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In the hotel "Fresana" you will find a large oil painting that has a stranded sail ship on it. When we ask the hotel owner about the meaning and origin of the painting, he becomes talkative: because it is part of his family history. His grandfather, Ulrich Onnen Ulrichs lost his tjalk "Norden" - that was loaded with wheat - during the storm flood on the beach of the north Friesian island of Fanö in October 1906. The captain managed to save himself, but the ship-boy drowned in the waves. Northsea - No Mercy!
When on a misty evening in autumn or winter while sipping tea and hearing the ships hoot out there on the sea, we listen to the youth stories told by one or another female native that end mostly in melancholic memories of drowned fathers and sons and of youth friends, who had turned ill at sea as a result of the hard working conditions and had died: "Yes, my husband passed away at a young age. He was only 42. An accident caused it, he was captain on a fishing boat. He earned well; but then I stayed behind with 5 children! At least he rests peacefully here on this island, but Eberhard Gronewold disappeared completely without any trace. He stayed near Iceland. He had joined helpers in a rescue boat to help the people of another fishing boat. The boat capsized. He is buried in Reykjavik. And Ulrich Otten has found a real watery grave. He was also captain on/of a fishing boat, got caught in the net and fell overboard."
And a similar fate was shared by Onne Albers and Reemt Ulrichs and Honke Ulrichs and….. and…. What does Gorch Fock say? "Boy, take off your hat first and go overboard appropriately!"
Source: "Inselglocke" (The island's bell)
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