Flagship of the Brandenburg Fleet

This spring, I inherited a fully rigged ship model of the „Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde“ — the flagship of the Brandenburg fleet in the late 17th century. After centuries on display, it had gathered dust and suffered a few broken parts. I cleaned it carefully, repaired the damage, and then my daughter and I made a delightful discovery:

the frigate is actually built in 28 mm scale.

So of course… we crewed the decks.

Motivated by this remarkable model — which also helped me perfectly topfit my Blood & Plunder frigate — I began reading and researching the Brandenburg ventures along the West African coast. I found a fitting book in the archives and was quickly drawn into a chapter of history I had never encountered before.