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| Herman Goring - Carin II Collection |
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The story of the origin of this collection of Carin II artifacts is almost as intriguing as the actual items concerned. For, as a collection, they have a direct association with one of the most audacious frauds of the 20th Century - the alleged Adolf Hitler Diaries - and the man at the centre of it all, Stern magazine journalist Gerd Heidemann. However, to comprehend the full perspective of this story, one has to “travel back in time” so to speak - to encounter the other events and personalities that surround the vessel known as the Carin II.
In the late 1930s Field Marshal Hermann Goring was at the height of his powers. He was probably the most colourful of the “aristocracy” of the Third Reich hierarchy - famous for his flamboyant lifestyle and love of uniforms. Goring was head of the Luftwaffe, and had been the motivating force in the creation of the air arm of the Wehrmacht (hitherto forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of Peace signed at Versailles, 1920).
Goring was also the leader of the German Hunting Association (Deutsche Jagerschaft); and he was also Administrator for Implementation of the Fuhrer’s 5-year Plan; Reichsminister for Air Transport (all civil aviation flights); Reichs Forestry Minister; Reichs Minister for the State of Prussia; and numerous other positions. Goring was a larger than life character who believed in living life to the full. He loved hunting, he loved shooting, but when he wanted to get away from it and relax, he liked to sail on his Motor Yacht, the Carin.
The Carin was named after Goring’s first wife Carin von Kantzow, a member of the Swedish nobility, who had unfortunately died of illness in the 1920s. Goring was absolutely grief stricken at the death of his wife, which had occurred in her homeland of Sweden. In later years, in the 1930s as his position and power increased, Goring had a hunting lodge built (as part of an earlier period, disused lodge) specifically as a memorial to his late wife. This new lodge was called Carinhall, and it was on Goring’s 100,000 acre estate at Schorfheide, in eastern Prussia. A special mausoleum was also constructed, and Goring had the mortal remains of his late wife brought over from Sweden, and reinterred at Carinhall.
In 1937, the German Automobile Industry arranged for the construction of a new Motor Yacht as a gift to Goring, in appreciation of Goring’s efforts to Industry (and the motor industry particularly) as part of his duties in the implementation of the Fuhrer’s 5-Year Plan. By this time Goring had remarried, now to the former actress Emmy Sonnemann, so it was perhaps with some surprise that when Goring was consulted about this magnificent new vessel which he was to receive, that he wanted it to be named Carin II after his late first wife. Perhaps Emmy Goring (nee Sonnemann) fully understood Goring’s loyalty to his first wife, and nobly accepted that her predecessor would always have a place in Goring’s affections.
This new yacht was constructed at the shipyard of Herman Heidtmann, which was on the River Alster in the area of Hofweg - a tributary which fed into the River Elbe waterway of Hamburg. The construction and presentation of this vessel attracted great public interest, for this was the first vessel of its type and size to be built, and for a private vessel it had (for those times) an astronomical price tag - 1.3 Million Reichsmarks.
The Carin II was a large craft:
Length, 27.5 metres long
Beam, 4.65 metres
Draught, 1.25 metres
Tonnage, 70 tons
Keel to top of structure, 5.20 metres.
The Carin II carried 2 tons of fresh water for routine use, and had a fuel tank capacity of 4000 litres. The fuel consumption at top speed was 100 litres per hour; or on economy movement, 60 litres per hour. The Carin II was so large, that when she was transported from Heidtmann’s dockyard down to the River Elbe where she would undergo furnishing and fitting, the various locks on the River Alster were manipulated so that they caused the Alster water level to drop by about 10 centimetres - just so they could guarantee the Carin II would pass under the various bridges en route to her next location.
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