Peters Werft

Peters Werft is a German shipbuilding company based in Wewelsfleth on the Stör river in Schleswig-Holstein. Founded in 1871 by shipbuilder Jürgen Peters, the yard has operated for more than 150 years and today describes itself as offering tailor-made shipbuilding 'in Germany' with a global reach. Its work spans new construction, repair and conversion of container ships, ferries, passenger ships, multi-purpose and special-purpose vessels, government and military craft, and mega yachts. The company's origins lie in wooden shipbuilding: Jürgen Peters acquired the Wewelsfleth yard of his former master Harm Stelling junior on 1 October 1871, and the early programme included schooners, ewer and fishing cutters. Over the 20th century the yard passed through several ownership and structural changes, including a devastating fire in 1906, the Störwerft consolidation, and the re-establishment of the family business by Hugo Peters. After the Second World War the yard repaired British tanks and returned to fishing-cutter repair and construction, later adding steel coastal motor ships and larger facilities such as a patent slip and dry docks. In the modern era Peters Werft has been known for specialised and technically demanding projects. It delivered the multi-functional scientific research vessel Falkor to the Schmidt Ocean Institute in 2012, and Kusch Yachts was established at the yard in 2000, strengthening its mega-yacht capability. The yard has exhibited continuously at the SMM trade fair in Hamburg for many years. In 2021 Peters Werft celebrated its 150th anniversary, and in 2023 Mark Dethlefs handed over his responsibilities as Managing Partner to Sebastian Dethlefs. Peters Werft remains a privately held German shipyard. Its positioning emphasises craftsmanship, flat hierarchies, a hands-on approach and transparency for clients, combining a long tradition with modern technology.

The origins of shipbuilding on the Stör river date back to around the middle of the 18th century. The foundation of what became Peters Werft was laid by the 39-year-old shipbuilder Jürgen Peters (1832–1921), who on 1 October 1871 acquired the yard in Wewelsfleth founded around 1800 by Harm Stelling senior, buying it from Stelling's 71-year-old son Harm Stelling junior. Jürgen Peters had completed an apprenticeship as a ship's carpenter with Harm Stelling junior from 1848 to 1852, then worked at yards in Kiel and Hamburg. In 1856 he signed on as a carpenter on a cargo sailing ship, which took him to Australia, where he prospered as a gold digger. He invested his gains in founding a shipyard near Sydney that at times employed up to 35 workers. In 1869 Peters returned to Germany as an Australian citizen, was surprised by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War and was interned in Lockstedt, where he met his future wife; she refused to emigrate to Australia after the war, so in 1871 Peters sold his Australian business and acquired his former master's yard in Wewelsfleth. The early programme of the J. Peters yard included various wooden ships such as schooners, ewer and fishing cutters. A notable innovation was the steam-powered gang saw put into operation in 1894. In October 1906 the yard burned down almost completely, only three days after the launch of the pilot schooner Groden. Because the company founder wanted to hold on to wooden shipbuilding, his two sons Hugo and Wilhelm declined to join the company and rebuild it. Instead the yard was sold the following year to the Hamburg shipbuilding engineer Max Werner, who went bankrupt as early as 1909. In the forced auction on 14 February 1910, Hugo Peters, born in 1874, bought back his father's former operation, but sold it again just ten days later to Claus Witt, who had owned a yard in Wewelsfleth since 1900 and wanted to expand his business. Witt managed the former Peters yard until 1 July 1918 and then sold it, as Gustav Junge simultaneously sold the neighbouring Junge yard (founded 1859), to the Hamburg company Friedrich Sternemann & Co., which merged both operations into the Störwerft (officially Störwerft und Maschinenfabrik Friedrich Sternemann Hamburg/Wewelsfleth). The new owners entrusted Gustav Junge with the technical management of the Störwerft and issued him a procuration on 20 September 1920. After the Störwerft delivered a few barges in 1927, it was shut down on 1 July 1928 for lack of orders, and the site lay fallow for years. After selling his father's yard to Claus Witt, Hugo Peters acquired in 1911 the breaking yard Jensen & Massuthe east of the Wewelsfleth ferry, which he converted into a shipyard over the following two years. The operation then worked in repair and shipbreaking and from 1918 also carried out conversions. In 1919 the shipbuilder Paul Theodor Berendsohn, previously active in Burg/Dithmarschen, took a financial stake in the company, which thereafter traded as Schiffswerft Hugo Peters & Co. In May 1921 the large shipbuilding shed and a materials store burned down. Hugo Peters and Paul Berendsohn repaired the damage but sold the yard that same year to Schiele und Bruchsaler Industriewerke AG in Hornberg, which renamed the operation Unterelbe AG. While Paul Berendsohn subsequently founded the Köhlbrandwerft in Hamburg, Hugo Peters began building a new yard somewhat further upstream on the Stör at Beidenfleth, which he opened in 1922. The company offered repair and breaking work as well as newbuildings. During the height of the Great Depression in 1933, Hugo Peters managed to keep the yard going with only his two sons Paul and Hugo Wilhelm and a few apprentices. In 1936 the yard delivered its first steel coastal motor ship, the Nordmark. After initial sale negotiations failed in 1935, Hugo Peters bought back the Störwerft in Wewelsfleth, which had lain fallow since 1928, from Friedrich Sternemann in early 1938 and reopened it on 14 September 1938. The family business now traded as Schiffswerften Hugo Peters, Wewelsfleth/Beidenfleth. On 13 March 1940 Hugo Peters also acquired at auction the Wewelsfleth yard Unterelbe AG, which had gone bankrupt at the end of 1939, in order to build fishing cutters and other wooden ships there. He then merged the two Wewelsfleth yards into one operation, and the Beidenfleth yard was continued as well. In the immediate post-war period, British tanks were repaired at Peters, and soon afterwards the company resumed the repair and construction of fishing cutters. On 1 January 1951 Hugo Peters handed the company over to his two sons Paul and Hugo Wilhelm, with Paul Peters taking charge of the Beidenfleth yard and Hugo Wilhelm Peters of the Wewelsfleth yard. In 1952 wooden shipbuilding was discontinued on the site of the former Unterelbe yard and a new patent slip with a 1,000-tonne load capacity was erected there. Further construction measures in Wewelsfleth brought the company into financial difficulties, whereupon in autumn 1953 the Hamburg shipbuilding engineer Rudolf Schlöh joined the former family business as a co-partner and operations manager. Hugo Peters died on 29 March 1954. In the modern era the yard continued to develop its facilities and capabilities. Drydock 1 was built in 1984 and Drydock 2 in 1991, and the shipyard infrastructure was expanded in 1965. In 2000 Kusch Yachts was established at Peters Werft, adding mega-yacht capability. Mark Dethlefs became Managing Partner in 2004. In 2012 the multi-functional scientific research vessel Falkor was delivered to its owner, the Schmidt Ocean Institute. From 2016 the yard marked ten years of continuous exhibition at the SMM trade fair in Hamburg. In 2021 Peters Werft celebrated its 150th anniversary, and in 2023 Mark Dethlefs handed over his responsibilities as Managing Partner to Sebastian Dethlefs. The company has also been known as Peters Schiffbau between September 2000 and March 2014.

