GST Naval School "August Lütgens"

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The GST naval school "August Lütgens" in Greifswald-Wieck was from 1954 to 1989 the central pre-military-maritime training center of the Society for Sport and Technology (GST). It was directly subordinate to the central board of the GST and carried the name of the Hamburg seaman August Lütgens , who fell victim to the National Socialist judiciary in 1933. The training boats and ships were in Greifswald-Wieck at the mouth of the Ryck in the Danish Wiek . The buildings and facilities of the former school complex are now used as the Maritime Youth Village Wieck (“Majuwi”).

history

Situation before the founding of the Greifswald GST deep sea yacht station

The history of the Greifswald high-sea yacht station and later GST sea sports and naval school was closely linked to the development of the Society for Sport and Technology in the GDR, which arose as a new mass organization on the initiative of the FDJ on August 7, 1952. The GDR needed to protect the maritime borders, interested to build up the merchant fleet and fishing teens who saw their future profession as a sailor. Both the FDJ and, increasingly, the GST felt committed to this task.

With the handover of the newly built schooner brig "Wilhelm Pieck" by the President of the GDR , Wilhelm Pieck (1876–1960), to the Central Council of the FDJ as a sailing training ship for young people on May 26, 1951 in Warnemünde , the FDJ first became the shipowner, later the GST, and Rostock was the ship's home port until 1954. On behalf of the FDJ, the first courses and sailing trips with the new and only GDR sailing training ship in the Baltic Sea took place under the direction of the captain and Cape Horner Ernst Weitendorf (1883–1974). The establishment of the GST as an independent mass organization guaranteed new and effective opportunities for maritime training (sea sports). As early as August 1952, the FDJ took over all sea sports schools and the sailing school ship. The project for the construction of a central GST sea sports school with berth for the sailing training ship could not be implemented in Rostock due to the construction of the overseas port .

Ocean yacht station of the GST Greifswald-Wieck (1954–1958)

In the search for a suitable location to concentrate the maritime training technology of the GST, the choice finally fell on the port of Greifswald-Wieck at the Ryck estuary with its favorable location on the Greifswald Bay. From the GST “Seesportklub Greifswald-Wieck” there, the “Hochseejachten-Station Greifswald-Wieck” emerged on July 1, 1954 and became the center of GST's maritime training in the GDR. It was thus the forerunner of the later sea sports or naval school. The Greifswalder Bodden and the waters around Rügen and in front of Warnemünde served as sea areas for sea sports training with yachts.

After the founding of the National People's Army (NVA) on March 1, 1956, the character of the Greifswald training center changed: the preparation for military service in the naval forces, later the People's Navy , came to the fore. The first motor school boats came to the deep sea yacht station. The sailing training ship's first trips abroad led to the Baltic ports of Gdańsk , Leningrad , Helsinki , Turku and Stockholm . The 99-day journey of the GST sailing training ship with a crew of 33 across seven seas from Greifswald to Odessa on the Black Sea and back to establish connections with similar conceived organizations in the socialist countries, according to the Soviet countries, turned out to be the absolute highlight of the Greifswald high-sea yacht station DOSAAF . It lasted from May 15 to August 22, 1957 and was under the command of Captain Arthur Friedrich (1908–1970). Intermediate ports on this sea trip were Gibraltar , Durrës (Albania), Varna (Bulgaria) and Constanța (Romania). The writer Götz R. Richter reported about it as a participant in his book "Sails in Sun and Storm", Berlin 1958.

GST Seesportschule Greifswald-Wieck (1959–1968)

As the tasks of the high-sea yacht station approached that of a school and the training was based on the first programs, it was renamed the “GST Sea Sports School” on January 3, 1959. The new name also embodied a new stage in the pre-military-maritime training and education of the GST. The foundation stone for the new GST Seesportschule building on the southern bank of the Ryck near its mouth was laid in April. By 1962, a functional accommodation and school building, the large galley, a boat shed with the necessary workshops, a larger slipway and a new pier were built. Obsolete motor training boats were replaced with new ones.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the GST, the Greifswald Seesportschule received the name "August Lütgens" on August 15th, 1967. In the following year, on December 15, 1968, the head of the Volksmarine, Vice Admiral Wilhelm Ehm , handed over the largest and most modern training ship to date to the Greifswald GST-Seesportschule - a mine-laying and clearing ship (MLR) and a former rescue ship of the Volksmarine. Ernst Thälmann's daughter , Irma Gabel-Thälmann , baptized the new motor training ship in the name of the German workers' leader. At this point in time it was the second ship alongside the “Wilhelm Pieck” for longer training trips at sea.

