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

Deutsche Reedereiflaggen (m) Teil 2

Last modified: 2019-07-10 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: merkur schiff | meyrose | midgard | mimietz | minlos | mobil oil ag | mogul linie | montan bs | montan reederei | montan shipping | muelheimer lsg | mueller | muensterische slag | mpc |
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• Merkur Schiffahrt
• Karl Mestermann
• Metzendorff, Wilmans & Co.
• Meyer & Jens KG
• Gebr. Meyer
• H.N.A. Meyer
• Karl Meyer
• Louis Meyer
• Robert Meyhoefer
• Meyrose
• Midgard
• Daniel Milberg
• Klaus Mimietz
• William Minlos
• MOBIL OIL AG
• Mogul Linie
• Montan B.S. (MBS)
• Montan Reederei
• Montan Shipping
• MST - Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport
• Münsterische Schiffahrts- und Lagerhausgesellschaft (MSLAG)
• Reederei Ferdinand Müller
• Personenschifffahrt Kapitän Ingo Müller oHG
• Robert Müller
• Mülheimer Lagerhaus- und Speditions-Ges. mbH
• Münchmeyer Petersen Steamship (MPC)

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

Merkur Schiffahrt

"Merkur Schiffahrt - Baustoffe GmbH" (i.e. Merkur" (or Mercury or Mercurius or Hermes DVS) Shipping and Construction Materials Co.) at Berlin (DE) is a small firm doing exactly what its name proclaims.  Modest website: Said materials include sand, gravel, flagstones, crushed stone, etc. which are delivered by truck, (lorry) or, in case of transports of 500 metric tonnes or more, by inland vessel.
Other bulk goods between 500 and 1500 tonnes, such as coal or wheat, are shipped as well.
Shown on the webpage's header is the house flag: white with a thin green border (all around), bearing a large initial "M" in script.
The "Transport" page offers a clickable photo (middle one of three) showing this flag.  The green colour is rather more vivid than the one used in the drawing.
Jan Mertens, 20 Apr 2009

Karl Mestermann

Metzendorff, Wilmans & Co.

According to source Hamburg shipowners register provides evidence of the company's existence at least from 1868 until 1880, established in 1861 as M. Metzendorff. It is a pennant with converging lines ending in three tails red over white over blue. The trapezium shaped part at the hoist is white with a black inscription "MW&Co."
Source: Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", Hamburg 1924, p.37
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 9 Jul 2012

Meyer & Jens KG

The company is located in Drochtersen (Stade county). The dark blue flag is divided by a white saltire. In the centre is a dark blue disc fimbriated white and containing a chunky white rectangle with embowed vertical lines.
Source: Verband Deutscher Reeder homepage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 17 Jul 2012

Gebr. Meyer

"Gebr. Meyer Bauunternehmung GmbH &  Co.", Cologne (i.e. Meyer Brothers Construction Company, Ltd).
Houseflag: Divided per saltire white (left and right fields) and green (upper and lower fields), a rather small white disk in the centre bearing a black initial "M" (no serifs).
As "Ausbau des Rheins" lists these firms, detailing who did or was doing what and where, we learn that Gebr. Meyer were busy deepening the Rhine at the Nackenheimer Schwelle i.e. removing underwater rocks, dredging, and reinforcing river banks near Mainz, 1972-74.
Additionnally, river breakwaters were built near Rüdesheim in 1976, the famous Binger Loch and immediate surroundings having already been dredged, rock removed, etc. 1966-68 and 1970-75.
Gebr. Meyer cooperated with other specialized firms some of which we know e.g. W. de Beijer (NL).
On p. 20 the brochure shows a large flagoid painted on the side of drilling vessel "Mittelrhein" but p. 23 shows an actual flag flying on a bucket dredge on the Lower Rhine.  That is one advantage of being nearsighted, the flag on the photo measures only 1 by 2 mm but is recognizable!
One snippet of information found on the net leads me to believe Gebr. Meyer was founded in or around 1879.
Jan Mertens, 16 Apr 2007

H.N.A. Meyer

According to source Hamburg shipowners register provides evidence of this Blankenese based company's existence at least from 1890 until 1902. The white flag has a blue bordure and a big, red rectangle in the centre containing the white initials "NM".
According to source Hamburg shipowners register provides evidence of the company's existence at least from 18 until 18.
Source: Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", Hamburg 1924, p.132
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 Jul 2012

Karl Meyer

Karl Meyer, Wischhafen - white flag, stylized green "M", pierced by a double-pointed red arrow.
(Wischhafen is NW of Hamburg in Niedersachsen, along the Elbe)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

Louis Meyer

Neue Schleppdampf Schiffahrts Reederei Louis Meyer, Hamburg has a blue flag with white cross.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 21 Sep 2005

Robert Meyhoefer

Robert Meyhoefer
The company was located in Bremen. It is a dark blue flag with white capitals "RM" in the upper hoist.
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.28
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Meyrose

