When a shipwreck was discovered at a depth of eleven metres during a survey of the Trave’s navigation channel in 2020, it came as a great surprise. Researchers from Kiel University are investigating the mysterious find. They eventually reached a sensational conclusion: the wreck is the remains of a 400-year-old cargo sailing ship from the Hanseatic era, laden with 150 barrels of quicklime. A unique discovery in the western Baltic Sea region!
Yet the depths of our home waters are teeming with sunken ships. It is estimated that there are up to 100,000 wrecks lying on the seabed of the Baltic Sea, many of which are astonishingly well-preserved. The cold water has preserved them better than anywhere else in the world. Furthermore, there are no shipwreck barnacles in the Baltic Sea to cause them any harm. For divers and archaeologists, it is a treasure trove of artefacts from bygone eras.
Over the course of several years, a Swedish team has painstakingly located 400 wrecks and, during numerous dives, brought spectacular images back to the surface. The remains of warships,
merchant vessels and passenger ships dating from the 16th century to the Second World War bear witness to countless dramas at sea. Part of the documentation is on display this year in a special exhibition in Helsingør, Denmark.
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The perfect setting for photos of the wrecks
There is a musty smell of seaweed and brackish water as you walk down into the historic dry dock, into which the modern maritime museum has been built, as if it were a bath. Groundwater presses up from below, and in some places the cellar walls shift almost imperceptibly – it is said that some visitors have even felt seasick here.
However, the museum is not only remarkable from an architectural point of view. It provides a fitting setting for the eerily beautiful photographs of the shipwrecks. Accompanied by mystical sounds and underwater noises, the exhibition is atmospherically staged. Right at the entrance hangs a large wooden oar, which was found in 2009 during work on the now infamous Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Strangely enough, no other wreckage was found there. To this day, it remains unknown how the oar came to be there or from which ship it originated. All that is known is that the wood came from oak trees felled in northern Germany in the mid-17th century. And that this type of rudder was fitted to large sailing ships that plied the seas between the 17th and 19th centuries. Everything else may well remain a mystery forever.
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“Glücksburg” – AD 1783
More can be learnt, however, about the ‘Glücksburg’, whose underwater photograph is displayed on a huge illuminated screen. The port side of the hull still stands upright on the seabed. In front of the wreck lies the detached stem, surrounded by parts of the rigging. In the bow, the divers found a ship’s bell, which is unusual for an old wooden wreck. Despite its poor condition, the ship’s name and ‘Anno 1783’ could be made out on the metal.
The wreck lies on a hard seabed below a slope. Three large anchors, an anchor winch and what is believed to be the bowsprit were discovered at the top. These heavy objects probably mark the spot where the German ship once struck the seabed. It must have slid down the slope from there. A deep furrow runs all the way to its final resting place.
Standing amongst the planks of the wrecked starboard side is an intact, two-metre-high earthenware pot. Surrounding it are four heavily rusted iron cannons. What an irony of fate that this fragile jug, of all things, has survived the brutal destruction, whilst the rest has collapsed like a house of cards.
Shipwrecks with a ghostly appearance
Even more is known about the fate of the royal ship ‘Svärdet’. The Swedish sailing warship served as the flagship under Admiral Claas Uggla in the naval battle off the island of Öland. The enemy was a Danish-Dutch fleet, and the battle was fought for supremacy over the southern Baltic Sea. On 1 June 1676, the Danes succeeded in sinking the two most important ships of the Swedish navy, the ‘Svärdet’ and the ‘Kronan’. Of the flagship’s crew of at least 620, fewer than 50 men survived. The wreck was first sighted and identified in 2011. Large, elaborately decorated bronze cannons can be found all over the three-decker.
The wreck is a ghostly sight with a well-preserved forecastle. Behind it, the ship is increasingly in a state of disrepair; the stern no longer exists. It was blown apart by the explosion in the powder magazine after it had already been dismasted and had caught fire. Uggla is said to have refused to lower the flag right to the bitter end, and went down with his ship.
Surprisingly, a cannon still protrudes from the intact starboard side – a touch of *Pirates of the Caribbean* in the cold waters of the Baltic Sea.
Human tragedies and financial losses
Whilst some wrecks cannot be definitively identified, their well-preserved cargoes not only tell us something about the once-proud ship, but also provide insights into that era. In the ‘porcelain wreck’, for example – as the Swedish divers call it – fine ceramics from several manufacturers can be found, including pieces from Meissen and Fürstenberg. In the 17th century, porcelain became extremely popular amongst Europe’s aristocratic families.
For a long time, ‘white gold’ was imported from the Far East and was affordable only to the upper classes. It was not until 1710 that the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory was founded near Dresden. Its trademark, two stylised crossed swords, has attested to the authenticity of these fragile products since 1722.
The nameless wreck contains other valuable goods such as violin parts, pocket watches and filled inkwells. Apart from the human tragedy, the sinking of this merchant ship must also have represented an enormous financial loss.
Another wreck holds a surprising find: a number of bottles of champagne in wooden crates stored on the upper deck. The labels have long since disappeared, as have the wire meshes used to secure the corks. Although many are still in the bottles, seawater appears to have seeped in: their contents are mostly cloudy. Some of the bottle stoppers made from Mediterranean cork oak, which lie scattered about, bear the inscription ‘Roederer’. The Champagne house Louis Roederer in Reims remains to this day one of the leading names in the world of exclusive sparkling wine. Furthermore, there are pocket knives, rifles and the remains of bales of indigo-blue fabric. Even back then, merchant ships carried goods of the most diverse kinds and origins – much like today’s giant container ships.
