House Flags of German Shipping Companies (b)

Last modified: 2008-08-30 by jarig bakker
Keywords: bremen sudamerika linie | baas | baco |
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• Karl-Heinz Baase
• BACO-Liner GmbH
• Gustavo Bahr
• Baltische Reederei
• Baltische und Weißmeer Handels- und Schiffahrt
• Baltrum Linie
• Baum & Co
• Volker Baume
• Bavaria AG
• Bayerischer Lloyd
• August Behn
• Behnke & Sieg
• Beulwitz, Dönitz, Witt & Co
• F.V. Beutelrock
• Wilhelm Biesterfeld
• Bilgenentölungsgesellschaft
• Bismark Linie
• Blanke Schiffahrts K.G.
• J.C.M.Block
• B. Blumenfeld
• J.M. Blumenthal
• W. Bockstiegel Reederei
• Hubert Bode
• Schiffahrts Braack
• Brag branch BRG
• F.C. Bramslöw
• Roerd Braren, Kollmar
• Braunkohle Reederei
• Bremen Südamerika Linie
• Bremen-Vegesacker Fischerei Gesellschaft
• Henry Breuer
• Briese Schiffahrts K.G.
• Brinckmann & Albers
• F. M. Bruhn
• Wilfried Buck
• J.W.Burmester
• Buss shipping company
• Hermann Buss
• Carl Buttner
• BVU Elspeth

• Baltisch-Amerikanische Petroleum-Import-Gesellschaft
• Bischoff Gruppe
• Luder Bischoff
• Aug. Bolten
• J.F. Braeunlich
• Bugsier-, Reederei- und Bergungs-Aktiengesellschaft
• Burger Bereederungs Contor

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

Karl-Heinz Baase

Karl-Heinz Baase, Elsdorf-Westermühlen - red flag, black hoist-diagonal stripe, in center white disk, black "B".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 3 Jan 2006

BACO-Liner GmbH

BACO-Liner GmbH., Duisburg - blue flag with white vertical stripes; in center a yellow "b"-like thingy.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 4 Dec 2005

Gustavo Bahr

Gustavo Bahr - The company used a red flag with a white 5-point star in its centre. In the star was a black serifed capital "B".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999;  inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Mar 2007

Baltische Reederei

Baltische Reederei, Hamburg - a white saltire between (top and bottom) yellow) and (right and left) blue; in the center a white disk charged with a black "B"; flag bordered white.
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

Baltische und Weißmeer Handels- und Schiffahrt

Baltische und Weißmeer Handels- und Schiffahrts Ges.m.b.H. Danzig - The flag of the company was divided by saltire. Its quarters were blue (top), red (bottom); white (others) with black serifed capital letters in its white quarters "B" (hoist) and "W" (fly).
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 Mar 2007

Baltrum Linie

Baltrum Linie GmbH & Co., Baltrum - green flag, white triangle bordered black, black "B.-L.".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 3 Jan 2006

Baum & Co

Dov Gutterman reported the linkof Befrachtungskontor W. Baum & Co., Nordenham - A canting flag (German Baum meaning tree). Flag is blue with a white diamond neraly touching all sides, charged with a green tree, with "&" on its stem and below the tree capitals CO, all blue.
(Nordenham is along the Weser river opposite Bremerhaven).
Santiago Dotor, 6 Nov 2003

Volker Baume

Volker Baume, Hamburg - green flag, white stylized "vb".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 19 Oct 2005

Bavaria AG

Bavaria Schiffahrts- und Speditions-AG (Bavaria Shipping and Transport Co. Ltd) has its head office at Aschaffenburg on the River Main and local offices in Germany (Würzburg, Bamberg, etc.) and France (Strasbourg). Company website (the house flag appears), and the English version of this site.

Bavaria offers extensive warehousing facilities, is specialized in integrated transport, operates a fleet of 25 barges representing about 45.000 metric tonnes, and has a subsidiary offering insurance.

