Probably the largest ship model in the world, made entirely of matches, with a length of 2,3 m and a height of around 1,9 m is in our showroom in the Speicherstadt.
Newspaper article about the matchstick model
Lord Nelson's flagship made of matches
work of a life inmate
Wedel has one more attraction: Yesterday, the world's largest model ship made of matches was built in the Schulauer Fährhaus. The delivery of the "Victory" brought some problems. The object is one of the strangest that Werner Büttner and his employees have ever had on their truck. Büttner has himself specializes in transporting unusual goods, but a ship model around two meters long and almost as high consists of more than 100.000 matches in a glass case is something special. In the coming years, the miniature "Victory" - the model was Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar - which delight visitors to the Schulau ferry house. Four years ago, the ship "anchored" in the Elbe shopping center. From there it was brought to Wedel yesterday morning. A costly undertaking: a crane is needed to load the showcase, and the truck was only allowed to drive at 30 kilometers per hour. Owner Wolfgang Uhrig breathed a sigh of relief when the ship was back on solid ground. And then came the nasty surprise: The display case did not fit through the double doors separating the house's entrance from the foyer. The box was eight centimeters too high. Büttner knew the right thing to do: he and his colleagues unscrewed the chassis and heaved the box through the door on shoulder straps. Uhrig bought the model from an inheritance estate about 15 years ago. At that time he was the owner of a company for nautical instruments and also dealt in maritime antiques. "Of course, when I heard about the Victory, I was immediately interested," he reports. However, the owner does not want to say what he paid for it. The previous history of the ship is not exactly known to Uhrig either.
It is said to have been built by a captain who was sentenced to life imprisonment. The "Victory" is 2,30 meters long, 60 centimeters wide and 1,90 meters high.
By Carsten Durkob
This newspaper article appeared in a newspaper unknown to us, date also unknown.