How it all began

A ship in the garden

It all began in 1990 in a small garden in the Black Forest community of Fluorn-Winzeln, far from any water: at 6 a.m. on August 28, 1990, the aluminum yacht damaged in hurricane "Hugo" rolled into the Black Forest - as a heavy transport with a police escort. A heavy-duty crane lifted the "Sonate OVNi 43" off the truck and set it down in a garden. From March 1991, a large group of friends, volunteers and craftsmen from the village and boat builders from the coast worked on the ship.

All interior fittings were removed from the ship so that space could be created for a radio studio and a laboratory, especially in the rear bunk. The installation of the electronics and electrics was particularly complex, as the saltwater atmosphere in which the ship was to remain in the future is the arch-enemy of all data cables and connectors. Careful efforts therefore had to be made to seal all sensitive areas as well as possible. The quality of the workmanship came at a price, but even today all the "first generation" cables still work perfectly.

One exciting moment was the installation of the new ship's diesel engine, which has since functioned as a powerful electricity generator and hot water supplier at the same time. The Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu brewery sponsored a beer tent for the construction site, under which work could continue despite the freezing winter temperatures. To install the engine with a crane, the roof of the tent had to be pushed aside in order to place the engine slowly and with millimeter precision in the hull of the ship. In the end, the painting work with a special and extremely durable aircraft paint (AwlGrip) from the USA, which has since been made available to us by the Wesel-based company von der Linden, was very time-consuming.

The first live broadcasts from the ship's studio

The recording studio was assembled at lightning speed and in parallel with the interior work on the ship. It was presented to the public for the first time in January 1992at the world's largest water sports trade fair "boot" in Düsseldorfbefore the keel of the ALDEBARAN was laid in the summer and the first live broadcasts for Deutschlandfunk and NDR were realized. In 1991, the studio was already equipped with the very first notebooks available, which worked on board for several years without any problems.

Ship christening and project launch

After 18 months of renovation, the ship was christened on May 16, 1992 as part of a village festival. The secret, which until then had been hidden in a tent, was revealed. A few days later, the ALDEBARAN set off on a long voyage to Fehmarn by truck. Work was carried out day and night (and even during the voyage) in order to be presented to the public in front of the Institute of Marine Research in Kiel on "Environment Day" (June 5, 1992). The mast was quickly set and the ship was transferred to Kiel at night. At dawn, the ALDEBARAN reached its destination on time - at the invitation of a scientist from the Institute of Oceanography. After a press conference, the final go-ahead was given for one of the most exciting projects in the field of environmental communication for the protection of the seas and oceans.

The ALDEBARAN's first years of research in Kiel from 1993 to 1996

The first ALDEBARAN land base in Kiel was manned 24 hours a day and consisted of an organization office and a science office. People worked and lived in the offices and slept on mattresses under the radio mixing desk at night. A lot had to be improvised: The team planned projects on a 10-square-meter magnetic board. Then as now, the tasks of the day were briefly discussed at the morning meeting ("momee").

An ALDEBARAN science office was set up in 1995 on the premises of the GEOMAR research center and was an attempt to forge links with a large research institution. At that time, the ALDEBARAN team worked in Kiel Gaaden from an office in Elisabethstraße on Vinetaplatz. Up to twelve people worked there late into the night to make the impossible possible.

ALDEBARAN in Hamburg since 1996

In 1996, the ALDEBARAN country base moved to Hamburg. Initially, the office was located in the Mediencentrum am Rothenbaum, after which the organization moved to Hamburg's Speicherstadt warehouse district at a time when it was still a customs area. The office then moved to the Katharinenviertel (between Mönckebergstraße and HafenCity

ALDEBARAN headquarters on Cremon Island - establishment of the Marine Foundation

From 2013 to the end of 2024, the ALDEBARAN land base was located directly on Nikolaifleet in Hamburg. The headquarters with offices, editorial offices and a radio studio are located where tourists stroll past the quaint houses every day. The German Ocean Foundation was founded there in 2015.