How did the sailor’s life on board a freighter on its way to Hong Kong or South America look like? The simple crew quarters and the surprisingly luxurious officers’ quarters, as well as a detailed documentation inside the museum ship, provide visitors with very descriptive information about this.
The tall ship, built in 1896 in Bremerhaven as a full steel ship, experienced an eventful history. Portuguese authorities confiscated the freighter in World War I, transferred it to the English Navy, which used the Windjammer (from English “jam” = “compress”) as a transport ship.
After the end of the war, the ship was returned to the Portuguese navy and used as a training ship. In 1962 the sailor was taken out of service, floundering in a harbor near Lisbon until 1983, before being rescued from scrapping and transferred to Hamburg. There it was lovingly restored, transferred to the foundation of the same name and has been open to the public as a private museum ever since.
The RICKMER RICKMERS has been the official ship post office of the Deutsche Post with its own special postmark since 2006. Only the crew and embarked guests may use this post office, the visitors belong however to it! Post from Hamburg must be posted here.
Link to the website of the Rickmer Rickmers
Bildmaterial freundlicherweise zur Verfügung gestellt von RICKMER RICKMERS