Ivan Trtanj
Ivan Trtanj (born September 13, 1945 in Zrenjanin , Serbia ) is a German artisan who became known for his model ships .
Life
Trtanj was born on September 13, 1945 in Zrenjanin ( German : Groß-Betschkerek ) in the Serbian part of the Banat . After attending school, he finished his professional training with the journeyman's examination to become a ship smith. Further career and life stations took him to Germany. He has lived in Kressbronn on Lake Constance since 1968 and works there in the Bodan shipyard . Trtanj is married and has two children.
plant
Trtanj has been involved in depicting ships since he was a young child. At first it was simply reworked models, but over the past few years incomparable portraits of ships with a high historical documentation value have been created. The lifelike and largely reproduced according to original plans, the sailors and rowing sloops from various European royal houses from the period from 1736 to 1814 are unmistakable evidence of his carving art.
The romanticism of the ships and the importance of shipping combined with the typical styles of the Rococo and Baroque periods form a harmonious symbiosis with the carving technique. His perfect handling of carving tools, his creative sensitivity and his confident spatial thinking express his creative talent. For Trtanj, replicating ships from that era is a life-enriching, exhilarating activity that he feels as a calling and, connected with it, an indispensable part of his life. Trtanj presented his "floating works of art" to the public with a number of extensive and highly regarded exhibitions at home and abroad ( Expo 2000 by the sea in Wilhelmshaven , in the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven and in the Marine Museum in Vlissingen on the Dutch Atlantic coast). In numerous publications and contributions on radio and television, his person, his historical knowledge, his craftsmanship and his world of thoughts were discussed. A reporter from Norddeutscher Rundfunk described Trtanj as the Riemenschneider of model shipbuilding .
The models
"The ship models are of the highest craftsmanship. Trtanj's specialty is carvings. These are“ absolutely world-class, absolutely worth seeing ”- that's the verdict of Maritime Mystiques in their Internet listing of the most beautiful museum ships and maritime museums worldwide. Trtanj has the wooden parts of the models As in the original, mortised, doweled and nailed in. For the planking, he made the millimeter-thin wooden dowels with a tool like the one used by goldsmiths to pull out gold threads.
The AMADIS - pleasure yacht of the Swedish King Gustav III.
This fast, 56 feet (16.63 m) long and 19.3 feet (5.73 m) wide sailor was 1782 by Fredrik Henrik af Chapman (1721-1808) in the Swedish naval base of Karlskrona for King Gustav III. built. It had a draft of six feet (1.78 m) and a displacement of 85 tons. In 1832 he sailed as the flagship with a crew of 30 at the inauguration of the Göta Canal . The ship was decommissioned in 1838 and ended up as firewood in 1865, but the figurehead has been preserved.
The name of the yacht is derived from the novel hero Amadis de Gaula, who was known throughout Europe in the 16th century . The model is made on a scale of 1: 18.9.
The AMPHION - pleasure ship of the Swedish King Gustav III.
The Amphion was built as a pleasure vehicle in 1778 in Djurgarden (now a district of Stockholm ). Originally rigged as a schooner , she had to be converted into a brigantine in 1799 due to poor sailing ability . In 1885 it was finally scrapped and used as firewood. She got her name from Amphion , in Greek mythology a son of Antiope and Zeus or Epopeus, the twin brother of Zethos and with this the ruler of Thebes as well as the husband of Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus .
Trtanj reconstructed the 1: 27.5 scale model based on original drawings from Karlskrona, the original dimensions were not accessible.
The BELLONA - a Swedish frigate
The Bellona was built in 1782 by order of the Swedish King Gustav III. built. Prefabricated parts were used for the construction; this was the beginning of series production in Swedish shipbuilding. The Bellona was used in many ways and came to Morocco in 1791 . During the war against Russia in 1809 it sank and dragged 220 men down with it.
A contemporary large model can be seen in the Stockholm Naval Museum, but the original dimensions are not accessible, so Trtanj reconstructed his model on a scale of 1:30 based on an original drawing from Karlskrona.
The BERLIN - a Brandenburg frigate
In 1674 this warship, armed with fifteen cast iron cannons , was built in Zeeland , the Netherlands , and 'leased' to the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich Wilhelm and his crew (70–100 men). The pinnace was 80 feet long and 22 feet wide.
Trtanj has reproduced the model on a scale of 1:24.
The BOUNTY - an English frigate
The Bounty was a three-master that was built in Hull in 1784 under the name 'Bethia', but was soon sold to the British Admiralty. Renamed and armed, she sailed in 1787 under the leadership of Lieutenant William Bligh on an expedition to the South Seas: Cuttings of the breadfruit tree were to be brought from Tahiti to the Antilles. On the way back there was the famous "mutiny on the Bounty", which has been the subject of novels, films, plays and non-fiction books ever since.
LE CANOT IMPÉRIAL - Napoleon I rowing sloop
This 17.2 meter long and 3.4 meter wide rowing ship was built in 1812 by 100 shipbuilders and two sculptor workshops for Napoléon Bonaparte (Napoleon I, Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814/15) in just 21 days ! It was built for him and the 28-man crew for one-time use only and is now in the Marine Museum in Paris .
