S - H. Vogemann

TradiTion 

reLiaBiLiTY 

ComPeTenCe 

125 Years 

H. Vogemann

Imprint 

Jacket Design: Lohrengel Mediendesign 

© Firmengruppe H. Vogemann, 2011 

Publishing Place Hamburg 

Published by the author 

Design and Setting: Lohrengel Mediendesign, Hamburg 

Transmit, Hamburg 

Litho: Lohrengel Mediendesign, Fire Dept. Hamburg 

Printing: Ourdas druckt, www.ourdas.de

Reinhard Barth, Friedemann Bedürftig 

125 years 

H. Vogemann 

TradiTion 

reliabiliTy 

CompeTenCe

Ralf Nagel 

Just a Few Words 

In many ways, it is remarkable that a shipping company which started its professional life 

with the barque “Western Chief” and two small cargo steamships 125 years ago, has now 

grown into a world-class consortium with a fleet of two million tonnes deadweight. 

It is all the more remarkable as the family business started to pitch itself against the big 

league players at a very early stage and became used to keeping up in terms of size, speed 

and market shares in order to compete. Eighteen eighty-six was the year that saw inauguration 

of the Statue of Liberty on the other side of the Atlantic, and also the year that 

saw the shipping company being established in Hamburg, as yet exclusively aimed towards 

European trade. But this direction quickly turned across the ocean. Since 1886, millions of 

immigrants have taken the Grand Lady at the entrance to New York's port to be a symbol 

for the start of a better life, and it is in much the same vein that the many and ever larger 

vessels put into service since then have also become the embodiment for the wealth of 

ideas, creativity and tenacity of the shipping company which exists to this day. 

This company is also remarkable because it is still in private hands today. The company 

founder's great-great-granddaughter, Christiane von Saldern, christened the “Vogerunner”, 

the second-largest ship flying the German flag, just two years ago in Japan. In her 

witty and charming christening speech, the Godmother highlighted the close relationship 

between the founding family and the present company owners. Whilst representing the German 

Ship-owners' Association at the naming ceremony, Dr. Heitmann, the in-house legal 

advisor, experienced the loyalty, fidelity and friendship of the present CEO both towards the 

company's roots as well as towards all of the partners. Family warmth, Hanseatic merchants 

and innovative creative power; such a fusion contributes towards one of the greatest 

strengths of the German shipping location. And is the reason why we are especially 

delighted by the company's active participation in the Ship-owners' Association. 

Shipping is a business field which is dependent upon economic cycles and shaped by tech- 

nological advances. The Vogemann shipping company has been successful in mastering 

these challenges for more than one-and-a-quarter centuries. As a foundation of its work, 

this tradition is something of which to be proud. 

Ralf Nagel, Senator (retired) 

Executive Member of the Presidium 

Association of German Ship-owners 

Chapter 1 – History of the H. Vogemann Company 1886 – 1946 5

6 125 years of H. Vogemann – Tradition, Reliability and Competence

Chapter 1 

Chapter 1 – History of the H. Vogemann Company 1886 – 1946 7 

History of the 

H. Vogemann Company 

1886 – 1946

The barque 

“Western Chief” 

1886 

Legal incapacitation (on 

grounds of mental illness) and 

suicide of King Ludwig II of 

Bavaria. 

Foundation of an association 

of German and foreign seamen 

in Hamburg, the aim of which 

was to provide job placement 

services free-of charge. 

Inauguration of the Statue of 

Liberty in New York. 

Carl Benz is awarded the 

patent for his three-wheel 

“motor car fuelled by gasoline”. 

History of the H. Vogemann 

Company 1886 – 1946 

In 1946, Richard Vogemann, son of the founder Johann 

Heinrich Vogemann, paints the history of his company from its creation to 

the threshold of the post-war period in a detailed narrative, largely taken 

from his own experiences. His text, in a slightly revised version, forms the 

basis of the following first section of the company's history during the years 

1886 - 1946. 

S 

everal years before the H. Vogemann company had been entered 

into the Hamburg commercial register on the 22nd April 1886 

by my father, Johann Heinrich Vogemann (born 22nd July 1849), 

my father was already in Vegesack, in the Buchtstrasse, acting 

as correspondent managing owner and, as a matter of fact, it was for the 

sailing ship “Western Chief”, managed by my grandfather, Captain Ferdinand 

Haesloop. Initially, this ship was jointly operated with the sailing ship owner, 

Hinrich Kückens, who lived in Vegesack and sailed under its house flag bearing 

the letters H.K. Shortly afterwards, my father acquired the shares held 

by Mr Kückens so that all the shares belonged to him. The house flag of the 

H. Vogemann company then evolved from an old red English civil ensign by 

removing the Union Jack and sewing a white “V” onto it. 

It must have been around this time that my father commissioned 

his brother-in-law Carl Ulrichs, co-owner of the Vegesacker shipyard 

H.C. Ulrichs (later part of the Bremen Vulkan) to build the steamship “Walküre” 

(around 750 t deadweight). I was later told that they had originally intended 

to name the ship “Vesuv” because a name beginning with “V” was one of the 

options available. But they changed their minds about this once the captain 

explained that “he doesn't want to sail on a fire-breathing mountain”. They 

then settled on the name “Walküre” instead and for the next ship commissioned 

at the H.C. Ulrichs' shipyard, they opted for the name “Rheingold”. 

Principally, the “Western Chief” must have been used for long 

sea voyages because my father told me that he received a telegram when 


The founder: Johann Heinrich Vogemann. The successor: Richard Vogemann. 

the ship was departing from Buenos Aires which said “Western Chief desemboca”, 

which he did not immediately understand, it was only afterwards that 

he discovered that the message meant the ship was on the verge of leaving 

the mouth of La Plata. 

Because work relating to management of the ships began to accumulate, 

in 1885 my father decided to sell the very lucrative manufactured 

commodities that my grandfather had taken over and to transfer everything 

to Hamburg, the centre of the German shipping business. Initially, our home 

and business office were located at Steindamm 63. But soon after this, we 

moved our private home to Uhlandstraße and the business office to Admiralitätsstraße 

8 (corner of Heiligengeistbrücke), where we remained until 1911 

when we moved into new, more modern office premises in the building on 

Mönckebergstraße 22. 


The Vulkan in Szczecin is the first Ger- 

man shipyard to be entrusted with con- 

struction of large passenger steamships. 

1887 

Laying of the foundation stone for the 

Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal between the 

North Sea and the Baltic 

. 

Heinrich Hertz proves the existence 

of electromagnetic waves. 

Julius Maggi begins production of 

soup seasoning. 

The forerunner to the Hamburger Sport 

Verein (HSV), SC Germania is founded. 

1888 

The Year of the Three Kaisers: 

Following the death of 

Kaiser Wilhelm I, his son Friedrich III, 

who is gravely ill, ascends the 

throne and dies in the same year. 

Successor is the grandson Wilhelm II. 

Customs union of Hamburg and 

Bremen with the German Reich.

Sections of the Port of 

Hamburg are established as a 

Free Port. 

A new agreement with the 

Sultan of Zanzibar secures sea 

access for the German colony 

of East Africa. 

The Suez Canal convention 

declares the Suez Canal opened 

in 1869 to be international 

waters. 

1889 

The Reichstag adopts the law 

for invalidity and the elderly. 

In the Hamburg district of 

Eppendorf, the Allgemeine 

Krankenhaus (General Hospital 

(University Hospital since 

1934)) opens the largest hospi- 

tal in Germany with 1,300 beds. 

The express steamer “Hohen- 

zollern” is commissioned by 

Norddeutsche Lloyd Bremen 

and the company enters into 

the transatlantic business. 

Taking on a new partner. At the end of the 1880's, a serious 

crisis broke out in the shipping business and a great deal of money was lost. 

The steamships “Walküre” and “Rheingold”, which must have been impressive 

cargo steamships for that era (after all they were the largest ships able to 

sail up the Weser to the City of Bremen at the time), were mainly employed in 

sailing to St. Petersburg as far as I am aware. This service was operated in 

cooperation with the Gerhard & Hey company who had engaged the steamships 

“Johanna Oelssner” and “Wilhelm Oelssner”. 

Messrs Johannes Gans and Carl Wohlenberg were taken on 

from the Edward Carr company as office staff, the former as Chief Clerk, the 

latter as an accountant. At that time, since my father was of the opinion that 

more capital was needed for him to continue running the company, he took 

Mr Henry Wehner on as a partner. He was born in London where his father 

had been Hanoverian Consul General and therefore considered himself to be 

an Englishman even though he was purely of German descent and was married 

to a German woman, the daughter of the company owner, Uhlmann & Co. 

While the Chief Clerk, Mr Gans, who as a result of his employment at the Edward 

Carr company had acquired excellent knowledge in ship brokerage, was 

extremely active and of a speculative nature, Mr. Wehner, on the other hand, 

concerned himself very little with the business and travelled extensively for 

pleasure so that one very often never exactly knew where he was. He was, 

however, loath to hold criticism back when insufficient had been earned or 

View of Manhattan and the Port of New York. Wood engraving from 1893. 


when operations were running at a deficit. When the situation in shipping 

visibly deteriorated, the steamships “Walküre” and “Rheingold” were sold in 

the early 1890s. 

In competition with Hapag. It was probably at the instigation 

of Mr Gans, who as a result of his employment with the Edward Carr company 

knew this business well, that a regular service from Hamburg to New York 

was then established, initially as an agent for the Knott's Prince Line, and 

later with chartered, mostly English ships. For a long time, a picture of Mr 

James Knott wearing the robes of an English barrister hung in our offices. 

Providing this service in competition with the Hamburg-America 

Line was a very great risk as freight contracts were finalised for monthly 

sailings, whilst the ships, mainly on a time-charter basis, were partially only 

taken on later during the course of the year. At that time, the base cargo to 

New York was unrefined sugar and later also potash salt. These loads could 

be taken on very cheaply; profit lay in the higher rates which were available 

for the additional cargo made up of piece goods. These were often finalised 

by my father personally as he toured around the industrial regions, Thuringia, 

Saxony and Bohemia in particular, and negotiated freight fixing for toys, 

stoneware, glassware and such like for Woolworth, New York, Marshall, Field 

& Co, Chicago etc. His travels even took him as far as St. Petersburg, Moscow, 

Warsaw, Budapest etc. The amount of cargo necessary can be seen by the 

Hamburg Fish Market. 


1890 

Resignation of the Reichskanzler 

Bismarck. 

The German Empire hands Zanzibar 

over to England and receives the island 

of Helgoland in its place. 

After the Anti-Socialist Laws lapse, the 

Social Democrats record success at the 

Reichstag elections. 

Otto Lilienthal conducts first flight 

trials with a bird-like glider. 

1891 

A new trade regulation comes into 

effect. It prohibits working on Sundays 

in addition to factory work for children 

under the age of 13, and limits the 

daily working hours of young people 

aged under 16 to 10 hours and women 

to 11 hours. 

Illustration next page: 

The Port of Hamburg. 

Painting by Hans 

Bohrdt, 1900.



The Hapag express steamer 

“Fürst Bismarck” is the first 

German ship to win the 

Blue Riband on the England- 

America route. 

August Oetker, a pharmacist 

from Bielefeld, prepares the 

ground for the food group “Dr. 

Oetker” through introduction of 

the baking powder “Backin”. 

Max Liebermann: “The Mayor 

Carl Petersen” (oil painting). 

1892 

The Reichstag adopts the law 

regarding “Gesellschaft mit 

beschränkter Haftung - GmbH” 

(company with limited liability). 

The first case of Asiatic 

cholera is identified in Hamburg. 

By mid-October, 8,500 people die 

from the epidemic. 

Emil von Behring discovers 

the diphtheria serum. 

Rudolf Diesel registers 

the patent for an internal 

combustion engine without 

spark plugs. 

size of the chartered steamships – between 10 – 12,000 t deadweight – such 

as the steamship “Westmeath” and the steamship “Knight Errant”, for exam- 

ple, which undertook various voyages under our time charter. In New York at 

that time, a quayside shed in Brooklyn was rented exclusively for use by the 

Vogemann Line and a photo of this with the steamship “Knight Errant” lying 

alongside hung in the exchange office right up until the Hamburg catastrophe 

(1943). 

In cooperation with Grünhut. The founding of the Max Grünhut 

company also occurred during this fiscal period. It was founded during the 

mid-1890s by my father and Mr Wehner as a freight forwarding business to 

obtain goods for the New York Line. Mr Grünhut originally came from the 

company run by Mr Wehner's brother-in-law, the freight forwarding company 

Uhlmann & Co. He was industrious and capable, but also cautious and he 

certainly did not have any leanings towards speculation. While we were sailing 

in competition against Hapag to New York and the Max Grünhut company 

was able to load more cheaply than other carriers via the Vogemann Line, 

Grünhut entered the business quickly, mainly with goods destined for North 

America. Of course, it was exceedingly embarrassing for him when the Vogemann 

Line stopped operations to New York following an agreement drawn 

Port of Hamburg. Vorsetzen, around 1890. 


up with the Hamburg-America Line (which I shall come to again later), and 

he was dependent on Hapag for all shipments. He handled the new situation 

extremely adroitly, cleverly adapting and later became one of Hapag's major 

customers for shipments to North America. 

We had shares in the Max Grünhut company right up until the 

death of Mr Grünhut in 1924, in fact it was around a 40 % share of the profits 

after Mr. Wehner left both the H. Vogemann company and the Max Grünhut 

company. Mr Grünhut had bequeathed his shares to the two sons of his landlady, 

Berthold, and Erich Schröder in his will. Since moving from Bremen to 

Hamburg, he had become extremely friendly with the Schröder family, who 

used to call him “Uncle Max”, particularly as a lottery ticket he had given 

to Mrs Schröder for Christmas happened to win the large cash prize of M 

60,000. As a result of this, Mrs Schröder sold the midday table that she had 

been managing at the Alten Wall for M 10,000. This money was used to buy 

a house in the Maria-Louisen-Straße which the Schröder family moved into, 

with “Uncle Max”. Both sons were employed by the company. 

Maintaining the service to New York as well as dealing with the 

high-risk charter business attached to it, became extremely taxing for my 

father and often gave him great cause for concern, particularly when strikes 

or suchlike upset the normal routine handling of things. I do seem to recall 

that in 1900 during a prolonged strike in Hamburg, several of the time charter 

steamships, with a daily rental of M 1,000 upwards, lay in the harbour and 

caused massive losses. 

The representation in New York was initially through the company 

Simpson, Spence & Young, New York but was later transferred to Barber 

& Co until own offices were opened in New York, 21/24 State Street, in 1900. 

Mr Gans, who at that time had been taken on as a partner, moved to New York 

where he soon called himself John H. Gans. 

As we have already mentioned, he was of an extremely speculative 

nature, handling the Hamburg steamships was not enough for him and 

his transactions became ever wilder. In 1901, an office was opened in New 

Orleans under the management of Mr Richard Meyer who had been sent from 

Hamburg to New York; a year later, a branch office was opened in Norfolk, 

Virginia under the management of Mr Eduard Nanninga who had moved to 

New York at the same time as Mr Gans. During this period, the subsidiary 

office in Savannah, Georgia was established under the management of Mr 

Henry Nanninga and later, in 1905, a further office was added in Texas City 

under the management of Mr Lafonta. 


