Figure 1.--We think the boys here are on the Hamburg ship, "Hein Gohnwindand". The caption read, "Auf dem Hein Gohnwind". This meant, "On (board of) the Hein Gohnwind." A similar photograph was captioned, "Der Fahrtenweg wird auf der Karte verfolgt". That meant, "The searoute is being followed on the map". So we know they were off to somewhere, but we don't know just where. Notice that oldr boys rather than adults are leading the group.

The boys seem to be on excursion ships or at least ships carrying excursion passageners. A cargo vessels, for exmple, may have also carried passanger. They may have even been able to arrange free passages. Perhaps they were just having a look at the port or they may be taking an excursion to some coastal site near Hamburg. Its not clear from the photographs. As they are shown having coffee in the morning on the Hein Gohnwindand eating meals on the ship what ever excursion they took must have taken some time. We are not sure just what kind of ship it was. It cerainly doesn't look like a pleasure vessel. We do not know if the Hamburg photographs were mostly taken on or from this specidic ship. I wonder if they may have taken a trip through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. There were more limited places to go along the North Sea coast.

Excursion Ships

The boys seem to be on excursion ships or at least ships carrying excursion passageners. A cargo vessels, for exmple, may have also carried passanger. They may have even been able to arrange free passages. Perhaps they were just having a look at the port or they may be taking an excursion to some coastal site near Hamburg. Its not clear from the photographs, but it may have been Travemünde which meant they would have had to gone through the Kiel Canal.

Hein Gohnwindand

As they are shown having coffee in the morning on the Hein Gohnwindand eating meals on the ship what ever excursion they took must have taken some time. We are not sure just what kind of ship it was. It cerainly doesn't look like a pleasure vessel. We do not know if the Hamburg photographs were mostly taken on or from this specidic ship. I wonder if they may have taken a trip through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. There were more limited places to go along the North Sea coast. We are not sure, but the captions in the album seem to suggest that the Hein Gohnwindand was a floating youth hostile, but we are not positive about this.

Helgoland

The boys passed by Helgoland. Helgoland is a small island in the North Sea. It used to belong to Denmark, but the British occupied it during the Napoleonic Wars (1807). The Germans obtained it in exchange for ZAnzibar in the Indian Ocean (1890). The island settlements were largely destroyed during World War II (1945). The inhabitants were evacuated to the mainland. After a few years they were allowed to return.

Kiel Canal

To get from Hamburg to Travemünde the boys would have gone through the Kiel Canal and we see them when they stopped in Kiel. Kiel is a German port city on the Baltic coast. It is located at the base of the Jutland peninsula. It shares its name with the Bay of Kiel at the head of the Kiel Fjord. Kiel has been a major German naval base since 1860s. This was about the time that Prussia began toi build a small navy. It is also the site of important shipyards. It is perhaps best known for the Kiel Canal and is the eastern terminus. The Kiel Canal provided easier access to the Atantic for Baltic shipping. It was apparently called the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal (Kaiser Wilhelmskanal). Kiel University founded in 1665 is one of Gerany's most prestigious universties. Important sailing competitions are held at Kiel, the most important on Kiel Week. The sailing events for the 1936 Berlin Olympics were held at Kiel. We see the boys here having a look at the Canal.

Travemünde

The boys must have been headed to Travemünde as we see them there on the beach. Travemünde is a Baltic Sea beach resort area near Lübeck with an interesting history. It is located at the mouth of river Trave into Lübeck Bay. Travemünde is first reported in history as a strong point build by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony (12th century). He was guarding the mouth of the Trave. The Danes who seized the strong point then further fortified it. It was recognized as a town (1317). The free city of Lübeck, one of the Hanseatic League cities, acquired it (1329). The fortifications were demolished during the Napoleonic Wars (1807). Travemünde began to become popular as a sea resort town (early 19th century). It also became important as Germany's most important Baltic Sea ferry port at the Baltic Sea with connectins to Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. (Connections to Norway were with North Sea ports.) The lighthouse (1539) is the oldest German lighthouse along the Baltic coast. There are popular sailong nd beach events stahed at Travemünde. The resort was apparently popular with Thomas Mann. Travemünder is the 19th century seaside resort featured in his classic novel Buddenbrooks.