Whale and Seal Industry
From 1671-1863 they were sailing to the northern edge of the
north pole from Glückstadt. With around six hundred trips,
Glückstadt had the largest part in the Greenland Voyages of
Schleswig-Hostein. At it's best, in 1818 Glückstadt had 17 ships
with about eight hundred seamen. The most successful ship was
named "Kleiner Heinrich", which had the largest cargo
in all of Germany, with a total of 7019 seals, in 1860. The
Greenland sailor came from the islands Halligen of the North Sea
coast. On the way to Greenland, the inexpert fishermen learned to
handle the sloops. They traded around to the different positions
and practiced. Due to having so many sailors there were able to
have three different watches or guards. Every guard had a four
hour shift and eight hours of rest. One day was split into six
different guards. When the ships ran into ice the sailors were
allowed to play on the ice during their free time. The main
staple was groats, beer, stock fish, pork and white peas. They
didn't wash the dishes because of it being so cold. After the
morning guard they prayed and on Saturday they cleaned the whole
ship. By Sunday they were ready to hear a sermon and drink strong
liquor. Of course the main event was the hunt. In 1674, three
years after the first trip, came along the first train-oil still.
In 1728, a new train-oil still was built on the Rhine, and was
protected by the government and tax free. The whale was caught
for train oil, but could also be eaten and the bones used as
building material. After these voyages there were always large
seal skin auctions.
