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

Deutsche Reedereiflaggen (d) - Teil 1

Last modified: 2019-08-27 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: dabelstein | dampf gmbh hh | dauelsberg | dehde | detjen | deutsch-australische dg | deutsche conti | deutsche dr hh | deutsche fanto | deutsche kuesten | kingsin linie | deutsch-russische naphta | deutscher schulschiff | deym |
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• J.H.D. Dabelstein
• Reederei Frank Dahl
• Dampfschiffahrts GmbH Hamburg
• Hermann Dauelsberg GmbH & Co. KG
• Wilhelm Dehde
• Peter Deilmann
• Friedrich A. Detjen
• Deutsch-Australische Dampf Gesellschaft
• Deutsche Conti Schifffahrt
• Deutsche Dampfschiffrhederei von 1889
• Deutsche Dampfschiff Rhederei zu Hamburg (Kingsin Linie)
• Deutsche Erdöl AG
• Deutsche Fanto GmbH
• Deutsche Küsten Dampfschiff AG
• Deutsche Ozean-Reederei
• Deutsch-Russische Naphta Import
• Deutscher Schulschiff Verein
• Deutsches Kohlen Depot
• Deymann

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

J.H.D. Dabelstein

The company was based in Hamburg, as red with a white square diamond charged with a red letter "D".
The The ShipsList website mentions SS FIUME as purchased by Dabelstein from Hamburg South American Line in 1901.
The same year, Dabelstein purchased the "Europa 1879 from Witt & Busch and operated her until scrapped in 1914.
Source: Lloyd 1912,#27, p. 38
Ivan Sache, 15 Mar 2008

Reederei Frank Dahl

The company is located in Cuxhaven. The flag is divided per bend sinister into red and white. There is a thin countercharged bordure. In the upper hoist corner is a white Gothic "F", in the lower fly corner a red Gothic "D".
Source: Verband Deutscher Reeder homepage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 July 2012

Dampfschiffahrts GmbH Hamburg

It was a white flag with a red bordure. In the white field were black, dotted serifed initials "D.G." over "H.". In Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.12, image no.85 this company is called "Dampfschiffahrts GmbH Hamburg-Elbe-Rhein-Linie".
Source: Flaggenkarte, Hrsg.: H. Carly, Hamburg, c.1898
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 June 2012

Hermann Dauelsberg GmbH & Co. KG

image by Jarig Bakker, 19 Jan 2006

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 May 2009

Hermann Dauelsberg GmbH & Co. KG

The company is located in Bremen. In 1857 Hermann Dauelsberg obtained permission from the Chamber of Commerce and the city of Bremen to take over the licence to run an already existing shipbroker business under the name of Herm. Dauelsberg.
Mr. Christian August Bunnemann, who was an apprentice of the former existing company, was responsible for developing the success of the shipbroking and liner agency business. He became a partner and took over the remaining shares from Hermann Dauelsberg's son Carl when he died in 1887.
Herm. Dauelsberg GmbH & Co. KG. remains a family owned company to this day and four generations later it is managed by the brothers C.Andreas Bunnemann,until his retirement end 2006 and Klaus F. Bunnemann.
In April 2008 Nicolaus Bunnemann, son of Klaus F. Bunnemann joined the company.
The company did cargo shipping and passages for emigrants to North America as well. The core business was liner agency until the shipping companies ran that business directly. Until today there remained chartering broker, sale and purchase, port agency and ship owning. Liner agency business had been terminated in the 1990ies.
For further information click company's website .
The flag was a white , horizontally divided by two blue stripes and a big black capital, Israeli-style white-blue-white-blue-white in centre black serifed "D".
Sources: Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95] and "Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT", Hamburg 1957; p.F7
Jarig Bakker, 19 Jan 2006 and Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 May 2009

Wilhelm Dehde

Wilhelm Dehde
The company was located in Bützfleth. It is a black over white over red horizontal tricolour, like former German merchant ensign, superimposed by a big, yellow "D", fimbriated black.
Title: "Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT", Hamburg 1957; p.F7
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Apr 2009

Peter Deilmann

The company was based in Neustadt (Guess this is Neustadt in Holstein) - white flag, red "D", containing a ship's bow topped by an "F", all red.
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 12 Oct 2005

