The main street of Blumenthal was named after Captain Eduard Dallmann who was decorated for the exploration of polar regions in the Far East and the Antarctic. Vegesack was during the 19th century the city of sailboat captains, however, Blumenthal with its little suburbs was not far behind Vegesack in the number or sailors, and many of the old Captains of Blumenthal, Flethe, Rönnebeck and Farge gained wealth and high recognition. In this respect is to mention: Captain Diedrich Schilling, born April 1820 in Flethe, who worked his way up from cabin boy to owner of a fleet of sailing vessels. He completed numerous record cruises as Captain of large sailing vessels, and his barges and vessels were registered in Hannover and Bremen.

During the time of the big immigration to the United States of America his name was well respected. With the frigate "Orpheus", which was built at H. Bosse’s shipyard in Burg 1853/54 for the company Konitzky und Thiermann in Bremen, Captain Schilling made a record cruise to New York in only 18 days and 6 hours. An oil painting of the "Orpheus", painted by Oltmann Jaburg, can be seen in the local museum of Vegesack. When traveling the seas, Captain Schilling obviously had a good relationship to Aeolus (god of the winds) and Donar (god of the thunderstorms). In a meeting with the Vegesacker Schiffergesellschaft (corporation of sailors and ship owners) on May 23rd 1856, Schilling reported about a lucky incident on board of the "Orpheus". On their way back in summer 1855 the ship was caught in a heavy thunderstorm.
A lightning hit the cabin but did not set it on fire, only caused thick smoke and destroyed some panels. There was no further damage.

In the 1850’s the Captain Schilling family lived in their own house on 24 Weserstrasse in Vegesack.

Another ship with very good sailing characteristics was the frigate "Athena" which was built by an American J. Taylor in Boston and was bought by Schilling 1857 in New York for Konitzky und Thiermann. It was owned half by the Captain and half by the company. The price for the vessel with all extras was 72,000 "Reichsthaler". She was registered in Hannover.

The "Athena" crossed the Atlantic until 1886 without incident when it stranded and got lost completely. In 1870 she was converted into a barge and later registered in Bremen. The tonnage was recognized with 1057.9 tons and registered in Bremen with 730 "loads". In Hannover the following vessels were registered for Diedrich Schilling:

"Derby", "Jason", "Jupiter". "Hera" and "Leda" , and another "Orpheus" which was built 1860 in Boston.

In 1877, Schilling sold "Derby", urge vessel which was running under American flag, to the Oil-king WA. Riedemann in Geestemünde.

The barge "Jason" was built in 1852 at the shipyard of Johann Langes in Grohn. This barge with 1094 tons, Schilling bought in the USA before the frigate "Jupiter". She was sailed by Vegesack’s Captains Johann Stricker and, later, J. Jachens and in winter 1 878 she was got lost during a trip from Bremerhaven to New York.

In the middle of the 19th century emigrants were mainly transported with sailing vessels; in the 1870’s only a few did still dare to use sailing vessels as transportation across the ocean. Due to this fact, ship owner converted their passenger vessels into freighters and Schilling’s speed sailing boats were converted into oil clipper transporting parcels to New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia and returning with oil barrels. Schilling also sent his vessels and barges to China, India and Australia. I.e. the steel vessel "Rajah" She sailed 18 happy years under Schilling’s flag across the oceans before she capsized on December 9, 1896 close to the island of Lundy and 16 man with Captain Johann Bellmer from Rönnebeck lost their lives. The "Rajah" sailed with 1692 tons of coal from Cardiff in route to Hongkong. In the following night she faced a fierce storm which pressed the ship to the side and when the coal load shifted, the ship to capsize. Only 4 sailors were saved in a boat, whereof 2 died later on undercooling.

At the trial about the loss of the "Rajah" Friedrich Schilling, the son of the late Diedrich Schilling witnessed: "Captain Bellmer was for 28 years captain on several of our ships and our company never had a better captain!"

According to Genesis our live lasts 70 years, however, this always endeavoring captain could not reach it.

On August 7, 1888 Diedrich Schilling, the successful captain whose name is recognized by the history of sailing, died in his 69th year.