Peter Hartmann (seaman)

Peter Hartmann dedicated his life to the DGzRS and the sea rescue service

Peter Hartmann (born September 22, 1884 in Friedrichskoog , † December 8, 1982 in Cuxhaven ) was a German seaman. As the foreman of the Hindenburg lifeboat , he saved the lives of around 400 people in distress. For this he received the Federal Cross of Merit in 1951 as Lower Saxony's most successful lifesaver .

Life

Peter Hartmann's father worked as a fisherman, beacon setter, pilot and lifeguard at sea. At the age of twelve, Hartmann first went to sea at the side of his father from Friedrichskoog. During the summer he went fishing in the North Sea , as was customary with the fisher boys at the time, and only returned when the autumn storms began and during this time he attended school lessons until the next fishing season.

In 1900, at the age of 16, he joined the sea rescue service - like one of his grandfathers and his father before him - and gained his first experience off the coast of Dithmarschen on the Eugenie lifeboat stationed in Friedrichskoog . Hartmann saw one reason for this step in the fact that he wanted to follow the family tradition. In addition, four family members did not return from a fishing trip.

As a 16-year-old, he also took on his first command as the captain of a shrimp cutter , after he was able to adequately replace the sick captain of a cargo ship on a transfer voyage in the same year, thus demonstrating his leadership skills.

Peter Hartmann's area (here Großer Vogelsand off Cuxhaven) - the men of the DGzRS have to save lives and at sea even in a storm

In 1910 he married his wife Anna, with whom he was even able to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in 1980. Together with her he left their homeland in 1921 and moved to Cuxhaven . There he later took over command of the motor rescue boat (MRB) Richard C. Krogmann , which was put into service in 1932 and was the strongest and longest MRB of the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People (DGzRS) before the Second World War. The 17.10 meter long boat, a twin screwdriver with two engines of 125 hp each, was lost in the Second World War .

Hindenburg in the Kiel Museum Harbor - Peter Hartmann's motor lifeboat

From December 22, 1944, Hartmann took over as foreman and captain of the then very modern sea rescue boat Hindenburg (IV) with the internal identification KRA 101 . It was the fourth lifeboat with this name - the immediate predecessor sank in 1940 with the six-man crew off Borkum . The Hindenburg (IV) belonged to a new and larger type of ship than was previously common in sea rescue.

During the Second World War, the Hindenburg (IV) was under the protection of the Geneva Conventions and carried out the search and rescue service in the North Sea. Hartmanns Hindenburg was stationed in Cuxhaven until June 13, 1958. It had two screws and was equipped with two 150 hp engines so that it could also carry out rescue missions in heavy seas. The boat was 17.5 m long and 5 m wide with a draft of 1.40 m.

In 1950 the DGzRS was financially quite ailing - Hartmann then undertook “advertising trips” with “his” Hindenburg to interest cities, districts and communities on the coasts in the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People and their lifesaving work. The trip led into the inland, but also up the Rhine and Main and to the then federal capital Bonn . Here Hartmann even welcomed the incumbent Federal President Theodor Heuss on his lifeboat, who on March 11, 1950 finally took over the patronage of the DGzRS.

On December 21, 1951, Hartmann received the Federal Cross of Merit (Steckkreuz) for his rescue acts. This was presented to him by Walter Harm , President of the Stade District , which was preceded by a proposal from the then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf . With 370 lives saved up to this point, Hartmann was Lower Saxony's most successful lifesaver.

The traditional mooring of sea rescue boats in Cuxhaven

On July 1, 1958, Hartmann retired at the age of 74 - two weeks after "his" Hindenburg was relocated to Dithmarschen and replaced by a more modern ship in Cuxhaven. He was retired from active service by the local representative of the German Shipwrecked Rescue Society (DGzRS) Ewald Ottens. Despite his old age, the daily press describes Hartman as someone who doesn't look his age.

A total of 800 people were rescued with the Hindenburg (IV) - over 400 of them by Peter Hartmann and his crew.

