Cardboard model sheet sailing barge Erna

Just before the western end of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal (now the Kiel Canal) lies the small town of Burg / Dithmarschen. It was from there that Captain Friedrich Häbel from Burg and his wife set off for Holland in 1906 to order a - then new-fangled - steel ewer from the Lucas Mulder shipyard in Staadskanal (province of Groningen). ERNA was completed in 1908, named after the daughter's first name. Strictly speaking, the ship was a sailing barge with the sails of a mizzen ewer. A gaff sail was used on both masts and a foresail and jib on the bow, as there was also a jib boom at the beginning. ERNA sailed as a pure sailboat - still without a wheelhouse and engine. The conversion to the ship as the present model looks took place in 1926/1928. A 36 hp glow-head engine from Neufeldt & Kühnke was installed by the Peterswerft shipyard in Beidenfleth on the Stör in 1926 and a wheelhouse was added. Two years later, the hull was raised by 50 cm at the sides and the jib boom was removed. Despite the new engine, most voyages were (also) undertaken with sails.

In 1939 ERNA was sold to Captain Johnny Häbel, then in 1941 to J. Schmidt in Hamburg. During this time, she was given a sleeker stem and lengthened to 25.52m. In 1969, after changing hands several times, she was used as a stone fisherman. This involved hauling up boulders from the bottom of the sea - here the North Sea or Baltic Sea - which were then used in the construction industry, for example. In 1974, she was sold to Andreas Martens in Hamburg and was then simply called AM4. Ten years later, as a 64-year-old lady, she was given a new round wheelhouse and was used as the workboat AM4 by Petersen & Eberhardt in Arnis. In 1996, she embarked on her last voyage to Aabenraa, Denmark, where she was scrapped a year later.

Technical specifications

• Sailing barge
• Material: Riveted steel
• Sailing gear: mizzen ewer with side swords
• Length: 20,87 m
• Width: 5.00 m
• Side height: 2.22 m