The German "naval association" (Marinebundes) magazine featured in their 1/2-2025 edition a 3 page article of Anny von Hamburg written by Peer Schmidt-Walther.
Below I have given a translation for those whose German may be a bit rusty (click on pictures to enlarge):
Page 5 index
"Between tramping and luxury expeditions, three-master Anny from Hamburg brought back to life"
by Peer Schmidt-Walther
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"Between tramping and luxury expeditions, three-master Anny from Hamburg brought back to life"
by Peer Schmidt-Walther
She has an impressive biography
Whoever saw her for the first time fell in love with her. That was the case over 110 years ago and people still succumb to her elegant charm today. She was built in 1914 at the renowned C. Lühring shipyard in Hammelwarden on the Lower Weser. Seven more sister ships followed. The steel cargo sailing ship's first big voyage went to St. Petersburg and ended there. When the First World War broke out, Anny was promptly confiscated by Russia and served from then on as a barge for the Tsar's naval cadets.
It was not until 1925 that she was returned to Germany as a barge hulk and was converted back into a cargo ship at the Wilhelmsburg shipyard by Ernst Harms and renamed Hanna. After the war, the schooner changed hands several times and eventually even mutated into a motor ship. The ship was given a smaller rigging and a two-stroke engine from the Hanseatic Works in Bergedorf with 120 hp. In 1936, the Glückstadt shipowner Max Both bought the motor schooner and renamed it Kurt Both, but her home port remained Hamburg. The Kurt Both was used for tramping to Scandinavia.
From schooner to motor ship
In 1940, the three-master was converted into a one-and-a-half-masted ship with a new, 150 hp four-stroke engine from the Deutsche Works in Kiel. During the Second World War, the sailing ship transported cement from Bremen to Heligoland, as the North Sea island was being converted into a fortress. In 1950, the Kurt Both was extended by 8 m at the Fritz Frank shipyard in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. After the bowsprit was removed in 1952 at Hugo Peters in Wewelsfleth/ Stör, the schooner was finally converted into a motor ship. After almost 32 years, the ship was deleted from the Hamburg ship register in 1957. It was sold for 230,000 DM to Oscar Abrahamsson & Sons in Sweden, for whom it sailed as Ringö. In 1963 it was acquired by the Finn Paul Grönquist, who then operated it for another 16 years as a coastal ship for sand and gravel transport on the Finnish coast between Helsinki and Porvoo.
In 1980, Jörn Deistler, managing director of Germania Schiffahrt, Hamburg, discovered the ship in the port of Karlskrona. The former gaff schooner was partially burnt out and looked completely different. Based on old construction plans from the Lühring shipyard, a faithful restoration was made. Then several flag changes followed: to England (1985) and Antigua (1989) as then the ship sailed in the summer as a cruiser through the Aegean and Mediterranean and in the winter around the Canaries and making the rounds in the Caribbean. She was always there for the Kiel Week and Hanse Sail as a Sail Training Ship (STS).
Sailors rapture
In 1997-98 she was finally completely overhauled in Wilhelmshaven and from then on sailed for the company Thien & Heyenga until 2004 under the Portuguese flag with Madeira as her home port. From then on the Hanse-Koggewerft e.V. association took over the helm. And the ship reappeared in the Hamburg ship register.
The ship then bobbed around in the Leer leisure port for around eight years after shipowner Hermann Buss tried to transfer her to Leer (East Frisia) in 2007.
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In September 2018, the 119-year-old three-masted schooner was taken over by the entrepreneur Hans Georg Näder. He wanted to have it repaired again and then operated by the shipping company project Timbercoast, which he supported and which is committed to transporting cargo in a climate-friendly way using sailing ships. The cargo sailing ship Avontuur is currently the shipping company's only ship. He now wanted to use the Anny as a cargo sailing ship again. To do this, the ship's hull had to be examined very closely. However, an initial ultrasound examination of the ship's hull revealed that it was in very poor condition, apart from the rigging, which urgently needed to be overhauled. The foremast was just scrap and everything under the teak deck was rusting away.
According to conservative estimates, a complete renovation would have cost between 2 and 3 million euros. Like all previous owners, they wanted to save the gem from decay. Every sailor can only enthuse about it. The interior and the saloon alone were simply magnificent, if you look at old photos. It would have been a shame to convert it back into a freighter. Perhaps the former cargo sailing ship could still become a passenger ship under sail? However, in view of the avalanche of costs, everyone involved gave up. We know this from the barque Gorch Fock II, whose cost estimates increased immeasurably.
We do a lot ourselves
But rescue was at hand once again. By then, Anny had already been moored in Hamburg-Finkenwerder for months. And again it was Finns who fell in love with the sailing beauty: the captains Jan Rautawaara and Juha Pokka. The purchase price is kept secret: "First of all, all reserves are gone," is all we know. After the daunting history, now two crazy people? Jan laughs: "Not at all, because we have a clear economic concept." The two sailors, who are friends, have known each other for 30 years and until recently owned the 54-year-old coastal motor vessel Jeanny, which was used for grain transport between Fehmarn, Rostock and Hamburg and had previously been overhauled at a Harburg shipyard. Neither of them are unrealistic dreamers, but dreaming businessmen. They bring decades of sea experience, craftsmanship and knowledge of old, small ships.
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"We do a lot of things ourselves," explains Jan, who, like his friend Juha, has captained all kinds of large and small ships: freighters, sailing ships or cruise ships. Jan was captain of the 20,000 GT expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor, the last new build from the Stralsund Volkswerft, until 2022. But he was drawn back to the German North Sea coast - also for emotional reasons. His "dream ship" Anny was constantly in his mind, as he had admired it as a child in Finland. In 1997 he even captained her on charter trips with guests along the North Sea coast.
Timeless glamour of classic yachts
The last hour of rescue has struck for the two ship lovers since the purchase. Their motto: "Sailing is not just a destination, but also a journey." In February 2023, they moved the sailing ship "with great potential" under their own keel to Wischhafen, to the museum harbor there, "because it's cheaper than Hamburg." Some work was carried out here. Finally, Anny went under her own keel under engine power to Helsinki in May 2023, where the masts were re-set in September. At the Suomenlinna shipyard, which is located on the fortress island off Helsinki, final work is being carried out and the class is being restored. After that, the sails were set. The first charter contracts have already been booked. "Day charter trips with up to 30 guests through the archipelago waters are undertaken from Helsinki, Ekenäs, Turku and Mariehamn, but there can only be ten overnight stays," Jan reveals the first step into passenger travel. Their goal is ultimately to create “a Sea Cloud in miniature as an expedition sailor with a unique private yacht atmosphere and high-class service.” Other sailing areas for the “slightly different sailing ship” will then be Norway, Spitsbergen, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean – “emission-free, of course,” as Jan Rautawaara emphasizes, “we want our guests to experience the timeless glamour of classic yachting.”
Trips on the Anny von Hamburg can be booked through Jan’s company NESS – Nordic Expedition Sailing Society : day charters, weekend trips or 7-day cruise sailing trips, depending on the customer’s wishes. Each multi-day trip is planned individually and tailored to the customer’s wishes.
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