A sailing ship is a vessel that uses sails to harness the power of wind for locomotion. For a very long time the sailing ships have been the most important means of transportation for goods and people over longer distances before they have been replaced by steam-powered ships and later by motor vessels beginning in about the 19th century. Smaller sailing ships are called sailing boats. Bigger sailing ships are called tall-ships because of their high masts with sails.

What is a so-called windjammer? The term is used for a big sailing ship from the 2nd half of the 19th century. The word is probably derived from "to jam" and means "jammed by the wind". This is realy true for these ships because we call sailing ships as windjammer when the ships mainly have square sails. Sailing ships with square sails go forward best by wind from behind which propels the ship.

Another less plausible definition refers to the sound of the wind in the rigging what in German language means "jammern", translated the moaning of the wind. The German language has adopted the term "windjammer" as a loanword from English in reference to sailing ships.

Windjammers that have been optimised for long-distance journeys across the oceans are called deep-water sailing vessels too. They are not suitable for sailing in coastal waters and have to be supported by other much more versatile ships there.

Today the windjammers are museum ships or sailtraining vessels. You can visit them or even sail aboard and many people enjoy windjammers very much during the maritime festivals during each summer.