Why a lecturer, actually?

 
At every moment and in every corner of this world, history and stories exists. These word has two such different meanings that are still so closely intertwined. 

My story(ies) with shipping have accompanied me since childhood through my father's profession. 

At the Dresden Laubegast shipyard, where he worked as a production manager, my brother and I were able to closely observe how steam engines powered the paddle wheels of the ships of the White Fleet Dresden. But I learned not only about the technology hidden in the elegant ships; it was primarily the passion with which my father spoke about the associated history and stories that fascinated me. 

The thirst for knowledge awakened by this led me to the large and not-so-large ships and their equally large and not-so-large stories. 

However, I mainly focused on civilian shipping; the history of the gray navy only finds its way into my lectures within a historical context. What particularly stands out from my time in Dresden is how, at not even 10 years old—of course under supervision—I was allowed to steer the  

flagship DRESDEN from the Terrassenufer to the Blue Wonder bridge at the then-massive steering wheel. 

My focus is on true stories and less on sailors' yarns. But also on how this yarn is created and what one can sew with it. Or: Why are ships christened, and what happens if they are not? Who was Miss Unsinkable, and why was she called that?