Meyrose - Meyrose is a salvaging-, freight- and logistics company in Hamburg.
The flag is a blue over red horizontal bicolour with a white diamond with a black capital "M" in its centre.(spotted at 28 May 2004 in Hamburg).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Feb 2007

Midgard

Midgard AG & Co. KG - Divided per saltire, white on top and bottom and blue at hoist and fly, with a white oval in the centre, bordered blue and charged with a blue snake (with a huge head, and an even bigger eye, in relative terms).
Source: Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.15, image no.242
Jorge Candeias, 14 Mar 1999

Midgard snake (Midhgardhsormr) keeps the world in place by clasping it into its rings. When the snake relaxes, a generalized flood shall occur and the world shall disappear during the so-called Ragnarok - Fate-of-the-Powers, very often mispelled Ragnarokr, Twilight-of-the-Powers -Midgard snake is compared to Yggdrasill, the ash tree which supports the world with its branches. When Yggdrasill collapses, the world shall disappear.
Source: Encyclopaedia Universalis.
Ivan Sache, 19 Sep 2001

The company name is Rhenus Midgard A.G. & Co. K.G. They were formed in 1905 as Midgard Deutsche Seeverkehrs A.G. and at some point after the mid 1990s the company, who are now described as port operators, seem to have been taken over by Rhenus A.G. & Co.
Neale Rosanoski, 18 Oct 2004

Daniel Milberg

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 July 2012

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 July 2019

According to sources Hamburg shipowners register provides evidence of the company's existence at least from 1902 until 1905. It is a blue over white over blue horizontal triband (see left image above). In the centre of the white stripe is a blue initial "M". A variant (see right image above) was white with black dotted inscription "D.M." and red horizontal stripes on top- and bottom edge.
Sources: Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", Hamburg 1924, p.72 and Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.12, image no.86
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 July 2012 / 10 July 2019

Klaus Mimietz

Klaus Mimietz, Rendsburg - horizontal BWR flag, in center white shield bordered black, red "M"".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 19 Jan 2006

William Minlos

image by Ivan Sache, 28 Mar 2008

3:5 image by Ivan Sache, modified by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 July 2019

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "William Minlos" (#122, p. 42), a company based in Lübeck, as horizontally divided  white-red with the blacl letters "Wm M" in the middle (see left image above).
Ivan Sache, 28 Mar 2008

A variant in Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.13, image no.122 displayed an underlined "m".
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 July 2019

MOBIL OIL AG

MOBIL OIL AG in Deutschland
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a white swallow tail flag. At top and bottom edge are celestial blue stripes. In the centre is a red Pegasus of nearly total height of the white stripe.
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.28.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 Apr 2009

Mogul Linie (Gellatly, Hankey & Co.)

The white flag is divided by a blue centred cross. In the centre of the flag is a white diamond containing a smaller white diamond fimbriated red. Both have the lower point in common.
Source: Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 Apr 2012

Montan B.S. (MBS)

Montan Brennstoffhandel und Schiffahrt GmbH & Co. KG

Spotted by Jarig quite recently in the Oude Houthaven, Amsterdam, a house flag described as horizontally divided 1:4:1 black-red-black, in the centre a large white diamond bearing black initials "mbs". As luck would have it, this flag and a predecessor (table flags, really) were offered on German eBay some time ago by "freschkali", item no. 200086955556, end 17 March 2007.

Which is the older I do not really know, in any case the flag on the left uses a rather striking lower case typeface on a large flattened diamond.
The other one is rather more classic " smaller diamond, upper case initials.

Identified as "Montan Brennstoffhandel und Schiffahrt GmbH & Co. KG", Mannheim (the town where the River Neckar flows into the Rhine). 
"Montan" in German indicates something related to coal and iron industry and coal mining whereas "Brennstoffhandel und Schiffahrt" mean mineral oil trade and shipping, to be sure.
The company has no web presence it seems, although some traces on the web exist " for instance, MBS no longer has a subsidiary at Duisburg.
To complicate matters this is not the only German company using the initials, MBS.
Jan Mertens, 24 May 2007

Montan B.S. tableflags

Montan Reederei

Montan Reederei Gmbh
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a red over yellow over red horizontal triband. The yellow stripe is slightly wider. In the yellow stripe is red capital "M" surrounding the symbol of mining, hammer and mallet.
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.28
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Montan Shipping

"Montan Shipping GmhH & Co KG" is a German firm established at Hamburg. According to the "Company Profile" on its website: "Montan Shipping mainly acts as chartering agent/broker for various national and international industrial clients. The company's most important activities are world-wide chartering on the dry cargo sector, all agency matters at the ports of Hamburg and Stade and via subagents at all other German ports as well as stevedoring/cargo handling of bulk cargoes at Hamburg."
Founded in 1922, the Lehnkering period over, Montan has been part of Peter W. Lampke, a North German shipping group, since 2000 and shares the same address. Listed on the site are agency activities, general husbandry services (information, clearance, waste disposal, etc.), drydocking and repair assistance, crew matters; also stevedoring and chartering (bulk of various kinds). Shown on the site as a drawing, the house flag is orange bearing a dark blue logo consisting of initials, fimbriated white.   Said intials are a highly stylised "S" nestling above an "M" all within what might be a thin "C" perhaps standing for "Co."
Reddish orange is the field of a variant, a table flag this time, offered on German eBay as item no. 290074500435 (end 27 Jan 2007) put up by "shipflag".   The initialled logo is black and here the "M" bears a "T" connected to it standing for "Montan Transport[-Gesellschaft]". This must have been the forerunner of Montan Shipping.
Jan Mertens, 31 Oct 2007

