Rickmer Rickmers

Brief information

Rickmer Rickmers began as a long-distance cargo sailing ship and now stands in Hamburg as a museum ship. Its main distinction is already visible in the very type of vessel: it is a three-masted barque with a steel hull, not an antique-style decoration, but a former working ship that carried rice, bamboo, coal, saltpeter, and military cargo.

The most telling change happened after a hurricane in the Indian Ocean during the 1903-1904 voyage. The vessel lost its mizzenmast, put into Cape Town for repairs, and, because of the cost of the work, was refitted as a barque. That is why its museum appearance is connected not only with restoration, but also with an accident after which the sail plan itself changed.

What to notice first

It makes sense to look at Rickmer Rickmers as a vessel where different purposes left traces in its structure. The steel hull recalls its cargo work at the end of the 19th century: this is not a wooden training mock-up, but a sturdy ocean-going construction. The three masts show the restored sailing image, but the story of the lost mizzenmast explains why the present silhouette is connected with a post-accident conversion, and not only with the original design.

The shrouds here matter not as a pretty maritime detail, but as a working part of the ship's vertical structure: visitors are allowed to climb them up to 30 meters, while the maximum height of the restored mast is 54 meters. Another layer of its biography is the two auxiliary diesel engines installed in 1930, when the former cargo barque was already serving as a training ship. In this way, the hull, masts, shrouds, and engines show not one era, but several successive roles of the ship.