House Flags of German Shipping Companies (l)

Deutsche Reedereiflaggen (l)

Last modified: 2019-07-10 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: lahnstolz | lansert | lange | langeoog | larsen | larsen-stoss | lass | lassen | lattmann | lauck | lauter-elbe | lea | lebbin | leda | lehmann | lenox | leonhardt-blumberg | libra | loeffler | lorentzen | luelsdorf |
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• Lahnstolz
• Lange Gebrüder
• G. Langenberg
• Schiffahrt Langeoog
• Richard Lansert
• Larsen Reederei
• Larsen & Stoss
• Lass shipbroker
• Technisches Büro Uwe Lassen
• Rederei Lattmann
• Walter Lauck
• Lauter-Elbe
• LEA Shipping
• Lebbin Beton
• Leda Schiffahrt
• F.W.G. Lehmann
• Reederei Lehmann
• LENOX
• Leonhardt & Blumberg
• Libra
• Gebrüder Löffler Reederei
• Lohmann Bereederungen
• J.H.Lorentzen & Co
• Lübeck Linie
• Lübeck-Bremer Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft
• Lübeck-Wyburger Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft
• Lüdders und Wehrt
• Lühe Schulau ferry
• Gebrüder Lülsdorf

• F. Laeisz, Hamburg
• Peter W. Lampke
• Hermann R. Lassen
• Lehnkering
• Leht & Co
• Linnhoff Schiffahrt
• Lütgens & Reimers

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

Lahnstolz

The German tourist shipping company "Personenschiffahrt Lahnstolz" (i.e. "Pride of the Lahn") is established at Bad Ems on the River Lahn, not far from Coblentz (best known as the place where the Mosel joins the Rhine).  Homepage, in German, of this firm owned by Mr Wolfgang  Schmitt: Operating a number of boats (see the photo carrousel at "Unsere Flotte" i.e. "Our fleet) typically mostly named after local towns and regions, Lahnstolz is active on a river which no longer carries trade since 1981.  Not restricted to the Lahn, the company organizes three-river trips as well.
A drawing shows the house flag to be  horizontally divided blue above orange, bearing the owner"s initials (in black) near the hoist, one initial per stripe; furthermore a black upright anchor is placed in the fly.
If we look carefully at the fleet photos, we can see that some ships fly this flag on the bow.
There is even a Dutch connection, as the flag contains the locally known Nassau colours orange and blue.  See the World Statesmen site for variously coloured Nassau-Weilburg, Nassau-Usingen, and Nassau proper, the last one of which disappeared in 1866:
More on this subject on FOTW-ws, where some flags are styled "hypothetical".
Jan Mertens, 29 Jun 2007

Lange Gebrüder

The blue flag is divided by a white, centred cross. The crossbars are superimposed by blue inscriptions: "L" (hoist), "Gbr"(fly) and "H"(bottom).
Source: "Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften, Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897"
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Apr 2012

G. Langenberg

The company was based in Bremen. The flag was red with white horizontal stripes on top- and bottom edge and a white serifed initial "L".
Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.12, image no.99
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 July 2019

Schiffahrt Langeoog

Schiffahrt Langeoog - The company runs a ferry service from Bensersiel to Langeoog Island. The flag is a black over red over blue horizontal tricolour (the colours of Ostfriesland) with a white italic serifed "L", the bottom line of the "L" is wavy.
Source: I spotted this flag at the ferry terminal of  Bensersiel on 30 April 2009.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 7 May 2009

Richard Lansert

The company was located in Stettin. The flag is plain red with a white cross pattee in ist centre.
Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.19, images no.432,433
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Sep 2008

Larsen Reederei

Larsen Reederei
The company was located in Flensburg. It is a dark blue over white over dark blue horizontal triband with red, serifed capitals in "LR" in the white stripe.
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.26
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Larsen & Stoss

A flagoid - meaning a flag picture possibly (and hopefully) representing the real item - is shown on the modest website of "Larsen & Stoss GmbH"(German only): Sky blue field with white disk bearing red serifed initials "L" and "S" (partly behind the "L" and in a lower position).
The company is established at Lübeck in the North of Germany and active in ship broking, freighting (chartering), and port transporation (haulage). That is all I could find except for the fact that the firm already existed in 1954.
Jan Mertens, 14 Jan 2009

