October 2, 1984:Tragedy in the port of Hamburg

With 43 people on board, the barge "Martina" sets off on October 2, 1984 for a happy birthday party on the Elbe. But only 24 survive the journey.

by Janine Kuehl

It begins as a happy birthday party and ends with one of the worst accidents in the port of Hamburg:On October 2, 1984, Wolfgeorg Rosenhagen celebrates his 40th birthday with 41 guests - on the Elbe. He rented the "Martina" barge for 350 marks. There is a boisterous celebration on board. Music echoes across the water. There is beer for the adults and woodruff lemonade for the children.

At around 7 p.m., barge operator Ulrich Wruck steers the birthday party through the darkness in the direction of Landungsbrücken. After a detour into the Köhlbrand, he wants to turn back into the main arm of the Elbe. At this point, Rosenhagen is with Wruck and offers him a beer, which the skipper refuses in an exemplary manner.

Barge sinks in seconds

"What's that? No light at all," says Wruck suddenly, then there's a loud bang. The "Martina" collides with a barge that is being pulled up the Elbe by the tugboat "Therese". The bow of the barge depresses the barge so that it fills with water and sinks within seconds. Screaming people swim in the water of the Elbe, which is only twelve degrees warm. The crews of the tugboat and barge rush to the rescue and save 22 people. Two birthday guests are taken on board by the tug "Johanna".

350 rescue workers on duty

After the emergency call from the "Therese", more than 40 police, fire brigade and customs ships were at the scene of the accident within a very short time. The emergency services use searchlights to search the water for shipwrecked people, and shipping traffic is stopped for three hours. The rescue workers are also looking for the embankments. But they can only salvage the dead. After four hours, Joachim Peters, head of the water police, called off the nightly search.

Disaster claims 19 lives

The next morning, the "Martina" is recovered from a depth of twelve meters. On board, the emergency services find more dead, including a baby that is still in its stroller on deck. The 66-year-old skipper Wruck is also among the victims. However, many remain missing for weeks. The five-year-old son of Wolfgeorg and Gudrun Rosenhagen, Matthias, was found dead on October 19 on the banks of the Köhlbrand. His seven-year-old brother Guntram is never found. Of the 43 birthday guests, only 24 survived. Eleven children are among the 19 dead, and many families have lost one or more relatives.

Maritime Office found launch driver guilty

The cause of the fatal collision is not clear. For weeks, the Hamburg media speculated about a technical defect, the lack of lighting in the towing unit or the limited sight of the barge operator. The investigation before the maritime authority does not bring a complete clarification of the accident. In mid-December, the maritime authority finds the barge operator Wruck guilty. Since the Maritime Office is not a regular court, its judgment only serves as a basis for subsequent damage and insurance issues.

Keyword:barge

The small ships were part of everyday life in Hamburg from the turn of the century until the 1970s. They transported goods and passengers within the port. The flat ships, some of which are only a good ten meters long, are open in the area behind the wheelhouse. Often the ship's captain also stood in the open air. Today, launches are used almost exclusively for harbor tours.

Cause unclear:"A mistake"

The investigations show that the lighting of the tow train was correct. The captain of the "Therese", Günther Peinemann, behaved in an exemplary manner. An expert opinion suggests that the 66-year-old Wruck did not recognize the towing unit in time due to poor eyesight. Because of a retinal scar, he was probably only able to see with one eye in the dark and drove at full speed into the tow train. He may have mistook the kerosene lamp on the barge for a light on the opposite, illuminated bank.

The chairman, Gerd Moritz, suspects that "an oversight, which is good a hundred times and leads to such a catastrophe once" was the reason for the accident. Nevertheless, the negotiations with the Maritime Authority clearly show that the applicable regulations with regard to the sight of the skippers, the lighting of the ships, the safety of the launches and the radio contact between the launch operators and commercial shipping are in need of reform. The roof of the "Martina" was so dented that the lifebuoys were trapped under the benches. In some areas, the port authority quickly issues new, stricter regulations.

Mourning service in the Michel

Around 1,000 mourners attend a service for the victims of the launch accident on October 11, 1984 in St. Michaelis Church. In his speech to the bereaved, Klaus von Dohnanyi, the mayor of Hamburg at the time, addressed the bereaved:"Our city is sad. We share your pain."

A high willingness to donate helps the bereaved

The citizens of Hamburg show great sympathy - with cards, flowers and, last but not least, monetary donations. Because many children have become half-orphans, women and men have lost their partners. Many survivors find themselves in financial distress. Initially, the insurance only conceded damages totaling 125,000 marks - hardly enough to cover the funeral costs, according to some Hamburg newspapers. By the end of 1984, almost 400,000 marks from private, company and association donations had been collected in a special account of the Diakonisches Werk.

The Hamburg sports club, for example, is involved with 100,000 marks. The club also initiates a benefit game between the German and Hungarian national teams in Hamburg's Volksparkstadion. The game takes place in January 1985 and - together with other donations - brings in proceeds of over 500,000 marks. And after negotiations with the Hamburg barge owners, the insurance company finally pays one million marks to the bereaved

Life after the tragedy

In an open letter on December 22, 1984, the survivors thanked the "Hamburger Abendblatt" for all the support and at the same time expressed their wish for measures to prevent another accident. Wolfgeorg Rosenhagen in particular is committed to greater security in the port of Hamburg. He is not guilty, but feels responsible for what happened. The Rosenhagens have two more sons and want to be a normal family. Nevertheless, the tragedy determines her life, as well as that of the other survivors.

Barges:conversions for 100,000 euros

To this day, the safety of the launches is a hotly debated topic. In 2006, the Hamburg port authority wants to implement the conversion of the 84 barges in the port of Hamburg. Additional air chambers, bulkheads that can be closed quickly, freely accessible rescue equipment and a smaller panoramic roof are central components of the requirements. The launch owners protest because of the high costs. Since 2013, most launches have been converted in accordance with the new regulations - with an investment of up to 100,000 euros per ship, this is not an easy task for the often small companies, but it is essential to avoid a disaster like that of October 2, 1984.