The Württembergischer Yacht-Club (WYC) is a yacht club

Yacht club

A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to sailing and yachting.-Description:Yacht Clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there are some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations...

 in Friedrichshafen

Friedrichshafen

This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...

. It is located on the pleasant shores of Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. This club was established in January 1911 as the "Königlich Württembergischer Yacht-Club" (Royal Yacht Club of Württemberg).

History

The WYC was originally inscribed in the local Tettnang registry as the "Königlich Württembergischer Yacht-Club". It began under King Wilhelm II

William II of Württemberg

William II was the fourth King of Württemberg, from 6 October 1891 until the abolition of the kingdom on 30 November 1918...

 of Württemberg

Württemberg

Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

's royal patronage. Soon after its establishment, a small clubhouse was built.

Despite living in a landlocked kingdom, King William was a ship enthusiast. He had a vision of a German Fleet reaching deep into the country through its rivers. The king was instrumental in the establishment of the Württembergischer Yacht Club.
This move followed the establishment of Yacht clubs in the neighboring kingdoms of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Baden

Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

 at the time.

In 1918, King William was deposed from the throne along with the other German rulers by the German Revolution (German: Novemberrevolution). In 1920, despite the ravages of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the club had 358 members.
Old King William II, the founder of the club, died on October 2d 1921.

In 1937, during Nazi rule

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 in Germany, the Sports Office of the Reich

Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen

The Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , more rarely "NSRBL", , known as Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen until 1938, was the umbrella organization for sports during the Third Reich.The NSRL was led by the Reichssportführer, who after 1934 was...

 took away the power and freedom of all German sport associations. As a result, the Württembergischer Yacht Club was forcefully merged ("Einverleibt") with other German yacht clubs, foremost of which were the Kaiserlicher Yacht Club

Kaiserlicher Yacht Club

Kaiserlicher Yacht-Club, "Imperial Yacht Club", was one of the forerunners of the Kiel Yacht Club. Known also as "Küz" from its acronym KYC, it was a prestigious yacht club located in the harbor city of Kiel, Germany. German Emperor Wilhelm II, his younger brother Prince Heinrich of Prussia and...

 of Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

 and the Yacht Club of Bavaria (Bayerischer Yacht-Club) of Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 to form a massive entity, the Yacht-Club von Deutschland

Yacht-Club von Deutschland

The Yacht-Club von Deutschland , "Yacht Club of Germany", was a yacht club platform established in 1937 during Nazi rule in Germany.-History:The Sports Office of the Reich was founded in July 1934...

(Yacht Club of Germany).

The members of the House of Württemberg, the former ruling family of Württemberg, are still closely involved with the Württembergischer Yacht Club. The title of honorary commodore

Commodore (rank)

Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

 of the WYC was first held by King William II and it was passed on through Duke Albrecht

Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg

Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg or Albrecht Herzog von Württemberg was a German Generalfeldmarschall and head of the Royal House of Württemberg...

, Duke Philipp

Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg

Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg was the son of Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg and Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria...

 to the present day's commodore Duke Carl of Württemberg

Carl, Duke of Württemberg

Carl, Duke of Württemberg is the current Head of the House of Württemberg.-Heir to House of Württemberg:...

.

Achievements

• In the 1976 Summer Olympics
  1976 Summer Olympics
  The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
  
   the brothers Jörg and Eckart Diesch won the gold medal in the Flying Dutchman class off Kingston, Canada. This was the fourth time Germans had won Olympic gold in sailing since 1900.
• In 1978 Albert and Rudolf Batzill won the Flying Dutchman World Championship off Hayling Island
  Hayling Island
  -Leisure activities:Although largely residential, Hayling is also a holiday, windsurfing and sailing centre, the site where windsurfing was invented....
  
  .