Lass shipbroker

Lass is a ship broker, located in the Hamburg harbour area either at Johannisbollwerk or Vorsetzen.
The flag is white with four blue bars forming a capital "E" which covers the total range of the flag. Upon the middle horizontal bar are white capitals forming the companies name and at the centre of the hoist edge is a white 8-point star.
Source: I spotted this flag on 13 March 2007 in Hamburg"s harbor area.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Feb 2009

Technisches Büro Uwe Lassen

White flag with light blue wavy base. In the middle shifted to the top is the coat of arms of Hamburg. In the four corners are black capitals T (upper hoist), B (upper fly), U (lower hoist) and "L" (lower fly). Lassen installs equipment on ships, their specialiality is gas cooking equipment and gas supply.
Source: I spotted this flag on 6 November 2010 in HH-Billwerder
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 30 Mar 2012

Reederei Lattmann

Reederei Lattmann GmbH
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a white flag divided by two red horizontal stripes. Between the stripes is a black capital "W" superimposed by an "L" of double height.
Source: Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.33.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Apr 2009

Walter Lauck

This is the Hamburg-based Walter Lauk companies. Here is the website, English version: Founded in 1982 and initially dedicated to in-harbour transport, the combined firms are now active in inland shipping, container trucking, agency services in four German harbours, and not related to transport, rather to the loads  product control.

As related on the company site, Walter Lauk operates one tugboat and one pushboat plus nine open barges and eight covered ones in the various harbours plus thirty vessels (ten of which are under contract) on the inland waterways.  In this last respect, agricultural products are a very important load which ties in with product control activities such as sampling, analysis, certifying, etc.

Link to an article (in German) about father and son Lauk, in a playful mood: They note, among other things, the need for in-harbour shipping to bypass the local traffic jams lorries get caught in.

Seen right away on the home page, the house flag is divided red-blue along a descending diagonal with large white serifless letters "W" on the lower red triangle, "L" on the upper blue one.  Interestingly, attachment hardly shows the white dividing line clearly visible on the truck's side ("About us" section) and in the flag in front of the company seat, enlarged extract of photo. (Photo too dim for editing, ed.)

Again the white stripe in a drawing on this page: only this time the flag is enclosed in a blue border we have seen is not there in reality.  Some photos on the internet show the tug "Jörg" with the white-stripe flag on the funnel. (No idea about the second flag in front of the company seat" is it the container division").
Jan Mertens, 1 Jul 2006

Walter Lauck
The flag is divided per bend into red and blue with a white fimbriation between red and blue. In the lower hoist is a white capital "W", in the upper fly a white capital "L".
Source: I spotted this flag on 20 October 2007 in Billwerder Bucht, Hamburg.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 26 Mar 2009

Lauter-Elbe

Lauter-Elbe GmbH
The company was located in Lauterbach. It is a red over white horizontal tricolour with a black wing in its centre.
Source: "Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT"; Hamburg 1957; p.F15.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 Apr 2009

LEA Shipping

Here is another house flag: quarterly per saltire, left and right triangles white, upper and lower ones blue; in the middle, a white blue-rimmed oval containing red letters "LEA".
"Lea Shipping" (or "Lea Schiffahrtsges, Hamburg") in the page title actually refers to the "Leo Adams" shipping company, Hamburg.
On the other hand, "Lea Schiffahrts GmbH" and "Leo Adams Reederei" were perhaps two distinct, but related, companies"
Jan Mertens, 5 Jul 2005

Lebbin Beton

Lebbin Beton
The company has branches in various German cities and is transporting its stuff, concrete, on own ships. It is a white flag, divided by a red centred cross. The cross is extended to a red diamond in the centre. Within the diamond is a smaller white one, cotized blue added by thin blue stripes in the middle of the cross bars. The white diamond contains a blue, somehow Gothic capital "L".
Source: I spotted this flag at Billwerder Bucht, Hamburg on 25 April 2007..
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 9 Apr 2009

