A legend visits Berlin!' are the sort of headlines you see, when the German press discuss the impending visit of 'Sea Stallion from Glendalough' to the German capital.
'Sea Stallion' is the world's longest reconstruction of a Viking ship, and the ship became world famous when it sailed with its 65-strong crew from the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde to Dublin and back again in 2007-2008.
10km rowing through the centre of Berlin
Now the jouney takes the ship to Berlin, where on Saturday 6th September, Sea Stallion will be rowed through the center of Berlin on the river Spree to moor between the Reichstag building and the world famous museums at Museumsinsel.
Saturday 6th September, Sea Stallion's crew of 65 men and women from the ship's volunteer boatguild will go on board and row the ship the 10km from 'Insel der jugend', where the ship can first be seen Saturday morning at 09:30, to the quayside at 'Schiffbauerdamm 19', where they are expected to arrive at 14:45.
Along the way, Sea Stallion will pass several historic monuments and they will also hold some breaks along the way. It is expected that many people will position themselves along the route to see the Viking ship and a fantastic sight awaits the spectators, when Sea Stallion passes the lock on outside Berlin's historic harbour at ca. 13:45.
Chopping axes and the scent of tar included in international Viking exhibition
The purpose of Sea Stallion's visit to Berlin is to raise awareness about the opening of the Viking exhibition 'Die Wikinger', which is on show at Martin-Gropius Bau in Berlin from the 10th September 2014 until 4th January 2015.
'Die Wikinger' has been created in a collaboration between Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte in Berlin, the British Museum in London and the National Museum in Copenhagen. In the centre of the exhibition stands Roskilde 6, the largest Viking ship ever found during excavation, which will be on display in the inner hall.
The exhibition from Copenhagen and London has been expanded to include new activities, organised by the Danish embassy in Berlin in collaboration with the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. The Viking Ship Museum will present a continuation of 'Die Wikinger' with the exhibition 'Ships of the Vikings', which explores the excavation of the five Viking ships from Roskilde Fjord and the more than 50 years of work that have been involved in building and sailing reconstructions of Viking ships.
The exhibition will echo with the sound of chopping axes and smell of wood tar. Two boatbuilders from the Viking Ship Museum will build a reconstruction of one of the smaller boats from the Viking Age, using copies of Viking tools. You can follow their work every day during the ca. 4 months that the exhibition will be on display, and the public are welcome to ask questions about the materials, tools and techniques, and through dialogue with the skilled craftsmen, can get a living and detailed understanding of the extraordinary ship building skills of the Viking
Royal visit
The exhibition will be opened the 9th September by Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark and German President Joachim Gauck, who will also visit Sea Stallion together. The Queen was 'godmother' to Sea Stallion when the ship was launched in 2004 and since then, has sailed with the ship several times, most recently in 2012. The Queen and the President will be received by the Viking Ship Museum's director, Tinna Damgård-Sørensen and Skipper Carsten Hvid.
Information:
'Sea Stallion from Glendalough' is the largest reconstructed Viking ship that has been built to date. The ship is a reconstruction of the longship, Skuldelev 2, which was excavated from Roskilde Fjord in 1962, together with four other Viking ships. The original ship was built in Dublin in 1042 and is an impressive example of the ship building skills that made Viking expansion possible, and played a crucial role in the influence they came to have over that era.
'Sea Stallion' was built at the Viking Ship Museum's boatyard from 2000 - 2004 using copies of tools from the Viking Age and with the same techniques the Vikings used.
'Sea Stallion' was named by Her Majesty the Queen in 2004 and the ship can celebrate its 10 year anniversary on the way to Berlin.
Visit Havhingsten in Berlin
Sea Stallion will be open for visitors at 'Schiffbauerdamm 19', 6th September from ca. 16:00 - 18:00.
From the 7th - 14th September, Sea Stallion can be visited at the same address daily from 10:00 - 19:00, except for Tuesday 9th September, where the ship will be closed to the public from 13:00 to facilitate the visit of Her Majesty the Queen and the German President, Joachim Gauck.
Long ship with special transport
However, The Sea Stallion will not arrive in Berlin under its own steam. The 30m long warship will be transported by road and ferry during the 400km long journey from Roskilde to Berlin.