Stralsund (dpa / mv) – In the second attempt, the Stralsund citizenship approved the takeover of the sailing training ship “Gorch Fock 1” by the city. According to a statement on Thursday evening in the non-public part of the meeting, the city representatives agreed to a corresponding proposal. At the end of January, the project had not yet found sufficient approval. Parts of the citizenry expressed reservations about possibly too high costs.
Now the city wants to take over the 80 meter long barque from the Tall Ship Friends association. The ship is to be fundamentally renovated and converted into a walk-in, barrier-free museum ship. Last year, the federal government promised a high level of funding for this.
Mayor Alexander Badrow (CDU) was delighted after the decision: “What a nice gift for our upcoming 90th birthday! With this decision we can hopefully save the “White Swan of the Baltic Sea” and keep it permanently as a maritime landmark in our cityscape,” he explained. In addition to the federal government, the state and the EU also contribute to preserving the “Gorch Fock l” as a cultural heritage and monument.
According to the city, funding of 9.5 million euros is available for the “establishment of a basic facility for the maritime tourism infrastructure in the port of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund on the SSS Gorch Fock l”. With a total investment of 10.5 million euros, the municipal share is around one million euros, which the association Tall Ship Friends e.V. will take on. “The Hanseatic City of Stralsund is taking over and renovating the proud three-master without having to use municipal funds,” the statement said. The repair should take over the Volkswerft Stralsund.
According to the association, the ship was built by Blohm Voss in Hamburg in 1933 in just 100 days and sailed under the German, Soviet and Ukrainian flags before returning to Stralsund in 2003, then under the name “Towarischtsch” (comrade). The name Gorch Fock goes back to the writer of the same name. The “Gorch Fock 1” also established a ship class in 1933, which comprised a total of six ships, including the youngest sister ship built in 1958 and current sailing ship of the German Navy, which also bears the name “Gorch Fock”.
