A 400-year-old shipwreck from the time of the Hanseatic League was found at the bottom of the Trave. Now a specialist company has started with the salvage.
Lübeck – A 400-year-old cargo ship was discovered at the bottom of the Trave last year during routine measurements between Lübeck and Travemünde. Now the salvage of the ship from the Hanseatic era has begun, as a spokesman for the city of Lübeck explained in a press release on Tuesday. Preparations for the salvage have been underway since the end of May. On Monday, the specialist company involved lifted a first piece of wreckage out of the water, which was about eleven meters deep.
| Find | Shipwreck from the Hanseatic era |
| Habitat | Trave between Lübeck and Travemünde |
| Age | over 400 years |
"Extremely important find": City of Lübeck has 400-year-old Hanseatic ship salvaged
Lübeck's mayor Jan Lindenau explains: "It is an extremely important find for the Hanseatic city of Lübeck and at the same time an identification with its own history". Previously, the citizenry had voted in favor with a large majority due to the "great relevance of the salvage". "Piece by piece, more important pieces of the puzzle from the Hanseatic era are now coming to light, which, innovatively prepared, will also enable future generations to gain new access to history," adds the mayor.
As a result, it has never happened before that a loaded ship from the late Hanseatic period has been discovered in such good condition in the Baltic Sea "and poses special challenges for all parties involved in dealing with this representative cultural monument," says Lindenau. Only recently, researchers also discovered an animal species in the Baltic Sea that does not actually appear there.
Shipwreck salvage at the bottom of the Trave will last until September
The salvage and documentation of the wreck is scheduled to last until September 2023, with the specialist company accompanied by archaeologists from the Hanseatic City of Lübeck. According to the spokesman for the city of Lübeck, the first dives in the past few days were mainly used for marking and condition documentation under water. The excavation would initially be carried out with the help of underwater vacuum cleaners, which would gently remove sediment surrounding the wreck.
A wreck of a merchant ship from the Hanseatic period was lifted out of the Trave. © Markus Scholz / dpa
Ship salvage of Hanseatic ship near Lübeck takes place "layer by layer"
The salvage takes place "layer by layer, from top to bottom, so to speak". First, all the barrels would be removed, then the timber lying on top of it so that the entire wreck could be exposed. In the further course, the internal timbers, the wrangles, planks, frames and finally the keel pig and the outer planks are to be removed. Finally, the subsoil under the wreck will be examined and the results documented.
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Dr. Dirk Rieger, Head of the Department of Archaeology and Monument Preservation in Lübeck, explains: "Recovering this unique find, documenting and examining it scientifically, and then presenting the results to the public is a very special project." This would bring to light previously unknown living and economic conditions from the end of the Hanseatic period, "which is also representative of the cosmopolitan and international connections such as the reflection on its historical roots, for which Lübeck is known and visited today," says Rieger.
