Hark Olufs

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hark Olufs (born July 17 or 19, 1708 in Süddorf on Amrum ; † October 13, 1754 there ) was a seafarer .

Life

Title page of the first edition of Hark Olufs' autobiography , 1747

Hark Olufs was born on July 17 or 19, 1708 in Süddorf on Amrum, which was then part of Denmark . His father was the captain Oluf Jensen. In 1721, Hark Olufs became a seaman in the hope of one of his father's ships.

In 1724 his ship was seized by Algerian pirates on the way from Nantes to Hamburg . He, his cousin Hark Nickelsen and another cousin were taken to Algiers with the crew . The family could not raise the high sum that was demanded from the slave traders to buy Hark Olufs' ransom. Since the ship was sailing under the Hamburg flag, a loan from the slave budget of the Danish kingdom was also refused at the request of the family in Copenhagen . When his father finally had the money, another man of the same name was ransomed with it.

Olufs was then sold as a slave at the slave market in Algiers. 1724 to 1727/28 he was a lackey of the Bey of Constantine . On behalf of his master he killed numerous people and thus survived himself. Hark Olufs rose to the position of Gasnadal ( treasurer ). Between 1728 and 1732 he was appointed commander of the life guards. In 1732 he became Agha ed-Deira ( Commander in Chief ) of the cavalry . With his Bey he took part in a pilgrimage to Mecca , which indicates that he converted to Islam .

In 1735 he took part in the conquest of Tunis by the Algerian army. In gratitude, he was released on October 31, 1735 and returned to Amrum as a wealthy man in 1736, where he married and started a family. Reintegration at home was difficult for him. He never went to sea again, but held various offices on Amrum. Presumably in 1742 he was from the Danish King Christian VI. to whom he told his story. In 1747 he published an autobiography in Danish , which was translated into German in 1751 . Hark Olufs died on October 13, 1754 in Süddorf on Amrum. His tombstone contains a short biography and is still in the cemetery at St. Clement's Church in Nebel on Amrum.

Tombstone

Hark Olufs' tombstone in the cemetery in fog

The tombstone of Hark Olufs is a so-called speaking stone and is one of the most important cultural monuments on Amrum. It contains a long biographical inscription. On the obverse, a crown is carved into the stone, behind it a quiver with arrows cross from the right and below a flag, from the left a sword , below it a bow and a trumpet . A banner around the top reads: “Here lies the great war hero, rests gently on Amrom Christenfeld.” Below is his entire résumé: “As a blessed Harck Olufs, born there on Amrum in 1708 on July 19th. Soon afterwards, when he was young, he was captured by the Turkish pirates at Algiers in A [nn] o 1724 d [en] 24. Martii. In such captivity, however, he dined the Turkish Bey at Constantine as Casnadaje 11 and a quarter of a year, until finally this Bey A [nn] o 1735 d [en] October 31st gave him his freedom out of favor because he had that the following year, when A [nn] o 1736 on April 25th happily arrived here on his fatherland again, and A [nn] o 1737 put himself in the state of holy marriage with Antje Harken, so now with herself 5 children in the sad Wittwestande is located. In such a marriage they fathered a son and 4 daughters. So with her all must feel the death of her father, since he died A [nn] o 1754 d [en] October 13th, and his life was 46 years and 13 weeks. ”The text on the back reads:

“God give the body a joyous resurrection on the last day.
To my family, I call these lines back from the grave to the Andencken:
Alas, in my younger years
I have to go to rob the Algiers
and hold the Slaverey for almost twelve years.
Yet God made me free by his hand.
So I say again:
I know, my God, I have to die now.
I want, but I ask for one thing.
Don't let my own people perish.
You keep the widow's house.
Oh God, because I can't take care of
you , take on my wife and children. "

effect

After Hark Olufs' death, a revenant tale was attached to him, and it was said that he walked between the cemetery and his house. Udo Weinbörner and Anne Kordasch wrote historical novels based on Oluf's adventures.

literature

Novels

  • Udo Weinbörner : The General des Bey. The adventurous life of the Amrum cabin boy Hark Olufs. Novel. Horlemann, Bad Honnef 2010, ISBN 978-3-89502-299-9 .
  • Anne Kordasch: Returning to a foreign country. The life of Hark Oluf. Historical youth novel. BoD, Norderstedt 2010, ISBN 978-3-8391-8697-8 .

Web links

Commons : Hark Olufs  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Released from Algerian slavery, he made a fortune transporting black slaves from Guinea to the Danish West Indies . Cf. Martin Rheinheimer: Among slaves and pirates. The adventurous story of the Amrum captain Hark Nickelsen. Norddorf / Amrum 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Olufs, Hark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Amrum seafarer
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1708 or July 19, 1708
PLACE OF BIRTH Süddorf , Amrum
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 1754
Place of death Süddorf , Amrum