After working for the DGzRS, Hartmann worked as a pilot for some time before he finally retired.

Hartmann fathered two sons who, as Cuxhaven's port captain and as a district chimney sweep with sailing ambitions, continued the family tradition in his free time. Peter Hartmann died at the age of 98.

Others

The creatures rescued by Hartmann weren't all human. The rescue of an ox in distress at sea, which was supposed to be driven from the island of Neuwerk to Cuxhaven for slaughter , but which then fled. Hartmann was obviously uncomfortable with this incident, which the press liked to take up as an anecdote, which is why he did not like to talk about this rescue. He saved the animal from drowning.

There is also a record of a debate by the Lower Saxony Prime Minister Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, who informed the press that nobody can fry plaice as well as Peter Hartmann.

A Norwegian fishing boat is stranded on Scharhörn with a full load of herrings . The captain threatened Hartmann with a pistol when he tried to save him and his crew.

Hartmann knew his area so well that he could often pass the sandbanks and shallows without using the radar

Peter Hartmann's MRB Hindenburg (IV) can be viewed today in Kiel as a museum ship (Kiel Maritime Museum).

literature

Cross of Merit for 370 life savers . In: Cuxhavener Zeitung , December 22, 1951
400 times the lifesaver 70 years old . In: Cuxhavener Zeitung , September 22, 1954
Hartmann no longer drives . In: Cuxhavener Zeitung , July 2, 1958
A life for the sea . In: Cuxhavener Zeitung , September 20, 1969
A great son of the coast . In: Neue Cuxhavener Zeitung , September 21, 1974
Peter Hartmann † . In: Cuxhavener Nachrichten , December 11, 1982

Remarks

↑ Until the middle of the 19th century, people in distress on the north German coasts and waters were left to their own devices, as there was no organized rescue service. In addition, their wrecked ship was subject to beach law , so that even people who were able to help failed to do so in order to appropriate cargo or other washed up objects themselves within the framework of beach law. In order to counter this vile attitude and to establish sea rescue, some volunteers provided the organized sea rescue service in front of Dithmarschen from around the middle of the 19th century .
↑ The newspaper reports of the time contradict each other somewhat at this point. One source states that both father and grandfather were active in the rescue service and, together with two of Hartmann's brothers, never returned from a fishing trip with the fishing cutter. Another source cites the death of four Hartmann brothers as a sailor after an accident and also states that one of his grandfathers was already a sea rescuer, while his father was initially a fisherman and later a naval pilot. A third source states that his father and three of his brothers drowned. All three reports agree, however, that a total of four family members died at sea. Another report also states that his father worked in several nautical professions / functions.
↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 3, No. 250, December 29, 1951.

personal data
SURNAME	Hartmann, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German seaman
DATE OF BIRTH	September 22, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH	Friedrichskoog
DATE OF DEATH	December 8, 1982
Place of death	Cuxhaven

[1] Until the middle of the 19th century, people in distress on the north German coasts and waters were left to their own devices, as there was no organized rescue service. In addition, their wrecked ship was subject to beach law , so that even people who were able to help failed to do so in order to appropriate cargo or other washed up objects themselves within the framework of beach law. In order to counter this vile attitude and to establish sea rescue, some volunteers provided the organized sea rescue service in front of Dithmarschen from around the middle of the 19th century .

[2] The newspaper reports of the time contradict each other somewhat at this point. One source states that both father and grandfather were active in the rescue service and, together with two of Hartmann's brothers, never returned from a fishing trip with the fishing cutter. Another source cites the death of four Hartmann brothers as a sailor after an accident and also states that one of his grandfathers was already a sea rescuer, while his father was initially a fisherman and later a naval pilot. A third source states that his father and three of his brothers drowned. All three reports agree, however, that a total of four family members died at sea. Another report also states that his father worked in several nautical professions / functions.

[3] Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 3, No. 250, December 29, 1951.