The house flag can be seen – with some effort – flying on the ‘Bavaria 83’ and also as a drawing on this Binnenvaart page.
If we consider the company website’s version as the correct one, we can describe the house flag as being light blue with a thin white saltire and a small white, black-rimmed, disk in the centre bearing a black initial ‘B’. (In this picture the ‘B’ is italic, but Binnenvaart shows it straight.).
Jan Mertens, 28 Apr 2006

Bayerischer Lloyd

Image from a German eBay offer no. 150133135419 (end 25 June 2007) put up by “bundeszentralregister”, table flag measuring about 15 cm x 24 cm.
Description: Wavy gyronny of twelve pieces, blue and white; in the centre a yellow lion, rampant, with red tongue and nails.
Jan Mertens, 23 Nov 2007

August Behn

August Behn - The company had a dark blue (FIAV-code B+) flag with a white centred cross.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Behnke & Sieg

The flag is quartered per saltire in blue an white, with black serifed initials in the white quarters (hoist and fly): B and S. The caption is simply not legible. Guessing like crazy, I came up with something in the lines of Behnda & Sipg.
Jorge Candeias, 24 Dec 2004

It's Behnke & Sieg, Danzig as shown in the on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels as No. 13. In fact, it's one of the table flags Josef Nuesse would like to add to his collection.
Jan Mertens, 25 Dec 2004

Beulwitz, Dönitz, Witt & Co

Beulwitz, Dönitz, Witt & Co. - The company was established of three former naval officers in 1919: Eugen von Beulwitz, Hermann Witt and Friedrich Dönitz, who was a brother of admiral Karl Dönitz. The company lost the ship BOHUS in 1924 and the press was very hostile to the company afterwards for the crew was not very experienced. This marked the end of the company.
The company used a white flag divided by a light blue saltire and with light blue stripes on either edge(FIAV-code B-). In the white fields were black serifed capital letters: "B" (hoist), "D" (top),"W" (fly) and "Co" (bottom).
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 Mar 2007

F.V. Beutelrock

F.V. Beutelrock, K.G., Lübeck - per saltire white and red; in center white disk, fimbriated black, black "FB".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 19 Oct 2005

Wilhelm Biesterfeld

Wilhelm Biesterfeld Reederei- und Schiffahrts G.m.b.H. This shipping company existed at least until 1923. The company does exist even today but only as a trading company for chemicals and fertilizers. The company used a red flag with a white diamond touching the edges with a red serifed capital "B".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.229-230.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Bilgenentölungsgesellschaft

A modest company with a simple flag, such is the case of the above firm (the name meaning a company which collects bilge, used oil, and other shipping waste products ) established in that very large inland harbour with lots of flags, Duisburg in Germany.

The company website informs us that BEG, as the name is mercifully abbreviated, was founded in 1961 and at some later date became part of the important Rhenus concern also located in Duisburg.  More specifically, BEG is active in the area south of Münster (Westfalia), mainly in the lower Rhine region. In all, eight ships based in different inland ports plus a collecting pontoon and landside storage facilities are operated.  According to the website, in 2005 some 23M litres of bilge, 2800 metric tonnes of used oil and 137 metric tonnes of waste products were collected; most of the used oil is recycled.
Collecting these waste products is free I believe, BEG is paid a fee under a government contract.

As they say, somebody has to do it – and as BEG does it proudly and under its own colours, who are we to complain?
Jan Mertens, 4 May 2006

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). And the caption reads "Bismark Linie".
Jorge Candeias, 3 Jan 2005

Blanke Schiffahrts K.G.

Blanke Schiffahrts K.G., Elsfleth - VWV flag, in center white diamond bordered black, black "B".
(Elsfleth is along the Weser river, a little northwest of Bremen.)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 6 Oct 2005

J.C.M.Block

This company used a white flag with black serifed capital letters "JB".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

B. Blumenfeld

B. Blumenfeld, Hamburg - green - white - black triband; white disk, charged with two hammers in saltire and B^DB, all black.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 10 Feb 2005

J.M. Blumenthal

J.M. Blumenthal, Hamburg - white flag with red stripes; in center black "B".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 1 Feb 2005

W. Bockstiegel Reederei

W. Bockstiegel Reederei K.G., Emden - per saltire blue - yellow; in center white disk outlined blue; blue "WB".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 23 Oct 2005

Hubert Bode

Hubert Bode - 1905 a line from Hamburg to Australia was open. Hubert Bode pretended being shipowner of two ships but according two Lloyds the Reederei-Gesellschaft "Nord" was owner of the two ships. It seems that Bode at first was only a ghost trader for F.L.Sloman and indeed his company flag is of the same type like the Sloman-flags but with inverted colours. In a white flag are blue capital letters "HB" in the centre and a blue 5-point star in each corner. In 1907 he became owner of Reederei 'Nord'.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.205ff.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Schiffahrts Braack

