The Alexandra at the Dock Schiffsbrücke in Flensburg
109-year old passenger steam ship back in Flensburg Harbor after “Heart Transplant” in Husum.
FLENSBURG/ HUSUM- It has been four months, since Flensburg’s iconic ship, “the Alexandra” disappeared from the dock area Schiffsbrücke, located near the Rum and Ship Museum (Schiffahrtmuseum). The 109-year old steamship, built in 1908 by Janssen & Schmilinsky, is the last saloon ship of its kind that is operated on steam, had been at the docks of Husum, undergoing one of the most complicated operations in its own history.
Crews at the Husum Dock and Repair Corporation had to cut open the 37 meter long ship, removing parts of the upper deck and its signature smokestack to remove the boiler that had been in the ship’s hull since the ship was built. The boiler, which used wood and coal to heat the water and at between 180 and 200°C, was considered functionally obsolete and was therefore swapped in place of the newest boiler, which has the same function as its predecessor, but dependent mostly on wood. The total cost for the replacement was 780,000 Euros (appr. $810,000) A film demonstrating how the new boiler works, courtesy of SHZ.de, is below to show the readers.
Although the replacement took place in November, rebuilding the ship to its original form, combined with technical inspections and pursuing permission to operate the ship and return it back to Flensburg delayed its debut until today.
After a two-day journey, totalling over 400 kilometers, the Alex was greeted by thousands of visitors and fans today as it arrived at its original home for the first time after a four month absence.
The replacement of the boiler was one of seven successful restoration projects on the Alex since 1975. In 2015, new steel was added to the ship’s hull, replacing original parts that had corroded and put the ship at risk of being decommissioned. With the ship back in Flensburg, the next steps are to prepare it for its seasonal use beginning the weekend of Ascension Day in May. By then, the ship will welcome visitors, locals and fans as it tours the Flensburg Fjorde, while the ship’s captain, Guenther Hermann, talks about the ship’s history, together with the city’s history.
The ship was named after the Princess of Schleswig-Holstein/Sondernburg/Glücksburg Alexandra Victoria (1887-1957), whose royal family had resided in Glücksburg Castle until 1918.
The ship runs at a horsepower of 420 PS and travel at a maximum of 12 knots (22 km/h)
The ship was the ambassador for the sailing competition at the 1936 and 1972 Olympics. Kiel was used as the venue for both, even though the remaining competition was in Berlin and Munich, respectively.
The ship was used extensively for scuba crew and as a torpedo interceptor during World War II. It was also a rescue ship.
The ship provides passenger service between Flensburg and Glücksburg, as well as tours around the Fjorde.
Since 1982, the Alexandra has been listed in the Denkmalschutz Buch, the German equivalent to the National Register of Historic Places in the United States. Since the 1990s, it is the last passenger steamship of its kind in operation in Germany.
Author’s Note: This article is a two-in-one deal. It’s an article in connection with Germany’s 25th anniversary, but it’s also in connection with the Files’ five years and how this column came into being. Enjoy! 🙂
While living in Germany, one will see a unique feature that has been talked about at the dinner table: institutions, laws and agreements named after German cities. We are not talking about institutions like breweries, whose headquarters are found at their places of origin, like the Flensburger, the Berliner Weisse, the Köstritzer, the Saalfelder and the like. That topic is saved for a rainy day, unless you want to know more about German beer (in that case, there’s an article for you right here). And what is also typical are the newspapers named after cities- these are also common everywhere and heceforth will be left out here.
What is meant by institutions are the banks and insurance companies that were founded in the place or origin, and with some exceptions to the rule, still exist today. Many of these financial institutions had their roots to the time of Bismarck’s regime beginning in 1871, the time when Germany was first founded as a country. Part of that had to do with Bismarck’s introduction of the social welfare and health care systems, where every citizen was required to have insurance in case of an accident. With that came the dawn of the insurance (More on that later). The Dresdner Bank was one of these examples. Founded in 1872 Karl Freiherr von Kaskel and based in Dresden, the bank became one of largest banks in Germany and eastern Europe, surviving two World Wars and the Cold War before it folded into the Commerzbank in 2009. There is also the insurance group Alte Leipziger, located an hour west of the city in Leipzig, which provides insurance coverage, especially for burn-out syndrome and other psychological disorders. One will find such (financial institutions) in many big cities, such as Munich, Stuttgart, Hannover and Frankfurt, just to name a few.