1893 

The “Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger 

jüdischen Glaubens” (Central 

Association of German Citizens of 

Jewish Faith) is founded in Berlin 

which campaigns for the equal 

treatment of Jews in Germany. 

Introduction of Central European 

Time (CET) as a standardised unit of 

time for the entire empire. 

Karl May publishes the last of his 

Winnetou novels. 

Foundation of the Deutschnationaler 

Handlungsgehilfenverband 

(DHV (German National Association 

of Commercial Employees) in 

Hamburg, which sees itself as a 

counterbalance to the social democratic 

agitation among commercial 

employees. 

1894 

North-Eastern New Guinea is placed 

under German protection.

First session of the Reichstag takes 

place in the new building built by 

Paul Wallot. 

In Paris, the Jewish officer, Alfred 

Dreyfus, is sentenced to exile for al- 

leged spying. 

Friedrich Engels releases the third 

volume of Karl Marx' “Kapital”. 

1895 

The Sunday closing law is made 

compulsory for industry. 

Official opening of the Kaiser- 

Wilhelm Canal (now the Kiel Canal) 

after eight years of construction. 

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers 

“X-rays” (which later bear his name 

as Röntgen Rays). 

Theodor Fontane: “Effi Briest” (novel). 

1896 

In Hamburg, the first plant for refuse 

incineration starts operating. 

Kaiser Wilhelm II congratulates the 

President of the Boer Republic in 

South Africa by telegram (“Krüger 

telegram”) on successfully repel- 

ling a British raid into the Transvaal 

(“Jameson Raid”). 

Ballin's proposal. It must have been around 1902 or 1903 

when the Hamburg-America Line (Mr Ballin) approached my father with the 

proposal of coming to an agreement regarding the Hamburg-New York pas- 

sage. Since it had become increasingly more difficult to compete with the 

Hamburg-America Line with its faster steamships and more frequent depar- 

tures in the last few years, negotiations were soon underway. Hapag, who in 

the meantime had come to an agreement with their competitors, were very 

anxious to be rid of one of their most troublesome competitors so that they 

would be able to radically increase their rates to New York. It then came to 

an extremely favourable conclusion for us, according to which Hapag were 

prepared to pay a monthly compensation of M 12,000 (if I rightly recall the 

amount) to the company so that we would forgo competing with them to and 

from the ports they were operating in the North Atlantic and Gulf, and as a 

matter of fact, the contract was taken out for several years because it was 

still in effect at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Apart from the 

amounts mentioned, the H. Vogemann company also received the right to 

participate in shipments of the potash syndicate to the South Atlantic and 

Albert Ballin, Director of the 

Hamburg-America Line. 

Advertising poster for the 

Hamburg-America Line. 


Gulf ports of the United States. Shipments of the potash syndicate to these 

ports were taken over by Hapag and steamships were chartered from the free 

market for this purpose. Of the proceeds, 35 % percent went to H. Vogemann, 

25 % to Hapag and 20 % each to Rob. M. Sloman jr. and D. Fuhrmann, Nissle 

& Günther Nflg. Thirty-five percent of the chartering, handling and loading 

of the ships was undertaken by H. Vogemann, the remaining steamships were 

handled by Sloman and Fuhrmann on Hapag's behalf. This proved to be an 

extremely profitable business for us since not only was there a freight difference 

in our favour with the chartering system more times than not, what also 

paid off was the loading of 35 % of the ships through our stevedore department 

which had been established around 1900. 

The contract with Hapag was all the more favourable since the 

only restrictions placed on us were for the regular Hapag routes whilst we 

were able to dispatch to and from the remainder of the Atlantic and Gulf ports 

where Hapag were not maintaining a regular service. 

100 ships on the list of steamships. After the regular service 

between Hamburg and New York had been discontinued as a result of the 

contract with the Hamburg-America Line, Mr Gans in New York felt called 

upon to undertake far more business from other ports to all the European 

ports, for example, to Denmark, France, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea 

and so forth, and, in fact, to such an extent that nearly 100 ships were on 

our list of steamships by 1906. He procured the necessary money to finance 

this using bills of exchange which were drawn against the freights on the 

Hamburg company. On the whole, these transactions were not profitable and 

ate into a portion of the compensation being paid by Hapag again. In New 

York, the big business Mr Gans was making gave him a reputation of being an 

extremely clever charterer because he was making freight transactions which 

other shippers in New York were unable to make profitable. Of course, they 

were unaware that he was only able to make these transactions possible because 

he was in a position to recoup his losses through the Hapag payments. 

Since neither my father nor Mr Wehner were able to approve 

of conducting business in such a manner, something which also put them 

in an extremely dangerous financial position – they were of the opinion that 

giving away the income raised from Hapag for these speculations was pointless 

– considerable differences came about which were finally settled by Mr 

Gans leaving the company. His withdrawal could only be achieved though, by 

agreeing that the company should be dissolved, but that the remaining own- 


Beginning of the great Hamburg 

dock strike aimed against 

the exploitative working conditions 

in the port. 

The first modern Olympic 

Games, dating back to an idea 

of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 

take place in Athens. 

1897 

After lasting eleven weeks, the 

Hamburg dockworkers strike 

collapses without any demands 

for wage increases and 

improved working conditions 

being met. 

Karl Ferdinand Braun develops 

the “Braunsche Röhre” (Braun 

Tube = cathode ray fluorescent 

tube). 

The Krupp-Werke and the 

Augsburg Maschinenfabrik 

produce the first diesel engines 

in collaboration with the 

inventor, Rudolf Diesel.

The Hamburg Town Hall is 

completed. The building is erected 

on 4,000 oak piles owing to the 

marshy ground. 

1898 

The German Reich accepts a 99-year 

lease on the Kiautschou peninsula 

from Imperial China. 

The Austrian Empress 

Elisabeth (“Sissi”), a Bavarian 

princess by birth is stabbed by an 

anarchist in Geneva. 

1899 

The German Reich is also represented 

at the First Hague Peace Conference 

attended by 26 countries. The Confer- 

ence reaches agreements regarding 

peaceful settlement of international 

disputes and also regarding compli- 

ance of certain laws pertaining to 

war on land and at sea. 

The company of Friedrich Bayer & Co 

in Leverkusen introduces the analge- 

sic aspirin onto the market. 

Workers at the Port of Hamburg. Photo from 1899. 

er was allowed to continue business under the unchanged company. It was 

agreed that the losses suffered as a result of the New York office's chartering 

should be solely handled by Mr Gans. At the same time, it was also decided 

that Mr Gans should withdraw from the Max Grünhut company where, in the 

meantime, he had acquired a share of the company. 

Subsidiary office in Rotterdam. There were a number of sub- 

sidiary start-ups occurring around the turn of the century and one worth 

mentioning is the establishment of the Rotterdam commission-business, Vogemann's 

Transport Co. Management of the local company was transferred to 

Mr Oliemüller who, although probably industrious, was not reliable. After the 

consignees had complained about Mr Oliemüller in various ways and we had 

also received an anonymous postcard, amongst other things, bearing the text: 

“Olie is a thief”, it was discovered that small batches of wood were being shifted 

by him. As a result of this, he was dismissed and management was transferred 

to Mr van Slooten who was employed by the company Wm. H. Müller & 

Co. He managed the Rotterdam branch office until around 1917 when business 

dropped to a minimum as a result of the war. Vogemann's Transport Co hardly 


made large profits during the years of its existence, except during the Second 

World War, but it had indirectly paid off well since it contributed towards us 

closing a very favourable contract with the Holland-America Line a few years 

before the First World War and later, in 1935, towards us receiving bonds from 

Thomsen's Havenbedrijf to purchase ships. 

When we separated from Mr Gans in 1906, it became obvious 

that my brother Heinrich should take over management of the New York company 

because he was 26 years old at the time and had already been in New 

York for two years. Since he had not been getting on with Mr Gans during 

this time and had been afraid of the confrontation until it had been settled 

in the October of 1906, while my father was also similarly trying to keep out 

of his way, it was decided that I, 21 years of age at the time, should take over 

management of the New York company with branch offices in New Orleans. 

In early April 1906, I embarked on the Lloyd steamer “Kaiser 

Wilhelm der Große” for New York. My father wanted to follow me out a few 

weeks later, but delayed his journey until the middle of August because he 

wanted to avoid the possibility of being in the same office at the same time as 

Mr Gans owing to the differences that existed. Because of the losses caused 

by Gans, which have already been mentioned, it was agreed that all transactions 

conducted in America should go to Gans' account until 1st October 

1906. As a result, all the office's fixtures and fittings belonged to him while 

the office space remained as part of the company per agreement. In order to 

make things as difficult for us as possible, instead of taking severance pay 

he took all of the office furniture with him, and he even wanted to have the 

electric lamps dismantled but was prevented from doing so by the property 

management because in America lighting belongs to the building and not to 

the tenants. 

Since he had already been working in New York for five years 

and had also conducted big business on the company's behalf, even if they 

had been at a loss, Gans had naturally made excellent contacts with all of 

the brokers. He now attempted to exploit this wherever he could in order to 

make life difficult for me. And so it once happened that I made a firm offer 

for a steamship to a Mr Zimmer, employed by the local company Howard, 

Houlder & Co who were in the same office building at the time, and which Mr 

Zimmer accepted the next day. A few hours later he came into my office in 

agitation and told me that Mr Gans, who had discovered that I had made an 

offer for the steamship, had cabled a slightly higher offer to London in order 

to prevent me from chartering the steamship. The bill of acceptance which 


Albert Ballin takes control of 

the “Hamburg-Amerikanischen 

Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft” 

(Hapag) and by 1914 builds the 

shipping company founded in 1856 

into the largest in the world. 

1900 

The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch 

(BGB (Civil Code of Germany)) 

and the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB) 

(German Commercial Law) 

come into force. 

During the Boxer Rebellion, an 

uprising by a secret xenophobic 

society in China, the German envoy 

Klemens Freiherr von Ketteler is 

murdered in Peking. As a result, 

the German Reich participates in 

an international military action to 

suppress the uprising. 

Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin undertakes 

the first flight with a 128 

m long rigid airship. 

A strike by the Hamburg dockworkers 

is ended with no results.

1901 

The “Berlin Orthographi- 

cal Conference”, convened 

by Germany, Austria and 

Switzerland, achieves 

standardisation of German 

orthography. 

Death of the British 

Queen Victoria. 

Nobel prizes are 

awarded for the first time 

in Stockholm. 

The passenger ship 

“Deutschland” receives 

telegrams from a distance 

of 150 km. 

Thomas Mann: 

“Buddenbrooks” (novel). 

1902 

More than 30 years after 

the end of the Franco- 

German war, the state 

of emergency in Elsass- 

Lothringen is lifted. 

The Reichstag passes a 

new customs law which 

establishes protective duties 

for agriculture. 

End of the Boer War in 

South Africa. 

Shipping traffic in the Port of New York, 1905. 

the Howard, Houlder & Co had received from London was approval for the 

offer that Gans had cabled directly. So that I would not cause Mr Zimmer and 

the Howard, Houlder & Co any inconvenience, I waived my rights to the ship 

and let Mr Gans be happy with it. A short time later I was also able to acquire 

a replacement ship. 

Business in New York and in New Orleans. Since the office in 

New York was only a charter office for our services from the Gulf, I only had 

one employee called Sagell, who had worked in the Hamburg office some 

time before. In New Orleans, I took on the previous assistant from Mr Meyer, 

a Mr George Plant who was around 27 years old at the time and who proved 

to be very industrious but later turned out to be rather too speculative. My 

father finally arrived in New York in the August of 1906 and stayed until the 

end of November. The disagreements with Mr Gans were of a most unpleasant 

nature. He made problems for us wherever he could; practically the entire 

staff which we had gradually sent to America from Hamburg, went over to 

Gans, since they considered him to be the soul of the business and also saw 

the opportunity of setting up independently. And so, Mr Nanninga opened up 


Charter party from Vogemann shipping 

company from 1903. 

his own office in Savannah, Richard Meyer the Richard Meyer Company in 

New Orleans, and so forth. It became clear to us then, just what a big mistake 

we had made in sending young people to America who both knew one another 

and who also engaged in private business correspondence with one another. 

Because my father, my brother and I were all of the opinion that 

we should continue business dealings in America on a very much smaller 

scale and since we had no intention of undertaking charters from the South 

Atlantic coast, we came to an agreement with Strachan & Co to the effect that 

we waived doing business in the South Atlantic and represented the interests 

of Strachan in Rotterdam and Hamburg. In later years, this agreement proved 

to be extremely advantageous to the Rotterdam and Hamburg offices, especially 

following the First World War, as Strachan, even though the agreement 

was no longer in effect, continued to consign their ships to us and allowed 

our stevedore department to unload the ships so that we had a good source 

of income as we handled around 18 to 20 ships over the course of the year. 

As far as I can recall, my father left the companies in Hamburg, Rotterdam 

and America in 1906 and transferred his shares in equal parts to my brother 

and myself. 


Increasing use of electrical 

appliances such as vacuum 

cleaners, irons, ovens and baking 

ovens in households. 

Max Liebermann: “Terrace of the 

Restaurant Jacob in Nienstedten 

on the Elbe“ (oil painting). 

1903 

The final contracts for building 

the Baghdad railway are signed 

in Constantinople. 

The companies Siemens, Braun 

and AEG jointly found a company 

for wireless telegraphy, the 

Telefunken AG. 

VFB Leipzig wins against DFC 

Prague in the final game of the 

German football championship 

which is being held for the first 

time. 

The German Navy sets up its first 

radio stations for wireless communication 

traffic with ships on 

the high seas. 

Orville and Wilbur Wright begin 

their first powered flight.

1904 

Outbreak of the Herero uprising 

in German South-West Africa. 

The Herero are defeated at the 

Battle of Waterberg and driven 

into the arid desert, where they 

die in their thousands. 

Beginning of the Russo- 

Japanese War with the bom- 

bardment of Port Arthur. 

1905 

The japanese fleet defeats 

the russian in the battle of 

Tsushima. 

Austrian pacifist Bertha von 

Suttner receives the 

Nobel Peace Prize. 

Richard Strauss: “Salome” 

(opera). 

1906 

The Moroccan crisis is 

resolved at the Algeciras 

conference in Spain. 

Wilhelm Voigt, an unemployed 

cobbler, impersonates an officer 

and with a troop of soldiers 

he has hired off the streets, 

occupies the mayor's office and 

confiscates the city treasury in 

Köpenick near Berlin. 

A line with our own ships? Although it was true that no losses 

were made during the years 1906 to 1908 as I managed the office in New York 

with the branch office in New Orleans and business expenses were merited, I 

still became convinced that it was too expensive to run a special charter office 

in New York for the expeditions that we were executing from the Gulf. Furthermore, 

maintaining regular departures with only chartered ships appeared to 

me to be too nerve-racking as often ships needed to be taken on at the last 

minute which were unsuitable for the particular cargo, deck freight and so 

forth, in order to comply with the consignment obligations when the freight 

market was attractive. I was, therefore, rather leaning towards operating a 

line with our own ships again. I went to Hamburg at the beginning of 1908 in 

order to discuss this and handed management of the New York office to my 

employee, Mr Sagell, for the short time that I was to be absent. He had nothing 

more urgent to do than to let himself be lured away into the employ of Mr 

Gans, not considering that this had not been done for his sake but rather to 

make matters more difficult for me. 

