Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

Waldarstellungen auf alten Grabsteinen der Wattenmeerinseln

Beginning in the seventeenth century, a tradition developed on the Wadden Sea islands whereby rich captains had ornate gravestones made for themselves. In these maritime communities, ships - an identity-establishing motif associated with economic prosperity - were often depicted on the gravestones. Although for many seafarers whaling was the source of their affluence, whalers relatively seldom had whales depicted on their grave markers. Altogether a mere ten gravestones bearing whale depictions have been found on the Wadden Sea islands, and none on the mainland. Six of the stones are on Föhr, three on Ameland and one on Sylt. In this article, the stones are described and their function investigated. Five types of whale depictions can be distinguished. Four bear a connection to whaling, the source of the deceased persons’ prosperity. On the gravestone on Sylt, however, the whale is merely an artistic detail with no relationship to whaling. The gravestones with whale depictions were all produced within the relatively short period between 1706 and 1800. The stones, visible to one and all in the cemeteries, later served to keep the legend of whaling and of the ship commanders’ wealth alive.

Waldarstellungen auf alten Grabsteinen der Wattenmeerinseln

Urheber*in: Rheinheimer, Martin

Rechte vorbehalten - Freier Zugang

0
/
0

Weitere Titel
Whale Depictions on Old Gravestones of the Wadden Sea Islands
ISSN
0343-3668
Umfang
Seite(n): 175-192
Sprache
Deutsch
Anmerkungen
Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; nicht begutachtet

Erschienen in
Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv, 33

Thema
Geschichte
Geschichte

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Rheinheimer, Martin
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wo)
Deutschland
(wann)
2010

URN
urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-65971-9
Rechteinformation
GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
Letzte Aktualisierung
21.06.2024, 16:26 MESZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Zeitschriftenartikel

Beteiligte

  • Rheinheimer, Martin

Entstanden

  • 2010

Ähnliche Objekte (12)