You have no idea to whom this boat belongs to!

The “Anny von Hamburg” is located in Billwerder Bay in front of the “Lütje-Yachts” shipyard.

Photo: Florian Quandt

Translated Hamburger morning post article, German to English:

Anny von Hamburg: You have no idea which super-rich person this ancient sailing boat belongs to!

Rothenburgsort 27th January 2021 – by Thomas Hirschbiegel

Without any masts, the proud "Anny von Hamburg" looks a little sad. The 107-year-old three-masted schooner has been lying in Billwerder Bay at the "Lütje-Yachts" shipyard for months. "No comment" was the answer to questions about the owner. But MOPO found out: The cargo sailing ship belongs to one of the richest Germans!

The 28-meter-long ship was built in 1914 at a shipyard in Hammelwarden on the Lower Weser together with seven sister ships. The iron cargo sailing ship's first big voyage went to St. Petersburg and ended abruptly there. The First World War broke out and the "Anny" was promptly confiscated by Russia and served as a barge for the Tsar's naval cadets. It was not until 1925 that it returned to Germany as a "hulk" and was converted from a barge to a cargo ship at a shipyard in Wilhelmsburg.

During World War II, the sailing ship transported cement from Bremen to Heligoland, because the North Sea island was being converted into a fortress. After the war, the "Anny von Hamburg" changed hands several times and was converted into a motor ship. After a fire on board, it ended up in Karlskrona, Sweden, in 1980. In the same year, it was re-entered into the German ship register as "Anny von Hamburg", and a Hamburg sailing enthusiast began to restore the ship.

But who is the current owner? Also a sailing fanatic. Hans Georg Näder (59) bought it in 2018. He is the third generation to run the Otto Bock group of companies, the world market leader for prostheses. 7,300 people in 51 countries work for Näder, and his fortune is estimated at two billion euros.

The man collects art, buys an old Berlin brewery, founds the Schützenmuseum in Duderstadt and buys a guest house in Eichsfeld. But his greatest passion is sailing. Näder, who also has a residence in Hamburg, is even the majority owner of a Finnish shipyard, and here he had the world's largest sailing yacht made of carbon, the "Pink Gin VI", built. The cost: an estimated 60 million euros. But the 54-meter-long ship, which has a purple mini grand piano, chandeliers and a huge glass dining table, is currently for sale.

Näder thought the thing was perhaps a bit too ostentatious and no longer contemporary. He now wants to get involved in a sustainable sailing project. And that's where the "Anny von Hamburg" comes into play. It is being extensively restored in the shipyard at Kaltehofe Hinterdeich and will then become part of the "Timbercoast" project. That is the name of a shipping company in Elsfleth, and the idealistic owner, Captain Cornelius Bockermann, dreams of building an entire fleet of cargo sailing ships that will ship goods around the world under sail, just like 150 years ago.

With this “fair transport”, Bockermann wants to make a statement against mass transport at sea, which mainly uses diesel-powered ships.