House Flags of German Shipping Companies (h) - part 1

Deutsche Reedereiflaggen (h) Teil 1

Last modified: 2012-07-15 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: hansa | hartmann | haeger schmidt | haltermann | hamburg brasilische psg | hamburg-bremen-afrika | hvv | hamburg-kalkutta-linie | hamman u prahm | hansatank | hansataucher | hanse bereederung | hanseatic shipping | hanseatisch |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

• Haeger & Schmidt
• Johann Haltermann GmbH & Co KG
• Hamburg Brasilische Passagierschiffahrts Gesellschaft
• Hamburg-Bremen Afrika Linie
• Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund
• Hamburg-Kalkutta-Linie
• Hamburg-Westafrika-Linie
• Hamman & Prahm
• Hansa Mare
• Hansa T
• Hansatank
• Hansa Tank-Reederei
• Hansataucher
• Hanse Bereederung
• Hanseatic (Bremen)
• Hanseatic Shipping
• Hanseatische Dampf Gesellschaft
• Hanseatische Motorschiffahrts-AG
• Hanseatischer Afrika-Dienst
• A. Hansen
• Andreas Hansen
• Carl W. Hanssen Tankschiffahrt
• J.Harms & Co
• Alnwick Harmstorf
• Hartmann Reederei
• A.Hartrodt
• Paul Hase
• Albert Hauschild

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

Haeger & Schmidt

Last year, a Haeger & Schmidt house flag was offered on eBay (end 8 June 2005, object no. 6182869155).  Divided per saltire red (left and right triangles) and blue (upper and lower triangles), it has a white disk in the centre bearing a gearwheel outlined in black; the red triangles bear the black letters ?H &? (hoist) and ?Sch? (fly). Following links lead to the website of 'Haeger & Schmidt International GmbH' (original German and English version). Quote from ?The Company? section: ?With our own fleet of ships, chartered vessels and a large number of privately-owned inland waterway craft working under contract for us, Haeger & Schmidt International is responsible for transporting over 10 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Haeger & Schmidt is a strong and powerful member of the SNCB / NMBS Group. As a major link in this comprehensive logistics system, we can offer all the
advantages of inland waterway carriage in ideal combination with all other modes of transport. Flexibility and integration are our strengths.?
Among the activities of this company, founded in 1887 and now employing some 200 people, are waterway transportation of various kinds (including containers), warehousing, and short-sea traffic. A look at the ?Locations? section shows Haeger & Schmidt offices in Germany (Duisburg being the main seat), Poland, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.  Some interesting flagoids appear representing RKE (Belgium), Best Logistics (Poland), AVR (France), and Sitra (Netherlands), all but the last being variants of the H&Sch flag.
House flag flying on this barge, or to give another example, tiny flag visible (photo) and house flag (drawing) here.
Jan Mertens, 18 Apr 2006

Johann Haltermann GmbH & Co KG

The company was located in Hamburg. Haltermann in 1898 played a role in fuel and lubrification trading in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. He also established a bunker station. In 1925 he bought his first tanker. Facing the usual difficulties at the end of WW2 the company was rebuilt and in 1956 the company owned four vessels. But in 1971 Haltermann gave up and the shipping company was dissolved. Source: Klaus-Peter Bühne's webpage
Image at: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.20
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Sep 2010

Hamburg Brasilische Passagierschiffahrts Gesellschaft

Hamburg Brasilische Passagierschiffahrts Gesellschaft
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a green flag with a red disc, shifted to the hoist and containing white capitals ?HB? over ?PG?. The disc is surrounded by a thin rope.
Source: Arnold KLUDAS: Die Geschichte der deutschen Passagierschiffahrt (5 Bde.) Hamburg 1986; Reprint Laibach Slovenia-Buch Nr. 03617-8 Flagchart p.223
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 17 Apr 2009

Hamburg-Bremen Afrika Linie

Hamburg-Bremen Afrika Linie, Bremen; white flag, black key; in corners red "HBAL".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 21 Jan 2005

Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund

HVV, the "Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund" is Hamburgs Public Transport, consisting of S-Bahn Hamburg, which is part of German Railways DB, HHA, the "Hamburger Hochbahn AG", which runs metros and busses and HADAG, which runs harbour ferries for passengers. It is often hoisted together with the HADAG-flag.
It is a white flag with red horizontal stripes at both edges. In the centre is the inscription "HVV" in red capital italics, red underlined and two blue parallel lines connected with a little white square on the left side. The blue line is a symbol of a railway track with one station (=white square). (spotted 12 November 2006 in Hamburg).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Feb 2007

Hamburg-Kalkutta-Linie

The flag was divided by a white saltire into red (hoist and fly) and black (top and bottom).
Source:Stroehl 1999,plate XXI opp. p.84
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 20 Oct 2009

Hamburg-Westafrika-Linie

The flag is divided per saltire into blue (top and bottom) and white (hoist and fly), the blue quarters are double cotized red and blue. In the centre is a white Hamburg castle. In every quarter is a black serifed initial: "H" (hoist), "W" (top), "A" (fly) and "L" (bottom).
Source: Josef Nüsse's webpage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 15 Jul 2012

Hamman & Prahm

Hamman & Prahm G.m.b.H. & Co., Wischhafen - horizontal green - white - red flag; in center white diamond with smaller black outlined diamond, charged with green underlined cloverleaf; the diamond between black "HP".
(Wischhafen is northwest of Hamburg along the Elbe river.)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 9 Nov 2005

Hansa Mare Reederei

The company is located in Bremen. It is a white flag. Shifted to the bottom is a blue wave topped by red ball.
For further information click: www.hansa-mare.de
Source: Verband Deutscher Reeder homepage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 Jul 2012

Hansa T

Another nice flag shown on the Binnenvaart site belongs to the German inland shipping company ?Hansa? (not to be confused with its more famous, sea-going namesake).

Variously rendered on the above site, two names come up: Hansa Tankschiffahrt W. Deichmann & Co. at Oberwinter (small town on the Rhine, to the South of Bonn) and Hansa Transport at Hannover (well-known town in the North of Germany; the Mittellandkanal is nearby).
The house flag and the vessel ?Hansa T? are shown here. Interestingly, the photo camera icon near the ?Hansa 8? (first name of this vessel) links to a b/w photo showing the flag.

According to Binnenvaart, the house flag is (was) white with a black serifed initial ?H? in the centre, within a black ring; from the centre, four widening green stripes reach towards the flag?s corners. (On the other hand, the b/w photo *seems* to have non-widening stripes, in other words, the ringed ?H? would to be positioned in the centre of a regular green saltire.  Curious, or simply bad eyesight on my part.)

As to the firm?s history ? from Binnenvaart I could only extract 1956-1974 as years of operation, beyond that I drew a blank in every respect!
Jan Mertens, 31 Aug 2006

Hansatank

This image was extracted from German eBay offer 6629791901, ended 21 May 2006.  We see a red-and-white checkered flag (nine rectangles 3x3 starting with red in upper hoist) bearing black initials ?HTO? (no serifs) on the second row, one letter per rectangle.
It is safe to assume that HTO refers to Hansatank Osnabrück. See also Hansatank Luxembourg.
Jan Mertens, 29 Dec 2006

Klaus-Peter Bühne writes: (my translation):
"In 1986 Uwe Beckmann (...) founded the HANSATANK Shipping and Freighting Company, in short HTO (Hansa-Tank-Osnabrück) (Right flag of group on the left).
In 1999 HTL-HANSATANK Luxembourg S.A.r.l. was founded (middle flag of group on the left) which took over the HTO business.
In 2001 HTL was sold to Germany's largest inland tanker company, Jägers Group. It continuues to exist under the HTL placed in the Jägers diamond. (Left flag of group on the left)"
As you can see, the muster for the two checkered flags was ARO's (at right on photo) at Osnabrück, founded by three brothers Beckmann (Uwe was a nephew).
Jan Mertens, 6 Sep 2008

Hansa Tank-Reederei

Hansa Tank-Reederei GmbH
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a white flag with a red capital ?H? in the lower fly. The canton is a black over white over red horizontal tricolour, the colours of German Empire.
Source: Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen?; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.22
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Apr 2009

Hansataucher

Yellow flag with a black frogman in front of a diving helmet holding a lamp. Above an inscription in Gothic letters "Hansataucher".
Source: I spotted this flag on 6 November 2010 in HH-Billwerder.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 30 Mar 2012

