Duckdalben seaman's club

Duckdalben seaman's club entrance area

Duckdalben - international seamen's club is the name of the seamen's club in Hamburg-Waltershof, founded in 1986 by the German Seamen's Mission Hamburg-Harburg. It offers around 35,000 seafarers from more than 100 countries practical help and orientation every year in the port where most of the seafarers are far from home. The Duckdalben is named after the mooring piles of the same name, the dolphins , and was named the best sailors' club in the world in 2011.

Seaman's Club Duckdalben in the Port of Hamburg (Waltershof) of the German Seaman's Mission Hamburg-Harburg eV

The eponymous duckdalbe

Port of Hamburg, cozy library in the Duckdalben seamen's club of the German Seamen's Mission Hamburg-Harburg eV

“Room of Silence”, prayer room for seafarers of different religions

Management of the Duckdalben seaman's club Anke Wibel and Jan Oltmanns and the head of joint on-board support in the Port of Hamburg, Jörn Hille

oasis

history

The first seaman's home in Germany was founded in Bremen in 1854, the first inland seaman's mission was founded in Hamburg in 1891. The Duckdalben seaman's club has existed since August 13, 1986 as an institution of the Hamburg-Harburg eV seaman's mission in the free port (Waltershof) below the Köhlbrand bridge on Zellmannstrasse.

It started with a barrack in 1986; it originally belonged to the railway maintenance office, was then used as an office barrack for electricity and port construction and then selected for the establishment of the seaman's club in the growing container port in Waltershof. The barracks were bricked up and designed for 15 to 20 visitors. That it was much too small in this first version was shown by the up to 120 sailors who visited this facility every day. This was remedied in 1994 by a considerable expansion with the inclusion of a rainwater utilization system and a solar hot water system, which was made possible with financial support from the ITF . In addition to the spacious, friendly entrance hall with telephone booths for undisturbed phone calls, a billiard room and a multi-purpose hall that is used as a table tennis room, meeting room or for celebrations was created. A room of silence was set up on the upper floor. In 1988 the workforce was increased and an extension was necessary, which was put into operation in 1995.

In 2003, a winter garden with a fireplace was added, which was used as a library and had several international newspapers in addition to books. With the extension completed in 2015, which is used as an office, the international seamen's club Duckdalben has been expanded for the third time.

Duckdalben

On the upper floor of the main house there is the “Room of Silence”, in which niches for worship and prayer have been set up for seafarers of different religions and denominations . Outside there are several quiet corners with a lot of green, as this is lacking for seafarers on the water. In addition, the souvenirs of the sailors are on display and convey a pleasantly calm atmosphere. Books and magazines are available in the in-house library. In the club room, seafarers can eat and drink at moderate prices. In addition, they can make phone calls to their relatives on particularly favorable terms and carry out simple transactions such as money transfers, exchanges and mail. There is a small shop and tourist information about the Hanseatic city is given. All year round, the seafarers have clothing available from the in-house clothing store. Most of the clothing donations are supplied by the Hamburg aid organization Hanseatic Help .

For leisure activities there are billiard tables, table tennis tables, table football equipment and darts. There is a small sports field for sporting activities - which is generally only possible to a very limited extent on board ships. Computers with internet connections and televisions with international television programs are freely accessible to all. Personal goods ordered from the sea are also provided by the helpers. There is free WiFi throughout the house .

In addition to the full-time and voluntary employees, interns work here who do a voluntary social year to look after the seafarers. Since the berths of the ships in the port are often far away from the seaman's club, the seafarers can have the staff pick them up from the ship and bring them back.

In addition, the Duckdalben buses drive around 250,000 km per year in the port. In total, more than 1,000,000 guests have visited the seaman's club since 1986.

Organization and financing

The seaman's club is run by the seaman's deacon Anke Wibel and the seaman's deacon Jan Oltmanns , who was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his commitment and special achievements . The seafarers are looked after by full-time and voluntary employees and the young men and women in the federal voluntary service, mainly in Duckdalben, but also on the ships.

In Germany, the missions are founded and run as non-profit associations, but the regional churches, which are increasingly working under financial difficulties, are responsible and help with financial problems. The Duckdalben is financed, among other things, by grants from the Protestant North Church , the Hamburg Port Authority , the ITF Seafarers Trust as well as donations from some shipowners and many private supporters and the sales proceeds in the shop. Half of the seaman's missions abroad are maintained by income from the seaman's homes and donations and the other half is financed by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).

On-board support

Due to the short lay times in port, many seafarers cannot disembark, which is why there is often a visit on board. Telephone, top-up and SIM cards and magazines from their home countries are very important for seafarers. Other focal points of the on-board support work include a. Accompaniment and care of seafarers in hospitals, pastoral care by deacons and the seafarer's pastor and mediation in labor law problems.

Seafarers Lounge

The Seafarers Lounges were founded specifically to support and take care of crew members of the cruise ships. The Seafarers Lounge has three locations in Hamburg, in the Cruise Centers in Altona , HafenCity and Steinwerder . Here the seafarers can contact their families and shop free of charge. They can also transfer money for their families and exchange foreign currency. The lounges are located in the security area of the cruise center, so that the crew members do not go ashore, but can visit the lounges quickly and unbureaucratically. They were founded by DSM Altona and DSM Hamburg-Harburg. They work very closely with the seaman's missions and on-board support in the Port of Hamburg, often in personal union.

Awards

On December 3, 2010, the Hamburg seaman's club Duckdalben was voted one of the five best clubs in the world in the competition of the International Committee for the Welfare of Seafarers (ICSW). In 2011 the seafarers club received the award as “Seafarers Center of the year” by the “International Committee on Seafarers Welfare” (ICSW). This decision was announced in Geneva at the headquarters of the International Labor Organization. The ICSW is an association of international maritime organizations such as B. the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Maritime Federation (ISF), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA). The decision was reported in various national daily newspapers.

In 2016, the Duckdalben seaman's club received the “Judges Special Award” from ISWAN , the international network for seafarers, for the first time . In its reasoning, the jury said: “For the first time since the start of the International Seafarers' Welfare Awards, the judges have decided to honor a truly exceptional organization with a special award for special services to the well-being of seafarers. For 30 years the International Sailors Club DUCKDALBEN has been developing its services for seafarers with highly qualified and committed employees ” . The award ceremony took place on June 24, 2016 as part of a celebration by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in Manila.

In 1996 Jan Oltmanns received the highest award of the Hamburg citizens' associations, the Portuguese in silver for services to the well-being of Hamburg citizens, in 2012 he was honored with the Federal Republic of Germany's Cross of Merit on Ribbon In 2016, Anke Wibel was also honored with the Portugaleser.