GST Marine School "August Lütgens" Greifswald-Wieck (1969–1989)

GST Naval School "August Lütgens" (1977)

Due to the increased number of ships and the increased training capacity, the GST marine sports school "August Lütgens" was renamed on January 1, 1969 in the GST marine school "August Lütgens". In his honor, a memorial stone was inaugurated on June 26, 1970, which was removed when the maritime training center was closed in 1990. The climax in the development of the Greifswald Naval School was undoubtedly the 20th anniversary of the commissioning of the sailing training ship "Wilhelm Pieck" in the months of July and August in 1971. On its special day, the regular crew of the "Wilhelm Pieck" under Captain Karlheinz Schaefer († 2011), who led the ship from 1967 to 1972, had a remarkable record: more than 61,000 nautical miles (= 112,972 km) had been covered and 14 European ports were called been. Over 2,500 course participants received specific training; including 163 officer applicants, 940 non-commissioned officers and sailors specialists for the People's Navy and 115 course participants for their work in the GDR merchant fleet.

New foreign policy conditions, resulting from the decisions of the year 1973 in Helsinki held the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe showed that allowed the GDR to establish diplomatic relations with over 130 countries, including the FRG. As a result, the GDR sailing training ship was able to take part in the large international regatta " Operation Sail " from July 14 to 17, 1974 in the Baltic Sea. The great "windjammer sailing" of modern times, which took place in honor of the 30th anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland , was carried out by the English " Sail Training Association ". The sailing ship race began in Copenhagen and ended in the Gdansk Bay off Gdynia . The "Wilhelm Pieck" took an impressive 5th place under the command of Captain Helmut Stolle.

In the course of the intensification of practical sea training in the 1970s, three more training ships transferred from the Volksmarine, the later " Artur Becker " (1971) and "Friendship" [III] (1974) - two former loggers and auxiliary ships - as well as the large one and modern MSR "Ernst Thälmann" (II) ex. "Anklam" (1976) in Greifswald-Wieck after being converted into a training ship, her home port. The latter replaced the old "Ernst Thälmann". Due to the increased requirements of the GST-Marineschule for the People's Navy and the associated training capacity, the foundation stone was laid in January 1978 for an additional multi-storey administration and school building with a large conference hall as well as specialist and sports cabinets. In addition, extensive work on the reconstruction and expansion of the property began, with a new sports facility, a shooting range and a parking lot being created. At the same time the large, outdated and uneconomical MSS "Ernst Thälmann" (I) from 1967 was decommissioned and scrapped.

At the end of January 1980 the modern and spacious new building was ready to move into, and the previous school building from 1961 was converted into a social building with a boarding school with 80 places. In the 1980s, the qualified preparation of future soldiers / sailors, NCOs / Maate-Masters, ensigns and officers for their service in the People's Navy and the Coastal Border Brigade , the maritime unit (6th GBK), the border troops of the GDR , had the primacy the tasks to be solved at the GST naval school. To this end, a maximum of 42 courses were held each year on land and at sea.

The year 1989, however, marked the last and glittering high point in the development of the Greifswald GST Naval School: its 35th anniversary. In the same year serious changes took place in the GDR, which brought about a political turnaround in November 1989 and thus ushered in the end of the socialist state of GDR - the process of unification with the FRG began. This also made the GST and its naval school obsolete. The maritime teaching facility was wound up in the context of the dissolution of the GST in April 1990 and the staff were mostly unemployed, which last had 74 employees in administration, teaching, technology and on board. Only the “Artur Becker” as an internationally known recreational diving ship and the traditional sailing training ship “Wilhelm Pieck” were able to maintain their market economy until 2010 or until now.

In the time of its 35-year existence, there were a total of 27 school ships and boats at the naval school, on which around 25,000, mainly young citizens of the GDR, received well-founded pre-military maritime training. It should be emphasized that there have been no fatal accidents during the 35 years of nautical training.

Building of the former Greifswald Naval School

Training profiles of the GST Naval School Greifswald-Wieck

The training at the Greifswald Naval School was based on the basic concept of an effective connection between theoretical instruction and practical on-board training. Various models of differentiated preparation for maritime careers were used. In upbringing and personal development, the knowledge of the German pedagogue Adolph Diesterweg (1790–1866) was built on. The course participants (course participants) were trained for possible future use in accordance with their professional or school background and their personal inclinations. The training was oriented in three main directions:

