Helmut Sieger

Helmut Sieger (born August 18, 1931 in Jena ) is a German seaman, sea sportsman, naval officer and doctor of education (Dr. paed.). During the GDR era, he was a member of the senior management board of the Society for Sport and Technology (GST) and was considered a recognized authority on GST sea and diving sports. Among other things, he was director of the GST naval school "August Lütgens" Wieck with the longest period of service (1958 to 1972).

Life

School time and professional development

Sieger grew up as the son of a working class family in the difficult times of the National Socialist era in Germany and experienced the horrors of World War II and the post-war period as a child. From 1937 to 1947 he attended secondary school in Jena and finished it with the completion of the secondary school leaving certificate. He then did an apprenticeship as a lathe operator at Carl Zeiss Jena from 1947 to 1950 . He graduated as a skilled worker in February 1950. During his apprenticeship he became a member of the Free German Youth (FDJ) founded in the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) in 1946 and was enthusiastic about their water sports. The maritime interest was great and there early. So his way led via the water sports communities of the FDJ to sea sports of the Society for Sport and Technology (GST) founded in 1952.

Maritime careers

At the age of twenty he was able to sign up for the first course in the summer of 1951 on the newly built GDR sailing training ship Wilhelm Pieck under Captain Ernst Weitendorf (1883–1974) in Rostock . He was also one of the members of the ship delegation invited by the President of the GDR Wilhelm Pieck on January 25, 1952 in his official seat in Berlin-Niederschönhausen . In 1954 he attended the Wustrow Maritime School to qualify as a student in a course for nautical officers in the middle voyage. During the longest sea voyage of the GDR sailing training ship under Captain Arthur Friedrich (1908–1970) in 1957, which led from Greifswald to Odessa on the Black Sea and back in 99 days , Helmut Sieger was part of the crew.

A year later (1958) the experienced seaman was entrusted by the ZV of GST with the management of the GST-Seesportschule Greifswald-Wieck, later GST-Naval School " August Lütgens ", whose fortunes he successfully steered for 14 years until 1972 and its profile was essential coined. During his tenure as headmaster of the Greifswald maritime training center, he also managed an enormous amount of further training, such as graduating from college in 1962 as a captain on a small voyage at the Volksmarine officers' school in Stralsund . He was promoted to lieutenant at sea and later to corvette captain . Afterwards Helmut Sieger completed further courses of study with the acquisition of the technical college degree as a teacher at the institute for teacher training in Putbus on Rügen in 1965 and finally in 1968 the university degree as "Diplom-Pädagoge" at the institute for director training of the Pedagogical University Potsdam . In his time, the pre-military maritime and pedagogical training at the Greifswald GST naval school for future seafarers in the GDR was based, among other things, on the knowledge of the German pedagogue Adolph Diesterweg (1790–1866).

On the central board of GST

In 1973 Helmut Sieger was appointed to the higher function of the department head for maritime training at the ZV of the GST in Neuenhagen near Berlin . He acquired three years later (1975) to postgraduate and doctorate at the University of Greifswald in the field "Educational Psychology" the academic degree of "Dr. paed. ". Sieger held the functions of a department head, main department head and member of the secretariat of the ZV of GST for a total of 17 years until the GST was dissolved in April 1990. In addition, from 1973 to 1990 he held the honorary position of vice-president of the diving association of the GDR and from 1983 to 1991 he was the representative of the GDR in the world diving association CMAS in Paris.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall , he was briefly the deputy division manager in the central office of the Federal Technical Sports Associations e. V. (BTSV). After that, Sieger went into retirement. Even today he enjoys great respect and esteem in naval circles in reunified Germany. He was honored with high awards for his maritime and sporting work. Helmut Sieger lives with his family in Strausberg .

Awards (selection)

Helmut Sieger received a. a. The following awards: Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze (1977), Kampforden "For Merit for People and Fatherland" (1982), Honored Master of Sport (1987), Honorary Member of the Sports Committee of the World Diving Association CMAS (Confederation Mondiale des Activites Subaquatiques World Underwater Federation Paris) 1991

Fonts (selection)

• Memories of an "old" sea sportsman. In: Marinekalender der DDR, Berlin 1971, pp. 154–168.
• 35 years of sailing training ship "Wilhelm Pieck". In: Marinekalender der DDR, Berlin 1986, pp. 68–72.
• Arouse maritime interests. Experience and probation for maritime enthusiasts. A historical look at the Naval School for Sport and Technology Greifswald-Wieck. Lecture for a symposium of the Schifffahrtsgeschichtliche Gesellschaft Ostsee e. V. on August 20, 2005 in Greifswald-Wieck. Rostock u. Strausberg 2005.
• Cross courses of my life with and for a schooner brig. Chronicle of historical events with the sailing training ship "Wilhelm Pieck", its captains and crews. Private records (computer printing). Strausberg 2010.
• 60 years of Schonerbrigg "Greif" ex. "W. Pieck ". 1951 to 1990 sailing training ship "Wilhelm Pieck", since 1991 schoonerbrigg "Greif". Rostock u. Strausberg 2011.

Literature (selection)

• Heinz Beyer: Sailors of tomorrow . In: Jahrbuch der Schiffahrt, Berlin 1961, pp. 137–142.
• Luise Kruse: Greifswald-Wieck through the ages. Stories and experiences from older and more recent times. A literary and journalistic foray through Wieck am Greifswalder Bodden. New Greifswald Museum Booklets , No. 7, Greifswald 1979.
• Lutz Mohr : School ships under sail and engine. On the history of the GST naval school "August Lütgens" Greifswald-Wieck. Elmenhorst: EDITION POMMERN 2012. ISBN 978-3-939680-07-9 .
• Götz R. Richter : Sails in sun and storm . Berlin: Sportverlag 1958.
• Horst Rickert: Sail training ship "Wilhelm Pieck". Captains report. Berlin: Verlag DAS NEUE BERLIN 2009.
• Robert Rosentreter : Schonerbrigg GREIF ex. "Wilhelm Pieck". A sailing ship legend. Rostock: Edition maritime 2001.
• Günter Stahmann: There from the start: Helmut Sieger. In: Marinekalender der DDR, Berlin 1977, pp. 43–49.

Web links

• Works by Helmut Sieger in the state bibliography MV