Documentary to be produced about Colonial ship Kalmar Nyckel

Nancy Glass Productions, a full-service production company specializing in unscripted television and new media content, and the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the cultural and maritime heritage of the Delaware Valley, announced their partnership to co-produce a documentary that illustrates the rich history of the Tall Ship of Delaware, the Kalmar Nyckel. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer.

“The Kalmar Nyckel was one of America’s pioneering Colonial ships, a Mayflower of the Delaware Valley, yet her remarkable story has never been widely told,” said Samuel Heed, senior historian and director of education for the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation.

“Approximately 377 years ago, more than 40 years before William Penn and the Quakers, the Swedes had their sights set on the Delaware Valley, and the Kalmar Nyckel set sail across the Atlantic Ocean to establish a colony in North America. The trip was one of the most ambitious and dangerous voyages in European history. We are thrilled to co-produce this documentary with Nancy Glass Productions and tell the story of the ship’s arduous transatlantic journey through exciting interviews, recreations, and more.”

The Kalmar Nyckel, built in 1625, served as Gov. Peter Minuit’s flagship for the expedition that founded the colony of New Sweden, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley. The Swedes landed at The Rocks just west of the Delaware River in 1638 and established Fort Christina in what would become present-day Wilmington. The vessel would make a total of four round-trip crossings of the Atlantic, more than any other documented ship of the American Colonial era.

“The story of the Kalmar Nyckel is one of bravery, adventure, and discovery,” said Nancy Glass, executive producer of Nancy Glass Productions. “Our documentary will allow viewers to sail aboard the mighty ship and re-create the harrowing journey of Governor Minuit’s voyage across the Atlantic. It’s more than a legend; the ship is a living piece of history.”

Today, a full-scale reproduction of Kalmar Nyckel stands taller than ever, with its main mast towering 104 feet off the waterline as it sits along the banks of the Christina River, just west of the Delaware. Built at the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation’s shipyard on Wilmington’s historic 7th Street Peninsula, the modern Kalmar Nyckel was launched into the Christina River in 1997, about 200 yards downstream from the site of the original ship’s first landing in March of 1638.

The new Kalmar Nyckel sails from April to November, voyaging over 3,000 nautical miles each year. She sails from her home port in Wilmington, her second port in Lewes and visits ports-of-call along the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia to New England.

The ship also serves as a floating classroom and inspirational centerpiece for the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation’s award-winning educational programs, engaging students of all ages and stimulating them to learn more about Delaware’s rich maritime and Colonial history. The ship is owned and operated by the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation.

For more information about Nancy Glass Productions, go to www.nancyglassproductions.com. For more information about the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation and ship, go to www.kalmarnyckel.org.