Leda Schiffahrt

Leda Schiffahrt, Leer - white, a shield with the East-Frisian colors between black "LS".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 16 Oct 2005

F.W.G. Lehmann

White Flag

The company was located in Hamburg. In the centre of the white flag was a big, blue "L". In each corner was a blue 5-point star. It is flag in the style of a Sloman affiliated company, but Hieke doesn't even mention the name.
Source: Flaggenkarte, Hrsg.: H. Carly, Hamburg, c.1898
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Jun 2012

Blue Flag

It is a Sloman type flag, blue having white 5-point stars in each corner and a big white initial "L" in the centre. The only information available was that the company ran one vessel in tramp service since 1900 and was in the shipping companies' register from 1901 to 1914.
Source: Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", Hamburg 1924, pp.192, 219
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 7 Jul 2012

Reederei Lehmann

Reederei Lehmann G.m.b.H., Lübeck - white flag, blue circle,red two-towered castle.
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

LENOX

LENOX Aktiengesellschaft für Schifffahrt & Außenhandel (Limited company for shipping and foreign trade)
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a red flag divided by a green saltire, which is fimbriated white. In the centre is a white disc fimbriated green showing a green signal house.
Source: Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.26.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Apr 2009

Leonhardt & Blumberg

The flag is white with a narrow red saltire under a black cross with the same thickness and a white square occupying the intersection (would have been hollowing it if instead of white appeared the red intersection of the saltire's arms). German national colours, a striking and if not unique at least rare design, great stuff. But the caption is very hard to read. The same thing happens whenever it includes lots of letters. Guessing more than reading, I came up with two surnames: Leonhardt & Blumberg.
Jorge Candeias, 22 Dec 2004

Libra

Libra: It's a blue flag with a white "L" in its centre. The angle between both bars is 66 2/3^o.
The company seems to be part of the Chilean company CSAV. This is also valid for Norasia, which uses the same logo as CSAV.
Source: Image spotted at companies doorplate at Hamburg Herrengraben 3 on 16 March 2007.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 May 2007

Gebrüder Löffler Reederei

Gebrüder Löffler Reederei
The company was located in Hamburg-Altona. It is a blue flag with a white bordure. In its centre is a white disc containing a blue anchor superimposed by a capital white "L", fimbriated blue.
Source:  "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.27.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Apr 2009

Lohmann Bereederungen

Maybe, ist just a logo. Description: The white field has a blue fimbriation. In the centre is a yellow object fimbriated blue like a lower "b" without hole. On the yellow object are two horizontal, blue, wavy lines superimposed by two vertical lines and a l-shaped line all in blue. Below the object is the name of the company in blue letters.
Source:
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 18 Jul 2012

J.H.Lorentzen & Co

J.H.Lorentzen & Co Flag since 1879

It's I.H. Lorentzen & Co, another nice image with a forbidding caption. Now we know the name, but I at least have no background information to offer.
Jan Mertens, 20 Dec 2006

It was a white flag with a blue bordure. In the centre was a black lozenge touching all sides of the bordure.
Source: Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897 Hamburg.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 3 Jul 2012

J.H.Lorentzen & Co - Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft "Anglia" Flag until 1878

It was a white flag with a red bordure. In the centre was a black lozenge touching all sides of the bordure.
Source: Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", p.61
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 3 Jul 2012

Lübeck Linie

Lübeck Linie - The company was located in Lübeck.
Description of flag: It is a white flag with two horizontal red stripes. At the hoist both stripes have double width. So the stripes are forming some kind of "LL".
Source: Arnold KLUDAS: Die Geschichte der deutschen Passagierschiffahrt (5 Bde.), Hamburg 1986; Reprint Laibach Slovenia-Buch Nr. 03617-8; flagchart p.224.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 June 2007

Lübeck-Bremer Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft

The company was based in Lübeck and ran two vessels on the line Lübeck-Danzig-Memel transporting passengers. The company was established in 1890. One of its two vessels disappered in 1914. Nevertheless business boomed after the end of WW1, when the connection by land between Eastern Prussia and the rest of Germany had been cut and a new vessels was bought in 1926. Due to a crisis in shipping business the company was dissolved in 1931.
The flag was white, divided by a red centred cross, in the canton was a black inscription "LB"(1st line) "DG" (2nd line).
Sources: Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.12, image no.100 and German WIKIPEDIA
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 July 2019