City laws and agreements are even more unique in Germany. While in the Anglo-Saxon countries have conferences and agreements on a larger scale in terms of international relations (such as the Washington Conference of 1922, the Bonn Agreement on Afghanistan in 2001 and the Frankfurt Documents in 1948), what is meant by agreements are the creation of domestic laws and systems that people in Germany have to abide by, which were signed and enacted at the place of origin. In some cases, like the Flensburg Point System, there is even an office that specializes in this type of law. As seen in the point system, the Kraftfahrtbundesamt (the office of vehicular registration) in Flensburg is responsible for giving drivers points for violations on the road. Other agreements known to exist include:
_The Düsseldorfer Tabelle: Founded in 1962 based on a controversial ruling and its subsequent appeal, the table determines how much child support a partner has to provide at the time of the divorce. It is classified based on the amount of money that person has to pay per month until the child is 25 years of age.
_Frankfurter Tabelle: This table is used to determine how much money a traveller should receive as a refund for lack of accomodations. This is determined by another table created in Kempten. The Würzburger Tabelle has a similar scheme but for boat cruises.
These are just a handful of agreements and laws that exist, which leads us to this activity:
Identify which city has its own law and agreement that was enacted in its place of origin and describe briefly what it is and how it works. That you can do in the comment section, links are welcomed regardless of language. 🙂
Origin of the Files:
Keeping German cities in mind, the next question that many readers, family members, friends and colleagues have been asking me is: Why Flensburg and not Frankfurt? As Piggeldy and Frederick would say: Nichts leichter als das (Easy as this):
I visited Flensburg for the first time in May 2010, as I needed to get away from everything that had been going on in my life that was unwelcomed. Just to put it bluntly and leaving it there. I had heard of the city and its proud heritage from a pair of people who either come from there or have lived there for many years. One was a former student colleague from my days as a teacher in Bayreuth, another was my best friend and his girlfriend from my days in Thuringia. I had heard about the point system before that and the beer. But upon setting foot on Flensburg soil, and exploring the city and visiting the people, it became the city worth visiting (along with the surrounding region), because of its natural surroundings, its landscape, and especially its history, tied together with that of Germany, Denmark and on the international scene. Some articles have been written about it, other themes have yet to make the column (and will soon enough). 🙂
While my main profession is an English teacher (and I’ve been doing this for 15 years), my second profession is a writer, who has been contributing works not only to this one but also to other newspapers. One day, in response to a letter I had written to a local newspaper demanding that my hometown in Minnesota set an example of what Flensburg is doing with its historic architecture by saving the former high school building, a friend and former high school classmate of mine recommended me to the areavoices website, where I can write about my experiences as a Minnesotan living in Germany, providing some photos and food for thought. She works at the Forum Communications Company based in Fargo, North Dakota but has newspaper offices throughout the Midwest, including Worthington (Minnesota), Mitchell (South Dakota), and those throughout North Dakota in Grand Forks, Jamestown and Williston, just to name a few.
After some thought about her offer, why not?
Together with the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles, the Flensburg Files made its debut in October 2010. The origin of the Files came from my will to keep the German tradition alive: my visit in Flensburg, using the German city name for the title, and the files- there is a file for every document submitted in a form of article, photos, interviews and the life. Besides, one can do a whole lot with the letter F, as you can see in the logos below.