Friedrich A. Detjen

Dov Gutterman - reported the obsolete link (http://www.detjen.com/english/fs_index.html?men_zs=unternehmen&sub_zs=unternehmen) of Detjen - flag: white with red bordered white diamond charged with black capital "D".
Santiago Dotor, 6 Nov 2003

Deutsch-Australische Dampf Gesellschaft

I would't call this design striking, but it's definitely interesting: a sort of red and black saltire on white, where the saltire is formed by two overlapping diagonals, the one that runs from top hoist to bottom fly disposed above the other one, and both divided in two halves, the hoist half red and the fly half black.
Jorge Candeias, 23 Dec 2004

It's the Deutsch-Australische Dampfschiff(ahrts)-Gesellschaft, Hamburg. The flag can be seen on the flag chart of 1902 Brockhaus encyclopedia. No Australian angle as far as I can see, only the (then) German national flag colours.
Jan Mertens, 24 Dec 2004

Deutsche Conti Schifffahrt

Deutsche Conti Schifffahrts G.m.b.H., Hamburg - Israeli-style WRWRW flag, in center red "C" containing yellow "C"-like item with on top a yellow thingy.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 13 Jan 2006

Deutsche Dampfschiffrhederei von 1889

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 June 2012

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 July 2012

Flag reported 1897

The version reported 1897 was a red flag. In the centre is a small white oval containing a black date "1889" (see left image above). The big oval in a variant, reported 1924, takes 2/3 of height and width(see right image above).
Sources: Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897 and Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", Hamburg 1924, p.133
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 June 2012 / 8 July 2012

Deutsche Dampfschiff Rhederei zu Hamburg

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 May 2012

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 June 2007

In the time of economic progress after the German-French war of 1870/71 the Deutsche Dampfschiffs-Rhederei zu Hamburg AG was established in 1871, located at Rathausmarkt 15, Hamburg. In 1874 this company was somehow connected with "August Bolten, W.Millers Nachfolger". This new company was backed by famous shipping companies like Wachsmuth & Krogmann, Godeffroy and William O'Swald, represented by Albrecht O'Swald. The plan was to established a European line but the company ended in running the Eastern Asia services. In 1881 the more suggestive denomination Kingsin Linie occurred for the first time. Kingsin means "golden star". The company applied for a mail-licence in 1884 but failed and Norddeutscher Lloyd ran the mail service. Nevertheless the company made big business in the next years in supplying the German Navy in Eastern Asia. The main targets were the ports of Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama and Hiogo. The company was dissolved in 1898 probably for economical reasons. The flag was quarterly divided into red and white. In the upper hoist quarter was a white Hamburg castle with closed door (see left image above). The flag of Kingsin had different ratio and an open door and portcullis(see right image above).
Source: Arnold KLUDAS: "Die Geschichte der deutschen Passagierschiffahrt" (5 vols), Hamburg 1986; Reprint Laibach Slovenia-Buch Nr. 03617-8; p.156-7 and Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 June 2007 / 11 May 2012

Deutsche Erdöl AG

The company was based in Berlin-Schöneberg. The flag was a horizontal blue-white-blue triband. The shade is celestial blue. The blue stripes include a narrow white stripe each, approx. 25% of blue stripe. The central white stripe was charged with a red, serifed inscription "DEA". Pechelbronn Seetransport GmbH, located in Hamburg had basically the same flag.
Source: Massary 1928, series 1, images no.212/213
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Aug 2019

Deutsche Fanto GmbH

The company was located in Hamburg. It was a white flag divided by red saltire cotized white blue. In the centre was a white ellipse fimbriated black with a black inscription "FANTO".
Source: üFlaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRTü, Hamburg 1957; p.F7 Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 April 2009

Deutsche Küsten Dampfschiff AG

This company, the house flag of which Jorge sent on 11 Jan. 2005, was tentatively identified as "Drak Kaut, D.A.G. (?) " - a very difficult job as the original caption was hardly readable. 
Jorge Candeias' description: "yet another red flag with a white lozenge reaching the edges and a black K in the middle".