Although my brother did not want to give up the office in New 

York, for reasons which were unfathomable to me, and was keeping a very 

passive stance regarding the purchase of a steamship, I pressed on with it 

anyway so that the New York office was given up in accordance with my vision 

that chartering the freight forwarding steamships from New Orleans could be 

performed equally well from Hamburg. I then returned from New York back to 

Hamburg in July 1908 after I had settled ongoing matters and left the office 

space to our Max Grünhut company, whose managing director, Mr Freund and 

Mr Berthold Schröder, I had taken into my office in 1906 in order to reduce 

joint expenses. After returning to Hamburg, I suggested a division of labour 

to my brother, to the effect that I should chiefly work with the American end 

of business and he with the European. However, my brother was unwilling to 

do this as he had always feared that he would be missing out on something. 

So, we did everything jointly. Owing to the fact that we were living together 

and able to discuss and deal with the arriving cables that needed immediate 

attention during the evenings, working together was, to a certain extent, 

manageable, especially since my brother was still appearing for business 

relatively punctually at the time. 

The first newbuilding. Even though times (1907 – 1909) for the 

shipping companies were as bad as they could conceivably be, and my father, 

after the departure of Mr Gans who had taken the entire revenue generated 


y the contract with Hapag, was having serious misgivings about investing 

this money into a steamship newbuilding – I nevertheless, after shedding a 

fair few tears, finally succeeded in pushing through an agreement with the 

shipyards Wm. Doxford & Sons, Sunderland in early 1909, for a newbuilding 

of 6,250 t deadweight and, as a matter of fact, for the extraordinarily cheap 

price of $ 5 per ton d.w. = $ 32,000. This amount was to be paid upon delivery. 

But we already made ongoing payments during the build as we were able to 

deduct 5 % interest p.a. from such amounts. No loan was taken out, instead 

the entire purchase price was paid from our own funds. This was incredibly 

important because given the bad times, it was essential to always keep at the 

back of the mind that the ship may need to be laid up after all and if such 

a case were to happen, then the interest payable on loans would have been 

extremely unpleasant. 

The ship had been commissioned at the beginning of 1909 and 

was given the name “Vogesen”; it was put onto stocks in the March and already 

delivered in the early October of the same year. The cargoes at the time 

were still extremely low; but nevertheless the first voyage managed to make 

a profit, albeit only very small, because the ship was built especially for tim- 

Steamship “Vogesen”. Painting from 1949 based on a photograph. 


San Francisco is destroyed by an 

earthquake. 

Unveiling of the Bismarck monument 

by Hugo Lederer in Hamburg. 

1907 

At the state elections in Hamburg, 

the SPD succeed in doubling their 

number of seats. 

Foundation of the Deutscher 

Werkbund (German Work 

Federation) in Munich, its purpose is 

to improve the handicraft trade 

and to unite arts and industry. 

Carl Hagenbeck establishes 

the first zoo with open animal 

enclosures in Hamburg- 

Stellingen. 

1908 

Colonial troops under Captain 

Erckert storm the last held position 

by the rebel Hottentots in German 

South-West Africa. 

The Reichstag passes an amendment 

to the Naval Laws which gives 

provision for considerable increases 

in expenditure.

Austro-Hungary 

annexes Bosnia and 

Herzegovina which provokes 

an international crisis. 

Henry Ford starts assembly 

line production of cars in 

Detroit. 

1909 

The Deutsche Reichspost intro- 

duces cashless payments with 

postal cheques. 

The world's first six-day racing 

event takes place on a 150 m 

long wooden track in Berlin. 

Louis Blériot crosses the 

English Channel in an aircraft. 

1910 

The return of Halley's comet 

prompts apocalyptic fantasies. 

The second Moroccan Crisis 

begins with the arrival 

of French warships in the 

Moroccan port of Agadir. 

ber shipping and was therefore able to take a considerably larger deck cargo 

than other chartered steamships of the same size. In 1911, the general rates 

of cargo slowly began to improve, whereas during the years 1912 – 1914 they 

were fairly good so that an extremely good profit was attained and by the time 

war broke out, the steamship was very close (as far as I can remember it was 

around M 300,000) to the bottom line. Our financial situation had improved 

extremely well over those years, on the one hand because the revenue from 

Hapag and the Holland-America Line (see below) was not being lost straight 

away again through dodgy speculations, and on the other hand because of 

the good results from the steamship “Vogesen”, so that by the time war broke 

out, the company not only had the debt-free steamship “Vogesen” but also 

had more than M 1,000,000 in domestic and foreign securities as well as sufficient 

liquid capital at its disposal. 

Because the “Vogesen” steamship showed an extremely favourable 

result, my father gradually regained his confidence in the shipping company 

and now even my brother became very enthusiastic so that in 1912 we 

took the joint decision of commissioning a second steamer from Doxford's. 

However, we attached a condition to this: Doxford's had built three turret 

ships for the company Heyne & Hessenmüller and as a result of this company's 

inability to pay, had been forced to take them over, they were temporarily 

transferred to the Heinrich Schmidt shipping company, but if we were to 

order a new ship from Doxford's, then chartering of these steamships should 

be transferred to us. Doxford's were unable to make their minds up on this 

matter and so the negotiations were then dropped. The outbreak of World War 

I resulted in no second newbuilding contract being given. 

Conflicts with the partners. It must still be mentioned for the 

years 1906 – 1908 that Mr Wehner, who had remained partner of the Hamburg 

company, left around 1907 or 1908, after it emerged that the Hamburg company 

had made a small loss during these years. Since he had little interest in 

the business and only wanted to make money, we accelerated his departure 

by agreeing to pay him his portion of the expected payments from Hapag 

in advance. We were very pleased that he had left us because, as we have 

already mentioned, he did not do any work but criticised us all the more for 

it. Both of my father's partners had proved to be extremely unpleasant: Mr 

Wehner did nothing and was dissatisfied when insufficient money was being 

earned, Mr Gans was very industrious and enterprising, but could never be 

held back with his wild speculations and put our assets at great risk through 


his actions. My brother and I were of one mind on this point, that we should, 

under no circumstances, take on another partner again. Unfortunately, I afterwards 

had to have similar experiences with my brother as my father had 

had with Mr Wehner. 

Shortly after the partner's departure – I think it was in 1910 – 

we succeeded in coming to an extremely favourable arrangement with the 

Holland-America Line who wanted to eliminate competition from us from 

New Orleans to Rotterdam. After we had been competing with one another 

on this route for some time, an agreement was drawn up with the directorate 

in Rotterdam (Mr Reuchlin), to the effect that the monthly steamship we 

dispatched should be chartered for the account of the Holland-America Line, 

while the ships in New Orleans were to be handled by us, Vogemann's Shipping 

Co at that time, and in Rotterdam by Vogemann's Transport Co against 

fixed commissions. In the event that expeditions did not take place, the Holland-America 

Line paid $ 1,000 to the company in New Orleans for each cancelled 

monthly expedition and Hfl. 1,000 to the company in Rotterdam. After 

several expeditions had been carried out, the Holland-America Line preferred 

to cancel the expeditions and to pay the monthly $ 1,000 and Hfl. 1,000, so 

that both offices made a good income without having to do any work. This 

contract ran until 1916 but was not renewed as a result of the war because 

the situation had changed. 

Stevedores with sacks of rice in the Port of Hamburg. Photo from 1889. 


Riots break out in the US after 

the African-American Jack 

Johnson wins against the white 

Jeff Jeffries in a world championship 

boxing match. 

The FC St. Pauli football club is 

established. 

1911 

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft 

zur Förderung der Naturwissenschaft 

(Kaiser-Wilhelm Society 

for the Advancement of Science) is 

founded in Berlin (now the Max- 

Planck-Gesellschaft). 

Through deployment of the 

gunboat “Panther” to Agadir, the 

Reich government ignites the 

Moroccan Crisis into an 

international dispute. 

The Reichsversicherungsordnung 

(RVO (The Imperial Insurance Code)) 

is passed with a summary of the 

statutory sickness, accident and disability 

insurance. 

In Hamburg, the 448 m long tunnel 

underneath the Elbe is opened after 

a four-year construction period. 

First exhibition of the Munich expressionist 

art group “Blauer Reiter”.

1912 

A landslide victory for the Social 

Democrats at the Reichstag elections. 

They win 110 seats 

(from 397). The previous leading Centre 

Party obtains 91 seats. 

Scientists of the German Oriental Society 

find a portrait bust of the Egyptian 

Queen Nefertiti (16th century BC) in a 

sculptor's workshop in Amarna (Egypt). 

Alexander Behm develops echo 

sounding. 

1913 

The passenger steamer “Imperator” from 

the Hamburg-America-Line, the largest 

ship in the world at that time, sails from 

Cuxhaven on its maiden voyage. 

Completion of the Rensburg viaduct 

across the Kaiser-Wilhelm canal, the 

longest railway bridge (2.4 km) in 

Germany. 

Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch succeed in 

high-pressure synthesis of ammonia. 

Friedrich Bergius develops a method for 

liquefaction of coal. 

Franz Marc: “The Tower of Blue Horses” 

(oil painting). 

1914 

Assassination of Archduke Franz 

Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by 

Serbian nationalists. 

Surrendering the New Orleans-Rotterdam passage was easy to 

bear in this respect since we found plenty of employment for our steamship 

“Vogesen” and chartered ships in timber shipment from the other Gulf ports, 

that is to say from Pensacola, Mobile, Gulfport, Beaumont, Galveston and so 

on, so that our activities were in no way curtailed as a consequence of the 

contract with the Holland-America Line. 

Fraudulent company Lemore & Co. After the First World War 

broke out, my brother was seized by panic that he would be drafted into the 

army, and succeeded in receiving permission to travel to America. He still had 

several more problems there in this sense because the creditors of A. Lemore 

& Co, for whom the Vogemann's Shipping Co, New Orleans had, in good faith, 

signed bills of lading in advance prior to the war, tried to assert their rights 

to compensation against him. The company A. Lemore & Co, from whom we 

had acquired entire steamship consignments with staves from New Orleans 

to Bordeaux and Sète at good rates before the war and at whose request we 

signed bills of lading before the goods, which were stored in their warehouse 

in New Orleans, were actually in our safekeeping, proved itself to be a fraudulent 

company when the consignee in Bordeaux, Mr Gairard from Gairard Fils, 

suddenly died. The collapse of this company was all the more surprising to 

us as it appeared to be exceedingly respectable. The owners, Lemore and Carriere, 

lived extremely frugally in New Orleans and with little expenditure, although 

they dealt with an enormous amount of business. One, therefore, had 

the impression when dealing with them that they were extremely respectable 

business people, and in addition to which they were working with a very large 

stave concern in France, the long-established company of Gairard Fils, Petit 

and Gaffinel, and which may have been the possible reason as to why Mr 

Plant had been a little too careless with the bills of lading. 

When Gairard died and based on the bills of lading we provided, 

bank transactions proved to be fraudulent, the goods for a number of bills of 

lading were missing for which we were held responsible in the natural way 

of things. This took place in 1913. My father and I drove down to Bordeaux 

together and paid Petit and Gaffinel, as far as I can remember, a total of Frs. 

120,000, an amount which corresponded to around M 96,000. It was a bitter 

loss; but in light of the excellent results we had achieved with both the 

steamship “Vogesen” and through shipments with Lemore, we were able to 

absorb it. The entire situation was particularly embarrassing to us because 

the aggrieved parties in the Lemore bankruptcy assumed that we were part 


of the deception owing to us having issued the bills of lading, whilst it was 

ourselves who had actually been duped. In order to avoid personally being 

prosecuted by the still dissatisfied American creditors of A. Lemore & Co, my 

brother left New Orleans during the war and initially settled in Philadelphia, 

then moved to New York because a writ could only be served against him in 

the State of Louisiana. 

An investment à fonds perdu. Until the United States entered 

the war, the office in New Orleans was very satisfactory and, as a matter of 

fact, representation of the Norway-Mexico Gulf Line and the Swedish America-Mexico 

Line proved itself to be particularly profitable since these sailings 

took place much more frequently since many shipments to Germany continued 

via Norway and Sweden at the beginning of the war. The Norway-Mexico 

Gulf Line was established by Captain Bryde in Oslo (Christiania at the time) 

in the years 1909/1910. At the instigation of Mr Plant, we applied for the 

commission-business in New Orleans at the time and it was transferred to 

us under the condition that we took over shares at the value of Kr. 5,000. My 

father said at the time – and I agreed with him about this – that we should 

regard this investment as à fonds perdu as it was highly unlikely to yield any 

dividends. But later, I sold these shares after the World War for Kr. 40,000 and 

Immigrants at the Port of New York, around 1910. 


Severe international tension is 

triggered. This exacerbates into 

the “July Crisis” and leads to the 

First World War. 

Granting of war bonds by the German 

Social Democrats. 

Battle of the Marne, the German 

advance is stopped. 

Great Britain declares the North 

Sea a war zone and imposes an 

economic blockade against the 

German Reich. 

1915 

Italy enters the war on the Allied 

Forces side. 

Poison gas is used against the 

Allied Forces at Ypres. 

In torpedoing the British passenger 

liner “Lusitania”, 120 US 

citizens are killed. 

Sinking of the cruiser “Blücher” in 

the naval battle of Dogger Bank. 

1916 

Heavy losses at the Battle of 

Verdun and the Somme. 

Beginning of intensified submarine 

war: Merchant ships armed 

with guns are treated as enemy 

warships.

Great Britain and France agree to 

the division of the Ottoman Empire 

in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. 

Battle of Jutland between the 

English and German Navy's High 

Seas Fleet. 

1917 

Beginning of unrestricted subma- 

rine warfare in the restricted areas 

around Great Britain and the Medi- 

terranean. The US enters the war. 

Abdication of the Russian Tsar 

Nicholas II. A civil form of govern- 

ment is established. Victory of the 

Bolshevik revolution in Russia. 

The Universum Film AG 

is established in Berlin as a 

propaganda instrument of the 

Supreme Command. 

1918 

The American President Woodrow 

Wilson presents his 14-point 

programme for world peace. 

Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Lito- 

vsk: Russia loses approximately 25 

percent of its population and 

27 percent of its economically 

productive land. 

Following its initial success, the 

German spring offensive on the 

Western Front comes to a standstill. 

still received a 30 % dividend payout on top of this. Since the Mark had been 

devalued through inflation in the meantime, this money stood us in very good 

stead in covering our liability on bills of exchange. During the First World 

War the offices in Hamburg and Rotterdam lay idle. Until I was conscripted 

in June 1915, I still attempted to do business, also including such companies 

as Weber & Schaer for the transport of raw rubber from Para to Hamburg. 

But it never came to a contract being signed as insurance could no longer be 

covered. 

Once the United States entered the war, the office in New Or- 

leans was closed and Herr Plant secured the commission-businesses of the 

Norway-Mexico Gulf Line and the Swedish-America-Mexico Line by establish- 

ing himself under the company of Trosdal, Plant & Lafonta. The New Orleans 

business, which we had built up with so much blood, sweat and tears (since 

1911, we still had the commission-businesses from Armement Adolf Deppe 

with regular departures from New York to Antwerp, which I had arranged 

with the owner Mr Scheidt) had now reached the end of the road and our 

steamship “Vogesen” was seized in Pensacola where she had lain since the 

outbreak of war. 