Schiffahrts Braack K.G., Drochtersen - white flag, blue "B". (Drochtersen is a place northwest of Hamburg)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 6 Oct 2005

Brag branch BRG

The house flag of German Brag (CH) subsidiary found in “Flaggen auf dem Rhein” (1952 ed.).
Brag archivexillum: white with shifted black crozier, a national flag (in this case the German one) in the canton.
Name: Basler Rheinschiffahrt-Gesellschaft mbH (i.e. Basle Rhine Shipping Co. Ltd), Mannheim.
Jan Mertens, 26 Sep 2007

F.C. Bramslöw

F.C.Bramslöw - Friedrich Christian Bramslöw was born in Aabenraa and was like his father before seaman and captain. The latter was captain on a vessel of John R.Möller which he bought in 1856. But he lost ship and his life 1859 near Hongkong. His son was not discouraged and became seaman at the age of 15 and was captain with 25 years in 1881 on a ship of B.Wencke Söhne. He remained captain and became inspector from 1889 till 1893. He became member of the board of the OPDR and promoted an association to run a ship for learners (germ.:Schulschiff). Finally from 1891 to 1910 he was owner of his own fleet. The company ended in 1910. Bramslöw died in 1930.
The company used a dark blue flag with a white 5-point star in its centre superimposed by a smaller one pointing to the bottom.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999;  p.155ff.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Mar 2007

Roerd Braren, Kollmar

Reederei Roerd Braren, Kollmar
Description of flag: It is a yellow over red over blue horizontal tricolour. The shade of the red stripe is slightly orange. In the centre of the flag is a white rhomb containing a black unserifed capital “B”.
Kollmar is a small village on the northern bank of the river Elbe near Glückstadt.
Source: I spotted this table-flag in a pub in Kollmar on 8 June 2007.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 August 2008

Braunkohle Reederei

A German inland shipping company with a remarkable name, ‘Braunkohle’ (meaning brown coal or lignite, a locally found subsititute for coal) was variously called ‘Braunkohle Reederei’ and ‘Reederei und Spedition Braunkohle GmbH’ (Spedition meaning transportation generally) in the past.

The Binnenvaart site shows a number of vessels belonging to Braunkohle and says the company seat is (was) at Wesseling which is located on the Rhine south of Cologne.  Some links to colour photos showing the remarkable orangey-brown of the funnel:
The second picture shows the house flag, somewhat vaguely it is true; the same page has a drawing: orangey-brown with a white diamond placed well inside the flag and bearing a black initial ‘B’.
See also the following b/w photograph, first on the page, showing the ‘Braunkohle III’, and perhaps we may interpret the ‘Köln’ (Cologne) on the boat as implying
‘Wesseling’.  I see now that the diamond is somewhat larger but my excuse is, not seeing in time in order to show it to Jarig - for which I am gruly sorry.

Nowadays the historical Braunkohle is only part of the RSB Logistic concern (flag to be treated separately) -  which is, in its turn, part of the important RWE power group.  Anyhow RSB has Braunkohle as a starting point, 1918 to be exact, gradually expanding from inland shipping to road transport and tankers (from 1939 on).  After WWII the main loads were construction materials and chemical substances followed, in the ‘sixties and ‘seventies, by a move from towboats to push navigation.

Exceptional loads were shipped from 1977 on and the next year saw the establishment of ‘Reederei und Spedition Braunkohle GmbH’ as a result of Braunkohle and USG, a related warehousing and transportation company, merging.  In 1993, RSB Logistic GmbH’ became the new company name.  Above facts gleaned from this website.
Jan Mertens, 29 Jul 2006

Bremen Südamerika Linie

Bremen Südamerika Linie GmbH & Co KG -  a German company that links Europe and Brazil - particularly northwestern Brazil and the Amazon basin - and is represented in Portugal by Garland Navegação. Its logo consists of a flag that can be described as that of Bremen with a blue triangle based at the fly and with the third angle vertically centered at about 2/12ths of the length. The triangle is charged with the sigla BSL in white. There is always the possibility that the real flag is something different than this, but I am sending along what I suppose is the company flag.
Jorge Candeias, 29 Apr 2002

Bremen-Vegesacker Fischerei Gesellschaft

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Bremen-Vegesacker Fischerei Gesellschaft" (#14, p. 37), a company based in Grohn, as white with a vertical border along the hoist made of two columns of six squares, alternating red and white, two horizontal stripes on top and bottom of the flag (width, one square), and the black letters "BV" in the middle.

