish Riviera - Alanya

Theme Week Turkish Riviera - Alanya

[caption id="attachment_169456" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © kallerna/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Alanya, formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a component district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of ...

[ read more ]

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

[caption id="attachment_161258" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hôtel la Païva © Tangopaso[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shop...

[ read more ]

The Wagner city of Bayreuth

The Wagner city of Bayreuth

[caption id="attachment_160537" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Richard Wagner Festival Hall on the Green Hill © rizi-online.de - Rico Neitzel[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bayreuth is a sizeable town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on th...

[ read more ]

The Nautica

The Nautica

[caption id="attachment_196092" align="aligncenter" width="590"] in Tallinn © Pjotr Mahhonin/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]MS Nautica is a cruise ship, built for Renaissance cruises as part of their R class. Nautica is now o...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Lombardy

Theme Week Lombardy

[caption id="attachment_153438" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Villa Isola del Garda © Luca Capuccini[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. A sixth of Italy's population lives i...

[ read more ]

Evesham in Worcestershire

Evesham in Worcestershire

[caption id="attachment_239027" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Evesham is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of Englan...

[ read more ]

Sydney in New South Wales

Sydney in New South Wales

[caption id="attachment_223687" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Chatswood to Sydney CBD © Mark Merton/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in A...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Rome - Colosseum and Trajan's Forum

Theme Week Rome - Colosseum and Trajan's Forum

[caption id="attachment_152607" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Colosseum © David Iliff[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]COLOSSEUM The Colosseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city...

[ read more ]

LaPlace in Louisiana, official Andouille Capital of the World

LaPlace in Louisiana, official Andouille Capital of the World

[caption id="attachment_246203" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Bailey's sausage shop © Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]LaPlace is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. John the Baptist Parish, Lo...

[ read more ]

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara

[caption id="attachment_239824" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Broncos vs 49ers preseason game © flickr.com - Jim Bahn/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, Ca...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top