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Die Bronze-Kanone von der schwedischen Fregatte war ein Beutestück aus dem Dreissigjährigen Krieg.
Image: dpa
The Swedish frigate "Postillion" sank off the coast of what is now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania during the icy winter of the war. It and its escort ship have been found. Their condition has archaeologists thrilled.
New discoveries from the bottom of the Baltic Sea demonstrate just how fiercely contested this inland sea has been throughout history. Two Swedish ships—a frigate and a transport escort vessel—ran aground on a shoal off the coast of what is now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania during the Great Northern War in the icy December of 1714 and were abandoned. Later, the ice crushed them.
The two ships were forgotten until the remains of the frigate “Postillion” were discovered on the bottom of the Baltic Sea in 2016 during archaeological surveys conducted in preparation for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
The wreck of the merchant ship “Cecilie,” which, according to findings, was in active military service and was intended to support the frigate in defending Stralsund—then part of Sweden—had already been found six years earlier nearby in the Baltic Sea sand, as archaeologist Jens Auer reported during a presentation of the finds in Schwerin.
What makes these two shipwrecks special is that much of their cargo is still well-preserved. This provides insights into life on board “that we don’t normally get.” Organic material rarely survives for long periods of time.
According to Auer, the archaeologists found everything the sailor had with him. The items ranged from wooden game pieces to clay pipes—suggesting that playing games and smoking were his main pastimes—to bowls and cutlery, some of which were monogrammed.
“These are all things that suddenly give us direct access to the past,” said archaeologist Auer. Simple everyday objects rarely survive. “It’s hard to get a sense of the common man.”
Now they’ve succeeded. Since the ship’s bell was found, the frigate could be identified as the “Postillion.” According to Auer, a lengthy process of research in Swedish archives now lies ahead. The archaeologists want to find out, for example, who the people on board were. The captain’s name is already known: Mikael Spalding. According to Auer, the crew consisted of 110 men. He says the ship was 30 meters long and armed with 20 cannons.
A cannon barrel was recovered from the bottom of the Baltic Sea and is now stored at the State Archaeological Depot in Schwerin. It is a bronze cannon that was captured from the Swedes during the Thirty Years’ War. According to Auer, the cannon was captured in 1634—“that’s what they wrote on it.” It was therefore at least 80 years old at the time of the “Postillion’s” sinking.
The experts also recovered the ship's cooking pot, which seems rather small given the size of the crew. Archaeologist Auer is particularly pleased with the many finds made of organic material, such as remnants of clothing and pieces of rope.
The wrecks themselves are to remain on the bottom of the Baltic Sea between the islands of Rügen and Usedom. The exact location was not disclosed in order to avoid attracting looters.
The Baltic Sea is rich in archaeological sites, Auer continued. In the 12-nautical-mile zone off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania alone, there are 3,500 such sites—ranging from shipwrecks to Stone Age settlements that sank into the sea due to coastal changes.
06.08.2026, 16:04