When the war ended in November 1918, our situation was pretty 

grim: The business and assets in New Orleans as well as the steamship “Vogesen” 

seized, the Mark devalued, foreign securities handed over to the German 

government. A continuation of the business as it had been before the 

war was unthinkable for the time being. But the situation soon improved in 

this respect once the ships arriving for the government were distributed by 

the shipbrokers in turn. 

Messrs Landau and Ainsworth. At the end of the war, my brother 

was still in New York and had the opportunity of soliciting for commissionbusinesses 

for the Hamburg and Rotterdam companies, and he put a great 

deal of effort into this. He was also successful in obtaining the commissionbusinesses 

for Hamburg and Rotterdam from the Pacat Steamship Corporation 

which was to open a regular service from New York with steamships from 

the Shipping Board. The owners of this society were an American Jew called 

Landau, who originally hailed from Vienna, and his son, Kurt Landau, in addition 

to Mr Ainsworth. These gentlemen had become rich very quickly during 

the war and did all possible kinds of business, but really did not have much 

of an idea about shipping. They were, therefore, and especially Mr Ainsworth, 

very liberal with respect to brokerage fees and when I asked Mr Ainsworth 


“Vogesen” seized after the First World War as USS “Quincy” in an American port. 

what agency commission he would grant, he replied: “We pay $ 500 for full 

cargoes, $ 250 for part cargoes”, which, when you take the devaluation of the 

Mark into consideration, was an absolutely astronomical amount of money 

at the time. A shed from Hapag was rented through our brokers and a large 

poster was affixed to it with the name Pacat Steamship Corporation. 

Mr Ainsworth was a typical American business man who did 

not mince his words and always knew how to sort himself out. So when the 

railway workers went on strike, without further ado, he bought himself a car 

so he could travel to Copenhagen. When he did not receive a prompt reply to 

the various cables he had sent to his partners in New York, he ordered me to 

send a clearly worded telegram to New York which started as follows: “Why 

in the hell don‘t you answer my cables you are making a damned fool of me” 

and so forth. Normally I had to pick him up from his hotel around midday. He 

received me in his dressing gown and made his business visits around 1 p.m., 

when the majority of owners were going to lunch or were hanging around the 

stock exchange. The Pacat Steamship Corporation's expeditions still continued 

until around 1922; then business slowly began to stagnate because the 

corporation ran into financial difficulties. 

At the time we still managed to obtain the commission-business 

from the New York & Argentine Steamship Co, which had set up a service 

from Hamburg to Buenos Aires. This business was also operated with the 


Austria exits the war. 

The armistice in Compiègne ends 

the war in the west. 

A sailors' mutiny in Kiel develops 

into a revolution in Germany. 

Workers' and soldiers' councils 

briefly take power. 

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and 

goes into exile in Holland. 

Friedrich Ebert (SPD) becomes 

Reichskanzler. Proclamation of the 

Republic. 

1919 

In Germany, socialist uprisings by 

government troops and Freikorps 

are struck down. 

At the elections for the constituent 

National Assembly, the SPD wins 

the majority of votes. 

Friedrich Ebert becomes 

Reichspräsident. 

Signing of the Peace Treaty by the 

German Reich in the Hall of Mirrors 

at Versailles: 

In addition to paying heavy reparations, 

Germany must accept sole 

responsibility for the war and relinquish 

its colonies, amongst other 

things, as well as large sections of 

its commercial fleet. 

Walter Gropius establishes the 

Kunstinstitut Bauhaus in Weimar.

1920 

The international reparation 

committee begin their work. 

At an event in Munich, Adolf Hitler 

announces the 25-point 

programme of the DAP, which a 

little later renames itself as the 

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche 

Arbeiter Partei (NSDAP (National 

Socialist German Workers' Party)). 

The Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch against 

the Reichsregierung collapses after 

a few days. 

Ernst Jünger: “Storm of Steel” (book 

on war experiences). 

Robert Wiene: “The Cabinet of 

Dr. Caligari” (film). 

1921 

German reparation payments are 

set at 226 billion gold marks, pay- 

able within 42 years. 

Foundation of the Deutsche 

Luftpost GmbH for transporting 

persons and post. 

The value of the Deutsche Mark 

dramatically drops at the Frankfurt 

Stock Exchange. Start of inflation. 

Sections of Upper Silesia come 

under Polish rule following a 

plebiscite. 

Hugo von Hofmannsthal: 

“The Difficult Man” (comedy) 

Shipping Board steamships but was dropped after about six months because 

the ships needed to find other uses. 

There was also another ray of hope on the horizon for us in 

the form of a Dutchman, Mr Goedhart, who had previously worked in Ham- 

burg and knew my brother well, he suggested that we set up a service from 

New Orleans to Rotterdam with the three steamships from the Bothnia Line 

(C. Goudriaan) and to open up a joint commission-business in New Orleans. 

Since this was an opportunity for us to operate the office that had been in New 

Orleans since 1901 again, we agreed to form the commission-business in the 

exact same spot under the name of Vogemann, Goudriaan Co Inc and with Mr 

Goudriaan participating with 50 % of the $ 10,000 capital and in the profits. At 

the same time, my brother had been in talks with Mr Nihlen from the Conti- 

nental shipping company to try persuading him to discontinue his steamships 

travelling from New Orleans – Hamburg and he agreed to this proposal. 

Adventure at Grasbrook. In 1921, I therefore went to New Orle- 

ans and embarked on the steamship “Manchuria” from the Atlantic Transport 

Line from Hamburg as the German lines had not yet started their service. The 

passengers were ferried from the passenger terminals at Grasbrook to the 

Hapag quayside sheds and had to walk over a long gangway to get on board. 

Since we had a long time to wait owing to the ticket controls which were tak- 

ing place at the same time, I put my suitcase down on the gangway. The suit- 

case toppled over and fell exactly between the quay wall and the ship into the 

water. It contained all of my papers, powers of attorney for establishing the 

Vogemann, Goudriaan Co, and so forth and I would have had to abandon my 

journey if I lost these. Thank God someone managed to fish out the suitcase, 

which had not immediately sunk, with a “Peekhaken”, a long pole with a kind 

of iron claw at the point. The papers were only slightly damaged and so I was 

able to continue on my journey. Once I had arrived in New York, I was sur- 

prised that the name Vogemann was still known to the telegraph companies 

in spite of the war and that we had closed our New York offices. 

I immediately continued my journey to New Orleans and vis- 

ited Mr Dumont Head of Standard Export Lumber Co, who I had known from 

former occasions and with whom we had done a lot of great business before 

the war. He recommended Mr George Simno as managing director, whom 

I then also engaged. I employed my cousin, Carl Ulrichs, as an accountant 

again, he had also worked for us previously, and rented an office in the Perrin 

Building (later to become the Baronne Building). 


Passenger halls of the Hamburg-America Line at Grasbrook. 

The business took off well because we received 4 % commission 

on the cargoes, which were still relatively high, so that after deducting 

expenses, a considerable profit still remained. Unfortunately, the Bothnia 

Line stopped its service after about twelve months as Mr Goudriaan, who had 

bought the ships at a very expensive price during the war, fell into financial 

difficulties. 

The Continental shipping company still continued its service for 

a number of years further. If I recall rightly, it was in 1924 when Mr Nihlen, 

the director of the corporation came to New Orleans and told us that he possibly 

intended starting up a steamship with passenger facilities. This never 

actually came about as a short time later, the Continental shipping company 

was taken over by a group which was led by Axel Dahlström and was later 

sold on to the company Hugo Stinnes. This company had no interest in maintaining 

the New Orleans service and soon discontinued it altogether. 


1922 

The Treaty of Rapallo between the 

German Reich and Soviet Russia 

ends the isolation of Germany in 

matters of foreign policy. 

Withdrawal of Allied Aviation Monitoring 

Commission from Germany. 

Beginning of construction on the 

Rhine-Main-Danube Canal as part 

of a continuous waterway from the 

North Sea to the Black Sea. The 

project will only be completed in 

1992. 

Murder of the Reich Foreign Minister 

Walther Rathenau in Berlin- 

Grunewald. 

A sense of panic at the German 

Stock Exchange. The value of the 

US dollar rises to 860 Marks. 

Fritz Lang: 

“Dr. Mabuse the Gambler” (film). 

1923 

French and Belgian troops occupy 

the Ruhr area owing to defaults in 

coal deliveries. 

Inflation is at its highest point: 

12 billion Marks are paid for 

one US dollar. 

Suppression of the separatist 

movement in the Rhineland. 

Communist coup attempt in 

Hamburg.

“Hitler Putsch” in Munich. 

Establishment of the German Renten- 

bank which introduces a currency 

reform by issuing a new Rentenmark. 

1924 

Foundation of the Republic 

Protection Association Reichsbanner 

Schwarz-Rot-Gold. 

“Dawes Plan” for regulating German 

reparations. 

Arrest of the mass murderer 

Fritz Haarmann. 

Thomas Mann: “The Magic 

Mountain” (novel) 

1925 

1925 

Death of the Reich President 

Friedrich Ebert. Field Marshal 

Paul von Hindenburg is 

voted successor. 

The Reichstag adopts protective 

duties for agriculture and industry. 

Locarno Conference concerning 

security pacts in Europe. 

Egon Erwin Kisch: 

“The Raging Reporter” (coverage) 

The loss of both commission-businesses was naturally very 

painful and put the question in front of us as to whether we should give the 

New Orleans office up again or whether we should take on other steamships, 

possibly even our own. Then, in 1925, we made the decision to purchase the 

steamship “Manchester Port” which was 20 years old at the time and we again 

called her “Vogesen”. Since one steamship passage was not sufficient and 

since the previous charter business could not be taken up again owing to the 

difficulties with the foreign exchange, we purchased – I think it was in the year 

1927 – the steamship “Rhein” (previously “Elisabeth Rickmers”) from the company 

of Röchling, Menzell & Co, and which was given the name “Vogtland”. 

1926 – Accident on the steamship “Vogesen” 

In November 1926, a docker was 

killed during loading work on board 

the Vogemann steamship “Vogesen” 

in the Port of Hamburg. The report 

by the port's shop committee reveals 

shortcomings in accident victim care 

at the time: 

“The accident happened around 10 o'clock in the morning. The steamship 

“Vogesen” gave the necessary signal but no launch from the authorities 

came to transport the injured party. Even though the launch went past the 

quay administration and heard the signals, they made no attempt to bring 

at least one transport cage on board, the shed manager also refused to 

telephone a message to the casualty station. It was only after the signals 

from the steamship sounded at ten past eleven that permission was granted 

... The long delay in transporting from onboard to the hospital, caused 

outrage to break out on board, which cannot be denied. It once again gives 

us cause to point out the unreliability of the means of transportation in 

the event of accidents ...” 

Klaus Weinhauer: Alltag und Arbeitskampf im Hamburger Hafen 1914–1933 

(Everyday Life and Industrial Disputes in the Port of Hamburg 1914 – 1933) 

32 125 years of H. Vogemann – Tradition, Reliability and Competence 

Paderborn 1994, Pg. 163

Then it came about that Mr Siemens in Rotterdam succeeded 

in raising interest in the passage with the steamship “Delia” in which we had 

a financial interest. This steamship made several voyages. It soon emerged 

that there were considerable differences between the captain who had a share 

in the ship and his remaining financial backers, so that in the end we had to 

detain the ship in Rotterdam until we had succeeded in recovering the funds 

which had been advanced. We had acquired part of the means to purchase 

the ships through profits attained by the company in New Orleans, but a portion 

came from America through the so-called Settlement of War Claims Act. 

The Hamburg-America Line and Norddeutsche Lloyd, which had suffered 

the greatest war losses in America, had started compensatory action for the 

steamships lost during the war through Dr Kiesselbach in the United States 

and which was successfully carried out. Our steamship “Vogesen” which had 

been seized in 1917 in Pensacola, was, as far as I can recall, evaluated at M 

1,200,000, even though it had only cost us M 650,000 as a newbuild in 1909. We 

received several payments on account of these settlement amounts, in total 

around M 550,000 and and at a later data, a further sum of around M 120,000 

from the German government in accrued interest. When the National Socialist 

government came into power, payments from the United States stopped because, 

allegedly, the German government were not fulfilling their obligations 

to the American creditors which had made claims against Germany. 

Relatively good results were obtained by the two steamships 

“Vogesen” and “Vogtland” until 1929; then the rates on the freight market became 

so bad that every voyage finished with a loss. My brother later accused 

me of keeping the ships in service for much too long so that they had lost 

more through this than if they had been laid up. However, he had not taken 

into account that it was more advantageous to have a slight loss with the 

ships in service, because, first of all, the upkeep for ships whilst they are laid 

up is quite high, as the ships need to be maintained and, secondly, the lack of 

revenue in New Orleans so that the stoppage from commissions there would 

have been a major loss. In fact, on several occasions it proved to be the case 

that it was possible to calculate a small profit based on the prospective cargo 

from New Orleans but that after it had been subsequently loaded it turned out 

that the actual resulting cargo was lower. Even at that time my brother was 

paying less attention to the business details as he usually only appeared in 

the office around midday, but he was nevertheless exceedingly good at criticising 

with the benefit of hindsight and in claiming that nobody ever listened 

to him and that he would have been much better at doing things. 


1926 

Establishment of Deutsche Lufthansa 

AG through merger of Junkers 

Luftverkehr and Aero Lloyd. 

The American dancer Josephine Baker 

is a guest performer at the Berlin 

Nelson Theatre. 

Introduction of a standardised 

Highway Code. 

Job creation programme to reduce the 

high unemployment figures. 

Max Schmeling German Light 

Heavyweight Boxing Champion. 

Admission of Germany into the 

League of Nations. 

Arthur Schnitzler: 

“Dream Story” (narrative) 

1927 

The Allied Military Commission ends its 

activities in the German Reich. 

Protests against construction of the 

Battleship A. 

Martin Heidegger: “Being and Time“ 

(philosophical discourse). 

Fritz Lang: “Metropolis” (film).

1928 

The SPD enters into a grand coalition 

with the German Democrats, the 

German People's Party and the 

Bavarian People's Party. 

Chiang Kai-shek marches into Peking 

with his national revolutionary army. 

Amundsen, the polar explorer, does 

not return from a flight across the 

North Pole region. 

Walt Disney launches the first film 

with sound with Mickey Mouse as the 

main character. 

Rise of the Swedish Greta Garbo to 

international film stardom. 

Erich Kästner: “Emile and the Detec- 

tives” (novel for children and teens). 

Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill: 

“The Threepenny Opera”. 

1929 

Death of the Foreign 

Minister Gustav Stresemann. 

Young Plan for regulating 

the reparation issue. 

Adam Opel AG is taken over 

by the US automobile 

concern General Motors. 

The high-speed steam turbine ocean 

liner “Bremen” from the 

Norddeutscher Lloyd Line wins the 

Blue Riband. 

Ships laid up in the Port of Hamburg, 1931. 

Under the flag of Panama. During the years 1931 – 1932, the 

situation on the freight market became so precarious, however, that nothing 

else could be done but lie the ships up because individual round trips some- 

times closed with a loss of M 20,000 to M 30,000. 

