Ice skate

Ice skate in front of the Kehdinger Küstenschiffahrts-Museum

Painting “Winter” by Adriaen van de Venne from 1614. In the center of the picture an ice skate with a sail, a signal transmitter in the hull

An Eiskahn (also ice boat ) is a boat on runners that was used during the Little Ice Age , but also in modern times in the Netherlands, Denmark and Northern Germany to travel on frozen waters.

Ice boats existed both with and without sails. The latter design could reach speeds of up to 40 km / h on the ice. To prevent collisions and accidents, a person sat in the front of the hull who blew warning signals on the ship's trumpet.

At the beginning of the 20th century, ice boats without sails were still in use between the Halligen as well as the North Sea islands and the mainland when the North Sea was frozen over. They were pulled and pushed by 5 to 10 people and used to transport mail, medicine and occasionally people. Ice-free passages were bridged by rowing.

Web links

• Pictures of ice boats on the side of Isbådsmuseet (Danish)

swell

• Christoph Driessen: Frozen, noiseless landscapes . dpa , January 24, 2011
• Hanswerner Röhr: With the ice boat through the Wadden Sea (PDF, 136 kB), accessed on January 26, 2011
• On the go with the ice boat . In: Inselzeitung Pellworm , issue 19/20 from January / February 1979, accessed on January 26, 2011