A truck with artefacts from a warship drove from Westerbroek to a museum for military history in Dresden, on 12 September. These are items from the shipwreck of the Mainz. This ship sank during WWI at the Battle of Heligoland, a German island in the North Sea.
Dagblad van het Noorden – September 12th Matthijs Sorgdrager – Groningen
In 2015, dive team Zeester brought up the wreckage, including a telegraph and a ‘rifle scope’ for the gunner. The cannon on which it probably stood was given to the divers by a fisherman who had hoisted it up.
The ‘repatriation’ did not go without a struggle. When ‘Germany’ found out, via Facebook, that the Groningers had recovered German artefacts, they were immediately reclaimed and even a bailiff came along.
“Anyway, now they are going to Dresden” responds diver, Henk Bos. “Hopefully they will not end up in the depot.”