Wempe Gerhard Diedrich Wempe opened a shop in the street Steinstraße in Elsfleth on the 5th of May 1878. Thereby, the clockmaker Wempe, who was barely 21 years old, laid the foundation for an enterprise which now has its central domicile in Hamburg, four generations later. Moreover, Wempe has offices in such prime locations as London, Paris, New York and Peking. Particularly in the shipping industry, the production of very precise timing devices, so-called chronometers, was a most significant part of the business. These were utilized to acquire an accurate determination of the ship´s position at sea- Today, these instruments are eagerly desired by collectors. The Maritime Museum “Haus Elsfleth” also has additional information pertaining to the history of Wempe and the importance of chronometers for navigation at sea. [More]
Maritime Museum - Haus Elsfleth In 1890, the physician and health official Dr. Christian Ludwig Steenken (1857-1933) commissioned the construction of this Villa. Steenken was closely interconnected with the maritime economy. Indeed, Steenken was a bank director and the head of a maritime shipping line. Additionally, he was the president of the Elsfleth Herring Fishing Society and of the Elsfleth Ship and Shippers´ Society “Concordia”, predecessor of the Nautical Union of Lower Saxony. In 2005, Horst Werner, captain and ship owner from Elsfleth, purchased the beautiful landmark structure, a prime example of the Oldenburg gabled house. He donated it to the “Wesermarsch Civic Trust” with the requirement that it serve as a museum. Since 2010, the “Villa Steenken” is one of the three locations of the Maritime Museum of the Oldenburgian Lower Weser. [More]