Five years laters, the Files is running strong. Not only does the column provide some topics pertaining to German-American themes and places to visit (Christmas markets included), but it has extended to include more on culture, education (esp. for those wanting to learn English and are non natives), current events and some food for thought on the part of the author. It now has a wordpress website, which has attracted almost a thousand subscribers (and counting) plus unknown numbers of frequent visitors to the Files’ facebook pages and twitter. In other words, it has gotten bigger, attracting a large audience from all aspects of the world. Plans are in the making in the future to include a couple more social networks and provide a few more series beyond 2015, but the Files will remain the same, an online column that provides readers with an insight of German-American themes, even if it means going behind the scenes, as the author has done already.
This leads to the last question: Why Flensburg and not other cities in Germany? We have too many institutions, laws and agreements going by the names of Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg, just to name a few. Plus using names of other small cities are possible but they don’t provide the kick to a top-notch column like this one. One could rename it like the Husum Herald, St.Pauli Sentinal, Münster Morning News, Nuremberg Newsflyer, Glauchau (Daily) Globe (here, the people in Worthington would have a say in that), Leipzig Local (again same as Glauchau as that group exists), Weimar World News, etc. But nothing can top what the Flensburg Files can offer for title. And sometimes using something local and building off of what the city offers for rum, beer, handball and its point system, in addition to its beaches, landscape and especially its heritage can give a city like Flensburg a boost, like it has in the five years it has been in business, with many more years to come. 🙂
To close this article here’s a word of advice for those wanting to start an online column like this one, or a career as a journalist. Because our world is full of lies and corruption, there is one variable that is constant, which is the truth. The truth is the most important commodity a person has to deal with. This includes being true to yourself and your future. If you are sure that you want to uncover the truth and expose it, then do it. People may laugh at you at first, and you may face failure for the first few months or even years, but in the end, if you are true to your heart, you will win the hearts and minds of true friends who will stay with you to ensure that you stay to your course to become a successful writer. It takes likes of patience, passion, perseverence and persistence- the 4 Ps. Once followed, and once you receive accolades and respect for you as a true writer, then you will reach your destiny and beyond. Aim high and let the heavens do the rest.
And now, back to the writing…… 🙂
Logo from 2011Logo from 2013Its present logo (since 2014)
Sheep grazing along the Eider outside Friedrichstadt with the railroad bridge in the background. Photo taken in 2012
And now, the moment you have been waiting for, for two weeks: the answers to the questions about the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Going from north to south the Files is providing readers with a guessing quiz on each of the German states as part of the series on Germany at 25. For the northernmost state in Germany, the area is rich in culture and history, which after looking at the answers to the guessing quiz, you will be motivated enough to spend a few weeks up there.
The answer key is only a complement to the guessing quiz which you can access here and print out for you to try on your own, as well as test your family and friends, especially those originally from the region who might need a refersher. However, you are also free to comment on the answers to the guessing quiz, either in the comment section or directly via e-mail, using the contact info available under About the Flensburg Files header page.
So without further ado, here are the answers to the quiz on Schleswig-Holstein:
ANSWERS FROM THE MÄÄHTRIX EXERCISE:
What’s the capital of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
Answer: Kiel
Which of these communities is NOT a community but an island?
Answer: Sylt
Interesting Fact: The Island of Fehmarn is also considered an island featuring several small villages plus the towns of Burg, Burgstaaken and Puttgarden. Yet since 2003, all the communities consolidated to form an Island-Community or City Island. Sylt still remains an island with many small communities run locally by their own governments.
List the communities in order from largest to smallest in terms of population.
Kiel (242,000)
Lübeck (210,000)
Flensburg (89,300)
Neumünster (77,000)
Itzehoe (32,700)
Bad Oldesloe (24,100)
Husum (22,200)
Sylt (21,000)
Heide (20,800)
Quickborn (20,200)
Eutin (17,300)
Bad Seegeberg (15,900)
Fehmarn (13,000)
Plön (12,800)
Friedrichstadt (2,400)
Which community has the highest concentration of Danish people in Germany?
Answer: Flensburg. Of the ca. 90,000 inhabitants that live in this city, 30% are of Danish descent. No wonder that the city has several Danish schools and stores, mostly in the north and west of Nordermarkt.
Which community was established by the Dutch?