Before it came to this though, we followed my brother's wishes 

and still attempted to keep the steamship “Vogtland” in service by sailing her 

under the flag of Panama. The reason for doing this was because under the 

flag of Panama we were not tied to labour rates and we also did not need 

to pay any social security contributions. Although through the ages, ship- 

ping companies have sailed their ships under foreign flags (the English under 

Norwegian flags, the Americans under the English flag and so forth), a great 

deal of fuss was kicked up about our measures because the social democratic 

government feared that a change of flag could set a precedent and appear 

to make the labour rates and the social security contributions an illusion. 

While the offer of crews was so great that people who wanted to join ship 

were queuing all the way down the street in front of our office, newspapers 

in Berlin, the Berliner Tageblatt for example, were reporting that we could 

not get any people at the rates we were offering. As a result of these knowingly 

false newspaper reports we were bombarded even more and received 

logbooks from all over Germany with the request for immediate engagement. 


We made several voyages under the flag of Panama with the 

result that our ships could sail, whereas others had already been laid up. The 

captain and crews were then extremely grateful that they had employment, 

albeit at a lower wage, while their colleagues were unemployed. However, in 

the year 1932, availability of cargoes became so low and freighting so bad 

that we were also obliged to lay up the “Vogtland” in spite of her being under 

the flag of Panama. As her class had expired and we decided to avoid the 

high classification costs in view of the poor market situation, we then sold 

the ship to be dismantled for the price of M 50,000, as far as I can remember. 

However, the National Socialist government had as little sympathy for the 

change of flags as the previous government, they passed a law that only those 

ship-owners who did not have any ships sailing under a foreign flag should 

Vogemann ships under the flag of Panama 

The changing flagging practices by the Vogemann shipping company in 1931 

caused considerable indignation in the German workers movement. On 16th 

February 1931, the newspaper “Welt am Montag” published a satirical poem by 

the writer Erich Mühsam in reference to this and which loosely translates as: 

For Vogemann’s, national honour stands well 

to the fore, 

And they consider anyone who goes against it 

to be a swine. 

Their black-and-red steel-helmeted 

fighting spirit ever glows 

For their German Fatherland threatened by 

treason. 

The company shows it to the Republic 

And with Die! and Hurrah! 

Vogemann waves the Panama 

With Fridericus brass music 

Down with the jack! - Oh dear! 

Vogemann splits its sides with laughter, 

And the Panamanian flag 

Cheerfully flutters from the “Vogtland” mast. 

Vogemann’s has a positive attitude to govern- The crew goes hungry, the company saves, 

ment as long as it is of use to them. 

Full speed ahead for business! 

Otherwise the shipping company shouts: Off to sea for the Fatherland, 

Sucks Boo to Panama! Treason! 

For which Fatherland? How apt! … 

Should Vogemann’s pay high taxes from the That is Germany’s heather 

profit? No way! 

(There are a lot of Vogemann’s there!) 

Should they not care about social obliga- Black-white-reddish in nature 

tions when hiring sailors? 

And in the ledger – Panama! 


Black day on Wall Street: 

The historic stock market crash 

heralds the Great Depression. 

Erich Mühsam

Nobel prize in literature goes to 

Thomas Mann. 

Concordat between the Vatican and 

the fascist regime in Italy. 

Erich Maria Remarque: 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” 

(novel on the World War) 

1930 

The Centre Party politician Brüning 

forms the first Presidential Cabinet, 

the government is supported by the 

Presidential Emergency Decree. 

Breakthrough by the NSDAP at the 

Reichstag elections. 

The Allies evacuate the Rhineland. 

“Salt March” the Indian 

independence movement against the 

British colonialists. 

Max Schmeling defeats Joe Sharkey 

and becomes World Heavyweight 

Boxing Champion. 

Joseph von Sternberg: 

have the pleasure of receiving aid from the Reich. Since the “Vogtland”, which 

was to be sold and dismantled, was still under the flag of Panama, I could not 

receive the first Reich aid for the steamship “Vogesen” because, at that time, 

the steamship “Vogtland” had not yet been taken and scrapped by the buyers. 

The years 1929 – 1933 were particularly loss-generating be- 

cause even after laying up the steamship, the losses still continued and the 

expenses in New Orleans continued to run on without their being any revenue 

to offset against it. It was only after the National Socialist government had 

introduced aid from the Reich, whereby approximately the entire monthly 

payroll was paid by the Reich, that times improved for ship-owners. After this, 

the steamship “Vogesen” was soon put into service again. 

Purchases with Dutch money. It may have been at the beginning 

of 1935 when Mr Siemens, Manager of the Vogemann's Transport 

Co, pointed out to us that credit in Dutch guilders, the so-called “Auswanderermark” 

(Emigrant Mark), could be acquired at an extremely favourable 

exchange rate. After long discussions, we succeeded in obtaining a large 

amount of credit from the Thomsen's Havenbedrijf to whom we had assigned 

a lot of business over the years. The Vogemann's Transport Co was also involved 

in this credit at the same time so that around Hfl. 60,000 to 70,000 

“The Blue Angel” (film) Thronging crowd in front of the job placement centre for seamen in Hamburg. 


was available from the acquisition of the Auswanderermark. The normal 

rate of exchange was around RM 100,000 to 120,000, whereas we received 

around RM 300,000 in Auswanderermarks which we could use for the sale of 

a ship. 

At the same time, we were now conducting the purchase of the 

turbine steamship “Schwarzwald” from the Hamburg-America Line at a price 

of M 330,000 Hapag could not immediately approve the sale because the ship 

needed to first be released in America. The purchase of the steamship, which 

was brokered through the company Knöhr & Burchardt, was therefore concluded 

as released under reserve. When the release finally became finalised 

a few months later, Hapag would have preferred to withdraw from the sale 

of the steamship again as freight rates had in the meantime increased. But 

because the sale was firmly concluded, they could no longer withdraw. 

The “Auswanderermark” (Emigrant Mark) 

Controls on foreign exchange had already been in existence in Germany 

since 1931 and from 1933 were enforced more rigorously under 

National Socialist rule. The result of this was that significant partial 

payments became payable to the Deutsche Golddiskontbank (German 

Gold Discount Bank) when Reichsmark were exchanged for foreign 

currency on emigration. In 1934, already 65 % of the total money 

transferred had to be paid in levies, which in real terms meant that 

only 35 % could be exchanged. In 1939, eventually 96 % was due on 

emigration. This mechanism naturally worked the other way round: By 

bringing foreign currency into the country, large sums of Reichsmark 

could be acquired. In the afore-mentioned case, that of purchasing a 

ship with credit from Holland, it appears that just such a package deal 

had been made: Guilders were brought into the country, the sum paid 

out was in RM taken from those partial payments paid by emigrants 

to the Golddiskontbank. In this respect, the company would have actually 

profited from the foreign exchange control on the one hand and 

from the enforced emigration on the other. 

Information Dr. Frank Bajohr, Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte (Research Centre for 

Contemporary History) Hamburg, September 2009 


1931 

The German government embarks 

on strict austerity measures to balance 

the budget. 

“Hoover Moratorium” for deferral 

of German reparation payments. 

The “National Opposition” joins forces to 

become the “Harzburger Front”. 

Bankruptcy of the Darmstädterand 

National Bank. 

Inauguration of the Empire State 

Building in New York. 

Carl Zuckmayer: “The Captain of 

Köpenick” (play). 

1932 

Number of unemployed at its 

highest level (6.1 million). 

Hindenburg is re-elected as 

Reichs President. 

The car manufacturers Audi, 

Horch, DKW and Wanderer join 

forces to become the Auto-Union. 

Gustaf Gründgens first appears 

in the role of Mephistopheles in 

Goethe's “Faust”. 

Hans Fallada: “Little Man, 

What Now?” (novel) 

Next page: 

The Port of Hamburg 

with the “Graf Zeppelin” 

airship. Panoramic mural 

by Erich Kips, 1931.



1933 

Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as 

Reichskanzler. Beginning of the Na- 

tional Socialist dictatorship. 

Terror against the regime's opponents. 

Dissolution of political parties, 

“Gleichschaltung” (alignment) of asso- 

ciations and organisations. Abolition of 

trade unions, they are replaced by the 

German Labour Front. 

Germany withdraws from the League 

of Nations. 

In the US, President Roosevelt 

establishes the “New Deal” to reform 

the economic and social system. 

1934 

Death of Reich President Hindenburg, 

Hitler appoints himself as 

Head of State. 

Murder campaign against the 

leadership of the SA for allegedly 

preparing a coup d'état. 

Attempted Putsch by the National 

Socialists in Austria fails. 

Centralisation of the 

German justice system. 

The German Reich's foreign trade is 

placed under state control. 

1935 

Return of the Saar territory 

to the German Reich. 

“Schwarzwald” becomes “Rheingold”. We had intended keep- 

ing the name of the steamship the same, as “Schwarzwald” and “Vogesen” 

went well together, but Hapag insisted on their being a change of name and 

so we then decided to revive the old name of “Rheingold” again. 

In spite of the incredibly cheap price we received through the 

Dutch credit, my brother had been reluctant to give his approval for the pur- 

chase of the steamship “Rheingold”, since he was more interested in increas- 

ing his portfolio of securities than in seeing ships back in service again. 

After the first voyage had ended with a satisfactory result and 

my brother also came to the conclusion that the steamship “Rheingold” had 

been bought at a bargain price through credit from Thomsen's Havenbedrijf, 

we attempted to purchase a second ship along the same lines. The company 

Daniel Milberg acted as brokers and we were offered the steamship “Lisa” 

from the company John T. Essberger for RM 395,000. This price was consider- 

ably more expensive than was paid for the steamship “Rheingold”, and at the 

same time, the steamship “Rheingold” had been built in 1922, the steamship 

“Lisa” on the other hand in 1914. In spite of this, however, the purchase price 

was also very reasonable, especially since we received a further loan from 

Thomsen's after we had paid back the first credit, so that we were able to pay 

with cheaper Marks again. 

By purchasing the steamship “Lisa”, which we named “Walküre”, 

my long-awaited desire to own three of our own steamships for our service 

from the Gulf, finally came true. Unfortunately, during the last two years be- 

fore the Second World War, ships for the Gulf passage could not be as profit- 

ably employed as on other routes because freights in dollars were relatively 

lower than freights in marks. The dollars had to be handed over to the Reichs- 

bank and were then credited to us at the usual rate of exchange. We, therefore, 

decided to give up the steamship “Vogesen” for 12 months to the Bornhofen 

company on a time-charter basis. The profit was extremely high because the 

ship only cost us around M 350 per day, whilst Bornhofen, as far as I can remember, 

were paying around M 850 to M 900 in charter rental per day, so that 

a profit of approximately M 500 per day was left over. The steamship “Rheingold” 

was also given over to time-chartering as well and it was, in fact, to the 

German Africa Line for a round trip to South Africa. The charter rental for the 

South African voyage was approximately M 1,100 per day while the daily costs 

were around M 700. Unfortunately, shortly after the war broke out the steamship 

“Rheingold” was captured to the south of Iceland whilst trying to break 

through the blockade by the English cruiser “Delhi” and was confiscated with 


Steamship “Rheingold”. Painting based on a photograph. 

Steamship “Rheingold”, here still as “Schwarzwald”, in the Port of Hamburg. 

her entire cargo and this happened after she had been completely overhauled 

several months previously and fitted with oil-firing equipment. The steam- 

ship “Vogesen” was torpedoed near Göteborg on 6th May 1940 on a voyage 

bringing coal to Oslo. The steamship “Walküre” sank on 22nd December 1942 

off the Swedish coast. Since this last incident was a matter of sea damage, 

the underwriting agents had to pay for the loss and we received a payout of 

approximately M 900,000. In order to avoid this money possibly being deval- 

ued after the war, we thought it advisable to take part in the so-called Hansa 


“Nuremberg Laws”: Proscription 

and deprivation of rights of the 

Jews in Germany. 

German-British Naval Agreement 

allows maritime rearmament. 

Italy initiates war against Abyssinia. 

End of the “Long March” of the 

Chinese Communists under Mao 

Zedong. 

Leni Riefenstahl: “Triumph of the 

Will” (Nazi Party rally film). 

1936 

German troops occupy the 

demilitarised zone of the Rhineland. 

Outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. 

The Olympic games take place in 

Germany. (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 

Berlin). 

Hitler Youth is declared mandatory 

for youths. 

The “Queen Mary”, the largest ship 

in the world at the time, on her 

maiden voyage. 

Max Schmeling defeats the “Brown 

Bomber” Joe Louis. 

1937 

Hitler reveals his war plans to 

military leaders and politicians 

(“Hossbach Protocol”). 

Launching of the KdF cruise liner 

“Wilhelm Gustloff”.

Explosion of the airship “Hindenburg” 

in Lakehurst near New York. 

“Degenerate Art” exhibition 

in Munich. 

Carl Orff: “Carmina Burana” 

(scenic cantata). 

1938 

Occupation of Austria (“Anschluss” 

(annexation)). 

Conference in Munich: 

Czechoslovakia must cede the 

Sudetenland to the German Reich. 

Terror against the Jews in Germany 

with destruction of synagogues, 

murder and arrests 

“Night of Broken Glass”). 

1939 

German troops invade 

Czechoslovakia. 

Victory of the military party under 

General Franco's leadership in Spain. 

German-Soviet non-aggression pact 

with secret additional protocol on 

the division of spheres of influence in 

North Eastern Europe. 

Start of the Second World War with 

the German attack on Poland. 

Transition to a war economy 

(rationing, tax increases). 

Allied naval blockade against 

the German Reich. 

programme according to which 100 ships of 3,000 t deadweight were to be 

built for German ship-owners during the war. Building costs for these ships 

amounted to M 1,800,000 each. The government paid M 800,000 of this while 

the ship-owners had to finance M 1,000,000. After we had received M 900,000 

from the underwriting agents for the steamship “Walküre”, we were able to 

pay for the newbuilding without taking on a loan. We took over the ship, which 

was called “Tannhäuser”, on 6th April 1944. It had only taken two brief voyag- 

es and was sunk to the west of Helgoland on its third voyage on 8th July 1944. 

Carrying timber from Sweden and Finland. After the loss of 

our steamship “Rheingold” and “Vogesen” as a result of the war, ownership of 

the Swedish steamship “Start” was initially transferred to us as compensation 

in June 1940 and was put into service under the name of “Tristan”. The ship 

was 1,700 GRT and had a deadweight of approximately 2,500 t. It was very 

1942 – The Hansa building programme 

In 1942, the Hansa building 

programme started to compensate 

for German maritime 

losses during the war. It was 

financed by eight leading German 

shipping companies who 

Hansa ship, 3,550 t (draft) 

had established the Schiffahrt 

Treuhand GmbH for this 

purpose. Similar to the Liberty ships in the United States, the standardised 

cargo ships of the Hansa building programme were built in series according 

to a single design. There were three types, a small size up to 3,000 t, a medium 

size up to 5,000 t and a large size up to 9,000 t. The German shipyards 

in Hamburg, the Bremer Vulkan and Schichau in Danzig acted as “advance 

working shipyards”, which produced the first examples. Due to a shortage of 

raw materials, they had to resort to using Thomas steel which was actually 

too brittle and to installing coal-fired boilers and piston steam engines which 

no longer corresponded to the technology of the day. By the end of the war, 

the Hansa building programme resulted in a total of 65 ships, some of which 

(after conversion to oil-fired boilers) were still sailing in the late 1970s. 


suitable for coal-timber cargoes and so forth and certainly paid off well by 

carrying timber from Sweden and Finland as it was able to load 750 – 780 

standards. The steamship “Tristan” went missing in February 1943 on the voyage 

from Danzig to Reval and we never received any message from her at all. 

