At the beginning of the 20th century, the term “Windjammer” came into use for all schooners, barks and full-rigged sailing ships. The verb “jam” reflects the original sense of the word i.e. to exert -pressure. Thus, a “Windjammer” was a vessel jammed by the wind or jammed into the wind. All “Windjammer” models are handcrafted true-to-scale and feature sewn linnen sails.
Item.- No.: 6009
Barcode: 40 22762 60009 6
Product name: Greif scale: 1:60
Product dimensions L/H in mm: 700 x 580 mm
The “Greif” In a way the “Greif” is a unique and most remarkable sailing ship as she, presumably, is the only ship ever built and financed by the working people of a country. And this is how it came about: Warnemünde and Stralsund dockers wanted to present Wilhelm Pick, the 1st President of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) with a yacht on the occasion of his 75th birthday, and appealed to the population to contribute by donating money. In fact, in excess of 1 million Marks was raised this way. Wilhelm Schröder. a ship- building engineer at the “Warnow” wharf projected a schoonerbrigg of which a draft was presented to the President in 1951. End of February of the same year, the ship was laid down in Rostock- Warnemünde, and on the 26th May the first new ship built in the GDR featuring a steel hull was launched. She was christened “Wilhelm Piek”, and the President subsequently gave her to the youth of the country as a present.
She left port for her maiden voyage on the 2nd August and soon after went into service as a training vessel. On the 1st September 1954 the ship was handed over to the newly founded premilitary GST (Association for Sports and Technics) and transferred from Rostock- Warnemünde to Greifswald- Wieck, her new port of registry. The profound political and economic changes brought about by the re- unification of East and West Germany resulted in the fact that the “Wilhelm Piek” was suddenly threatened with sale. On initiative of the City of Greifswald supported by other organisations, the “Treuhand”, a Federal Government Agency charged with the sale and disposal of former GDR state assets, was finally convinced of the advantage of handing the ship over to the City of Greifswald. During the annual ” Kieler Woche”, the famous windjammer meeting, the first Tourist trips from Lübeck to Travemünde and Bornholm were successfully organized. A contract concluded in Berlin in 1991 between the City of Greifswald and the “Treuhand” made the City of Greifswald the new legal owners of the vessel. The remainder of the property of the former GST Marine Training Center was put into a public welfare fund. Shortly after, the City Council of Greifswald decided to rename the ship „Greif“ and have her interior re- fitted. At the same time, all nautical and safety equipment was brought up to the highest international standards. One million Deutsch Marks was made available for the purpose.
The year 1992 saw the founding of the city- owned Greifswald Nautical Sports and Div1ng Centre of which the “Greif” is an economically independent part. Within the scope of the international Sail Training Association Germany she now acts as an ambassador of the City of Greifswald on the motto „The Sea is our Bridge”. The model illustrated is 1:60 scale and measures 700 x 580 mm.
Item.- No.: 6007
Barcode: 40 22762 60007 2
Product name: Passat scale: 1:135
Product dimensions L/H in mm: 860 x 500 mm
The ship used to be part of the famous “P-Liner” fleet owned by Ferdinand Laeisz. Built by Blohm & Voss as a corn and saltpetre freighter, she started her maiden voyage from Hamburg on Christmas Eve in 1911 bound for Chile via Cape Horn which she rounded . 39 times during her active service as a “Windjammer”. She also has to her credit two round-the-world voyages (1932 and 1948).
The “Passat” was withdrawn from service when disaster struck in the Atlantic in 1957 and the “Pamir”, a similar training ship, sank -with nearly all her crew. The city of Lübeck saved the ship in 1959 from being broken up and granted her permanent moorings near the mouth of the Trave river. Today she is under protection as a monument and her masts, reaching 65 meters into the sky, have become a landmark for Travemünde.
The “Passat” offers facilities for hire by schools, clubs and private organisations whereby all proceeds go into a fund for upkeep and conservation of the ship. Available are the Captain’s Saloon (for up to 15 persons) the Officers’ Mess (taking up to 40 persons) and the hatchway (for up to 120 persons). The model illustrated is 1 : 135 scale measuring 860 x 500 mm.
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