House Flags of German Shipping Companies (g) - part 2

Deutsche Reedereiflaggen (g) Teil 2

Last modified: 2014-03-10 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: bismark linie | glahr | globus | gloria | gluecksburger reederei | gluesing transport | godefroy u sohn | goedelt | goetz | goltermann | grammerstorf | gross | grothmann | guenther(paul) | greif |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

• H. Glahr & Co
• Globus Reederei
• Reederei Gloria
• Glücksburger Reederei - more
• Gluesing Transport - variant
• Johann Cesar Godefroy und Sohn
• C. Goedelt
• Ludwig & Jakob Götz
• C.E.Goltermann - Bismark Linie
• Karl Grammerstorf
• Greifswalder Hafengesellschaft
(GHG)
• Karl Gross
• Richard Grothmann
• Paul Günther

• House Flags of German Shipping Companies
• House Flags of Shipping Companies
• Germany

H. Glahr & Co

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of H. Glahr & Co. GmbH (Bremen) - white swallotail with two 5 points blue stars situated diagonaly.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Globus Reederei

Globus Reederei GmbH., Hamburg: The flag was divided by saltire into white and green with a white oval fimbriated red and containing a red capital "G" in its centre.
Source: based on a photo of a table flag of Klaus-Peter Bühne.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 May 2009

Globus Reederei A.G., Bremen: apparently red with blue globe, white lines of latitude and longitude added; the globe in the center of a blue double-barred cross encircling it (space between double bars is white)
Jan Mertens, 16 Nov 2003

You do not have an illustration of Globus Reederei Houseflag.
See illustration of flag on this page.
Alan Dingo, 10 Aug 2009

Reederei Gloria

Reederei Gloria GmbH
The company was located in Hamburg. The flag is divided by saltire into white, black (top) and red (bottom) with a white disc in the centre, showing a yellow capital "G".
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen "; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.33
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Glücksburger Reederei

Glücksburger Reederei GmbH
The company was located in Glücksburg (Schleswig-Flensburg county) near the Danish border. The flag is derived from the Gottorp civil ensign of 1696. But it is not a split flag. The golden crown has been replaced by a "crownish" white zigzag above the shield and in the canton is a golden capital "G".
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen "; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.20
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Apr 2009

Glücksburger Reederei - more

Glücksburger Reederei. The image is not quite right mainly because the source shows the lions facing the fly, with there also being minor differences in the white "zigzag" above the shield which seems to actually be a single object, and possibly the shape of the "G" although like their presentation of the lions that might not mean
anything. Certainly the lion shapes shown by the FOTW image look to be more in line with the original Arms. Anyway I enclose a scan of the Esso source in support.

More importantly, I feel, check out this webpage, which gives a report in Der Spiegel 30.9.1953 of a court case. My interpretation of the translation, which is subject to correction as needed, is that Gotthard Schwarzlose departed from what was then Stettin under German control just before the end of WW2 and settled in Glücksburg where he occupied a house owned by Hans Hansen-Schmidt. Schwarlose had previously formed two shipping companies and now formed a third, Glücksburger Reederei GmbH in partnership with Prince [Friedrich Ferdinand] of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, being a resident also of Glücksburg and who put in 70,000 D-Marks. He already had a house flag for his first two companies of horizontal bands of black, white and red with the letters "Sch & S" on the white. For the new company he used as a basis the flag of the Prince of Schleswig-Holstein who had led the revolt of 1848 against the Danish Government and which later became the battle flag of the battleship "Schleswig-Holstein" [built in 1906 and which served in both world wars], making a change by replacing the ducal crown with the letter "G" for Glücksburg. I understand that post WW2 there were a large number of shipping companies formed to replace the lost tonnage but company formation did not always equate to having sufficient funds to build or buy vessels. That the Glücksburger Rederei GmbH was established by 1949 is proved [? ] by the court case which resulted from the election of Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor. Schwarzlose had 3 flag poles outside his residence so he proposed to celebrate the election result by flying flags for 3 days comprising the federal black-red-gold on the centre pole, his black-white-red house flag with the "Sch & S" on the left pole and his new Glücksburger flag on the right hand. However landlord Hansen-Schmidt made an unexpected return and objected to the display but the court found against him.

This account gives a different subsequent derivation from that supplied by Klaus-Michael for the origin. I also enclose an image of the Arms of Schleswig-Holstein as the two halves of the two duchies seem to have been combined on the flag with the white leaf of a nettle (Holstein) presumably being the white surrounds on this flag with the yellow oval being the shield bearing the lions of Schlesweg (facing sinister).