In April 1942 we were also assigned another steamship, the 

Latvian “Everonika”. This ship, which we rechristened “Irma”, was managed 

by us for the Reich Commissioner for sea transport. It was a ship of 3,757 GRT 

with a total cargo capacity of around 6,100 t. On 14th March 1944, she ran 

aground on the Norwegian coastline and sank. 

During the course of the war, we were also given ownership of 

the steamship “Rastenburg”, which lay in Bordeaux when it was transferred in 

December 1943 and subsequently made several voyages with ore from Bilbao 

to Bordeaux. The rates for these cargoes were extremely good so that every 

short voyage made a considerable profit. Unfortunately, only six or seven voyages 

could be made before the war ended. The ship was scuttled in Bordeaux 

by our navy on 25th August 1944. 

On 20th October 1944, we were given control of the Finnish 

steamship “Ursa” (2,982 GRT), which made several voyages for us. This 

ship was also scuttled by our Navy which, as a matter of fact, took place in 

Scenes of destruction in the Port of Hamburg, 1943. 


1940 

German operation 

“Weser Exercise” against 

Denmark and Norway. 

Attack in the west on The Netherlands, 

Belgium and France. 

Trade war against Great Britain with 

overseas forces and submarines. 

Battle of Britain with German 

bombing offensives on British cities. 

Lion Feuchtwanger: “Exile” (novel). 

1941 

German troops under 

General Rommel support the 

Italians in North Africa. 

Sinking of the battleship 

“Bismarck”. 

German attack on Russia 

(“Operation Barbarossa”). 

Atlantic Charter sets out 

the ideal goals of the 

Western Allies. 

Japanese attack on the US naval 

port of Pearl Harbor. Start of the 

war in the Pacific.

1942 

Wannsee Conference to plan 

extermination of the Jews in the 

German domain. 

First launching of the A4 missile in 

Peenemünde. 

British victory in the 

Battle of El Alamein. 

First flight of the jet fighter 

Me 262 “Schwalbe”. 

First controlled chain reaction as part 

of the American “Manhattan Project”. 

1943 

Surrender of the 6th Army 

in Stalingrad. 

Italy exits the war. 

Offensive in the Kursk (Battle of the 

Kursk Bulge) fails. 

Heavy air attacks on Hamburg 

(Operation Gomorrha). 

First conference of the 

“Big Three” in Tehran. 

Bremen on 24th April 1945, without any opportunity of saving anything from 

the inventory or supplies. Finally, the only thing left to mention is the Latvian 

steamship “Everiga” which was a wreck in Liepaja and transferred into our 

care; we were to take ownership of her later. After the ship had been lying in 

Liepaja for six months and the local naval dockyard could not decide whether 

to begin repair work in earnest or not, she was hauled to Burmeister & Wain's 

shipyard in Copenhagen to be thoroughly repaired there. By the end of the 

war, the ship was nowhere near being finished. I have no idea what happened 

to her, presumably she was taken by the Russians. 

Loss of all vehicles. After the collapse in May 1945, we did not 

just have the loss of our own ships to contend with but also the fact that all 

vehicles assigned to us during the war were lost as well. The offices of Voge- 

mann, Goudriaan Co Inc., New Orleans had not been able to continue work- 

ing once the United States had entered the war and the Managing Director, 

The town hall market following air raids in 1943. The company headquarters were located in the 

burnt-out building with the rounded corner at the entrance to Mönckebergstraße. 


Horace Upton, who had been working there since 1929, left his position. The 

existing securities in America were undoubtedly confiscated, which was also 

the case in the First World War. 

The Vogemann's Transport Co, Rotterdam had still worked extremely 

well during the war since at the instigation of Mr Siemens who had 

worked with the Reich's Commissioner for merchant shipping for a while, supervision 

of Dutch seamen had been transferred to it. The profits from this 

activity were invested in Dutch securities which had to be immediately surrendered 

to the English when Hamburg was occupied, as was also the case with 

the foreign securities of Vogemann, Goudriaan Co Inc. which were located in 

Hamburg. 

The only activity that remained to us at the end of the war was 

the unloading and loading of steamships for the military government as well 

as various clean-up efforts in the port on behalf of the authorities for electricity 

and port construction. Our damages to the War Damage Commission 

are M 1,000,000 for the loss of the steamship “Tannhäuser”, around M 950,000 

for steamship “Rheingold” and around M 250,000 for steamship “Vogesen”. 

In addition, the value of inventory and equipment is still to be reimbursed 

so that the total demands to the War Damage Commission are running at 

around M 2 ½ million. 

The offices were moved to Mönckebergstraße 31 a few months after 

the war ended. The offices which had been based in the Mönckebergstraße 

22 since 1911, were completely burnt down during the catastrophic days of July 

1943 while the offices which had been made available to the shipping company 

Heinrich F.C. Arp in Mönckebergstraße 9 were completely destroyed by an air 

raid in July 1944. From July 1944 until October 1945, the business was run on a 

temporary basis from a private flat, Skagerrakstraße 1a, later on the second floor 

of the Deutsche Bank and after the bank's building was damaged, in a room of 

the insurance company Heinrich Heins in Bohnenstraße 12/14. 

My brother never lived to see the last years of the war. He had 

been suffering from lung cancer since early 1943 and died on 22nd April 1944 

after he had lost the parental home in which he had been living during the 

catastrophic days of July 1943. Since the death of my brother, I have been 

the sole proprietor of the H. Vogemann company which I have had to rebuild 

anew, first in 1906 and then a second time in 1918, only to stand at the end 

of the Second World War in 1945 with nothing once again. I hope that I will 

still succeed in rebuilding for a third time so that I can leave my son Herbert 

a shipping company with its own ships. 


1944 

Allied landing in Normandy 

Major Soviet offensive against 

the Army Group Centre. 

Attempt on Hitler's life fails. 

Formation of the “Volkssturm” (National 

Militia) for men aged between 16 and 60. 

Soviets advance into East Prussia. 

1945 

Conference of the Big Three in Yalta. 

Heavy air raid on Dresden. 

Soviets take Berlin. Adolf Hitler 

commits suicide in the bunker 

below the Reich Chancellery. 

Unconditional surrender of the 

German armed forces. 

Potsdam Conference on post-war 

order in Europe. 

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima 

and Nagasaki. 

Japan's surrender ends the Second 

World War.

46 125 years of H. Vogemann - Tradition, Reliability and Competence

Chapter 2 

Chapter 2 – After the Second World War 

After the 

Second World War 

47

1946 

Under pressure from the Soviet 

Military Administration East 

Berlin's SPD (Social Democratic 

Party of Germany) and KPD 

(Communist Party of Germany) 

unite to form the SED (Socialist 

Unity Party of Germany). 

In Stuttgart, US Secretary of 

State Byrnes opens re-orientation 

of western occupational policy 

with Speech of Hope. 

In Hamburg, work on the high- 

rise developments am Grind- 

elberg begins, Germany's first 

high-rise development. 

First plenary assembly of the 

United Nations in London. 

After the 

Second World War 

Richard Vogemann's hopes came true. Together with his son, Herbert, and 

his son-in-law, Paul Speckter, his third attempt after the Second World War 

was successful. The following presentation is chiefly based on the memoirs 

of Paul Speckter and those of Udo Wiese who entered the business in 1968 

and has been involved as a partner since 1978. 

F 

or many years at the beginning, the prognosis for companies 

wishing to resume their former business in the shipping sector 

or who were wanting to strike out afresh, did not look particu- 

larly promising. There was virtually no tonnage to be had, and 

what was available, German companies were not permitted to use. Hamburg 

was particularly hard hit by Section VII of the Allied Control Council Proclamation 

No. 2 dated 20th September 1945 which stated: 

“23. a) No merchant ship, including fishing or other craft, shall 

put to sea from any German port except as may be sanctioned or directed by 

the Allied Representatives. German ships in ports outside Germany shall remain 

in port and those at sea shall proceed to the nearest German or United 

Nations port and there remain, pending instructions from the Allied Representatives. 

b) All German merchant shipping, including tonnage under 

construction or repair, will be made available to the Allied Representatives 

for such use and on such terms as they may prescribe. 

c) Foreign merchant shipping in German service or under German 

control will likewise be made available to the Allied Representatives for 

such use and on such terms as they may prescribe. In the case of such foreign 

merchant vessels which are of neutral registration, the German authorities 

will take all such steps as may be required by the Allied Representatives to 

transfer or cause to be transferred to the Allied Representatives all rights 

relative thereto. 


The destroyed shed 28 at the Petersenkai. Large sections of the Port of Hamburg lay in ruins 

after the end of the war. 

d) All transfer to any other flag, service or control, of the vessels 

covered by sub paragraphs b) and c) above, is prohibited, except as may 

be directed by the Allied Representatives.” 

This was practically tantamount to a complete blanket ban 

in operational activities for companies such as H. Vogemann, who were 

having enough serious problems to deal with without this. On several occasions 

during the war, the entire office had been lost through air raids; 

now (since October 1945), they were “residing” in two small rooms on the 

second floor of the damaged office building in the Mönckebergstraße 31. 

“They” were Richard Vogemann, the Chief Clerk, Johannes Jaensch, registered 

since 1944 and Hermann Friedenauer who had been working for 

Vogemann since 1942. Also added to this were the so-called out-of-house 


49 

Atom bombs are dropped 

over the Bikini Atoll in the 

Pacific ocean. 

Death sentences on ten of 

the major war criminals are 

carried out in Nuremberg. 

Hermann Göring had 

previously committed suicide.

Agreement concerning 

economic unification of the 

US zone and the British 

occupied zone in Germany. 

The Vespa scooter: A new 

kind of two-wheeler is 

launched onto the market. 

The newspaper “Neues Deut- 

schland” is established as a 

central organ of the SED. 

The Rowohlt Verlag 

publishes the first “Rotation- 

sroman” (rororo = Rowohlt 

rotary novel). 

Wolfgang Staudte: “The 

Murderers are Among Us” 

(film with Hildegard Knef). 

1947 

Supply crisis in West 

Germany on account of the 

long winter. 

US Secretary of State 

Marshall announces his 

people, the two long-serving stevedore foremen, Hermann Behrendt und 

Willi Preuss. 

Fresh start under difficult conditions. Basically, there was 

virtually no working capital available owing to the fact that Vogemann had 

already reported all our foreign assets to the Reichsbank headquarters in 

Hamburg on the 4th June as directed by the Finance Section of the military 

government. These were registered in document register No. 1945/1353 and 

notarised by Dr Gottfried Wäntig. The cost was 4 Reichsmark (RM) plus 2 per- 

cent value added tax, making a grand total of RM 4.08. 

There are very few people - not even those who were aware of 

going through it at the time - who are today now able to imagine the condi- 

tions under which we had to live and work during the immediate post-war 

years. Both employees and company owners alike, navigated their way from 

one stopgap measure to another, trying to get hold of the most basic essen- 

tials by swapping and “organising” and making use, always with a guilty con- 

science, of the Black Market in emergencies while they were still in posses- 

sion of something worth exchanging. Comparatively speaking, non-smokers 

were in a better position when rationing first started as they were able to get 

hold of things which were not easily obtainable by means of their highly- 

prized cigarettes. 

There was a shortage of everything. To start off with the office 

could not even be heated. Thank God someone managed to install a stove 

before the cold spell got underway but because there was no chimney, its flue 

had to be put through a flap in the window. A great accomplishment but in 

light of the dramatic shortage of fuel, it would only then become a solution if 

it were possible to get hold of things which could be burnt from somewhere. 

The bomb sites were “grazed”, the parks were guarded, the forests were too far 

away from the city, plus there was hardly any transport available. Anybody 

who did not want to freeze to death needed to get their hands on junk from 

their own cellars or shrubbery out of the garden. It is true to say that this 

is not something which could be kept up forever, but with a little bit of good 

fortune and skill, the office was able to make it through the hard winter of 

1945/46 and 1946/47. 

There was no easy answer for the constant power cuts though; 

office activities had to be repeatedly interrupted, sometimes for several hours. 

The telephone system was notoriously overwhelmed and heavily war-damaged, 

using it was a complete gamble and being able to make a long distance 


Richard Vogemann. Portrait in later years. 


51 

European Recovery Plan 

(Marshall Plan, ERP) 

The State of Prussia is 

abolished. 

The East-German 

ministers leave the 

All-German Meeting 

of Minister-Presidents 

in Munich on establishing 

a German central 

administration. 

Communist parties decide 

to establish an Information 

Bureau (Kominform). 

After a nine-year break, a 

“Hamburger Dom” (funfair) 

takes place on the 

Heiligengeistfeld again. 

Plague of Colorado 

potato beetles in Bavaria, 

schoolchildren and adults 

take part in an action for 

searching for the Colorado 

potato beetle. 

Hein ten Hoff becomes 

German Heavyweight 

Boxing Champion. 

Wolfgang Borchert: 

“The Man Outside” 

(drama).

1948 

End of the Allied Control 

Council (Four Powers). 

Customs union between 

Belgium, the Netherlands and 

Luxembourg comes into effect. 

The Parliamentary Council 

begins to draft the Grund- 

gesetz (Basic Law) for the 

Federal Republic of Germany. 

Currency reform: 

Introduction of the D-Mark 

in West Germany. 

The communist youth 

organisation “Junge Pioniere” 

(Young Pioneers) is established 

in East Berlin. 

The Soviets block West Berlin 

in order to prevent 

introduction of the D-Mark. 

The Allies establish an airlift 

which brings supplies to the 

population. 

Opening of the Free University 

of Berlin. 

The sovereign State of Israel 

is declared. Beginning of the 

Arab-Israeli war. 

The Organisation for Euro- 

pean Economic Cooperation 

(OEEC) is established. 

Murder of the Indian politician 

Mahatma Gandhi. 

phone call seemed to be more-or-less a thing of the past. In the beginning, a 

marginal income was only achieved by doing temporary work, for example, if 

clearing gangs were set up under the assistance of the two stevedore foremen 

and were deployed in removing the rubble and debris. 

In August 1945, the son of the boss, Herbert Vogemann, came 

back from prisoner-of-war camp and was reintroduced “amongst the living” 

again: The local authorities in Winterhude, the Department of Economics and 

Nutrition, “approved” his homecoming and certified : “Food cards can be issued.” 

There was no work to be had in his father's company and this suited 

the young man's plans fine, otherwise he may very well have been roped into 

doing something or other straight away. He naturally had an innate interest 

in all things shipping and so he was able to begin vocational training at Carl 

Bock & Co where he had previously already worked as a temporary help in 

1944. He would be shaped and moulded there which should later prove profitable 

in the family business. 

It was only a year after the war had ended that a pale light began 

to glimmer on the horizon: Companies which had been classified as “exonerated” 

by the Department for Transport of the United Economic Area, and 

August 1945: The local authorities in Winterhude certified the 

return of Herbert Vogemann from captivity as a prisoner of war. 