Answer: Friedrichstadt. The town was founded by Dutch Protestants in 1643 and is characterized by its houses, canals and even bridges, including its signature double-bascule draw bridge. More on the city’s bridges can be found here through the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles.
Which community is famous for its chalk hills and is the site of Karl May’s Cowboys and Indians Show (a.k.a. Winnetou)?
Answer: Bad Seegeberg. Every summer in July, Winnetou and his Native American friends make a stop here to challenge the likes of Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson, just to name a few.
You’ll never be a full-fledged international tourist unless you visit this community with its historic city center (a UNESCO site, BTW) and try the world famous marzipan candy. Name this town in Schleswig-Holstein.
Answer: Lübeck. More on why you should visit this city to come in the Files. But if you don’t visit this city, you’re touristic criminal. 😉
“Moinson!” German actor Axel Prahl, who plays Thiel in the ARD mystery series “Tatort” (Crime Scene in EN) is originally a Schleswig-Holsteiner, originating from which community? (Note: It has a fine castle).
Answer: Eutin, located between Kiel and Lübeck. If you’re not convinced he uses this greeting profusely or if you want to know what he looks like, enjoy this Tatort film below:
Correction: The greeting is spelled “Moins En,” according to local sources.
Which two communities have a premere league handball team and what are their official team names? (Hint: The Files has profiled them in many occasions since its inception in 2010)
Answer: Flensburg and Kiel. The official name for Flensburg’s team is the SG Flensburg-Handewitt, featuring the acing albatrosses from two Flensburg handball teams and one from neighboring Handewitt that merged to be one team in 1990. The zebras of THW Kiel have been in the handball business for over 100 years (since 1904) and have been kings of the German and international leagues for over 50 years.
Which community is famous for its “Kornschnapps” (EN: grain schnaps)?
Answer: Bad Oldesloe, located between Hamburg and Lübeck.
ANSWERS TO HYBRID QUESTIONS:
Which river in Schleswig-Holstein is the longest?
a. Trave b. Treene c. Träne d. Tine e. Schwentine f. Eider
Answer: The Trave. At 124 km in length, the river flows through the eastern part of the state before emptying in the Baltic Sea at Travemünde near Lübeck.
Note: The Eider River would have been the right answer had it not been for the construction of the Baltic-North Sea Canal. Originally, the river sliced through the state from Tönning to Kiel, thus creating first the border between the Danish and Prussian Kingdoms then later the kingdoms of Schleswig and Holstein. It was 188 km long, however today’s river starts at Rendsburg and continues its route to Tönning, with the total length being cut down to 100 km.
How many castles does Schleswig-Holstein have, and can you name two of them? (Hint: Eutin has one so it does not count)
Answer: seven. They include ones at Eutin, Ploehn (Plön), Salzau, Gottdorf (near Schleswig), Husum, Ahrendsburg and Glücksburg.
The last of the coal-fired steamboat exists in Germany and is still in operation in Flensburg. What’s the name of the ship?
a. Alexandra b. Bertha c. Clara d. Dora e. Euphremia f. Flora
g. Greta h. Helena i. Illonka j. Johanna
Answer: a. Alexandra. This ship was built in 1908 and still provides tours in the region between Flensburg, Holnis and Kappeln. Rumor has it though that this ship is expected to retire soon.
The Kiel Canal (a.k.a. Grand Canal) is a waterway built in 1895 connecting which two cities and their two seas? Schleswig-Holstein is bordered by these two seas.
Answer: The Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Hence the name Baltic-North Sea Canal or in German: Nordostseekanal (NOK)
The Grand Canal replaced the canal that followed the Treene River. True or False?
Answer: False. The Grand Canal replaced the Alte Eider Canal, which ran parallel to today’s canal between Kiel and Rendsburg as a canal and as the river Eider from Rendsburg to the mouth of the North Sea at Tönning
Name two of ten bridges over the Grand Canal. One of whom has received many accolades for its engineering wonder. (Hint: Sister column The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles did a report on this theme)
Click here to get the answers. The Rendsburg Bridge is one of the bridges that received several accolades on the national and international level because of its unique bridge design. More on that here.