• 2023

  Mark Dethlefs hands over responsibilities as Managing Partner to Sebastian Dethlefs.

• 2021

  Peters Werft celebrates its 150th anniversary.

• 2016

  Peters Werft has continuously exhibited at SMM trade fair for 10 years.

• 2012

  Multi-functional scientific research vessel Falkor delivered to Schmidt Ocean Institute.

• 2004

  Mark Dethlefs becomes Managing Partner.

• 2000

  Kusch Yachts gets established at Peters Werft.

• 1991

  Drydock 2 is built.

• 1984

  Drydock 1 is built.

• 1965

  Shipyard infrastructure expands.

• 1952

  New patent slip with 1,000-tonne capacity erected.

• 1951

  Hugo Peters hands company to sons Paul and Hugo Wilhelm.

• 1938

  Hugo Peters reopens the Störwerft in Wewelsfleth.

• 1936

  First steel coastal motor ship, Nordmark, delivered.

• 1922

  Hugo Peters opens new yard in Beidenfleth.

• 1918

  Störwerft formed by merger of Peters and Junge yards under Friedrich Sternemann & Co.

• 1910

  Hugo Peters buys back his father's former operation at forced auction.

• 1906

  Yard burns down almost completely three days after launch of pilot schooner Groden.

• 1894

  Steam-powered gang saw put into operation.

• 1871

  Jürgen Peters founds the company by acquiring the Wewelsfleth yard.

Tailor-made shipbuilding in Germany, combining over 150 years of tradition with modern technology, flat hierarchies and a hands-on, transparent approach for global clients.

• Container ships

• Ferries

• Passenger ships

• Multi-purpose vessels

• Special-purpose vessels

• Government and military vessels

• Mega yachts

• Scientific research vessel Falkor

1. 1PETERS WERFTpeters-werft.de
2. 2Peters Werftwikidata.org
3. 3Peters Werftde.wikipedia.org