Lisa's Favorite PlacesLisa JahnkeApril 08, 2020Seilskipet Statsraad Lehmkuhl, Tall Ship, Sailing Ship, Norfolk, Norfolk Virginia, Visit Norfolk, Virginia, Visit Virginia, Virginia Is For Lovers, Downtown Norfolk, Elizabeth River, Sailing1 Comment

Lets Sail Away - Seilskipet Statsraad Lehmkuhl

One of my “favorite places” to be is in downtown Norfolk, Virginia on the waterfront especially when one of the tall ships are docked near Town Point Park. In 2017, 2019 & 2020 I was fortunate enough to see the amazing tall ship, Seilskipet Statsraad Lehmkuhl when it was in Norfolk for a ship visit.

In 2019 it was a cloudy day earlier that week in Norfolk, yet the grandeur of this amazing tall sailing ship, Seilskipet Statsraad Lehmkuhl was simply breathtaking. In comparison, November of 2017, it also made a stop in Norfolk and the "view" was amazing as it was a beautiful sunny day. I also had the opportunity to go aboard for a tour. The wood and craftsmanship was so detailed and exquisite.

This year in March 2020, I was able to watch the ship coming up the Elizabeth River to arrive pier side in Downtown Norfolk by Town Point Park. It was a spectacular sight for young and old to watch it arrive.

It was an amazing experience to see the ships crew manning the masts as it sailed along the river. It was a picture perfect day for the ships’ arrival. It was just as fascinating watching the crew once the ship was secured to the pier to begin to come down the masts. I encourage you to click on the video below and turn up the volume.

Click on the video below and turn up the volume for another delightful scene from the ship as they are pulling in to anchor.

A little history from their website: “The “Statsraad Lehmkuhl” is a 3-masted steel bark, built by Johann C. Tecklenborg AG in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde in 1914 as a training ship for the German merchant marine. Her original name was “Grossherzog Friedrich August”. During most of World War Ι the “Statsraad Lehmkuhl” was used as a stationary training ship in Germany and transferred to England as part of the war reparations in 1920. On an initiative by the then current director of the Bergen-based shipping company “Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab” and the former cabinet minister Kristofer Lehmkuhl, the «Statsraad Lehmkuhl» was purchased from England in 1921 and put into service as a sail training vessel under the Norwegian flag from 1923. As a token of appreciation and gratitude to Kristofer Lehmkuhl for his work for the school training ship cause, and for his work in the 1905 government cabinet, the ship was renamed «Statsraad Lehmkuhl» (Minister Lehmkuhl).

«Statsraad Lehmkuhl» served as a training vessel for the Bergen School Ship Foundation until 1967, except for the period 1940 – 1945, when the Germans confiscated the ship during World War II, painted her black and renamed her «Westwärts».”