As mentioned, funds did not always follow company formation straight away and in the case of Glücksburger Reederei GmbH their first ship, "Holstein" was not launched until 1953 after Emder Verkehrsgesellschaft A.G. became involved with the company. They seem to have ceased operations with the sale of the "Don Roberto" in 1965.

As far as the original Schwarlose companies are concerned I can find nothing about there their ships but my 3rd image is for the selfsame flag shown in "Flaggen auf dem Rhein" for Reederei Gotthartd [sic] Schwarzlose & Söhne so they were apparently involved in inland shipping but by then based in Duisburg.
Neale Rosanoski, 4 Feb 2010

Gluesing Transport

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Gluesing Transport Gmbh (Cuxhaven) - Orange over Blue charged with white "GT", fimbriated blue.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Gluesing Transport - variant

Gluesing Transport, or to be more exact, Glüsing Transport GmbH. Santiago Dotor has produced an image in line with the flag logo shown on the company website but it is not a correct rendition of the actual, the best source being the Josef Nüsse table flag which shows that  "G" is more blockish with straight lines slightly rounded at the corners and the "arm" does not rest on the blue but is on the orange in line with the top of the "T", and there is not any blue outlining of the letters on the orange [see above]. I have a photo of the flag being flown by their "Ebba" in 2006 which has a poor flap but there is enough to confirm these points. Just to help confuse matters the "G" on the funnel bands is rounded.
Neale Rosanoski, 25 Feb 2010

Johann Cesar Godefroy und Sohn

J.C. Godeffroy VI. was born on 1 July 1813 in Kiel and died on 9 February 1885 in Dockenhusen. He was merchant and owner of a dockyard and ships. His family immigrated in the 18th century from La Rochelle. He overtook his fathers company, which dealed with South America trade, in 1842. He managed to establish a branch on the Samoa island of Upolu in 1857 using ships, which were built on his own dockyard "Reiherstieg".
The company traded with copra and nacre shells. Though he had to give up some parts of business after a crisis in 1857, he rised up to be the "Südsee-König" (=King of the South Pacific). He founded plantations at 50 different stations all over the South Pacific. He supported scientists and established a museum.
The company fell into bankruptcy in 1879 but was caught up by a new company supported by banks and trading companies. J.C. Godeffroy VII. became director of this "Deutsche Handels- und Plantagengesellschaft". The "Godeffroy-Empire" finally marked the begin of the German colony of (West-) Samoa.
Source: Franklin Kopitsch; David Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-9805687-9-2; p.179.

The company used a white flag with a golden dove on blue horizontal bar with golden stripes. The dove shows ist back, spreads its wings and wears a ribbon around its neck. Below the bar is a blue inscription: "J.C.G. & S.".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 Apr 2007

The Godeffroys were French Huguenots of La Rochelle where the leader of their successful family was mayor of the city. However, in 1737 they were forced to flee France to avoid religious persecution brought about by King Louis XIV's anti-Protestantism. The family sought asylum in Germany and, after a few moves, finally settled in the trading port of Hamburg, which, although predominantly Lutheran, was tolerant of persons of all religions.
Source: this webpage.
More historical details on the company in the South Pacific here (not the correct spelling, Godeffroy) here.
Ivan Sache, 12 Apr 2007

C. Goedelt

C.Goedelt - The company had a white flag with red stripes on either edge. In the centre are black serifed capital letters "CG".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Ludwig & Jakob Götz

Situated at Neckarsteinach on the Neckar, East of Heidelberg, Ludwig & Jackob Götz GmbH & Co. KG is a firm active in inland shipping and freighting.  Its sand and gravel exploitation activities, at least, have been taken over by Heidelberger Sand & Kies (part of the famous Heidelberg Cement group).

Here is an article (in German) describing the tough life on board the river dredger (sand and gravel scooping) "Götz X" now property of Heidelberg Cement; and here a page of the Binnenvaart site (in Dutch) presenting the Jakob Götz along with a drawing of the house flag:

The image, however, is after the brochure "Ausbau des Rheins" (October 1977) describing extensive engineering works on the German part of the Rhine, specifically naming L&J Götz as responsible for strengthening the river banks.

