Åland Islands in three places: the barque Pommern, Kastelholm Castle and the Lågskär and Signilskär bird archipelagos

The Åland Maritime Museum dates Pommern’s construction to a Scottish yard in 1903. Several German firms owned her before Åland shipowner Gustaf Erikson purchased her in 1923; she remained in his fleet through 1939, sailing mainly to Australia for wheat cargoes bound for European markets. The museum connects the small crew of 26 with the ship’s modern equipment, including steam-driven winches; it singles out three Jarvis brace winches that let sailors shift three yards together. Royal Museums Greenwich identifies J. Reid & Company of Port Glasgow as builder and records 28 sails over 3,240 square metres of canvas after restoration. The Åland museum gives the same sail count and area and lists a length of 94.67 m. Pommern entered museum service in 1953. The City of Mariehamn owns her, and the Åland Maritime Museum Trust cares for the vessel.[1][2][3]

The Ålands museum places the castle’s first written mention in 1388; its precise start as a defensive structure is uncertain, though the museum places it in the late 1300s. Kastelholm stood on a small islet, but uplift has left water along only two sides. A 1745 fire destroyed almost the entire castle; the north wing later served as a granary. The museum records several large restoration campaigns since the late 19th century, with the latest in the 1990s. In a 1985 Iskos paper, Magnus Elfwendahl discusses archaeological work begun in 1950 and a five-year programme launched in 1983 to combine archaeology with natural-science methods. Kastelholm’s excavation reports for 1982–1989, published from 1988 to 1991, include studies of roof tiles, ceramics, coins, bones and radiocarbon dates.[4][5]

Ramsar’s registry lists these two Åland sites, both designated on 28 May 1974: the Björkör and Lågskär Archipelago (6,309 ha, 21–27 km south-east to south of Mariehamn) and Signilskär–Märket (22,566 ha, west of the main island). Their information sheets, completed in 2004 and 2005, identify rapakivi granite as bedrock. The 2004 Lågskär sheet records regrowth after grazing ceased in the early 1960s, with juniper meadows and a lagoon edged by reeds. A migratory-bird station has operated on Lågskär Island since 1964. The same January 2004 sheet gives a winter estimate of about 100–400 Steller’s Eiders; it is a historical estimate, not a current count. It describes Signilskär as lying on a former rowing route for carrying post between Turku and Stockholm, used from the 1500s into the early 1900s; a bird station has worked there since 1927.[6][8][7][9]