Hans Peter Juergens

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Hans Peter Jürgens with one of his pictures (1975)
Portal cranes of the Howaldtswerke
Hans Peter Juergens , 1991
watercolor
68 × 96 cm
City Museum - Warleberger Hof , Kiel

Link to the picture
(please note copyrights )

Hans Peter Jürgens (born March 3, 1924 in Cuxhaven ; † October 11, 2018 in Kiel-Holtenau ) was a German captain and Cape Hornier and author . He is considered one of the most famous marine painters in Germany.

Life

The Priwall

Hans Peter Juergens came from a family of whalers and seamen; his father Hans Jürgens was the captain on the full ship Posen for the Hamburg shipping company F. Laeisz . In May 1939 he left the humanistic grammar school without a qualification and - at the age of 15 - hired his father to work as a cabin boy with his employer. He was used on the cargo ship Priwall .

This four-masted barque was one of the last legendary Flying P-liners of the F. Laeisz shipping company and the last freight-carrying Rah-sailer without an auxiliary engine, which sailed around Cape Horn on its way west. On this voyage, in which Jürgens took part, the ship's crew were surprised by the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 after circumnavigating Cape Horn at the last Chilean station of the ship, in Valparaíso , and interned there .

In 1941 Jürgens was assigned to the German blockade breaker Erlangen , whose voyage, however, already ended in the South Atlantic , where the cargo steamer was placed by the English cruiser HMS Newcastle . After the ship's self- sinking ordered by the captain of the Erlangen , Juergens and the other survivors of the crew were taken prisoner by the British . He was sent to POW camps in West Africa , Scotland and Canada and did not return to Germany until 1946.

He then initially worked in fishing and cargo shipping , but continued to pursue his professional goal of becoming a captain. In 1951, Jürgens acquired the sea helmsman's patent on long voyages, then drove as a third and second officer and received the patent as a captain on long voyages in 1953 . From 1957 to 1960 he led various ships for the Bremen German Steamship Company "Hansa" , and his tours led to India and Persia, among others. He then settled in Kiel and worked there for around 30 years as a pilot in the port of Kiel , in the Kiel Fjord and on the Kiel Canal .

Since he settled down, Jürgens initially worked as an artist , illustrator , author and translator, and especially since his retirement in the late 1980s . He dealt with marine motifs as a self-taught painter and became increasingly known as a marine painter . He has also written numerous articles on shipping topics for various newspapers , magazines and specialist journals and has published several books on maritime topics, including his highly acclaimed autobiography from 2008.

He was a member of the seafarers' association International Brotherhood of the Kaphoorniers and from 2002 until its self-dissolution in 2004 he was president of the German section of the brotherhood.

Hans Peter Juergens was married and had two children. He lived in Kiel. On October 15, 2018, his family announced his death.

Artistic work as a marine painter

Peter v. Danzig
Hans Peter Juergens , 1985
gouache
43.5 × 65.5 cm
City Museum - Warleberger Hof , Kiel ( image description )

Link to the picture
(please note copyrights )

As an autodidact, Jürgens perfected his technical skills over time and found a characteristic style that is now considered typical. He worked in oil or watercolor , delicately painting individual components of the ships he portrayed, etc., and applied countless thin layers. The paintings he created in this way have “very clear colors” and “sharp contours”; he "succeeds [...] in authenticating [...] the moods of a foggy day at sea or a dangerous storm". He "transmits the fascination [...] [of] shipping [...] to the viewer"; his favorite motives were merchant shipping, fishing and maritime research. He also processed his memories of the war in numerous pictures.

“In his work, intimate knowledge of maritime matter, a painting technique that has been refined over decades and a great artistic talent result in a rarely happy connection. [...] The struggle for style and form of expression leads to an independent, characteristic technique in his late work. Jürgens condenses his depictions in countless glazes using watercolors, until they are almost reminiscent of painting behind glass in their opaque cohesion. […] He succeeds in particularly convincing representations with those representations that are based on his very personal biography. At the same time, however, these picture themes are also of general importance. The painterly oeuvre speaks a language that is understood worldwide, in keeping with the international character of shipping that spans the globe. "

- Susanne Grigull, Thomas Overdick : Captains' pictures in Hafenblatt No. 26, December 2008

Since 1974 his work has been shown in many exhibitions both in Germany and abroad.

Exhibitions (selection)

Publications (selection)

  • All seas have banks. The adventure of discovery. Süd-West Verlag, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-517-00511-8 .
  • Whaling adventure. Whales, men and the sea. Koehler, Herford 1977, ISBN 3-7822-0131-0 .
  • Shipwreck and stranding. From the selfless use of German rowing lifeboats. Koehler, Herford 1979, ISBN 3-7822-0214-7 (with: Hermann Neuber).
  • Shipping and art from Argentina. Schiffahrts-Verlag Hansa, Hamburg 1991, ISBN 3-87700-080-0 ( exhibition catalog ; with: Hugo Colombotto, Laurio Destéfani)
  • Storm seas and lulls. Log of a life. Koehler, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-7822-0639-8 .
  • Storm Cape. Around Cape Horn and through the war - the incredible journey of Captain Juergens. Ankerherz Verlag, Appel 2008, ISBN 978-3-940138-01-9 ( autobiography ; edited by: Stefan Krücken)

media

literature

Magazines

  • Stefan Krücken: Hans Peter Jürgens, four-masted barque “Priwall” . In: mare No. 57, August 2006 ( online ).

Movie

  • Sailors. Documentary , length: 45 minutes, director: Jörg Bundschuh, production: Kick Film , Germany 1980.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Yvonne Nadler: Maritime history in pictures. Special exhibition in Schönebeck Palace shows paintings by the marine painter Hans-Peter Jürgens. In: Weser-Kurier of July 29, 2011, p. 17.
  2. ↑ a b Axel Tiedemann: Cape Horn! The ride of life . In: Hamburger Abendblatt from May 13, 2009; Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  3. ^ A b Hans Peter Jürgens - captain and marine painter . On: Website of the shipping museum Flensburg , information about the exhibition from 2008/09; Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Thomas Joerdens: The marine painter from the pilot house . In: taz of October 21, 2010; Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  5. ↑ The last Cape Hornier: Captain Hans-Peter Juergens is dead. In: blog.ankerherz.de. October 15, 2018, accessed October 17, 2018 .
  6. ^ Stefan Krücken: Captain Hans Peter Juergens: The last Cape Hornier disembarks. In: Spiegel Online . October 17, 2018, accessed October 17, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Seefahrer (1988) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data
SURNAME Juergens, Hans Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German captain, marine painter and author
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Cuxhaven
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 2018
Place of death Kiel-Holtenau