Montan Shipping - variant

MST - Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport

It is a bavarian lozengy flag superimposed by a white lozenge fimbriated Bavarian blue containing a big initial "M" of the same colour.
For further information click: here
Source: Verband Deutscher Reeder homepage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 Jul 2012

Mülheimer Lagerhaus- und Speditions-Ges. mbH

The company was located in Mülheim/Ruhr. The flag is divided by saltire into blue and white with a white disc cotized black and white in its centre, the disc containing in black hammer and mallet, the symbols of mining.
Source: "Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT"; Hamburg 1957; p.F19
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 Apr 2009

Reederei Ferdinand Müller

The company was located in Bremen. The flag is horizontally divided by alternating white and blue stripes having ratio 9:3:1:1:1:3:9. In the centre of the flag a black capital "M" is superimposed.
Source: "Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT"; Hamburg 1957; p.F22
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 Apr 2009

Personenschifffahrt Kapitän Ingo Müller oHG

The company is based in Demmin and runs tourist trips around the mouth of Peene River, according to local promotion "the Amazon River of the North" and to local lakes and canals between Anklam and Malchin in Western Pomerania.
The flag is blue, divided by a white saltire with white initials "P" (hoist) "S" (top) and "D", the inscription probably is related to "Personen Schifffahrt Demmin", which might have been the old name of the company.
Source:
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 July 2019

Robert Müller

"Robert Müller Schiffahrt (GmbH & Co.) KG", part of the Robert Müller Firmengruppe (group of companies) has an interesting history which starts, very modestly, in 1911. History and background are found here (English version not yet ready).
Founded in 1911 by Robert Müller, a Hamburg-based shipping agent who also operated an Elbe barge inherited from his father.  From 1919 on he had his own firm selling stone for road and waterway construction, followed by salt trade in 1922.  Inland navigation started with one vessel in 1927 and the first sea-going ship joined the fleet in 1936.  Three years later, Robert Müller died.
As could be expected, WW2 caused heavy damage: ships and warehouses were lost and some vessels, barges as well as ships, were handed over to the Soviet Union as war compensation.  In all, merely two barges remained.
A new start led to building of more sea-going ships which started in 1951; in 1954 a separate firm was established to take care of shipping matters. All vessels were sold in 1961 but the next year new barges on modern lines were launched.  The 1980ies saw further expansion on the logistics side. Various company splittings were followed in 2000 by the merger of the group's shipping and logistics interests known as "Reederei und Handelsgesellschaft Robert Müller (GmbH & Co.)" only to be demerged again in 2003 into three entities "Schiffahrt" (shipping), "Logistik" (logistics) and "Handel" (commerce).
The house flag is found on the company site: quarterly divided red (upper and lower triangles) and white (left and right triangles), a green disk bearing a white initial "M" is placed in the centre.
Jan Mertens, 1 Apr 2006

Münsterische Schiffahrts- und Lagerhausgesellschaft (MSLAG)

At some time during WTAG"s existence (see message of 6 June 2006 for this there existed the affiliated MSLAG or Münsterische Schiffahrts- und Lagerhausgesellschaft. This was the "Münster Shipping and Warehousing Company" based at Münster, located near the Dortmund-Ems canal in North Rhine Westfalia state.
A local archive has records for the years 1926-1970 and then of course the house flag clearly shows the WTAG connection, having the company initials
"M.S.L.A.G." in black on a broad white horizontal stripe edged red.

Source of the attachment is yet another German eBay offer i.e. item no. 6624032748 (ended 29 April 2006) being a table flag.  (It also appears on a German site which certainly merits a separate message but no additionial information is gained there.)
Jan Mertens, 20 July 2006

MPC Münchmeyer Petersen Steamship

The flag is divided by a white saltire into red (hoist and fly) and dark blue (top and bottom). The red quarters are fimbriated dark blue. In the top quarter is a white Hamburg harbour logo. In the others are white initials "M"(hoist), "P"(bottom) and "C"(fly).
Hamburg harbour logo: The logo looks somehow like a Hamburg castle. The top is transformed into a trident and at the bottom part of an anchor is annexed.
Source: I spotted this flag on 11 May 2012 in Hamburg Neumühlen.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 July 2012

MPC Münchmeyer Petersen Steamship - former flag"

The dark blue flag has a red - white - dark blue border. At the bottom of the central field is a white inscription "MPC" topped by a white Hamburg harbour logo.
Source: I spotted this flag in July 2010 in front of a Hotel near Dammtor Station (Hamburg).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 July 2012

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