Evolution of The Ship Excursion - Part III
 By Don Dressel

One item that was not mentioned in last months article one the first day in Copenhagen was a trip to the National Maritime Museum, where we had an excellent lecture on the Hjortspring boat, c 350-300 BC. This rowing boat, found in a bog in Denmark, is one of the earliest northern European vessels and fills a transitional niche between boats fabricated from animal skins and proto ships constructed of wood. Unfortunately, the actual boat was not there but the many pictures supplied in the special lecture filled the gape.

As indicated in last months article, we now continue our excursion in Europe with a visit to the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde. This museum houses the Skuldelov ships of the 11th century. These are five Viking age wrecks, deliberately sunk to block passage to Roskilde Fjord. This rich assemblage of Viking ships contains two types of long ships used for warfare, knars or merchant vessels used for long range trade, and coastwise vessels, providing a cross section of Viking maritime life. Along with the five Viking vessels, that are partially assembled, there are also very good models of the vessels and, outside the museum, five replicas of the real ships that you can actually sail on. This is really a very large museum complex, and you could spend a full day here. There is a film to see in the museum’s main building where the five Viking ships are housed as well as the models. Outside is the “harbor” which has a lot of ships and boats on display at full scale (real ships) along with the five rebuilt Viking ships, all of which can be taken to sea. There is a workshop with all the tools used by the Vikings to make their ships. When I say tools, I really mean all the different kind of “axes” that were used – no saws, hammers, etc. The evening was again spent in enjoying the hospitality of the Danish people. My wife Liz was very taken with the colors of the buildings in Copenhagen and the beautiful canals that went throughout the city.

After breakfast in Copenhagen, we departed via coach (a very nice ride) for Schleswig, Germany. This was the ninth day of the trip, so we were about half way through the excursion. The countryside that you pass while traveling is very picturesque. While on these coach trips, we were privileged to have comprehensive lectures on the things we had seen and the things we were going to see by Dr. Ashley, the Executive Director of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. We found out later that he is also Captain Ashley, but more about that when we get to England. In Schleswig we went to the Schloss Gotorp Museum, which is really a German castle. There, we saw the Nydam boat, c 310-320 AD, a rowing proto Viking ship found in a bog on the Jutland Peninsula. This vessel is a superbly crafted expression of early Dark Age naval power and possibly exemplifies the kind of vessels that were used to conduct migrations of Germanic peoples in the time of Beowolf and the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain.

The Nydam boat was housed in it’s own building next to the castle. The castle itself was a museum with many, many interesting items to see. Then, behind the Nydam boat building was a carriage house, which had a great many different carriages and sleds to see. Again, there was a lot to see and not enough time available to see everything. The grounds around the castle were also very beautiful, reminding me of the Huntington Gardens in San Marino. After the night’s stay at the Hotel Waldschlosschen (which, by the way, has no problems with swimming – one person forgot his bathing suit but wanted to go swimming in the hotel pool. The receptionist said that was no problem, he/she could just swim in the nude – they have no problem with that) we departed for Hamburg, Germany.
Hamburg is a vibrant city with world-class shopping. Germany’s second largest city, it has a magnificent harbor right at its center and many canals and bridges. We were very lucky in that we got to visit the Peter Tamm collection at the Institute fur Schiffahrt und Marinegeschichte. This is currently a private collection that will shortly (2009) become public at the Hamburg Maritime Museum. There are over 5,000 paintings, watercolors and graphics from 1570 to present, 2,000 big ship models, 22,000 smaller ship models, military uniforms from the German Navy as well as WWII uniforms from Britain, the US, France, etc. The picture at the left shows the very large model of the Frederick Wilhelm mounted from the roof and hanging between the stairs leading to the third floor as seen from the lower landing . The picture at the right shows one of the many paintings. I managed to take these two pictures before we were told we could not take pictures – was really sorry about that, as there were so many models and things to take pictures of. OH, WELL – you can’t win them all. There are two of the currently four existing in the world ENIGMA machines (Germany’s secret coding machine during WWII), plates, silverware, and other artifacts from ships, maps, globes, etc. In short, the collection is awesome. We were lucky to see the collection (they had a great model of what the WWII German aircraft carrier would have looked like if built) all in one place.

Thursday, May 24th, after breakfast at the hotel in Hamburg, we went to the Deutsche Schiffahrt Museum to see the Bremen Cog. Again, more time would have been great at this Big museum, as there was a lot to see. The Bremen Cog, c. 1380, is a medieval merchant ship buried accidentally during a flood and recently found, excavated intact, and replicated in fully working form. This Bremen Cog is a superb example of the most important ship type of the Middle Ages in the time of the Hansa League. Displacing and superseding the much lighter Viking craft, the cog set the technological stage for the advent of European sea borne empires a century and a half later. The picture at the left shows some indication of the many other models at the museum, all of which were very well done. Between this museum and the Tamm collection, these last few days have been a real modeler’s delight. After visiting the museum, we went “next door” to the replica “Ubena” and went on a ride through the locks and out to the sea. It was fun setting the huge sail. The whole group had a great time aboard, but it was a good thing that this particular cog had an engine, or we may still be on the way back! A jolly good dinner was enjoyed in the evening. Next month, Amsterdam.


---To be continued