author

Otto Altmann

1875–1914

A former captain of the German merchant fleet, he turned his firsthand knowledge of the sea into vivid novels about sailors, ships, and the changing world of maritime life. His work captures both the romance of the great windjammers and the tensions brought by modern steamship travel.

1 Audiobook

Geschichte des Kriegsschiffbaues vom Altertum bis zur Einführung der Dampfkraft

Geschichte des Kriegsschiffbaues vom Altertum bis zur Einführung der Dampfkraft

by Otto Altmann

About the author

Born in Celle in 1875, Otto Altmann was a German author who wrote in both Standard German and Low German. His maritime career strongly shaped his fiction, giving his sea stories an unusually direct knowledge of sailors’ lives and working conditions.

His best-known novels include Wider den Strom, Die vom blauen Wasser, and Auf blauem Ozean. He was critical of the rise of steam-powered shipping and nostalgic for the older sailing vessels, while also portraying northern German language and coastal culture. Altmann died in 1914 at the age of 39.