Dr. Peter-Michel Pawlik, born in Bremen in 1945, is a jurist and was judge in his home town. From 1983 to 1991, he was a representative in the Bremen State Parliament (Bürgerschaft),
and from 1992 to 1995 a member of the Bremen Constitutional Court (Staatsgerichtshof).

Born and bred next to the River Weser (in Vegesack and Blumenthal, now districts of Bremen), he was a shiplover since childhood and became a member of the World Ship Society in 1961. In the 1960ies, he wrote numerous articles with own line drawings for the society's magazine Marine News. He became well known for his books on shipping history, having published Vol. I of the much acclaimed trilogy "Von der Weser in die Welt" ("Sailing from the Weser into the World") in 1993, followed by Vol. II ten years later. They describe the sailing shipyards in the 19th century on the lower Weser and the sailing ships built there. In 1996 appeared the biography of the last German discoverer captain, Eduard Dallmann, titled "Von Sibirien nach Neu Guinea". For more than thirty years Pawlik has devoted all his spare time to research on the sailing ships and sailing shipyards in the Weser region. Vol III. of "Von der Weser in die Welt" was presented in 2008. Vol. IV and V on the English and Scottish-built Weser sailing ships followed in 2020.

Dr. Peter-Michael Pawlik lives with his wife and two dogs in Bremen-Strom, on the Ochtum, a tributary of the River Weser.