The Friendship of Nations - holiday ship of the GDR

On February 24, 1960, the "Friendship of Peoples" set off from Rostock for its maiden run. The first holiday ship in the GDR not only offered luxurious cruises to "deserving working people".

by Henning Strüber

Cruise shipping has not only been at home in Rostock since the AIDA shipping company. Even in GDR times, holiday ships set sail in the Hanseatic city, on which the "working population" and "deserving activists" traveled to the Baltic Sea region or the Black Sea. Athletes from the East German Olympic team also go on board. The "MS Friendship of Nations" is the first of these socialist dream ships. Together with the "Fritz Heckert", named after the Spartacus co-founder and Comintern functionary, the only new cruise ship built for the GDR, the "Friendship of Peoples" was used from 1960. Later the "MS Arkona" was added, which as "MS Astor" was also ZDF's TV dream ship.

The "unlucky ship" becomes a holiday ship

Even before its first voyage under the GDR flag in February, the ship had achieved notoriety. On July 25, 1956, as "Stockholm", still flying the Swedish flag, it collided with the twice as large liner "Andrea Doria" in a fog bank off the US east coast. While the Italian ship sank - 51 people died in the accident (five of them on the "Stockholm") - the damaged ship reached New York and was repaired. In 1960 the GDR bought the ship for 20 million crowns.

Smoking in the saloon, volleyball on the upper deck

On February 24, 1960, the "people's friendship" managed by AIDA's predecessor Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (DSR) finally set off on its first major voyage to the Mediterranean. Before that, however, the socialist dream ship will be rebuilt. In terms of luxury, it should be in no way inferior to the buildings of the class enemy. There is an outdoor and an indoor swimming pool, a hairdressing salon, smoking room and a veranda coffee shop with a large dance floor. The latest films from DEFA productions are shown in a cinema hall for 180 visitors. Those who like it sporty can play table tennis or smash volleyballs on the upper deck. The ball is attached to a string to prevent it from going overboard.

Technical data of the "Friendship of Nations"

Year of construction :1948
Total length :160.07 meters
width :21.03 meters
Survey :12,442 GRT
Crew: 220
Passengers :550
Maximum speed :19 knots
Nation :GDR (1960-1985)Home port :Rostock (1960-1985)

Former steward remembers

"But all the entertainment that's standard on modern cruise ships didn't exist yet," says Reinhard Brandt. From 1975 to 1981, the man from Schwerin worked as a steward on the ship - until the State Security took away his seaman's book because a friend had applied for an exit visa. Brandt likes to remember:"It was a very interesting time:seafaring under the conditions of the GDR. It was the only way to leave the country legally." As a steward, Brandt's job is to look after the guests. "It was hard work from morning to night."

Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean

In spring and autumn, trips for the Free German Trade Union Confederation (FDGB) are on the agenda, in winter the ship is temporarily chartered to the Swedish Stena-Line, because the GDR suffers from a chronic lack of foreign exchange - and western customers pay well. The Baltic Sea season begins at the beginning of May. A trip always lasts two weeks and leads to the ports of the friendly socialist brother states. So it goes from Rostock via Gdynia to the former Leningrad. Back in the home port, the next passenger change is imminent. "The crew traveled along for six to eight weeks and then had four weeks off," says Brandt.

Danger of escaping in narrow passages

In September and October, the ship heads for southern climes. Her round trips through the Black Sea take her from Varna via Yalta to Sochi and back again. "Later it was shortened because they no longer wanted these journeys through the Mediterranean. Then only certain people were allowed to ride." Because the state representatives - a political officer of the state security is always on board - are always afraid that passengers or crew members could take the opportunity to escape, which in some cases they do. "That's why in narrow passages, such as the passage through the Bosporus, people from the crew always kept watch to make sure nobody jumped overboard," says Brandt.

"Every day a highlight"

Then Cuba trips follow, before the charter trips of the Swedes are pending. In the spring, the ship usually spends several weeks in the dockyard in Wismar, "it was a bit older," Brandt recalls. Brandt particularly likes the charter trips - mostly with Scandinavian guests on board:"There were very interesting ports:the entire Lesser Antilles, the Caribbean, from Grenada to the Virgin Islands, the Canary Islands, the entire Mediterranean Sea in general - it every day was a highlight. We made it nice for ourselves." From time to time the crew can play volleyball against the guests. And once all the passengers have disembarked, which rarely happens, the crew throws a little party, as Brandt well remembers:"We also had a Bavarian evening."

The changing names of the "Friendship of Nations"

1946-1960:"Stockholm" (Sweden)
1960-1985 "Friendship of Nations" (GDR)
1985-1986 "Volker"
1986-1989 "Fridtjof Nansen"
1989- 1992 "Surriento"
1993 "Italia I"
1993-2000 "Italia Prima"
2000-2003 "Valtur Prima"
2003-2005 "Caribe"
2005 -2012 "Athena"
2013-2015 "Azores"
from 2016:"Astoria"

At the heart of world events

But the icy climate of the Cold War can also be felt on deck. On its voyages between the Baltic Sea and the West Indies, the "Friendship of Peoples" repeatedly got caught between the fronts of the East-West conflict. On the way to Cuba in October 1962, the ship, manned by FDGB and Czech holidaymakers, passed through the American blockade line. It will be accompanied by a US destroyer for three hours - at a distance of two nautical miles. The warship finally turns around and the "Friendship of Nations" reaches the Cuban capital Havana unharmed. Six years later there was an incident in the Baltic Sea when the cruise ship collided with a West German submarine hunter who was about to take in a "refugee from the Republic". Also in the Baltic Sea, the "Friendship of Peoples" collided with a German Navy submarine in 1983. The incidents end lightly.

Film star in Rostock, model online

But the ravages of time are unmistakably gnawing at the ship oldie. In addition, the operation of the ship is not profitable. The "Friendship of Nations" becomes a subsidy business for the cash-strapped GDR state treasury. But shortly before she is decommissioned, she is given a special honor. The holiday ship serves as a backdrop for the exterior shots of the DFF film "Captain Mitchell's Revenge". In January 1985, the "Friendship of Peoples" in need of renovation was sold - after 25 years on the seven seas with 117 ports of call in 51 countries and a distance covered that corresponds to 68 times around the world. In the years that followed, several conversions followed - under different names and owners. To date, she is the longest serving transatlantic ship in the world.

Return to Rostock as "MS Azores"

To a certain extent, the "people's friendship" of their homeland has survived to this day. In the summer of 2015, she will pay another visit to her old home port as "MS Azores" with hundreds of cruise guests on board. Three years later she docked again in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, this time in Wismar. Under the name "Astoria" she now sails with up to 550 passengers for a British shipping company. In addition, a model of the cruise ship veteran sails through the vastness of the internet in the Virtual State Museum of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.