Charly Behrensen was a fisherman who looked like you would imagine a fisherman in a film full of clichés. Captain-igloo-like beard, broad grin, brilliant handshake. Charly liked to tell sailor's yarn, for example the story of the angry polar bear, which he supposedly only escaped thanks to a cut onion: the predator's eyes froze during the persecution.
Thomas Duffé / Ankerherz
Charly Behrensen
But when it came to one topic, Charly, the grumpy trawler captain from Cuxhaven, got pretty quiet. Even the toughest sailor doesn't like the prospect of being far out at sea at Christmas or lying somewhere in a strange harbor.
We met often, Charly told about his life. I have spoken to more than 120 well-traveled and experienced captains over the years. They talked about storms, pirates and monster waves, dangerous goods and sometimes trips to red-light districts. Loneliness on board was also often an issue. Charly died a few years ago, but I particularly remember the evenings with him.
22 times Christmas at sea
"My first Christmas at sea was 1955. I sat on the deck of the trawler 'Bavaria' and knotted nets with cold fingers until midnight on December 24," he said. The fishing trip for the herring in the English Channel had been going on for weeks. On Christmas Eve, the little ship lay off the cliffs of Dover. In the distance the young fisherman saw the lights of the port city. He thought of home, the mother, the Christmas tree and the soup chicken - that was part of his family tradition in Cuxhaven.
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Christmas Eve at sea: very quiet night - frost and frustration on board22 Holy evenings, Captain Charly spent at sea. Silent Night? Most of the work was done, but the fishermen liked it because they had no time for cloudy thoughts. "We had maybe two hours eating and reading Christmas greetings," said Charly. "Then it went back to the nets."
The German deep sea trawlers then headed for Greenland, Iceland and the coasts of Norway. Sometimes it was so cold that the fishermen's noses started to bleed. Freezing spray, called "black frost", piled high on the decks and had to be knocked down with hammers. The ice, weighing tons, was a threat to the stability of the trawlers who were about to capsize and had to be removed as soon as possible.
Storm? Good for the festival
"We had the quietest festivals when a hurricane raged," said Charly. "Then we couldn't fish."
For seafarers on the oceans, melancholy is as much a part of the festival as the tree for rural residents. On board most ships, the cook is in top form and prepares a banquet. Even stingy shipping companies are generous this evening. But in the floating men's shared apartments you are lonely together.
Today there may be WhatsApp and the social networks, but in practice the on-board Internet is only affordable for officers on most ships. Simple sailors and machinists can often only contact families at home using the free WiFi of a seaman's mission.
This function previously took over "Norddeich Radio", the maritime radio station let it rustle and crackle on the waves. "All German seafarers were waiting for the show 'Gruß aboard' of the NDR," says Captain Jürgen Schwandt, 83, a sailor from Hamburg, whose biography "Sturmwarnung" made it onto the SPIEGEL bestseller list. The whole crew gathered in the radio operator's room to hear the greetings read from home.
Isolation and depression
"It was often just a croak on medium waves," said Schwandt. "We heard little and thought we understood every word." The program, first broadcast on Christmas Eve in 1953, is still an institution today.
Loneliness has always been part of everyday life for seafarers, fishermen and everyone who works on the seas. The feeling of isolation affects the crews, as a recent study by the University of Yale and the "Seafarers' Trust" shows. Accordingly, almost a quarter of seafarers suffer from depressive moods. One in five even said in the anonymous survey on the ships that they thought of suicide. Holidays far from families will hardly lighten the mood.
anchor heart
Schwandt (front left) in a seaman's club
Modern seafaring includes short, optimized layover times. Every hour that a huge ship is docked at a quay costs tens of thousands of dollars in mooring fees. Even the largest freighters stay short, which often makes it impossible for the crews to explore the port cities.
The cliché of the sailor who has a bride in every port has long been history. In Hamburg, the Altona seaman's mission, centrally located next to the quaint "Shark Bar" at the fish market, has moved much of its work far outside to the container terminals. Logistically, it makes no sense otherwise, because only a few seafarers make it to the heart of the city. Most will celebrate Christmas closer to the container ships in the "Duckdalben" seaman's club - as long as there is enough time.
Where the red light shimmers
An episode, as told by Captain Schwandt, seems almost impossible today. He was in the Caribbean in the 1960s and moored in Puerto Cortés on the coast of Honduras on December 24, a port of which there wasn't even a postcard. Together with other sailors, Schwandt looked for the church tower. But not to spend contemplative hours: According to the experience of the seafarers, there were usually the oldest quarters around the places of worship, where the red light shimmered.
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Crutches, Stefan
Captains !: Faith, love, hope: seafarers tell their best stories
Publishing company:
Ankerherz Verlag
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230
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€ 29.90
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In the streets and alleys, the residents celebrated a fair with music - until around 10 p.m. all disappeared into their houses as if on a secret sign. The sailors were confused at first. Then they discovered the only cathouse that had opened in the now deserted streets. The mood in the puff was cloudy: Christmas blues.
"Sparkling wine and wine quickly improved the situation," said Captain Schwandt. "It was the most intimate Christmas party I can remember."
A festival of love for sale.