Lübeck-Wyburger Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft

Lübeck-Wyburger Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft AG
The company was located in Lübeck. It is a white flag divided by a broad, red, centred cross. In the corners are blue, serifed capitals "L" (upper hoist), "W" (upper fly), "D" (lower hoist) and "G" (lower fly). In the centre of the flag is a blue lozenge containing white capitals "FOK".
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen", 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.27
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 June 2007

Lüdders und Wehrt

Lüdders und Wehrt GmbH
This shipping, transport and storage  company was located in Hamburg at the Kehrwieder and was dissolved. But I don't know when.
The flag is divided by a dark blue saltire into green (hoist and fly) and white(top and bottom).
Source: I spotted a timetable of the company at Turmweg fleemarket in Hamburg on 6 September 2008.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Feb 2009

Lühe Schulau ferry

Lühe-Schulau Fähre - The ferry is crossing the river Elbe and is connecting Lower saxony (Lühe) with Schleswig-Holstein (Schulau). The ferry is made for the transport of passengers and a few cars. I could see only one ferry, but may be, there is a second one.
The ferry has an own flag, divided horizontally into yellow over white, the yellow stripe is smaller. The canton is a  Schleswig-Holstein tricolour (blue over white over red) and of same height as the yellow stripe. In the fly end red capitals "LSH" are superimposing both stripes.
Source: I spotted this flag on 23 July 2007
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 Apr 2009

Gebrüder Lülsdorf

The "Ausbau des Rheins" brochure again " present on the inside cover is a white pennant with a red lozenge bearing a white italic initial "L"
Established at Niederkassel-Mondorf, this company ("Lülsdorf  Brothers") is mentioned as having strengthened the Rhine river banks and/or having built breakwaters near Leverkusen, Düsseldorf, and Duisburg (1974-77).
Unfortunately no photo seems to show a Lülsdorf flag (pennant) but given above tasks we may assume it was indeed a house flag (pennant...) having flown aboard (a) specialized vessel(s).
As yet I have not found anything on this firm from another source.
Jan Mertens, 19 Apr 2007

Flag with bordure

In my former message I had to admit knowing next to nothing about this firm, except that at some point it had been active in strengthening Rhine river banks and building breakwaters. Almost all we had was the pennant. The proverbial German eBay offer changed this somewhat: a Lülsdorf pennant was put up by "seeteufelchen01" till the 26 Oct 2007 (item no. 220162249026). The red rim is rather prominent; I did not mention this in my original message assuming that the much thinner line there served as a holding line against a white background.
When seeing the drawing accompanying the previous message you might be forgiven for thinking the 'L' being somewhat slanted, but here it is manfully upright. Another detail is the identification as "Lüllsdorf Wasserbau-Schiffahrt Monsdorf" mentioning shipping as an additional activity.
Jan Mertens, 23 Oct 2007

See also this site
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 24 Oct 2007

Some facts gleaned from the Lülsdorf website (German only), located by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg (thanks again):
The (current) company name is 'Herbert Lülsdorf Schiffahrt und Uferbefestigungen GmbH' (i.e. H.L. Shipping and Bank Reinforcements), seated at Niederkassel on the Rhine, to the north of Bonn. The firm is family owned, now into its fourth generation - apart from Herbert, a Martin Lülsdorf is also named.
Starting out as a river transporter of fruit and vegetables to Bonn and Köln (Cologne) (beginning of 19th Century), the company reoriented itself towards waterway construction (banks and quays reinforcement, construction of breakwaters, dredging, and the like). Click 'Arbeitsfelder' (left menu) to look at the photos in the various sections which will give you a good idea of the activities. The first photo (b/w, clickable) of the first section shows the pennant on the vessel CHRISTINE.
Of additional interest is the fleet section (left menu 'Schiffe und Ausrüstung'), first photo (colour, clickable) of first section again showing CHRISTINE flying the flag. The pennant is also in evidence on the site, as a drawing.
Jan Mertens, 25 Oct 2007

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