17.Uwe Barschel, a Social Democrat, resigned from his post as prime minister amid a scandal on October 2, 1987. Nine days later, his body was found at a luxury hotel in which city?
a. Munich b. Berlin c. Amsterdam d. Berne e. Geneva f. Vienna
g. Budapest h. Paris i. Prague j. New York
Answer: e. Geneva Correction: Barschel was a Christian Democrat, not a Social Democrat, according to locals and the history books.
The 1972 Summer Olympics took place in Kiel. True, False, or Naja?
Answer: Naja. While the majority of the events took place in Munich, the yachting portion of the events took place in Kiel.
Which German cartoon character originated from Schleswig-Holstein?
Die Wilde Kerle (The Wild Boys)
Werner
Wallace and Gromit
Answer: b. Werner the wild motorbiker. Interestingly enough, Rötger Hoffmann, the creator of this cartoon character, just recently celebrated his 65th birthday. He founded the series in 1982.
Which annual festival in Schleswig-Holstein does NOT exist?
Apple Festival in Glücksburg (near Flensburg)
The International Yacht Festival in Kiel
International Kite-flying Festival in Travemünde (near Lübeck)
Crocus Flower Pagent in Husum
Tulip Festival in Friedrichstadt
Answer: e. The Tulip Festival does NOT exist in Friedrichstadt, BUT there is a similar festival some 6,000km away in another Dutch city, Pella (Iowa) in the US.
You’re not a true Schleswig-Holsteiner unless you try one of the two local specialties (a.) and a good (b.) beer.
Answer:
a. Sauerfleisch with broiled potatoes OR any delicacies with fish
b. Flensburger beer
Fehmarn Island is the flattest island in Germany. True or False?
Answer: False, but the island is the largest in Germany.
The Fehmarn Bridge, built in 1963, was the first bridge in the world to use this design?
Answer: The basket handle tied arch bridge. Since then, many engineers have embraced this design, and another bridge in Schleswig-Holstein will be built at the Levansau crossing using this design.
St. Peter-Ording is a popular health span resort namely because of of the discovery of which mineral in a geyser discovered in 1953?
Salt Petroleum c. Sulphur d. Nitrate e. Hydrogen
Answer: c. sulphur
How many universities and colleges exist in Schleswig-Holstein? Can you name two of them?
Answer: 12
They are: The University of Kiel
The University of Applied Sciences of Kiel
The Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts in Kiel
The Europe University of Flensburg
The Flensburg University of Applied Sciences
The Lübeck Academy of Music
The University of Lübeck
The Lübeck University of Applied Sciences
The University of Applied Sciences in Wedel
The Pinneberg AKAD
The Nordakademie of Elmshorn
The Westkuste University of Applied Sciences of Heide
And now after getting acquainted with the first of 16 states in Germany, we will now move on to the second state going south. This is one of three city-states and one that was on the news most recently: Hamburg. More in the next article….
The clipper ship Passat at its port and museum in Travemünde (near Lübeck). Photo taken in 2013
Starting off the series on Germany at 25 and a look at each of the German states, we will now have our first look at the northernmost state of the country, Schleswig-Holstein. Bordered by two seas, as well as Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Pommerania, Hamburg and neighboring country Denmark, the German state consisted of two kingdoms that merged in 1544: The Duchy of Schleswig in the northern half and the Duchy of Holstein in the southern and eastern part. And although the border extended north into southern Jutland because of the Prussian victory over the Danes in 1864 (consisting of the Danish towns of Kolding, Sondernburg and Esjeberg), the present border, extending west from Flensburg towards Sylt has been in place since 1919 (not counting Adolf Hitler’s conquest during the Third Reich). The country is one of the most cosmopolitan in Germany as up to 40% of the population consist of the Danish minority, as well as people with a Frisian background and immigrants from other countries. Even some pockets of American expatriates can be found in some communities in the state. Each district and community has its own identity, culture and history worth exploring and speaking from the author’s experience, once you visit Schleswig-Holstein once, you want to visit it again, regardless of whether you want to visit the same part of the state again or different areas, hence picking up some statements and the famous greeting: “Moin Moin!” 🙂
This article features a guessing quiz on what you want to know about Schleswig-Holstein- 25 questions in all, ten of which are in connection with the matrix activity involving the state’s famous communities. If you want to test your knowledge, take the quiz with your friends and family and share the information with others. You will find the answers to the questions by clicking here. If you have any questions, contact the Files using the contact details in the webpage or by sending a facebook message. Viel Spass und viel Glück! 🙂
25 QUESTIONS ABOUT SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN:
Use the following communities in the matrix to answer the first 10 questions:
.
