Peter Jacobsen was born in 1873. He went to sea at the age of sixteen and worked on ships for the next twenty years. A sailor from Finland taught him how to build ships in bottles, a hobby he enjoyed for the rest of his life. He made so many that his friends called him Bottle Peter.
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After sailing the seven seas, Peter ran a seamen's mission in Hamburg, Germany, and later opened a seamen's inn in Upton on Severn, in England. Eventually, he and his English wife moved to Denmark where he had various jobs. All the while, he built ships in bottles. He built his first ship in a bottle in 1889, when he was sixteen; and his last in 1957, when he was eighty-four. During his lifetime he built around 1700 ships.
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In 1942, Peter began to think about retiring. A journalist named Ib Paulsen wrote about him and his ships in bottles. He reported that Peter hoped to find a town that would accept his collection and offer him free housing during his lifetime in return. Officials in the little Danish town of Aeroskobing, on the island of Aero, thought that was a great idea. His collection would be a tourist attraction. So Peter moved to Aeroskobing and a museum featuring his collection opened in 1943.
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The museum is still there, on a narrow street full of picturesque old houses. 20,000 to 25,000 people visit the museum each year. The people who operate the museum demonstrate the art of building ships in bottles and have examples for sale. The ship in a bottle pictured above was purchased at the museum.
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To visit the museum that specializes in ships in bottles, you have to ride on a ship (of course): the ferry from Svendbor to Aeroskobing. Then it's a pleasant walk to the museum.
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© 2014 Jerry Jindrich. All rights reserved. Revised 1/25/2016.
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