Since the move of Anny von Hamburg to Mariehamn elicited a lot of interest I would like to compare how their other top number, the Pommern, in sailing would compare to Anny von Hamburg.
Mariehamn is a living time capsule of global maritime history. For the more than 2 million annual visitors who flip through Åland’s travel brochures, the crown jewels of this island community are now two magnificent, century-old vessels: the world-famous four-masted barque Pommern and the resilient schooner Anny von Hamburg. Preserved and restored meticulously in their original structural configurations, this ancient duo bridges two entirely different dimensions of Baltic and ocean-going history. Their physical presence at the port of Mariehamn is why many travelers from across the globe will make an effort for a stopover.
To truly understand why these ships capture the imagination, one must look at how their cargo carriage purposes remained identical while their use diverged. Built during the dawn of the First World War era, Pommern and Anny von Hamburg showcase the versatility of steel-hulled merchant sailing.
While Pommern braved the ferocious winds of Cape Horn to bring wheat from Australia, Anny was built in the German C. Lühring yard. On her 1914 maiden voyage she was arrested by the Russians until ten years later in 1925 having been sold back to Germany for foreign funds, she was outfitted with an engine and slowly transformed into a motorised coaster, the workhorse of the local Baltic trade where she remained until 1979 with Finnish owners until she was sold and burned down in Sweden.
Pommern on the other hand is of Scottish pedigree, built some years earlier than Anny as Mneme in 1903 and then in 1907 sold to the Laeisz company and renamed Pommern, she laid up in Valparaiso during the WW1 and was conveyed to Greece from where she came into Finnish ownership in 1923. She traded until 1939 and then in 1944 she was taken to Stockholm as a grain store, her last passage was in 1945 when towed back to Mariehamn. Since 1953 she has lain in the harbour as a museum when the owning family of Gustaf Eriksson donated her to the city.
The contrast between their operational lifetimes reveals a fascinating truth, it's all about maritime economics.
Feature / History
1914 Schooner/ coaster Anny Von Hamburg
1903 Barque Pommern
Vessel Type
Steel hulled gaff Schooner/ motor vessel
Steel-hulled Four-Masted Barque
Primary trading areas
Baltic Sea, coastal routes
Australia to Europe, transoceanic trade
Hull & Build
steel, highly maneuverable
steel, built for deep sea
End of commercial era
1979 (freights for 54 years)
1939 (31 years if ww1 not counted)
Current Legacy
Passenger charter and living ‘relic’
Floating centerpiece of the Åland Maritime Museum Trust
How Anny von Hamburg “rode” the freight markets until 1979
While massive deep-sea windjammers like Pommern saw their global trade routes dry up with the onset of World War II and the rise of steamships and seafarers rights, the nimble schooner Anny did something truly astonishing: she continued to dominate and hustle in the commercial freight markets until 1979 as a converted coaster. Then later on as a passenger carrying schooner world wide, the tables had turned on the trade area.
Low overhead: Operating with a fraction of the crew and low consumption main engine, Anny kept local cargo transport still profitable.
The local lifeline: She served localized, niche markets—carrying timber, sugarbeets, gravel, and other essential supplies across the Finnish and Swedish archipelagos long after global windjammers were forced into retirement.
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