What’s the capital of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
Which of these communities is NOT a community but an island?
List the communities in order from largest to smallest in terms of population.
Which community has the highest concentration of Danish people in Germany?
Which community was established by the Dutch?
Which community is famous for its chalk hills and is the site of Karl Mey’s Cowboys and Indians Show (a.k.a. Winnetou)?
You’ll never be a full-fledged international tourist unless you visit this community with its historic city center (a UNESCO site, BTW) and try the world famous marzipan candy. Name this town in Schleswig-Holstein.
“Moinson!” German actor Axel Prahl, who plays Thiel in the ARD mystery series “Tatort” (Crime Scene in EN) is originally a Schleswig-Holsteiner, originating from which community? (Note: It has a fine castle).
Which two communities have a premere league handball team and what are their official team names? (Hint: The Files has profiled them in many occasions since its inception in 2010)
Which community is famous for its “Kornschnapps” (EN: grain schnapps)?
.
.
HYBRID QUESTIONS:
Which river in Schleswig-Holstein is the longest?
a. Trave b. Treene c. Träne d. Tine
e. Schwentine f. Eider
How many castles does Schleswig-Holstein have, and can you name two of them? (Hint: Eutin has one so it does not count)
The last of the coal-fired steamboat exists in Germany and is still in operation in Flensburg. What’s the name of the ship?
a. Alexandra b. Bertha c. Clara
d. Dora e. Euphremia f. Flora
g. Greta h. Helena i. Illonka j. Johanna
The Kiel Canal (a.k.a. Grand Canal) is a waterway built in 1895 connecting which two cities and their two seas? Schleswig-Holstein is bordered by these two seas.
The Grand Canal replaced the canal that followed the Treene River. True or False?
Name two of ten bridges over the Grand Canal. One of whom has received many accolades for its engineering wonder. (Hint: Sister column The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles did a report on this theme)
Uwe Barschel, a Social Democrat, resigned from his post as prime minister amid a scandal on October 2, 1987. Nine days later, his body was found at a luxury hotel in which city?
a. Munich b. Berlin c. Amsterdam
d. Berne e. Geneva f. Vienna
g. Budapest h. Paris i. Prague j. New York
The 1972 Summer Olympics took place in Kiel. True, False, or Naja?
Which German cartoon character originated from Schleswig-Holstein?
Die Wilde Kerle (The Wild Boys)
Werner
Wallace and Gromit
Which annual festival in Schleswig-Holstein does NOT exist?
Apple Festival in Glücksburg (near Flensburg)
The International Yacht Festival in Kiel
International Kite-flying Festival in Travemünde (near Lübeck)
Crocus Flower Pagent in Husum
Tulip Festival in Friedrichstadt
You’re not a true Schleswig-Holsteiner unless you try one of the two local specialties (a.) and a good (b.) beer.
a.
b.
Fehmarn Island is the flattest island in Germany. True or False?
The Fehmarn Bridge, built in 1963, was the first bridge in the world to use this design?
Hint: The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles has this bridge as its logo:
Peter-Ording is a popular health span resort namely because of of the discovery of which mineral in a geyser discovered in 1953? a.Salt b. Petroleum c. Sulphur d. Nitrate e. Hydrogen
How many universities and colleges exist in Schleswig-Holstein? Can you name two of them?
THE FLENSBURG FILES 