Tjalk

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The Stahl-Tjalk coat of arms from Ihlow (built around 1900) on the Ems-Jade Canal
Port side sword of the Frisian Tjalk De Dicke Door, built in 1898
Tjalken typically have a wooden rudder attached to the outside of the stern . In the picture a detail of the Dutch Ebenhaezer, built in 1893
The Tjalk Pallieter (built in 1899) with full sails - jib, jib and gaff sail. Photo from the 2008 Tjalkenrace sailing regatta

The Tjalk is a historic Dutch, single-masted sailing ship type for the transport of goods in and on the Wadden Sea , i.e. a watt sailor for shallow coastal and inland waters. In addition to their use in coastal shipping, Tjalken were often used as pure inland cargo ships until the 20th century . Tjalken have a predecessor in the also Dutch type Bojer . The term "tjalk" appeared for the first time in 1673 in a Frisian document.

construction

Tjalken have a full-looking hull in relation to their length . This effect is visually supported by its blunt bow compared to other small sailors (see adjacent photo). Tjalken are among the flat-bottomed ships : In order to keep the draft of the ship type as low as possible even when loaded, this type also has a completely flat bottom without a beam keel . That is why it is particularly suitable for navigating shallow canals and creeks as well as for coastal trips at low water levels . A side effect of the flat bottom is that the Tjalken, like other flat-bottomed ships , dry out upright during the tide when the tide is low - that is, they can hit the bottom with their entire hull without tilting (as ships with a fixed keel due to their design do) devices. When the water runs up, flat-bottomed ships float up again automatically on the rising tide .

A disadvantage of hulls with a flat bottom and without a keel is their lower stability against cross winds ; Ships of this type are prone to rolling around the longitudinal axis of the hull and drifting off course. In order to be able to reduce this, Tjalken have the side swords typical of flat bottom ships . On both sides of the ship's hull (→ port and starboard ), amidships, there is a large-format, paddle -shaped to teardrop-shaped stabilizer in the shape of a board that can be pivoted about a horizontal axis. In crosswinds, the sword on the side facing away from the wind (→ Lee ; hence the English term for leeboards for side swords) is lowered ("lowered into the water") in order to stabilize the ship.

The rigging of a tjalk consists of a large gaffsail (mainsail) with a short gaff and a long main boom and a jib ( foresail and an optional jib ; driving of the latter is Tjalken only with an additional, movable mounted Klüverbaum possible).

Usage history

In addition to the Ewer , the Tjalk was one of the most widespread ship types in northern Germany in regional coastal and inland shipping in the 19th century. The share of these two types in the total stock of Schleswig-Holstein's merchant fleet is estimated at 70% in 1850 - with a share of 35% of the fleet's loading capacity. According to H. Szymanski, around 1900 there were around 160 wooden and 28 iron lake and inland jalk in northern Germany. The iron Tjalken, built exclusively at Dutch shipyards, have proven particularly successful. In 1928 there were still 128 iron tjalks with an average load capacity of 140 t each in the German inland fleet.

Many Tjalken are used for tourism today. For example, in the ports around the IJsselmeer , these ships are often chartered out. Usually a captain and a mate are on board. The guests help with the sailing maneuvers under the guidance of the mate.

Up to and including 2013, an annual sailing regatta only for this type of ship, the Tjalkenrace Medemblik, took place on the IJsselmeer in front of the small town of Medemblik in North Holland .

Even today there are still mostly original Tjalken under the German and Dutch flag, which are traditional ships with appropriate acceptance (in Germany, according to Section 6, Paragraph 1 of the Ship Safety Ordinance (SchSV), this is the safety certificate for traditional ships of the trade association for transport - before SeeBG) as moving monuments of a bygone era invite you to sail along in the Wadden Sea and on adjacent waters. One such Tjalken, the Twee Gebroeders, is a traditional ship owned by the Fehn- und Maritime Museum of the East Frisian community of Rhauderfehn .

In addition to the specimens in use, some Tjalken are floating or drained museum ships in museums on the topics of shipping and industrial culture. Examples are the Tjalk Helene from 1906, moored in the Hamburg museum harbor Oevelgönne, and the Goede Verwachting launched in 1913 , which is rigged up and permanently exhibited in a hall of the Duisburg Museum of German Inland Shipping .

Related ship types

Flat-bottomed sword boats, which are related to the Tjalk in terms of construction and purpose, are, among others, the Frisian Ewer and the Pomeranian Zeesenboot ; these two historical sailing ship types are also designed for use in shallow coastal waters. In the Dutch province of Friesland , the Skûtsje ( westerlauwers ) or Schuitje ( Dutch ; both Dutch diminutive of the ship name Schute ) arose as a special form for inland freight transport. Another relative of the Tjalk is the sailing ship type Pogge, developed for the transport of peat for the fen culture in Holland (Fehn, from ndl. Veen, Moor → Moorkultivierung ).

Web links

Commons : Tjalken  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ A prominent example of the use of the Tjalk as an inland freighter is the story of Helene, who was launched in 1906 in the museum harbor Oevelgönne (accessed on January 9, 2018)
  2. ↑ Compare this with the more pointed bow sections of other flat-bottomed ships such as the Ewer and Zeesenboot .
  3. ↑ The Tjalk Immanuel on the website of the German Sielhafen Museum in Carolinensiel (accessed on January 7, 2018)
  4. ^ Society for Schleswig-Holstein History: Two Specialists: Ewer and Tjalk (accessed on January 9, 2018)
  5. ↑ The Tjalkenrace Medemblik on the local news website medemblikactueel.nl (Dutch; accessed January 9, 2017)
  6. ↑ News about the discontinuation of the Tjalkenrace Medemblik regatta series on naupar.nl (Dutch; accessed on January 9, 2017)
  7. ↑ Ship Safety Ordinance on gesetze-im-internet.de
  8. ↑ Ships to ride on - list on the website of the Ship History Archive Flensburg (accessed on January 9, 2018)
  9. ↑ Tjalk Hope in the care of the Schiffergilde ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Tjalk Helene on the website of the Museum Harbor Oevelgönne (accessed on January 9, 2018)
  11. ↑ Tjalk Goede Verwachting in the German Inland Navigation Museum . Article with a photo of the ship on metropoleruhr.de (accessed on January 9, 2018)