Sent along by Jörg Karaschewskifrom the original source, this particular image has as caption: "Dtsch. Küst. D.A.G.".
This must be "Deutsche Küsten Dampfschiff A.G." (i.e. German Coastal Steam Ship Co.), a small trace of which was found at obsolete webpage http://www.skipet.no/1916.pdf: see no. 133) D/S Lindborg.  Above company established at Hamburg, active in 1890.
Another slight trace is found in these (Dutch) pages concerning Groningen local shipping: stating - on the last page - that around 1890 "Deutsche Küsten Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft", as called there, had begun an intermittent service between Hamburg and Groningen.  Eventually this met with some success thanks to Dutch potato exports, but came to a standstill because of WWI.
Jan Mertens, 6 May 2007

Deutsche Ozean-Reederei

Deutsche Ozean-Reederei was a joint venture of Norddeutscher Lloyd and Deutsche Bank during World War I, for the specific purpose of operating merchant submarines to break the British naval blockade of Germany. In 1916 its first submarine, DEUTSCHLAND, made two round trips to the then-neutral United States, while its second submarine, BREMEN, disappeared during its maiden voyage to the US. Six more such submarines were being built when the US declared war against Germany in 1917, and accordingly these six submarines, along with DEUTSCHLAND, were taken over by the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) and converted to submarine-cruisers.
The house flag of Deutsche Ozean-Reederei was the flag of Bremen, with a square white canton bearing a blue key (as on the house flag of Norddeutscher Lloyd).
Miles Li, 27 Aug 2019

Deutsch-Russische Naphta Import

Jorge Candeias wrote: The flag is horizontally striped of black-white-red-white-blue-white-red with a narrow yellow lozenge in the center that contains the company's sigla, DRNIG, in black capitals disposed in the shape of a cross.

The name of the company explains the colours: "Deutsch-Russische Naphta Import Ges." i.e. German-Russian Petroleum Import Co. and as the source must have been published in 1912 we understand why we find the pre-WWI colours of both countries.

So: six horizontal stripes, the German ones, NWR, above the Russian ones, WBR.

This flag does not represent a firm with a similar name, founded 1927 and again 1946, but the one named above ending in "...Gesellschaft zu Berlin", probably found in 1883 according to obsolete Russian website http://window2baku.com/Net/german6.htm (near the end).
As stated, Germany and the Soviet Union continued to trade oil after WWI; after WWII, Soviet oil played an important role in the East German economic build-up.  But that is a long time after the peaceful co-existence of the former national colours on a house flag...
Jan Mertens, 24 Dec 2006

Deutscher Schulschiff Verein

The association is still located in Bremen.
The flag is a white, converging swallow tail pennant with athin black stripe at the top edge and a red one at the bottom edge. Shifted to the hoist in the white field was the coat of arms of the dukes of Oldenburg. Black, white and red had been the colours of (2nd) German Empire after 1871 and the first chairman of the association was a duke of Oldenburg.
Source: Lloyds F&F 1912; p.136, flag no.2111
Klaus-Michael Schneider,9 May 2012

Deutsches Kohlen Depot

German coal bunker, a company located in Hamburg. The flag was white with black horizontal edges. In centre was a black lozenge with white inscription "DKD".
Source: Schnall funnel chart 1997
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Aug 2019

Deymann

From recent posts we know this website dedicated to the German inland vessel AVISO II, a chemical tanker: Today a fourth flag - last but not least - is presented: the Deymann houseflag itself, vivid blue, a small red diagonal stripe (descending) and a large white initial "D" (serifed) over all. From the "Schiffstaufe" (vessel dedication) section is taken attachment see second photo of second row. (Photo is copyrighted).
This tanker, owned by a small firm (husband and wife, in fact) is only one of a combined Deymann fleet. Sister ship to the above is the AVISO 1, a container and bulk cargo vessel owned by another Deymann brother, to be seen here. One level higher is 'Gerhardt & Deymann Management GmbH und Co. KG', established at Haren, see this website, founded in 2003 by Ernst J. Gerhardt und Martin Deymann as an inland shipping concern mainly active in the tanker business: at the moment, eight vessels are operated. An important project is building the advanced FUTURA tanker at Brake: to have an idea, click 'Aktuelle Projekte' (ongoing projects) in the menu at left. The firm is also involved in freighting, chartering and similar activities (I have not encountered a separate house flag). For an additional (copyrighted) photos, see Michael Harms's site: click Gallery / Binnenschiffe / Tankschiffe / L / Leonie Deymann and (same) R/ Rudolf Deymann, respectively.
Jan Mertens, 3 Nov 2006

This Haren based inland shipping company has a celestial blue flag divided by an orangy red bend, which is superimposed by a white initial "D".
Source: I spotted this flag in Hamburg-Grasbroock on 23 May 2011.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 Jul 2012

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