The name of the company reads "Fishing Company of Bremen-Vegesack". Vegesack is a borough of the town of Bremen, while Grohn is a borough of Vegesack.
Founded in 1897, the company became one of the biggest herring fishing company in Europe. In 1895, the company purchased the steel saillogger "Vegesack BV2", used as a herring fishing vessel (drifter) at the North Sea. Sold in 1921, the ship had several successive owners, and is still operate by the "Maritime Tradition Vegesack Nautilus" association, as the oldest Europen herring drifter.
Source: "Schooner Man" website.

The company was overtaken in 1968 by the "Norddeutsche Hochseefischerei AG" (NDHAG), based in Bermerhaven. The house flag of the company is derived from the flag of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
Ivan Sache, 14 Mar 2008

Henry Breuer

Henry Breuer, Stade - horizontal flag blue over green; white "HB".
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

Briese Schiffahrts K.G.

Briese Schiffahrts K.G., Emden - white flag. the firm's logo. (black-red-blue are the East-Frisian colors)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 30 Sep 2005

Brinckmann & Albers

The flag is red with a white lozenge touching the edges and black initials "B&A" in the center. And the caption seems to read "Brickmann & Albers".
Jorge Candeias, 29 Apr 2002

F. M. Bruhn

Another one from my old files, but now the caption is clear: the name of the company is F. M. Bruhn. The flag is, again, blue and, again, contains a white star, only this time with 5 points and bearing a red "B" within..
Jorge Candeias, 3 May 2004

Wilfried Buck

Wilfried Buck, Duisburg - white flag, red diamond, white handmade "B".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 19 Oct 2005

J.W.Burmester

J.W.Burmester - Burmester established his company in 1885 in Oporto. Nevertheless the home of his ships was Hamburg. The name was changed to "Hermann O. Burmester" in 1891; and to "H.Burmester &Co." in 1906. In 1908 however J.W.Gerhard Burmester was the only owner of the company. The last ship was sold in 1911 and the company was dissolved three years later in 1914. The company used a blue flag withwith white serifed capital letters "HB" in the centre..
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.132ff.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Mar 2007

Buss shipping company

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Buss shipping company: flag: white, in center narrow black stripe, interrupted by blue "S".
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hermann Buss

Hermann Buss, Leer - white flag, blue stylized "B" between two East-Frisian flags.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 12 Oct 2005

Carl Büttner

A pinkish (possibly red?) flag with initials "C.B." and a five-pointed star on each corner, all white.
Santiago Dotor, 10 May 2005

I saw on a stage of the Tour de France a red flag with the white letters C.B. and a white star in each corner. It looks like the house flag of a shipping company, but it is  probably not. I guess it refers to a competitor with initials C.B. and> four wins (not in the Tour de France, most probably).
Ivan Sache, 13 Jul 2005

That is the house flag of German company, Carl Büttner.
That leaves the question: why???
Jan Mertens, 14 Jul 2005

Either they have a team in the race or a group of Büttner employees was in the cheering section and wanted to let the world know. No big mystery. If a bunch of Mongolians was on holiday there they might easily have displayed the Mongolian flag, especially after a few rounds of fermented mare's milk. I've seen various flags displayed at the Boston Marathon and, when Pedro Martinez played for the Red Sox, Dominican flags were a hot item at local shops and at the ball park.
Albert S. Kirsch, 14 Jul 2005

BVU Elspeth

Binnenschiffervereinigung des Unterwesergebietes GmbH. This firm – the name means something like ‘Society of Inland Shippers of the Lower River Weser Area, Ltd’ – was founded in 1956 and is based at Elsfleth, a town situated between Bremen and Bremerhaven.
BVU typically transports dry goods (sand, gravel, materials for construction, wheat, etc. in bulk; further wood, steel, etc. plus the odd container). The barges in question have a capacity ranging from 700-1200 metric tonnes. Additionally, BVU exploits a gravel works.
Its area of operations includes NW Germany with feelers to Berlin, the Lower Rhine, and the Netherlands.

This information was gleaned from this site. The house flag is blue with a broad red cross throughout and black initials B.V.U. in the centre of the cross. The similarity with the Oldenburg flag is surely no coincidence and current use.
Jan Mertens, 20 Feb 2006