Projects
A Klabautermann for the Hanse Sail
The Klabautermann – patron saint of ships and seafarers
In the age of sail, seafarers had plenty of time for legends and tales on their long voyages. The Klabautermann, or ship's spirit, was frequently mentioned. In most European seafaring nations, these goblins, like Klabater or Klabautermänner, were always a topic of conversation. They were invariably seen as benevolent spirits who liked to alert sailors to minor repairs by knocking on the ship's hull. They also made noises in the holds if the cargo was improperly stowed, thus warning of dangers for the next voyage. In this way, they rumbled through the ship. However, they were also considered an oracle for shipwrecks. If they were seen leaving the ship, it boded ill for the vessel and its crew. In most legends and tales, they are invisible, and if they do appear, it is only to the captain.
A Klabautermann for the Hanse Sail, for the cosmopolitan and hospitable city of Rostock – for seafarers from all over the world, that's our Klabautermann! Thanks to modern electronic navigation on ships and ashore, today's Klabautermann has lost the myth of predicting shipwrecks. He is a good friend and patron saint of seafarers.
Our Klabautermann will greet the crews of many ships with a friendly old sailor's greeting. Taken from the foreword to Richard Wossidlo's book by Paul Beckmann, "Reise – Quartier – in Gottesnaam" (Travel – Lodging – in God's name).
If there are many people among the readers who, for forty to fifty years ago, sailed as captains or sailors on one of the Mecklenburg ships – perhaps even far from my friends, in Warmünn, in Wismar, in Wustrow, who were my shipmasters, then I call out to you the old Mecklenburg sailor's greeting, as it used to be on the Fischland coast:
Woll to seihn!
And this again in standard German:
If there should be any old people among the readers who themselves sailed as captains or sailors on one of the Mecklenburg ships forty to fifty years ago, perhaps even some of my friends from Warnemünde, from the Wismar area, from Wustrow, who were my teachers, then I call out to them the old Mecklenburg sailor's greeting, as was customary in Fischland in earlier times:
It's great to see you – I'm looking forward to seeing you again.
When the Klabautermann was seen, it was in various sailor outfits, striking and colorful. Most accounts describe him with red hair, green teeth, a white beard, and a pipe. A light wooden hammer on his belt was always with him. With a clear hand gesture – always a hand's breadth of water under the keel, fair winds and following seas, and farewell – our Klabautermann bids farewell once more.
Manfred Korthase
