Åland Maritime Museum

Åland Maritime Museum
Ålands sjöfartsmuseum

The Pommern
Location in Åland
Established 1954 (1954)
Location Mariehamn,  Åland Islands, Finland
Coordinates 60°05′49″N 19°55′35″E / 60.096944°N 19.926389°E / 60.096944; 19.926389
Type Maritime museum
Director Hanna Hagmark-Cooper
Website Museum website

The Åland Maritime Museum (Swedish: Ålands sjöfartsmuseum) is a museum in Mariehamn in the Åland Islands, Finland. It is located in the western part of the town on the sea on Hamangtan, about 1 km (0.62 mi) at the other end of Storangatan. Along with Ålands Museum, it is the most important museum in the islands and a monument to history of Alanland as the holder the world’s largest fleet of wooden sailing ships. The foremost exhibit is a four-masted barque named Pommern, built in Glasgow in 1903, which is anchored behind the museum. The museum designed building is built like a ship’s prow cutting into the land. It has been called the “kitsch museum of fishing and maritime commerce.”[1][2][3][4]

Museum layout

The Åland Maritime Museum is considered one of the world’s finest museums related to merchant sailing ships.[5][6] The building is laid out on two floors with objects relevant to the past glory of the shipping era. The museum has a library wing which has a large collection of books and photos. Souvenirs of books and picture post cards are available in the museum shop.[5][7][8]

Exhibits in the museum

The museum created the central core of a ship depicting a mast, saloon, galley and cabins. The ships figureheads are on display along with the boats; the prominent figurehead displayed, a male figure, once decorated the ship, the "California". In addition, nautical trappings, a number of ships in bottles and sea chests are also on display.[3] Paintings of ships (docked either in Hull, Antwerp, Hong Kong or elsewhere), done by local artists who were specially commissioned by the captain of every ship, are exhibited in the museum. Models of ships of different time periods are displayed on a uniform scale so that the difference between a Baltic schooner and an ocean-going windjammer could be easily discerned.[5][9]

Pommern – the museum ship

the museum ship Pommern at Åland
Main article: Pommern (ship)

The museum ship, Pommern, a four masted merchant barque and windjammer which regularly operated on the grain trade route between Australia and England during the interwar years, is now anchored behind the museum as a display. This is considered as the symbol of Mariehamn, the capital of Åland. It is very well preserved. It was launched in 1903 in Glasgow, Scotland, under the name Mneme, and was later renamed Pommern.[10][11][12] Gustaf Erikson bought the ship in 1929. With a 26-member crew, it carried several tonnes of merchandise (mostly wheat during World War II). It won the grain race twice in the 1930s, and completed the route under 100 days at least four times.[13][14] It has a record for running for 110 days at a stretch. It is the centrepiece of the museum since 1957 at its present mooring in the western harbour of Mariehamn, after sailing for over 70 years.[3][5][15] Cabinets in the museum display curios collected by the sailors from different lands; including piranhas and sharks’ jaws, shells and corals. A unique display is a pirate's flag which is one of a kind.[8]

Renovation

The museum is now under complete renovation and hence has been closed for visitors till the summer of 2011 by which time the additions and refurbishments are expected to be completed. The renovation envisages doubling the museum space with a new set of exhibits with an auditorium and a library wings. Exhibits would also cover a complete ship-owner office, a new captain lounge from a steamship, a steam engine, lighthouse prisms and artefacts. During the renovation, the museum is organising mobile exhibitions in Åland and also in Sweden and Finland.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Paul Harding, Mark Elliott (2007). Scandinavian Europe (8 ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 171. ISBN 1-74104-553-3.
  2. ↑ Brown, Jules (2004). The Rough Guide to Barcelona. Rough Guides. p. 728. ISBN 1-84353-218-2. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  3. 1 2 3 Symington, Andy (2009). Lonely Planet Finland. Lonely Planet. p. 246. ISBN 1-74104-771-4. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  4. ↑ Johnstone, Sarah (2007). Europe on a shoestring. Lonely Planet. p. 357. ISBN 1-74104-591-6. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Aland Islands: Travel Guide". somuchworld.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  6. ↑ "Mariehamn – Åland Maritime Museum". Planetware. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Åland Maritime Museum". Finland Sightseeing And Travel. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Welcome to the Åland Maritime Museum – a museum for the entire family!". Natwestislandgames 2009. Archived from the original (pdf) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  9. ↑ "Australia, Cape Horn and stormy seas!". Aland Official Tourist Gateway. Archived from the original on February 17, 2007. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  10. ↑ "The Ship Pommern (Mariehamn) (Åland)". Travellerspoint Travel Photography. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  11. ↑ Sandström, Fredrik (2000). "Mneme". Sailing Ships. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  12. ↑ Bruzelius, Lars (1996). "Sailing Ships: "Mneme" (1903)". The Maritime History Virtual Archives. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  13. ↑ Bellamit, Philippe. "The grain races". A memorial website for the ship Pamir. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  14. ↑ "Grain – From Plough to Port 2009" (PDF). Shipping Australia & the South Australian Freight Council. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Åland:Pommern Museum". travellerspoint. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  16. ↑ "The Åland Maritime Museum closes for renovation". Aland.com. 2009-11-01. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2016.

Further reading

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