FLI-08
A postcard reproducing a print. On the right, the huge, dark wooden mass of the Crane above the water, with a brick tower next to it. Townhouses line the quay, and ships are moored by the bank. In the foreground, calm water with reflections.
Berthold Hellingrath (akwaforta); wyd. Danziger Verlags-Gesellschaft, ok. 1900. Public domain.

The Raftsmen · stop 8 of 9

The Crane on the Motława

ListenCurator · 0:09 · AI voice

The Crane on the Motława is the largest and oldest surviving port crane of medieval Europe. It was built in its present form in 1442–1444. It was powered by people walking inside two pairs of treadwheels about six metres across. It lifted two tonnes to a height of 27 metres. It was used to load goods and to raise ships' masts. In Gdańsk, Klonowic admired the “intricate hoist” and the granaries.

Narration text

This crane stood on the Motława a century and a half before Klonowic. People walked inside its great wheels, and the wheels lifted loads and masts.

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