Vegesack and its vicinity

Von der Weser in die Welt Vol I
Die Geschichte der Segelschiffe von Weser und Lesum und ihrer Bauwerften 1770 bis 1893
Schriften des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseums, Band 33
1993, 496 p., 454 ill., 141 in colour, large format (21 x 27 cm), hardback

Contents:
More than 1200 seagoing sailing ships left the slipways of the shipyards on the Weser and Lesum rivers between 1770 and 1893 (the founding year of the shipyard Bremer Vulkan). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the localities of Roennebeck, Flethe, Faehr, Lobbendorf, Vegesack, Grohn, St. Magnus, and Burg which were part of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the Kingdom of Hanover (later Prussia) respectively, formed a flourishing shipbuilding region, today referred to as Bremen-Nord. This region also comprised the Stedingerland on the opposite side of the Weser, then part of the Grandduchy of Oldenburg. More than 30 shipbuilding firms lined the shore of the river during that period: some small which only existed for a few years, others big for those days which constructed hundreds of vessels for local and even foreign customers over many years.

Peter-Michael Pawlik has researched the histories of these shipyards and the biographies of their newbuildings for 15 years before publishing Vol. I, based on evaluation and analysis of the relevant documents in archives and numerous other sources. The result is a reference book which has no equal for other German shipbuilding regions so far.

The book is structured according to shipbuilding locations. The history of each shipyard is followed by a list of the newbuildings, their biographies their principal technical data. A large number of the vessels were employed in the emigrant trade from Germany to America, Australia, and elsewhere. Emigration from Bremen/Bremerhaven is most interesting for the genealogical researcher. Original accounts from newspapers and other sources provide an insight in the history of shipbuilding, economy, and commerce, in social circumstances, in trade cycles etc.

There are extensive indices for the names of ships and their masters, facilitating the use of the book which itself makes an important contribution to the history of the heyday of merchant shipping under sail.

For a review in „Northern Mariner” (Vol. VI, 1996, p.75-76) go to the following link and search for “Pawlik”: https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol06/tnm_6_2_69-121.pdf

For an English summary of a talk given 7 October 2004 at a meeting of the Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft at Bremerhaven, published in Jahrbuch der Schiffbautechnischen Gesellschaft Vol. 98 (2004) go to the following link:
http://books.google.de/books?id=nUmLbaogjsMC&pg=PP1&dq= jahrbuch+der+schiffbautechnischen+gesellschaft#PPA225,M1 tl_files/Download-Bereich/Buchcover - Von der Weser in die Welt - Band 1.jpg