The construction time for the 1: 12.5 scale model was one year and four days.
The CAROLINE - yacht of the English royal family
The Caroline was built in 1749 in the London borough of Deptford for £ 12,390 , twice as much as two normal frigates . With a crew of around 70, it was the prototype for various warships built between 1750 and 1800. The kings George II. (1683–1760) and George III. (1738-1820) the 90 feet and 1 inch long and 24 feet wide Caroline served as a yacht.
The model is built on a scale of 1:24.
The FAMA - body ship of the Bavarian Elector Maximilian III. Joseph
The Fama, built in 1766, the flagship of the pleasure yacht fleet of the Court of Munich , was the body ship of the Bavarian Elector Maximilian III. Joseph . The yacht could be sailed as well as rowed. The crew made up 21 men. In 1769 a figurehead of the Roman goddess Fama was attached to the ship . It owes its name to this goddess.
Trtanj's model is built on a scale of 1: 12.5.
The BIG YACHT
The original of this model was built in Kolberg in 1678 and stationed in Pillau . It was 70 feet long and 21 feet wide. The crew consisted of twelve, in the event of war more than fifty men. The sailor had eight gun ports and carried six three-pounders on board in 1683.
The 1:24 scale model carries white ivory figures , the horse's bridle is forged from 14-carat gold .
The PEGASUS - a Dutch state yacht
The Pegasus (name probably after the figurehead ) is an imposing sailing ship of the "Statenjacht" type built in 1776 in the Netherlands by the builder Johannes Hubertus von Douw and delivered to England . Since the 17th century the large sailing yachts with their spacious stern pavilions, which, for example, carried the leading personalities of the admiralty and were delivered in large numbers to many European countries, have been called the Statenjacht.
Based on an original drawing from 1776, Trtanj built the model on a 1:18 scale. The completion ended after eleven years of construction with the christening of the ship on May 9th, 2008. Trtanj regards this ship as his “masterpiece”.
The SCHEBECKE - a three-masted sailor of the Mediterranean countries
The Schebecke (or Chebeke) is a three-masted three-master sailed in the Mediterranean Sea in the 18th century , mainly by pirates and the French Navy , which has its origins in the Berberesques native to North Africa .
The model is made according to a construction plan (1:75) on a scale of 1: 32.5.
Lake Constance cargo ship, type SEGMER
Pontoon-like ship construction, which was developed on Lake Constance and is limited to the bare essentials . The original was about 20 meters long and 3.50 meters wide, had a crew of three and a carrying capacity of 40 tons.
The model is built on a scale of 1:20.
Lake Constance warship, type SEGMER
Converted cargo ship that was confiscated by the French in the early 19th century and equipped with 12-pound field guns, among other things. The original was about 20 meters long and 3.50 meters wide and had a crew of 25.
The model is built on a scale of 1:20.
The SLOEP - a Dutch state or splendid sloop
The original was believed to be intended for an East India Company merchant , but it is not known whether it was ever built. The original construction plans were drawn by I. D. Hen in 1768 and are now in the Rotterdam Naval Archives (No. 616). By Amsterdam standards, it was 22 feet five thumbs long and 12 feet wide.
The model is made on a scale of 1: 7.
The VASAORDEN - state sloop of the Swedish royal family
This ship, built in Stockholm in 1740, served as a rowing sloop for the royal family until around 1840. The Vasaorden was 18.6 m long and 3.2 m wide. The crew consisted of three officers, eighteen rowers and one man in reserve. Johan Törnström (1743–1828), a Swedish sculptor, installed the decorations on board. After the Vasaorden had been stored in a shed for decades, it was destroyed by fire in 1923. A replica is now in Galärvarvet (Stockholm). The name comes from the Royal Order of Vasa, with which - comparable to the order of knights in Great Britain - distinguished personalities were awarded.
The scale of the model is 1: 17.5.
planning
As their next projects, the model of war armed stand Liburucia and a ceremonial barge on the plan: After a calendar page of the Munich painter Franz von Seitz that a "fairy ship" (length = 15.8 meters, width = 4.6 meters, height = 11 meters ) for the Bavarian King Ludwig II. , Trtanj would like to convert this detailed, but never built barque to a scale of 1: 14.34.
museum
After a long odyssey , the models have now found a representative "home port" in four rooms of the Schlössle Museum in Kressbronn . The collection of models is supplemented by many maritime oil paintings, large-format copper engravings, weapons and items of marine equipment such as sextants , telescopes and compasses . Together with the transported goods, Trtanj's tools and building descriptions, it offers visitors an interesting insight into model making and the history of shipping.
circle of friends
Since the end of the 1990s there has been a group of around 15 friends who support Trtanj's work materially, financially and ideally.
literature
- Ivan Trtanj: Floating works of art by Ivan Trtanj . In the Schlössle Kressbronn / Bodensee. I. Trtanj, Kressbronn 2002.
Web links
- Historical ship models by Ivan Trtanj. The website of the museum in German, English and Italian.
- Museum im Schlössle - floating works of art on the website of the municipality of Kressbronn on Lake Constance.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Trtanj, Ivan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German artisan |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 13, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zrenjanin , Serbia |