Hanse Bereederung

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of HANSE Bereederung - Blue - white disk, red H.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hanseatic (Bremen)

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Hanseatic (Bremen) - Red - white disk, outlined H.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hanseatic Shipping

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Hanseatic Shipping & Chartering GmbH - Horizontal Red - White - Blue, reversed at the hoist; in center outlined blue oval, blue "HSC".
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hanseatische Dampf Gesellschaft

Hanseatische Dampf Gesellschaft, Lübeck - red flag; white letters "H.D.G".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 14 Dec 2004

Hanseatische Motorschiffahrts-AG

Hanseatische Motorschiffahrts-AG - The company used a white flag with narrow horizontal red stripes on both edges. In the centre of the flag is a black object similar to a ship's propeller.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Hanseatischer Afrika-Dienst

I found a companion to the Glahr-houseflag with reversed colors in "See und Seefahrt", by G.A. Wolter, 1968 - Hanseatischer Afrika-Dienst.
Dov Gutterman, 2 Nov 2003

A. Hansen

A. Hansen, Flensburg - blue flag, white "A.H.".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Feb 2005

Andreas Hansen

Andreas Hansen GmbH, a Hamburg based maritime company no longer exists as such. The firm was founded in 1913 offering "the execution of superintendence, weighing of goods, documentation and forwarding of the commodities (grain and fodder, jm) to the final recipients" concentrating on business between Germany and Northern Europe. After a recession during the nineteen eighties, Andreas Hansen merged with Franz Albers in 2000 to form Albers-Hansen GmbH offering "Superintendence, Chartering, Agency and Forwarding".
Above information found on the Albers-Hansen 'History' page, (English version):
No doubt the former house flag influenced the current one (not our subject today): it had a red field bearing a wedge or triangle based on the hoist, having its apex at the end of the fly. In addition, black initials "AH" without serifs identified this simple design as representing Andreas Hansen.
The Dutch subsidiary at Rhoon clearly used italic ones: is this dfference relevant? In any case see third item of fifteenth row (clickable): here
Source of attachment: German eBay offer no. 6571564964 ((end 30 Oct 2005) put up by "kaethedorsch1" (photo mirrored, dimensions not copied as clearly mistaken/table flag version).
Jan Mertens, 28 July 2011

Carl W. Hanssen Tankschiffahrt

Carl W. Hanssen Tankschiffahrt
The company was located in Hamburg-Blankenese. It is a vertical triband light blue-white-light blue with a light blue ?H? in the white stripe.
Source: ?Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen?; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.22
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

J.Harms & Co

The pennant is divided by converging stripes into red over blue over red.
Source: Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 Apr 2012

Alnwick Harmstorf

Alnwick Harmstorf Co / Taurus-Schiffahrt: It is a light blue (FIAV-code B-) flag with a white stripe at top and bottom edge and a white serifed capital "H" in the centre of the flag.
I spotted this flag on 2 April 2007 in front of the company`s building in Hamburg-Altona, Kaystraße 1.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 June 2007

Hartmann Reederei

White with a greyish blue lowercase 'h', in italics, shifted to the fly. The lower 'leg' of the 'h' stretches to the hoist creating a relatively narrow stripe over which are two other stripes in dark red and black.
Jorge Candeias, 2 Mar 1999

Hartmann Reederei. This refers to what is now Hartmann Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. K.G. which dates from 1981, originally as Alfred Hartmann.
Neale Rosanoski, 18 Oct 2004

A.Hartrodt

A.Hartrodt imported salpetre. He bought this one and only vessel in 1907. It was sunk by a submarine in 1917 and that was the end of the company. The company used a white flag with capital letters "AH" in the centre.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.208.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Paul Hase

Paul Hase, Hammah - 7 horizontal stripes of black and orange; in center black "H".
Hammah is a small town west of Hamburg.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Feb 2006

Albert Hauschild

Dov Gutterman reported the link of Albert Hauschild (GmbH & Co.), which contains the houseflag of said firm, as well as the rather similar flag of Klingenberg Bereederungs- und Befrachtungs OHG. Hauschild's flag is: white with broken capitals: green A, and black H.
Santiago Dotor, 6 Nov 2003

back to H-companies main page click here