Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Alexander von Humboldt"
Photos of the sailing ship:
Please click into a photo to see it in higher resolution.
Source, location, date:
Werner Jurkowski,
New York,
07/1992
Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail 1996 / Cutty Sark 1996,
08/1996
Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail 1996 / Cutty Sark 1996,
08/1996
Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail 1996 / Cutty Sark 1996,
08/1996
Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Sail Travemünde / Cutty Sark 2003,
08/2003
Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Kieler Woche 2005,
05/2005
Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail Rostock 2011,
08/2011
Technical data of the sailing ship:
| Name: | Alexander von Humboldt |
| Ex-names: | Reserve Sonderburg, Reserve Holtenau, Kiel, Confidentia |
| Registered port: | Bremerhaven |
| Nation: | GER |
| Type of rigging: | BARK |
| Year built: | 1906/1988 |
| Yard: | Werft AG Weser Bremen |
| Overall length: | 62.55 m |
| Length (hull): | 53.00 m |
| Breadth: | 8.00 m |
| Draught: | 4.88 m |
| Sail area: | 1010 m2 |
| Ship's hull: | Stahl / Steel |
| Power: | 510 PS |
| Engine: | MAN Diesel |
Portrait of the sailing ship:
Last update: 31 Jan 2022
- laid down in Bremen in 1906 as the first of a series of 4 sisterships, as the light ship "Reserve Sonderburg".
- during her time in service as a replacement light ship she moved around stations mostly in the Baltic and was often renamed, in 1920 she became the "Reserve Holtenau" and in 1945 she arrived at her own station as the light ship "Kiel".
- 1957 rammed and heavyly damaged by a Finnish freighter, towed to lower waters where she laid on ground, she returned to her station after repairs and modernising in 1959.
- 1967 she was replaced by a lighthouse and once again moved around stations, mainly in the North Sea, but now keeping the name "Kiel".
- decommissioned in 1986 when her station was taken over by an automated light buoy, laid up in Wilhelmshaven, suffered collision damage but was repaired before towed to Bremerhaven under the name "Confidentia".
- converted into a windjammer for young people on the initiative of Capt. M. Hövener, supported by the Beck brewery from Bremen, and the merchant Harms; since her commisioning on May 30, 1988 she has been the flag-ship of the Sail Training Association Germany (STAG) and the foundation "Deutsche Stiftung Sail Training (DSST)", renamed the "Alexander von Humboldt" to honour the German explorer, geographer and naturalist (1769-1859).
- has taken part in sailing events/regattas, such as the 1992 Columbus Grand Regatta and Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race in 1995, the 1996 Baltic Sail, the 1997 Aberdeen-Trondheim-Stavanger-Göteborg regatta, and the 1998 Kieler Woche.
- 1998/99 she undertook a world voyage pursuing the trail of Alexander v. Humboldt; during the 204 days the windjammer covered 14 870 sm, crossing the Equator for the first time.
- participated the Sail Bremerhaven 2000.
- voyage to South America in 2005/2006, circumnavigation of the Cape Horn.
- when the DSST commissioned the "Alexander v. Humboldt 2" in 2011 she was for sale, sold to a German businessman who offered daysailing trips on board starting in Freeport, Grand Bahama; the project failed.
- in May 2013 return to Bremerhaven, inspections in a shipyard, since April 2015 to October 2016 further use as a hotel ship in the Europa Habour of Bremen, GER; moved to the Schlachte (Weser) in Bremen then.
Last tracked position of the ship:
Map provided by FleetMon.com
Contact:
Website (deutsch, 31 Jan 2022):https://alex-das-schiff.de/new
Website of the hotel and restaurant ship in Bremen with contact address and many photos
Literature for further reading:
We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.
Ollivier Puget, Jean-Noël Darde
"Partir sur les Grand Voiliers - Le guide pour embarquer"
Guides Balland 2000 ISBN: 2-7158-1277-9
Page: 42 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact
Otmar Schäuffelen
"Die letzten grossen Segelschiffe"
Delius Klasing Verlag 1997 ISBN: 3-7688-0483-6
(9. aktualisierte Auflage)
Page: 71 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
Beken of Cowes, Eric C. Abranson
"Segelschiffe der Welt"
Edition Maritim 1995 ISBN: 3-89225-314-5
(engl. Originalausgabe: "Sailing Ships of the World", 1992, Thomas Reed Publications Ltd.)
Page: 20 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
Ollivier Puget
"Windjammer der Welt"
Edition Maritim 1999 ISBN: 3-89225-396-X
(franz. Originalausgabe: "Les Plus Beaux Voiliers Du Monde", 1997)
Page: 48 Source with picture Source with history
Giancarlo Schiavoni
"Unter Segeln, die grossen Windjammer auf den Weltmeeren"
Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH 1994 ISBN: 3-7822-0605-3
(ital. Originalausgabe: "La nave a vela")
Page: 73 Source with picture
Monika Kludas
"Mitsegeln auf Sail-Training-Schiffen - Ein praktisches Handbuch der S.T.A.G. mit Schiffsportraits"
Nordwestdeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Bremerhaven ISBN: 3-927 857-61-0
Page: 51 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
Anthony Churchill
"Sail to Adventure"
ISBN: 0 948337 05 2
Page: 32 Source with picture Source with history Quelle with contact
Gert Uwe Detlefsen, Stefan Lipsky, Heinz Trost
"Veteranen- und Museumsschiffe"
Verlag Gert Uwe Detlefsen 1997 ISBN: 3-928473-34-4
(3. umfassend erweiterte Auflage)
Page: 14 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
"Faszination Segelschiffe"
Ein interaktives Informationssystem auf CD-ROM 1998
(2. überarbeitete Auflage)
Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact
Thaddeus Koza
"Tall Ships - the Fleet of the 21th Century"
Tide-Mark Press, East Hartford 2000 ISBN: 1-55949-551-0
(http://www.tallshipsinternational.com/)
Page: 16 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
Otmar Schäuffelen
"Die letzten grossen Segelschiffe"
Delius Klasing Verlag 2002 ISBN: 3-7688-0483-6
(10. aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage)
Page: 81 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
Peter Rath
"Hanse Sail Rostock - Wo man sich begegnet"
Hanse Sail Verein Rostock e.V. 2005
(http://www.hansesail.com/)
Page: 26 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data
Clas Broder Hansen, Hans Jürgen Hansen
"Alexander von Humboldt: vom Feuerschiff zum Windjammer für die Jugend"
Gräfelfing vor München: Urbes-Verlag 1988 ISBN: 3-924896-13-5
Source with picture Source with history
Gerald Kistner
"Traumschiff für die Jugend: Alexander von Humboldt"
Bremerhaven: NWD-Verlag 1993 ISBN: 3-927857-42-4
Source with picture Source with history
Eckhardt Jahn
"Grüne Segel vor Kap Horn. Mit der Alexander von Humboldt um das Kap der Stürme. Ein Reisebericht"
Mammendorf: Pro-Literatur-Verlag 2006 ISBN: 3-86611-293-9
Source with picture Source with history