  • Since the naval forces / people's navy and civil shipping in the GDR required ship officers and crews, GST courses of several weeks on nautical and technical specifics in theory and practice on the sailing training ship and the motor training ships were held in Greifswald. With this preliminary training, young people, who were mostly delegated via the basic organizations of the GST of the large companies and combines of the GDR (apprentices with vocational training, vocational school students), the extended secondary schools (high school graduates) and the fleet operating school of the VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (sailor apprentices ) received At the Greifswald Naval School, a solid education and motivation for the seaman profession as well as the foundation for possible professional use in the People's Navy or merchant shipping. The courses for the nautical, nautical and marine engineering careers have proven to be the most successful. Primary, however, was the pre-military-maritime training. The highlights of the practical sea training were always the visits to Greifswald GST training ships in foreign ports.
  • The maritime sports and diving centers (clubs) and the maritime training centers of the GST at the district and district level of the GDR - the district training and district training centers (KAZ, BAZ) - required volunteer instructors, trainers, diving instructors , boatmen for inland waterways, sea waterways and seaways as well as technicians and competition judges. They too found ideal conditions for training and further education in several weeks of courses. To a certain extent, the naval school had a leading function for sea sports and diving.
  • The full-time maritime permanent staff of GST received their technical and educational qualifications at the naval school in the form of courses, training courses, methodical conferences, teaching demonstrations and navigation instruction trips. Furthermore, on behalf of the Maritime Office of the GDR, training and further training courses were held for the staff of coastal shipping, in particular the fishing and technical fleet, to acquire the corresponding authorizations and patents, for example for skippers, ship machinists, lifeboats and fire-fighting boatmen as well as the marine radio license. There was cooperation with the Maritime Office of the GDR - since 1990 Waterways and Shipping Office Stralsund - the educational institutions of the People's Navy and the VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock, the Institute for Engineering Pedagogy Magdeburg and the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald .

The Greifswald Naval School was "synonymous with preparation for service in the Navy and the broader development and promotion of sea sports and diving in the GDR" (H. Sieger 2005).

Head of the GST-Hochseejachten-Station and from 1958 headmaster of the GST-Seesport- und Marineeschule in Greifswald-Wieck

Fritz Schmidt (Head, 1954); Karl Ottersberg (director, 1955–58); Corvette Captain d. R. Dr. paed. Helmut Sieger (headmaster, 1958–72); Wilfried Reich (official headmaster, 1972–74, † 2014); Sea captain d. R. Student Councilor Wolfgang Riemer (Headmaster, 1974–86); Sea captain d. R. Rudolf Rissmann (headmaster, 1987–90, † 2012). The head or school principal was subordinate to four areas, the area heads of which also acted as his deputies.

The Deputy Head of Patriotic Education (PE), from 1970 Deputy for Political Work (PA)

Walter Wagner (honorary 1954–1960), Heinz Günther (1962–1963), lieutenant captain d. R. Heinz Strauch (1963–1970), Wilfried Reich (1970–1972, 1974–1976), Wolfgang Jung (1976), frigate captain d. R. Bernhardt Mühlpfordt (1977–1987, † around 2007), frigate captain d. R. Wolfgang Julich (1987--1989)

The Deputy Head of Training

Hans Krüger (1955–1957), Corvette Captain d. R. Hans Wild (1957–1961), later main subject teacher at the GST Naval School; Corvette Captain d. R. Heinz Pilling (1961–1968), Corvette Captain d. R. Kurt Kettner (1968), Corvette Captain d. R. Horst Frank (1969–1970), later major subject teacher at the GST Naval School; First lieutenant to the sea d. R. Wilfried Ehrlich (1970–1984), frigate captain d. R. Peter Hoppe (1984–1989 / 90)

The deputy of the head of technology or material-technical assurance (MTS)

Function was only introduced in 1960, later designation Deputy for Material-Technical Security (MTS): Leutnant zur See d. R. Ing. Martin Bocklitz (1960–1969), First Lieutenant zur See d. R. Dipl.-Ing. Roland Müller (1969–1989 / 90)

The deputy of the head of finance / economy

Wolfgang Riesebeck (1955–1957), Gertrud Schuster (1957–1983), 1983 structural change in the areas of finance (Gertrud Schuster, until 1990, † 2013), technology / equipment (Roland Müller, until 1989/90) and supply (Thomas Arlt and Gerd Berndt, 1983–1989 / 90)

Greifswald GST school ships and boats, their whereabouts and their last commanders or captains

