Gera (ship, 1961)
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The Gera (ROS 223 GERA) is a museum ship belonging to the Historisches Museum Bremerhaven . The fishing motor ship built in 1959/60 at the Peene shipyard in Wolgast , which was given the fishing code "ROS 223", has been part of the deep-sea fishing fleet of the Rostock Fish Combine since 1961 and is today the last remaining side catcher in Germany . Since 1990 the Gera has been a floating museum for deep sea fishing in the fishing port (Bremerhaven) .
history
Deep sea fishing in the GDR
In the German Democratic Republic , deep-sea fishing began in the early 1950s. In 1952 two fish companies were founded as state- owned companies (VEB) for this purpose . While the Saßnitz fish combine mainly operated coastal fishing and fished the nearby fishing areas of the Baltic Sea and the Norwegian coast, the Rostock fish combine concentrated on deep-sea fishing with the more distant fishing grounds in the North Atlantic . Above all, these included fertile fishing grounds off Iceland and Greenland . Later they fished off Canada and Africa .
Side trawlers shaped deep-sea fishing until the 1960s. When fishing, the trawl net was deployed over the starboard side of the ship and hauled in with the help of a net winch and the muscular strength of the ship's crew. The catch was then slaughtered by hand and stored on ice. Deep-sea fishing on side trawlers was a very physically demanding and dangerous job for the crew.
The side trawlers used in East and West Germany were almost identical. In the early phase of deep-sea fishing in the GDR, more than 30 experienced West German captains were deployed, as the relevant training was still in its infancy in the GDR. As a rule, the crews of the East German side trawlers were several men stronger than those of the West German ones.
The Gera was put into service as a Type III side trawler at Fischkombinat Rostock in 1961. 1961 was also the last year in which side trawlers were still put into service in the deep-sea fisheries in East and West Germany. The rear trawlers built since 1957 became increasingly popular. The Gera was used as a side trawler in deep-sea fishing until the end of the 1970s. Until 1990 it was used in the Rostock fish combine as a feeder and transport ship for the fishing fleet.
Work on the Gera
After leaving Rostock , the Gera reached its intended fishing site after about six to eight days. The deck crew now deployed the trawl to the starboard side. The ship then picked up speed and the net was towed across the seabed . After two to three hours the towing process was finished and the net was hauled in. The net was first pulled sideways to the bulwark of the trawler using a net winch and muscle power . Finally it hung on the codend boom above the fishing deck and was opened by the best man . The catch spilled from the net onto the deck . The slaughter of the fish began immediately. The fish was put on ice in the holds .
The process of catching, slaughtering and stowing was repeated until the holds were full. It is not uncommon for deep-sea fishermen to work for up to two days without long breaks and without sleep. It had to be landed no later than 21 days after the catch, as the fresh fish would otherwise spoil even when stored on ice. In deep-sea fishing there was therefore great time pressure in front of the factory ships with freezing systems during the fishing trips.
Museum ship
In spring 1990 the managing director of the Fischereihafen-Betriebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft Bremerhaven mbH (FBEG), Reinhard Meiners, discovered the now discarded side trawler Gera while visiting the Rostock fish combine . Shortly afterwards, a Bremerhaven delegation under the direction of the director of the Bremerhaven Morgenstern Museum (today the Historisches Museum Bremerhaven), Alfred Kube, visited the Gera . The municipality of Bremerhaven made the unanimous decision to save the side trawler from being scrapped and to transfer it to Bremerhaven to set up as a museum ship.
In June 1990 the Gera was transferred from Rostock to Bremerhaven. Not only museum director Alfred Kube, but also the last crew of the Gera took part in this crossing, on which the purchase agreement between the Rostock fish combine and the city of Bremerhaven was concluded. The Gera changed hands for the symbolic amount of DM 1. On June 15, 1990, the Gera arrived at the Bremerhaven fishing port with great public participation. Since June 27, 1993 she has been open to visitors as a museum ship in the shop window of the fishing port.
As a museum ship, the Gera gives an authentic insight into the tough working world of West and East German deep-sea fishing on side trawlers. Its equipment has been completely preserved. Visitors to the Gera can inspect every area of the ship. The fishing deck, the holds, the engine room as well as the crew's chambers and the washrooms can be viewed. The drive of the Gera , a father and son machine system, is still intact and is regularly put into operation during demonstrations.
In 1993 the "Freundeskreis FMS Gera" was founded. This group of supporters of the museum ship is part of the support association of the Historisches Museum Bremerhaven and has set itself the task of maintaining the Gera as a museum ship and supporting the public communication of German deep-sea fishing history on the museum ship. Many members of the Freundeskreis are former deep-sea fishermen and ship technicians who provide visitors with first-hand information and history.
literature
- Anja Benscheidt, Alfred Kube: The last German side trawler. Deep sea fishing history on the museum ship Gera (= Small writings of the Historisches Museum Bremerhaven . Volume 3 ). Morgenstern-Museum, Bremerhaven 1995, ISBN 3-931285-00-6 .
- Anja Benscheidt, Alfred Kube: Deep sea fishing. Pictures from a bygone world of work (= history in pictures . Volume 1 ). Verlag für Neue Wissenschaft, Bremerhaven 1996, ISBN 3-89429-757-3 .
- Anja Benscheidt, Alfred Kube: Course Iceland. With deep-sea fishermen on a fishing trip (= history in pictures . Volume 3 ). Verlag für Neue Wissenschaft, Bremerhaven 2005, ISBN 3-86509-309-4 .
- Alfred Kube: fishing motor ship ROS 223 “Gera”. The last side trawler as a Bremerhaven museum ship . In: Maritime Monument Protection in Europe . Bremerhaven 1995, p. 35-48 .
Web links
- Gera website
- Website of the Historical Museum Bremerhaven
- The Gera on the website of the city of Bremerhaven
- Short film about Gera on the website of the city of Bremerhaven
Coordinates: 53 ° 31 '18.8 " N , 8 ° 35' 6.6" E