Iris-Jörg

The Iris-Jörg is a coastal motor ship built in 1956 as the Eilenburg for a Hamburg shipping firm. It now lies in Wischhafen’s Kehdinger Coastal Shipping Museum. The vessel was one of six sister ships constructed at the Nobiskrug yard in Rendsburg. It was launched on 19 April 1956 and handed over a month later. After several changes of owner and name, it became the Iris-Jörg in 1965. In 2002 it was bought by Wischhafen council and moved from Hamburg to its present home.

The ship’s original engine was a MaK diesel of 221 kW driving a single propeller. A Deutz diesel generator supplied electricity. Two 1.5-tonne derricks once loaded cargo, though these were removed when the ship carried only bulk goods. The 19.98-metre hold has a wooden hatch cover that once consisted of loose boards but now slides open on a fitted cradle. Low profile and folding masts allowed the ship to travel inland waterways carrying pitwood from Scandinavia to the Ruhr.

Visitors find the Iris-Jörg largely unchanged since the 1960s. The restored engine room and bridge show original controls and fittings. The capacious hold is used for exhibitions and small events. The vessel forms part of the Unterelbe Maritime Landscape trail. Outside, the museum’s quayside displays smaller boats and artefacts that tell the story of coastal shipping along the Elbe.