The Störtebeker Saga

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When the memories of events and individuals live on in the tales of the people for centuries after the fact, it is safe to conclude that these made a deep impression on their contemporaries. The trappings of the same are altered multiple times in legends, but the core of the story remains. One such set of events were the pirate raids of the so-called Victual Brothers in the Baltic and North Seas at the end of the 14th century. Many of these raids have been forgotten, but of their leaders Klaus Störtebeker and Gödeke Michael, the legend still has plenty to say.

When, around the year 1389, the Danish Queen Magaret held the Swedish King Albert prisoner, the people of Rostock and Wismar rallied for his rescue and hired a wild group of people who called themselves the Victual Brothers because they wanted to supply the king with victuals. However, they were soon widely feared for their acts of piracy.

Their above-mentioned leaders were daring adventurers whose business — which by no means was seen as dishonorable at the time — eventually caused them to end up in the hands of the embittered citizens of Hamburg, where they died condemned as criminals. But, in the minds of the people, they lived on as heroes of the sea, and thus several regions vie for the honor of being the place of their birth. According to Kobbe “Gesch. Theil 1.”, page 206 Störtebeker was from the Diocese of Verden, and his estate was near Verden in the vicinity of the Halsmühle (Pfannkuche Geschichte des Bisthums Verden. I. page 214), and the Dauelsen estate of his brother-in-law is still shown today. Furthermore, in a hardly believable tale he and Gödeke are supposed to have donated seven windows (one showing the heraldic sign of Störtebeker: two overturned cups) each to the Cathedral in Verden as atonement for seven deadly sins. A yearly donation of rays and herrings to the priests and poor people is also attributed to Störtebeker.

But the fishers of Rügen tell that Gödeke Michael was a squire on the Ruschvitz estate on Jasmund while Störtebeker came from the area around Barth in Pomerania, and allegedly they stored their loot in a crevice in the Stubbenkammer. In Mecklenburg, an old wall of the Gut Schulenburg estate near Sülz an der Reknitz was claimed to be part of a castle owned by “Störtebeck” and “Jörte Micheel”. In contrast, they are supposed to have had a Schanze fortress in Neustadt in Holstein, and the family name “Störtebecker” existed there as late as 1771.

Many further tales are told of them in East Frisia. After they were driven out of the Baltic Sea they found refuge there, such as in Oldenburg and in the Groningen area, and they did business readily with the locals thanks to their loot. However, they spent most of their time in Marienhafe where they started to build (but didn’t finish) the high tower at the famous church. A canal leading there is still called the “Störtebeckerstief”, and legend claims that Störtebecker anchored his ships at the iron rings integrated into the wall of the church. The same story is told of the church in Holtgaste in the district of Jemgum, which now lies almost half an hour away from the Ems river.

But, above all, his memory is kept alive in Hamburg. The local Seafarer’s Association owns a mighty cup, which holds the contents, of four bottles and Störtebeker is supposed to have emptied in one go. Lübeck and Groningen likewise claim to have such cups. Naturally, the German Hero of the Sea had to also be a strong drinker.

He had run quite a few capers against the rich merchants of Hamburg, and even against the Sultan of Constantinople. One hour distant from Hamburg, into the direction of Buxtehude, there is a sandy hill near Neugraben, which is called the Falkenberg, and which is now covered with fir trees. There, he allegedly had a castle and blocked the river Elbe with chains.

In the year 1402, he was finally captured after a brave fight between the islands of Neuwerk and Helgoland by a ship arriving from Flanders named “Die Bunte Kuh” (“The Colorful Cow”), both him and M. Gödeke and Wichman Wichelt along with 70 comrades. The legend states that a clever man from Hamburg immobilized the rudder on Störtebeker’s ship with molten lead.

As a prisoner, he broke his chains and offered to plate the tower of St. Peter’s Church with gold if they would give him his freedom. But, to no avail! He was to be beheaded with all his comrades on the Grasbrook. As his final wish, he asked out of love for them that all whom he walked past after he was beheaded would be pardoned. As this was granted and the pirates stood in a row before the headsman’s block, he walked, headless, until he reached the fifth man. Then, the headsman threw a log of wood in front of his feet so that he fell and didn’t get up again.

Source: Köster - Alterthümer, Geschichten und Sagen der Herzogthümer Bremen und Verden, p. 83ff

caption Note: This story was published in the book Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles: Commentaries on German folklore. Get the book for further context and explanatory commentary!