Permission must be granted by the employment office before changing companies. 

Vogemann belonged to this privileged circle, were called upon for unloading 

and loading of foreign ships calling into Hamburg. For this, the two foremen 

Preuss and Behrendt fetched the necessary dockworkers “from standing on 

the stones”. This is port jargon for the place were the workers were divided up 

into the dock-working sections on a daily basis. 

Of course, only companies who were not branded as “brown” 

could be considered “exonerated”. So that this could be determined, Richard 

Vogemann was asked to attend the “Special Committee 18 d for the Removal 

of National Socialists” in the summer of 1946. The meticulous questioning 

did not elicit any grounds for reservations of any kind and on 5th May 1947, 

Vogemann held the certificate in his hands which “confirmed his position as 

owner of a company”. It went on to say further - as one can never be too careful 

- “The approval granted hereby is revocable at any time in the event of a 

contrary decision by the Military Government.” 

Easing of the restrictions. To be thinking of resuming shipping 

business activities was still out of the question for a very long time yet 

though. But in spite of this, Richard Vogemann was working hard trying to 


53 

1949 

The Basic Law is adopted by the 

Parliamentary Council by 53 to 

12 votes. It is decided that Bonn 

will be the capital city of the 

Federal Republic of Germany 

(instead of Frankfurt). 

Establishment of the Federal 

Republic in the three west zones. 

The German Democratic Republic 

(GDR) is constituted in the 

Soviet occupied zone. 

Following victory over the 

Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek, 

Mao Zedong proclaims the 

founding of the People's 

Republic of China. 

The East European States form 

a commission for mutual 

economic assistance. 

End of the blockade of 

West Berlin. 

NATO is founded. 

Creation of the Council of 

Europe, initially with delegates 

from 10 states.

Borgward presents the first 

design of an entirely new 

model of post-war passen- 

ger car (“Hansa 1500”). 

C.W. Ceram, “Gods, Graves 

and Scholars” (The story of 

archaeology) 

Following victory in the state 

elections, the SPD 

introduces the six-year 

primary school in Hamburg. 

1950 

The French Foreign Minister 

Schumann submits the plan 

for a European Coal and 

Steel Community. 

Start of the Korean war. 

The agreement on the 

European Payments Union 

(EPU) is signed. 

First post-war international 

match of the German 

football team (against 

Switzerland). 

Suspension of rationing 

measures, with the exception 

of sugar. 

re-establish the ties with foreign business partners which had been inter- 

rupted and damaged on account of the war and in discussing plans for future 

joint ventures. He put a great deal of store in maintaining close contacts 

with England and overseas; the crucial company in this regard was Simpson, 

Spence & Young (SSY), who not only had headquarters in London but also in 

New York as well. 

Using relationships such as this as his grassroots, Vogemann 

wished to open a regular service between North Europe and the ports on the 

East Coast of the US the minute the Military Government were to ease their 

restrictions. German companies would not be excluded from international 

shipping trade on a permanent basis. Initially, own vessels would definitely 

be out of the question, which is why plans were made for chartering foreign 

tonnage. 

This proved to be true when Vogemann received his fixed-term 

authorisation “for operating in international trade in accordance with Directive 

No. 11 of the JEIA” (Joint Export Import Agency) under number 11/0018 on 

the 1st April 1949 and dated until 31st March of the following year. This meant 

that the company was able to act as shipping agent, chartering broker, shipping 

company and stevedore agent again. This was a result of the economic 

areas of the British and American occupied zones successfully being merged 

to form a so-called Bizone on the 1st January 1947, and which was extended 

Launches convey dockworkers to their place of work. Photo from 1951. 


to become a Trizone in March 1948 when the French occupied zone was added, 

and the currency reform executed in June 1948 whereby the Reichsmark (RM) 

was replaced by the Deutsche Mark (DM). 

Herbert Vogemann joins the company. Admittedly, the commercial 

licence could be revoked at any time by the Transport Group of the 

BICO (Bipartite Control Office) in agreement with the JEIA or by the Department 

for Transport if valid reasons were presented. The JEIA constraints 

needed to be respected precisely. Payments for all the owner's services commissioned 

by foreign contractors could only be paid in favour of the military 

government's account. In spite of the strict regimentation, the authorisation 

was valued as an important step forward in the efforts of German companies 

to increase their sphere of influence. 

In the meantime, Herbert Vogemann Junior had successfully 

completed his vocational training as a shipping merchant at Carl Bock & Co. 

He found his first position with the Hamburg branch office of the traditionsteeped 

English shipping agency Hogg Robinson. Thanks to his perfect English 

language skills, he quickly found his feet and his area of responsibility 

lay in the supervision of English ships which were increasingly entering the 

Port of Hamburg on account of it being in the British occupied zone (Bremerhaven 

and Bremen on the other hand were under US control). He broadened 

his experience through stays in London and Montreal which then stood him 

in good stead with the Strachan Shipping Agency in New Orleans where he 

had been for around a year by 1949. H. Vogemann had already established an 

amicable relationship with them before the war. And, by the same token, with 

the Glaessel company in New York where Herbert stopped off for a short while 

before he started on his journey home. 

He joined his father's company in summer 1950 and immediately 

set a new course of direction. He saw how hard his father was working 

to re-establish the shipping line again but that it was all in vain. The Allied 

forces, it seemed, were not thinking of allowing competition in scheduled 

services through the Germans for the time being and were not likely to be 

considering it in the near future either. Herbert drew a clear conclusion from 

this, at least for the time being, an attempt should be made to develop a 

different sphere of interest: The old business connections which he and his 

father had re-activated, immediately seemed to suggest that their activities 

should be more focused on a chartering brokerage service. 

Of course, it was not quite as simple as that. Success seemed to 


55 

Resignation of Federal 

Minister Heinemann on 

account of the planned 

German rearmament. 

The ruins of the city 

palace are blown up in 

East Berlin. 

The Allied High 

Commission revokes the 

compulsory licence for 

political parties. 

Opening of the first 

post-war toy fair in 

Nuremberg. 

Chinese troops invade 

Tibet. 

1951 

The Federal Republic 

becomes a full member 

of the Council of Europe. 

The Wohnungsbau- 

Prämiengesetz (housing 

construction bonus law) 

gives those on a low 

income the opportunity to 

buy their own homes. 

Albert Schweitzer is 

awarded the Peace 

Prize of the German 

book trade.

Prohibition of the 

communist youth 

organisation FDJ in the 

Federal Republic. 

A customs district is 

established on the border 

with East Germany. 

Chinese troops enter into 

the Korean war. 

Scandal surrounding the 

film “The Sinful Woman”. 

Agreement on the 

inter-zone trade between 

the Federal Republic and 

the GDR. 

Ernst von Salomon: 

“The Questionnaire”. 

1952 

Reparation Agreement 

with Israel is signed. 

The Bundestag adopts 

the Equalisation of 

Burdens Act. 

The Soviet government 

proposes completion of 

a peace treaty with Ger- 

many (“Stalin Note”). 


joins the International 

Monetary Fund (IMF) 

hinge on how quickly contacts could be established and how quickly one could 

react to change. This was difficult enough within the Federal Republic itself on 

account of the telephone network still not being rebuilt everywhere and still not 

having the desired quality, consequently problems perpetually cropped up with 

those foreign calls which were so crucial to the shipping sector. 

Relocated into the Fölsch Block. At that time, Vogemanns only 

possessed two telephone connections and towards 1950, following Herbert's 

strong conviction, obtained its first teleprinter (telex machine). But this was 

also more a Pötöterle (a Swabian word which means “perhaps” from the 

French word “peut-être”), that sometimes worked, occasionally went on strike 

or changed down into slow gear: If you wanted to reach a foreign company, 

you first had to write to Frankfurt, from where there would be no response for 

a very long time. When contact had finally been made, you had to give them 

the number you wanted and you could count yourself exceedingly fortunate if, 

after an incredibly long delay, Frankfurt called back upon having got through 

- and this, in terms of commercial success, was by no means always in time. 

Office and office equipment improved when a complex of business 

premises were built at the beginning of the 1950s opposite the town hall. 

56 125 years of H. Vogemann - Tradition, Reliability and Competence 

Herbert Vogemann 

who died far too young.

The shipping company was able to move into office space in the newly built Fölsch Block at the 

town hall market. 

These were the so-called Fölsch Block (named after the owners, the heirs of 

the Hamburg merchant H. C. J. Fölsch). Vogemann leased four rooms in the 

block and furnished them at a standard which was quite modern for the time 

and now even had four telephone connections. Only anybody who knew what 

the temporary premises in the Mönckebergstraße had been like could appreciate 

just what a great step forward that was. Two more young seamen joined 

the company at this time, Messrs von Hein and Hinsch. 

Official working hours from Monday to Friday were from 9 a.m. 

to 6 p.m. with a one hour lunch-break, on Saturdays only until 2 p.m.; from 

1962 onwards only half a crew turned up on Saturdays, 1970 it was reduced 

to one freighter on stand-by and from 1978 onwards the last working day of 

the week was a day off. Of course, all staff members, even the ladies in the 

office, were prepared to work overtime when the volume of work demanded 

it of them. 

It was not always easy for those who liked to eat and drink coffee 

because of Vogemann senior. He came into the office right up until the 

last year of his life in 1969 and certainly did not appreciate it when people ate 

or drank coffee during working hours. “We are shipbrokers and not a coffee 

shop!” he would loudly proclaim whenever members of staff wanted to start 


57 

Coup d'état in Egypt. King 

Farouk goes into exile. 

The first hydrogen bomb is 

exploded. 

German athletes take part 

in the Olympic games in 

Oslo and Helsinki for the 

first time again. 

The first edition of the 

“Bildzeitung” is published by 

the Hamburg Springer-Verlag. 

The Nordwestdeutsche 

Rundfunk begins television 

broadcasts. 

Robert Jungk: “Tomorrow 

is already here”. 

1953 

National uprising in 

East Germany. 

Victory for the CDU/CSU 

in the parliamentary elections. 

The extreme right wing 

Socialist Reich Party (SRP) 

is banned.

Hillary and Tensing 

reach the summit of 

Mount Everest. 

Elizabeth II is crowned 

Queen of England. 

“Thaw” in the Soviet 

leadership following 

Stalin's death. 

The ceasefire agreement of Pan- 

munjom ends the Korean war. 

Arrest of Iranian Prime 

Minister Mossadegh, 

return of the exiled Shah 

Resa Pahlawi. 

Publication of the “Kinsey 

Reports” on the sexual 

behaviour of women. 

1954 

The signing of the Paris 

Agreements paved the way for 

restoration of the sovereignty of 

the Federal Republic. 

The fall of the Dien Bien Phu 

stronghold sets the seal on the 

end of French colonial rule in 

Indochina. 

Start of the war in Algeria. 

Collapse of the European 

Defence Community's 

(EDC) project. 

Notification from the local court concerning Herbert Vogemann's admission as a personally 

liable partner. 

discussing buying a coffee machine. In the end, they got their own way despite 

the boss's protests, but Mr Vogemann himself never drank one single cup of 

coffee in the office. In return, smoking was allowed instead, and this too only 

started to become frowned upon as recently as 1980. 

The new people and Herbert Junior focused all their efforts on 

freighting ships. Their principal source in the course of this was composed of 

cargoes of coal, grain or ore from friendly German companies on account of 

the communication difficulties previously outlined. As German tonnage was 

virtually non-existent, Vogemann looked through their old contacts, focusing 

on those in London and New York, for foreign tonnage. New contacts were 

established with Italian shipping companies and shipbrokers who knew the 

interesting Mediterranean market so well and were able to bestow Vogemann 

with several good transactions and contributed towards the company becoming 

a significant figure in the brokerage business. 

The early death of Herbert Vogemann. At the beginning of the 

year in 1952, Herbert Vogemann was made a partner within the company. 

He tirelessly initiated business contacts through extensive travels in the 


The Vogemann Family in the early 1950s. From left to right: Richard Vogemann, 

Irma Vogemann, Herbert Vogemann; Renate Vogemann, son-in-law Paul Speckter. 

South and West of Europe and which appeared suitable in firmly consolidating 

and expanding their position. His youthful exuberance, his excellent 

specialist knowledge and his winning manner effected trust wherever he 

went. Unfortunately, he himself was not permitted to reap what he had so 

successfully sown. On the return journey from visiting Italy, just before he 

got home to Winsen an der Luhe, he was attempting to overtake a car on 

the unpaved strip next to the main road on 21st June 1954 at around 8 p.m., 

when he lost control of the car's steering and ploughed into a tree. Even 

though he was transported to hospital, he died of his injuries on the way 

there. He was 27 years of age. 

Race to the Treuhand. Thanks to the relationships and activities 

built up by Herbert Vogemann, the remaining team could be extended 

further. In the course of this, grain imports from the United States and 

Canada proved to be a great source of support for the brokerage business. 

These deliveries of aid had to be transacted via the local Hamburg-based 

Frachten-Treuhand in accordance with the Allies' requirements. These, 

on the other hand, were anxious to factor in all the brokerage companies 


59 

The Federal Republic's 

football team wins the World 

Cup in Berne. 

Ernest Hemingway is presented 

with the Nobel Prize in 

Literature. 

First post-war start of Mercedes 

“Silver Arrows” at the French 

Grand Prix. 

Thomas Mann: “Confessions 

of Felix Krull, Confidence Man” 

(novel). 

1955 

The Paris agreements are 

ratified by the Bundestag. 

Sovereignty of the Federal 

Republic. 

Referendum in the Saar rejects 

the French Saar statute. 

During a visit to Moscow, 

Chancellor Adenauer agrees to 

open diplomatic relations with 

the Soviet Union. Return of the 

last of the prisoners-of-war. 

Lufthansa restarts scheduled 

flights again. 

BMW presents the microcar 

“Isetta” (bubble car). 

The last occupying troops 

leave Austria. 

“The Diary of Anne Frank” 

appears in Germany.

1956 

The 20th Congress of the CPSU 

denounces the Stalin cult. 

The Bundeswehr calls up the 

first 1,000 volunteers. 

The People's Chamber of the 

GDR vote to establish a 

national military (National 

People's Army). 

Prohibition of the KPD (Com- 

munist Party of Germany). 

National uprising in Hungary 

against the communist regime. 

Helmut Käutner: “The Captain 

of Köpenick” (film with Heinz 

Rühmann) 

British and French troops land in 

Egypt in order to regain control 

of the Suez Canal. 

The Saar district becomes part 

of the Federal Republic. 

The Italian passenger steamship 

“Andrea Doria” inward bound 

to New York sinks following 

a collision with the Swedish 

“Stockholm”. 

equally and, therefore, let everybody know by circular letter when deliveries 

for freighting were due and gave a certain date when the details could be 

picked up from them. 

