Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 162
There normally were two crew
compartments, one each for eight
men, into which the bunks would
be squeezed with maximum space
utilisation in mind, as opposed to
comfort. One locker per person,
and a narrow one at that, offered
just enough room for personal
effects normally carried on board in
a duffle bag. As Jochen Brennecke
aptly described it in his book
‘Geschichte der Seefahrt’ (‘History
of Navigation’):
“...there was a bare mess table in
the centre of the room which all had
to share. Electric lighting was late
to come. The pungent stench of oil
lanterns combined with smells and
odours of all sorts to form what is
commonly known as fug. Showers
and baths were quite unknown,
except those provided by breaking
seas in rough weather. However,
good owners saw to good food,
realising that good crews could
prevent costly disasters.”
Looking back, it is often forgotten
that those ashore, be they factory
workers, artisans or office staff
did not live in paradise either. The
vast majority of people led a hard
life full of privation and what little
time off they had would have to be
spent in various ways maintaining
their modest belongings or
improving their income or the
quality of their food. Hard work and
deprivation aside, seafaring was
a sought‑after manner of earning
one’s keep. Nautical and technical
seafarers with a sense of duty
earned a reasonable income. They
progressed in life even without
taking university degrees and above
all they could see foreign countries
which most landlubbers could not.
Ostseehaus the second office of the
company at Lübeck, Untertrave 84
There was a bare mess table
in the centre of the room
which all had to share.
158
Nordische Reederei had survived
inflation and the bitterly cold
winter of 1928/29. North Germany
recorded temperatures of minus
40 centigrade. Rivers and coastlines
froze over and hundreds of ships,
including the PLANET, were
ice‑bound in the Baltic Sea. It so