Shipwrecks are perfectly preserved time capsules
On 25 September 1913, however, the “Therapia” set sail from the Finnish port of Rahja with a cargo consisting solely of timber. It was destined for the British mining industry and was to be shipped to Cardiff. A few days after setting sail, two of the lifeboats were washed ashore further south; there was no trace of the crew.
The crew’s disappearance remained a mystery – until they resurfaced in Kiel. A Danish steamer had managed to rescue the sailors, who were now able to recount what had happened to the *Therapia*: their ship had collided with an unknown object during the night, sprung a leak and sunk.
To this day, the freighter lies completely upright at a depth of 70 metres, as if it had been gently set down there. Apart from a few minor damages to the bow, the ship is more or less intact. As well as the almost complete bridge, it is above all the spaces below deck that leave one speechless. One deck below the upper deck, a long corridor with doors on both sides runs the entire length of the ship. One of these doors stands open, with the key still in the lock. The cabin behind it was evidently occupied by an officer. Portholes on two walls bear witness to what was once good ventilation and natural light. The original colours can still be seen on the ceiling, walls and wooden features.
In the mess, chairs fixed to the floor still invite one to sit down, whilst a serving table is laid with drinking and eating vessels and a paraffin lamp. Finally, in the captain’s cabin, one finds his hat – a classic bowler – and his uniform with its gleaming insignia.
The sinking of the ‘Therapia’ had a happy ending in two respects: firstly, the crew were rescued unharmed; and secondly, this ship is a perfectly preserved time capsule which, thanks to the impressive photographs, is now accessible to everyone.
Interview with Underwater photographer Jonas Dahm
Jonas, how much time did you spend underwater on this project?
We have carried out over 800 dives. Many of these were necessary for locating the wrecks and preparing for the photo shoots.
How can such a mammoth project be financed?
I work for Carl Douglas’s Voice of the Ocean Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to locating the countless shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea and illustrating their stories with photographs.
What fascinates you most about the Baltic wrecks?
They are incredibly well preserved. There is no other place in the world where wrecks that are hundreds of years old are still so intact.
Why is that?
There aren’t any of those nasty woodworms that eat their way through the wood of the ships. What’s more, the water is cold, and there are hardly any wreck divers to tamper with them. The Baltic Sea is not an easy place to dive.
Where did you find the most ships?
The whole of the Baltic Sea is littered with shipwrecks, and we’ve been almost everywhere. However, many of the photographs were taken around the island of Gotland, simply because our workboat is based in Visby and the journeys are therefore shorter.
Did you change or arrange anything on site for the photos?
We’ve put a piece of wood to one side before – one that had been lying on top of a compass, for example. But apart from that, we’ve never arranged anything. The wrecks are like time capsules; everything’s still there – and that’s how it should stay.
How do you manage to take such perfectly lit photos in deep water?
It’s always a team effort involving several divers. I work with a tripod and long exposures of up to 20 minutes to capture the last remnants of sunlight, even at great depths. To do this, we use various flashes and lamps and also experiment with light painting. We’ve also got a whole host of other tricks up our sleeves, but I’m not going to give them away.
Diving at great depths is severely limited in terms of time. How did you go about it?
That’s right – at a depth of 100 metres, for example, we only have enough air for 15 to 20 minutes. Because of the need to equalise the pressure, it takes us three hours to make it back to the surface safely. This sometimes means we have to make several dives before we’ve got the photos we need.
Every crash was a tragedy. How do you cope with that?
Sometimes we do actually come across human remains, such as skulls. When diving, however, you’re always focused on the task at hand and your own safety. In hindsight, though, some of these stories are truly harrowing.
Museum in the dry dock
The premises of the Maritime Museum in Helsingør are remarkable in their own right: at the northern mouth of the Öresund, visitors encounter a truly fascinating blend of historic shipyard architecture and modern design. Nestled within a 19th-century dry dock, the museum blends harmoniously into the landscape. Within sight, Kronborg Castle – known as ‘Hamlet’s Castle’ – towers above (photo), as do the masts of several museum ships moored in the nearby cultural harbour. Among them is the light vessel ‘Gedser Rev’.
From a distance, therefore, the Maritime Museum is not visible at all. It is only when you stand at the edge of the old dock that the award-winning structure reveals itself. Above all, however, the exhibition itself is well worth a visit. Denmark’s maritime history comes to life here in permanent and special exhibitions. The shipwreck exhibition ‘Østersøens gåder – Ekko fra dybet’ (in English: ‘Secrets of the Baltic Sea – Echoes from the Depths’) is on display until 15 November. Alongside large-format underwater photographs by Jonas Dahm, artefacts from a warship that sank in 1495 are on display. The exhibition is rounded off by works from three artists who have explored the narrative of sunken ships.
The permanent exhibitions also include a collection of model boats, accompanied by interactive information in Danish and English. From the marina, the Maritime Museum within easy walking distance. After your visit, it’s worth popping into the café and the museum shop.
Morten Strauch
Editor News & Panorama