The house flag is red, horizontally edged by two white stripes and having a white diamond, bearing a black initial ?G?, in the middle.
Jan Mertens, 13 Jul 2006

C.E.Goltermann - Bismark Linie

The flag is a swallowtail, horizontally bicoloured, blue at the top and yellow below, with a red seriffed B in the center of the flag (excluding the tails).
Jorge Candeias, 3 Jan 2005

Karl Grammerstorf

Karl Grammerstorf - Grammerstorf came to Kiel in 1908. First working as a clerk he advanced and became manager of "Kieler Kohlen Großhandels GmbH" (KKG). In this position he managed the supply of ships with coal.
This became main part of business during the following years and finally Grammerstorf left KKG. He worked as a shipbroker and organized transportation of Scandinavian iron-ore to the mouths of rivers Weser and Ems. He also opened a transportation- and warehousing branch and ran several tugboats and lighters. Since 1919 he used his ships as mobile warehouses due to lack of warehouses in Copenhagen, which was the most important town of warehousing after WW1.
In 1920 a Hamburg branch was opened. Together with "Neue Dampfer Compagnie Kiel" he changed three steamers into tugboats. The business then was transportation of grain and feed stuff. The company grew and acquired a number of steamers until the outbreak of WW2. At its end all the ships had gone lost.
In 1949 Grammerstorf gained full permission to act as shipbroker, ship owner, agent and transporter.
On 1 April 1964 the company was split into ?"Karl Grammerstorf-Schiffahrts GmbH" and  "Karl Grammerstorf Kiel-Kanal GmbH". After Grammerstorf had resigned "L. Possehl & Co." (Lübeck became shareholder of both companies which worked together with Possehl group and "Lübeck Linie".
Afterwards all ships had been sold. The ship agency branch however remained.
Source: Klaus-Peter Bühne; translated by Klaus-Michael Schneider.
Description of flag: It is a red flag with a white lozenge fimbriated black and containing black capitals ?KG? in its centre.
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.20.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 15 May 2009

Greifswalder Hafengesellschaft (GHG)

Bearing a name and flying a house flag resembling WGH GHG or Greifswalder Hafengesellschaft (i.e. Greifswald Port Association) is indeed related to it. website, (German only):
Another (Baltic) port in the East of Germany, Greifswald-Ladebow was - according to the 'Geschichte' (i.e. History) section an important logistics base for construction materials and agricultural products before 1989, linked to inland waterways. Limited in scope, the port was shifted to deeper waters and is operated by Hegemann since 1994. Unlike the port of Wolgast, this company or group is sole owner.
See also presentation by Hegemann Group, in English.
The house flag (flagoid, for now) is medium blue with a white diamond - touching the flag's edges - and bearing black initials 'GHG'.
Jan Mertens, 26 May 2008

Karl Gross

International freight forwarder ?Karl Gross Internationale Spedition GmbH?, a German firm, is established at Bremen (main office).  The company website (in German) is being renewed. The Dutch branch?s site resembles the old version: In both cases we see a drawing of the house flag in a traditional form (Dutch site; also on building) and a modern,more dynamic one (German site ? a few stripes were dropped in the process).
This image shows the real thing which very much resembles one of the many rowing club flags Klaus-Michael Schneider has sent us.
Basically a ten-stripe horizontal flag (BWB, etc.) with a large canton, the two upper stripes are replaced by the name "KARL GROSS" in large blue letters without serifs ? thus leaving four blue and four white stripes visible.  The white canton seems to take up 2/5 of flag width, its height being equal to six stripes.  Said canton contains a thin St. Andrew's cross in blue and consequently defines four triangles: the upper one contains the letter "B" (for "Befrachtung" i.e. freighting), the left one "K", the right one "G" and the lower one the year "1876" (all in blue and no serifs).
1876 is indeed the year of foundation of this freight forwarder and logistics enterprise which now has offices in Germany, the Netherlands, and China. According to the company site, "Karl Gross" - still in private hands, by the way - offers a complete palette of services in its chosen field.
Back to the flag: source of reduced attachment is yet another German eBay offer, no. 330038261367 put up by ?lz530? who likes to hang out his (her?) goods on the garden clothesline.  End of offer 21 Oct 2006, dimensions given as 0.90 m x 1.40 m.  (A similar offer ending 29 Apr 2007 shows a flag - in a lying position - with dimensions given as 1.12m x 1.97 m.).
Jan Mertens, 27 Mar 2008

Richard Grothmann

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Richard Grothmann" (#276, p. 50), a company based in Hamburg, as horizontally divided blue-white-blue  with the red letters "RG" in the middle of the white stripe.
Ivan Sache, 12 Apr 2008

Paul Günther

The flag is white with a wide blue border all around. In the center of the white part, a blue 5-pointed star is sided by two initials, also blue: P to the left and G to the right. The caption seems to be composed of two words and the first is almost certainly "Paul". The second is "Günther".
Jorge Candeias, 30 Dec 2004

It's Paul Günther Schiffsmakler GmbH & Co. KG, see company homepage: a shipping agent/broker, over a century old!
Jan Mertens, 31 Dec 2004

back to G-companies main page click here