Portal:Hamburg/Selected article/Week 45, 2009



Nikolaus Storzenbecher, or Klaus Störtebeker (c. 1360 – 20 October 1401{1400}), was a leader and the best known representative of a companionship of privateers known as the Victual Brothers ("Vitalienbrüder" in German). The Victual Brothers were originally hired during a war between Denmark and Sweden to fight the Danish and supply the besieged Swedish capital Stockholm with provisions (Latin "victualia"). After the end of the war, the Victual Brothers continued to capture merchant vessels for their own account and named themselves "Likedeelers" (literally "equal sharers").

A large number of myths and legends surround the few facts known about Klaus Störtebeker's life. Störtebeker is only a nickname, meaning "empty the mug with one gulp" in Old German. The moniker refers to the pirate's supposed ability to empty a four-litre mug of beer in one gulp. At this time, pirates and other fugitives from the law often adopted a colorful nom de guerre.