The captain of sailing ships Michael Külken



Michael Külken was born in August 1819 in Rekum (today part of Bremen) to a family of farmers and barge operators. For some time he worked on his father´s barge, and also barges of other people. Here is the house in Rekum, where he was born:

In 1837 he began to work on sailing ships. To see the chronology of his seafaring life, please click on "The sailing ships" on the left side.

In December 1848 he married Adelheid Koster:

At the same time he moved to Vegesack (today part of Bremen) and lived in this house in the Sandstraße (today Bermpohlstraße):

In 1854 Michael Külken moved with his wife and his son Christian (born in 1849) to Geestemünde (today part of Bremerhaven). He was a seaman until 1868, and than as an employee of the towns water supplier for 17 years. When he was 84, he wrote his autobiography for his grandchildren, telling his adventures in his typical humorous style. He died in Bremerhaven in 1903. He was buried in Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf where a gravestone keeps this sea captains´s memory alive.