Sail training ship Greif ex. Wilhelm Pieck
Recreational diving ship Artur Becker
  • Sail training ship
    • Wilhelm Pieck , Schonerbrigg or Brigantine , built in 1951 in the Warnowwerft Warnemünde , first steel ship to be built after the end of the Second World War, the only sailing training ship in the GDR, former flagship of the Greifswald GST naval school (1954–89); since 1990 as Greif owned by the Hanseatic City of Greifswald , Helmut Stolle (1973–2000), Wolfgang Fusch (2000–2017), Roland Hunscha (since 2017)
  • Ocean yachts:
    the Greifswald GST-Hochseejachten (changing boat rulers) were subordinate to the respective head of the "yacht group", which was dissolved after 1960.
  • Motor training ships (MSS) and boats (MSB):
    • Patriot (MSB, formerly KS-Boot , one of the first MSBs at the GST ocean yacht station in Greifswald-Wieck (since 1956), decommissioned in 1960, in Stralsund conversion to the pioneer ship "Klaus Störtebeker" (I), Manfred Noack)
    • Friendship (MSB, former R-218 clearing boat , broken up in 1959, Otto Drehn)
    • Pioneer ( barge , 1958 to Rostock, Wilfried Reich)
    • Krake (Heuer, diving boat , 1967 to Seeburg , Bodo Strüwing)
    • Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , FL Jahn for short (MSS, 24 m cutter with support sail of 54 m², in 1972 to Rostock, scrapped in Rostock in 1978, Bodo Strüwing)
    • Friendship [II] (ex. Fürstenberg , MSS, former auxiliary and clearing ship , 1973 to Stralsund, there conversion to the pioneer ship "Klaus Störtebeker" (II), Bodo Strüwing)
    • Pioneer [II] (MSB, former KS-Boot, 1973 to Stralsund, Horst Berkowitz)
    • Partisan (MSB, former KS-Boot, 1967 to Wismar, Manfred Noack)
    • Patriot [II] (MSB, former customs boat ZB-24, 1974 to Rostock, Heinz Michael)
    • Ernst Thälmann [I] (MSS, formerly MLR , Habicht type, rescue ship of the Volksmarine (R-21), largest Greifswald training ship, scrapped in 1978 and scrapped in Rostock- Bramow, Hans Wild [1968–1974], Manfred Noack [1974– 1977])
    • Artur Becker (ex. Ruden , MSS, Logger , formerly auxiliary ship of the Volksmarine, recreational diving ship, 1990 to the Sea and Diving Center (STZ) Greifswald, 2010 sale to Denmark , there reported December 2nd, 2012 as scrapped, Volker Behm [1988– 1991], Karl Heinz Hanke [1992–2010])
    • Friendship [III] (ex. Rügen , MSS, Logger, formerly auxiliary ship of the Volksmarine, 1979 sale to Greece , Manfred Noack)
    • Ernst Thälmann [II] (ex. Anklam , MSS, formerly MSR of the Volksmarine, 1990 sale to Denmark, Bodo Strüwing [1977–1990])
    • Albatros (engine training boat MAB 12, 1990 to the STZ Greifswald)
    • Peene (the like, MAB-14, 1980 to Rostock); Ryck (dsgl., MAB-14, 1990 on the STZ Greifswald).

Only the schooner brig Greif ex remained of the former Greifswald GST training ship stock . Wilhelm Pieck , who celebrated her 65th anniversary at sea in August 2016.

literature

  • Author collective: Chronicle of the history of the Society for Sport and Technology 1952–1984. Berlin 1987
  • Lutz Mohr: On the history of the GST naval school "August Lütgens" in Greifswald-Wieck. In: Greifswald-Stralsunder Jahrbuch , Volume 12, Weimar 1979, pp. 83-100
  • Lutz Mohr: Greifswald school ships. In: Urania Universum , Volume 33, Leipzig 1987, pp. 280-289
  • Lutz Mohr : School ships under sail and engine. On the history of the GST naval school "August Lütgens" Greifswald-Wieck . Edition Pommern, Elmenhorst 2012, ISBN 978-3-939680-12-3 .
  • Gerd Peters : Well-wishers under sail. Operation Sail 1974. In: Jahrbuch der Schiffahrt , Berlin 1976, pp. 116–122
  • Wolfgang Riemer: The naval school of GST "August Lütgens". In: Marine calendar of the GDR 1980 , pp. 112–118
  • Horst Rickert: Sail training ship "Wilhelm Pieck". Captains report. Rostock 2009
  • Horst Rickert / Helmut Sieger: memories of a great journey. In: Marinekalender der DDR 1982 , pp. 6-14
  • Robert Rosentreter : Schonerbrigg GREIF ex. Wilhelm Pieck. A sailing ship legend. Rostock 2001
  • Helmut Sieger: 35 years of sailing training ship “Wilhelm Pieck”. In: Marinekalender der DDR 1986 , pp. 68–70
  • Helmut Sieger: Arousing maritime interests. Experience and probation for maritime enthusiasts. A historical look at the naval school of the Society for Sport and Technology Greifswald-Wieck. Lecture for a symposium of the Schifffahrtsgeschichtliche Gesellschaft Ostsee e. V. on August 20, 2005 in Greifswald-Wieck. Strausberg: Self-published 2005
  • Helmut Sieger : 60 years of Schonerbrigg "GREIF" ex. "W. Pieck ". 1951 to 1990 sailing training ship "WILHELM PIECK", since 1991 schoonerbrigg "GREIF". Strausberg: Self-published 2011
  • Lothar Knöpke: The deep sea yacht station in Greifswald-Wieck . Self-published, Greifswald 2016.

Web links

Coordinates: 54 ° 5 '39.3 "  N , 13 ° 27' 8.5"  E