This then turned into something of a race between the young 

people from the brokerage companies who were sent to the Treuhand to gath- 

er the appropriate information concerning the volume, destination and other 

details of the grain supply. This information then needed to be relayed to 

their own company as quickly as possible so that their colleagues could commence 

the search for suitable tonnage. For one young apprentice the running 

around obviously proved to be too much and he took up with a sales assistant 

in the hosiery department next door to the Treuhand, and from that time 

forth, he was able to give the details to the office by telephone, which always 

gave Vogemanns that little bit of a head start. On top of this, the company 

always came out well in their search for freighting options on account of the 

many good, yes friendly even, connections they had made with shipping companies 

at home and abroad. In many cases with shipments that were destined 

for Hamburg - the order of magnitude was usually around 10,000 tonnes 

- Vogemann was also able to undertake clearance of the ships which was to 

prove quite a profitable business. 

After the war, Richard Vogemann had never given up hope that 

his firm would one day re-establish itself as a shipping company once again. 

His assumption that the Allies would not prevent German shipping companies 

from operating ships on a permanent basis was proved to be correct. The 

Germans as allies were important to the Western powers to such an extent 

that they eased the restrictions which were at first extremely strict in many 

areas. Several restrictive ordinances regarding newbuildings and the purchasing 

of ships were dropped in the wake of the Washington Agreement from 

April 1949 which established the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). 

In the years following this, German ship-owners were, within certain limits, 

allowed to purchase from the foreign tonnage available for sale. 

Although at the time, Mr Vogemann was already 64 years of age, 

he finally saw himself in a position to build up a shipping business with his 

own ships. And at the same time, he also received a very interesting tip from 

the friendly, traditional Hamburg brokerage company Daniel Milberg: That 

the motor vessel “Tiradentes”, which had been built at the Deutsche Werft 

in 1922, was up for sale. But the Deutsche Bank, with whom Vogemann was 

predominately working with back then, showed no or at least only a marginal 

interest in financing a purchase. 


A ship-owner for the first time again. Whereas, the head of the 

shipping department at the Hamburg Landesbank reacted in a much more 

positive manner. By mobilising all his personal assets, Vogemann was able to 

enter into negotiations with the ship-owner, the Wilhelm Wilhelmsen company 

in Norwegian Tønsberg on the Oslo Fjord. They came to an agreement 

relatively quickly and once permission for purchasing had been acquired from 

the Allied High Commission, the business was concluded and legally came 

into effect on the 16th August 1950. The “Tiradentes” was transferred to Vogemann 

for the sum of 110,00 pounds sterling (DM 1,378,620.79 and was given 

the name “Vogtland”; celebrations for the takeover took place in October 1950. 

Since a Hamburg daily newspaper had already reported on how the festivities 

and formalities had turned out, the guests and ship-owning families on their 

way to the event were able to read what had happened before it had actually 

taken place. Even in those days, the press was already ahead of its time. 

The ship was an “open shelterdecker” and had a deadweight of 

around 9,200 t with three decks in hatch 1 and 2, “deep tanks” amidships in 

hatch 3 and a tween deck in hatch 4 and 5. The “MV Vogtland” was for the 

moment the largest commercial vessel under a German flag because it was 

one of the first to have ever been made. 

There was a stable chartering market in 1950 and Vogemann 

succeeded in contracting the ship at a peak rate for a Far-East round passage 

MV "Vogtland" in the Port of Hamburg. 


61 

Friedrich Dürrenmatt: “The 

Visit” (dramatic work) 

1957 

Pension reform comes into 

force in the Federal Republic. 

Under Konrad Adenauer, 

the CDU/CSU wins absolute 

majority in the Bundestag 

elections. 

First German nuclear reactor 

begins operation at the Technical 

University of Munich in 

Garching. 

In Rome, contracts for the 

Common Market (EEC) and 

the European Atomic Energy 

Community (EURATOM) are 

signed. 

The GDR People's Chamber 

approves introduction of 

the 45-hour week. Several 

Federal Republic companies 

likewise introduce it. 

The US House of Representatives 

approves the so-called 

Eisenhower Doctrine for 

securing the Middle East 

against the advance of 

communism.

The Soviets launch the 

first artificial earth satellite 

“Sputnik”. 

Society is scandalised 

by the murder of the 

high-class prostitute 

Rosemarie Nitribitt. 

Sinking of the 

sail-training ship “Pamir” 

during a hurricane in the 

South Atlantic. 

1958 

Protests against arming the 

Bundeswehr with nuclear 

weapons. 

In GDR, small-scale 

industry and agriculture 

are forced to merge into 

production cooperatives. 

Fidel Castro topples 

the Batista government 

in Cuba. 

Syria and Egypt join forces 

to form the United Arab 

Republic (UAR). 

on a time-charter basis. Although the ship had been excellently maintained 

by the previous owner and was in possession of all certificates without reser- 

vation from the classification company Lloyd's Register, an accident occurred 

on the outbound voyage: A connecting rod from one of the main engines de- 

tached itself and the “Vogtland” had to make an emergency stop at the port 

of Antwerp using the second main engine. There, the time-intensive repairs 

were undertaken by the company Mercantile Marine Engineering & Graving 

Dock Co. Vogemann naturally tried to get the Wilhelmsen company to assume 

responsibility as part of their warranty through his technical inspector, Curt 

M. Johns. But, alas, to no avail. 

MV “Vogtland”. So it was not only the costs from this that 

needed to be swallowed but also the fact that the time-charterer extricated 

himself from the contract on account of the length of time needed for repairs, 

and it was declared null and void. A harsh set-back. At the time, Herbert 

Vogemann estimated that: “If we had been able to conduct the booked round 

Certificate of admeasurement 

for MV "Vogtland". 


The "Vogtland" at the Mackprang granary. 

voyage, we could have practically recouped the purchase price for the ship 

on its first major voyage.” This meant that following the repairs she had to 

be contracted on the free market again. In the period that followed, she made 

a number of voyages with grain from La Plata to the North or transported 

coal from Hampton Roads (waterway in the US State of Virginia opening out 

into the Chesapeake Bay) to the Hamburg-Antwerp-Range (a collective term 

for the major North-European ports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, 

Rotterdam, Antwerp and Zeebrugge along the North Sea coast). However, a 

long-term time-charter at good rates could not be obtained. 

Vogemann experienced a number of adventures with its first 

vessel. Just two examples: On a trip from La Plata, in addition to having 

cargo on board there were also passengers, to be more precise, ten nuns. 

The ship entered into rather bad weather and the seas were correspondingly 

heavy, so much so that even the First Officer became aware of it. However, 

the nuns simply tied their wimples tighter, prayed, sang and survived the 

journey safe and sound thanks to their unshakeable trust in God. A little 

time later, the “Vogtland” got caught up on the fringes of a hurricane on a 

similar route. The captain took his bearings and added: “Lenzen in schwerer 

See” (bail out in heavy seas). There was a certain amount confusion initially 

when Vogemann inquired where water had then penetrated. Water had not 

penetrated anywhere. It was only after a certain amount of to-ing and fro-ing 


63 

National uprising of 

Algerian-French against the 

Parisian government. 

The rock star, Elvis Presley, 

spends part of his military 

service in Germany. 

The Soviet government 

announces the Four Power 

state of Berlin. 

An attempt is made using 

the “Lex Soraya” to suppress 

coverage on the Persian 

imperial couple and other 

prominent figures. 

Werner Heisenberg presents 

his “World Formula”. 

Kurt Hoffmann: 

“Wir Wunderkinder” (film). 

1959 

The SPD adopts to drop Marxism 

in the “Godesberg Programme”. 

The Saarland becomes 

economically affiliated to the 


The passenger ship “Bremen” 

leaves on its maiden voyage 

for New York. 

De Gaulle becomes State 

President in France. 

Foundation of the European 

Free Trade Association (EFTA) 

in Stockholm.


Motor vessel "Vogtland" 

Today, the model of MV "Vogtland" stands in the entrance hall 

of the shipping company's building in the Hallerstraße in Hamburg. 

The "Vogtland" ex "Tiradentes", the largest vessel under the German 

flag of the time, came into Vogemann's possession in 1950. In 

post-war Germany, which had lost almost its entire trading tonnage, 

a 9,200 tonne vessel was considered quite a lot. 


65

Favourable weather 

conditions bestow a “wine 

of the century” to German 

wine-growers . 

The sail-training ship 

“Gorch Fock” of the Bundes- 

marine departs on her first 

voyage. 

Partial privatisation of 

federal property begins 

with Preussag shares being 

issued. 

The Shah of Persia, Resa 

Pahlawi, marries for the 

third time. 

Günter Grasse: “The Tin 

Drum” (novel). 

1960 

An all-German team (UTG) 

enters the Olympic Games in 

Squaw Valley (winter) and 

Rome (summer). 

The Bundestag approves 

privatisation of the 

Volkswagen factory. 

Forced regulation of 

housing ends in the Federal 

Republic. 

that the landlubbers in the office understood that seamen also call “lenzen” 

a manoeuvre whereby the stern of the ship is rotated against the heavy swell 

as a precaution known as “scudding”. In 1955, the “Vogtland” should have 

had a class survey (pre-requisite for extending the operating licence). In the 

years following 1950, both technical requirements as well as the standards of 

comfort for the crew had grown. 

The sale of the “Vogtland”. A tremendous amount of money 

would be needed to attempt to accommodate all these needs and so, for this 

reason, Richard Vogemann decided not to have the class work executed on 

the nearly three-and-a-half decades old ship, but to sell the “Vogtland” instead. 

As coincidence would have it, it was around this time that the British 

Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in London were looking for an old 

vessel but one that was still seaworthy. 

Negotiations got underway whereby Vogemann was made the 

proverbial offer that you just can't refuse. The company parted ways with the 

“Vogtland” for the legendary sum of 140,000 pounds sterling (= DM 1,638,000). 

The condition was: “The vessel shall be delivered safely afloat under her own 

power with windlass winches anchors and cables in good working order.” This 

was guaranteed and on the 19th December 1955 the ship was handed over. 

The price and conditions indicated that they were not thinking of scrapping 

the ship. What the ministry were intending to do with her remained unknown 

to Vogemann. However, the rumours that were being put about, whereby the 

“Vogtland” had been sunk somewhere in the Atlantic with “nuclear waste material”, 

are entirely unfounded. However, it was not just the good price for the 

“Vogtland” which provided solace in the parting of ways, but also the happy 

circumstance that Vogemann was successful in making a further purchase at 

the beginning of the same year. It was once again the Daniel Milberg company 

which established contact to the seller, Wilhelm Wilhelmsen. He was 

wanting to sell off the “Temeraire”, a ship that had been built in the French 

shipyards of Chantiers de Penhoët in Saint-Nazaire in 1927 with a deadweight 

of 9,420 t. She was used in scheduled shipping voyages similar to the “Vogtland”, 

principally to India and with two main engines of 7,200 hp between 

them was able to reach speeds of 13 knots. 

Negotiations for the purchase price with the shipping company 

Wilhelmsen were conducted by Richard Vogemann personally, together with 

Mr Schmüser from the Milberg company in Oslo. He was aided in the issue of 

financing on account of the good experiences Wilhemsen had already made 

with the buyer so that a loan of 35,000 pounds at 4 percent per annum was 


granted. On 3rd January 1955, the sales contract stood at a price of 140,000 

pounds sterling (= DM 1,646,000), delivery was agreed for 28th January in 

Gothenburg. 

Criticism from the German ship-owners association. The ship 

was given the new name of “Vogesen” and was taken on by the seller for a 

round voyage to India at 25 shillings per tonne and month on a time-charter 

basis. After this, the vessel mainly transported coal on the Atlantic route from 

the Hampton Roads to Europe and with grain from La Plata to the ports of the 

Hamburg-Antwerp-Range. Vogemann was offered five successive voyages on 

these routes via the Hamburg Frachten-Treuhand who undertook all freighting 

of grain from Germany. The company seized the opportunity as the rates 

were extremely favourable and this meant that the ship was then engaged in 

an absolutely secure charter over a long period of time; the relatively small 

reduction that Vogemann had to accept owing to the large number of five voyages 

at the currently applicable rate, was of small consequence. 

Sections of the German ship-owners association sharply criticised 

the practice, particularly when cargo rates sank during completion of 

the voyages but the “Vogesen” was still able to continue sailing at the same 

The "Vogesen" (previously "Temeraire") has sailed for Vogemann since early 1955. 


67 

A US reconnaissance aircraft is 

shot down over Soviet territory 

(U-2 Affair). 

First trials of French nuclear 

weapons in the Sahara. 

The former Belgian-Congo 

colony is declared to be an 

independent republic. 

In the US, the Democrat 

John F. Kennedy defeats the 

Republican Richard Nixon at 

the presidential elections. 

Armin Hary runs a 100-metre 

world record (10.0 sec.). 

First performance of the Beatles 

in “Indra” in Hamburg. 

1961 

The Bundestag passes laws regarding 

continued payment of wages in 

cases of sickness and capital accumulation 

for employees (312 DM Act). 

Construction of the Berlin Wall 

hermetically seals off the 

eastern sector of the city.

Confrontation of American 

and Soviet tanks at the Berlin 

border crossing “Checkpoint 

Charlie”. 

State contract for the Zweite 

Deutsche Fernsehen, (ZDF), 

Germany's second broadcast- 

ing station. 

First manned space flight 

with the Russian astronaut 

Juri Gagarin. 

The Bay of Pigs invasion by 

Cuban exiles fails off the 

south coast of Cuba. 

The trial of the former SS 

Lieutenant Adolf Eichmann 

who was abducted to Israel 

ends in a death sentence. 

In East Germany, streets 

named after Stalin are re- 

named and monuments of the 

dictator removed. 

The Federal Republic signs 

a guest worker recruitment 

agreement with Turkey. 

The Soviet Union 

explodes a 60 mega-tonne 

hydrogen bomb. 

1962 

North Germany is hit by a 

catastrophic flood, in Ham- 

burg 315 people die. 

level of rates. That increased the level of envy even more and lead to de- 

mands that Vogemann should “sublet” (hand over) one or even several of 

the voyages that were still forthcoming. Understandably, Vogemann did not 

agree to this since the market was deteriorating. 

There were, of course, technical problems too: The main en- 

gines with their Archaloff pumps were approaching their thirties and were 

causing all kinds of trouble as they were sometimes difficult to start up. In 

critical situations this could be extremely dangerous. This meant that whilst 

transporting grain from La Plata to Emden, the “Vogesen” had to drop anchor 

shortly before reaching her destination of Borkum as the seas were particularly 

heavy and there was a storm on land, entering port would have been a 

foolhardy thing to do. 

But during the heavy swell, both of the anchor chains broke 

and the ship threatened to drift onto the island. In spite of tireless efforts, 

the main engines would not start up. The compressed air for starting up was 

eventually getting dangerously close to running out, so that any opportunity 

of making the ship manoeuvrable under engine power was rapidly dwindling. 

In this troubled state, the captain called for a lifeboat so that, if all else failed, 

the crew could be taken on board. 

The request was picked up by the salvage tug “Wotan” from the 

Bugsier-, Reederei- und Bergungs AG, which was just behind Borkum and 

"Vogesen" being loaded. 


The "Vogesen" had a close call with the US cruiser, "Des Moines". 

immediately put out to salvage the “Vogesen”. They actually did manage to 

connect with one another but through some unfortunate manoeuvres in the 

heavy seas, the line broke so that the “Vogesen” remained incapable of being 

controlled. They were already reckoning with the loss of the ship and her 

cargo, when suddenly one of the main engines started up again so that there 

might yet still be an opportunity of reaching the harbour. The captain who 

still had to reckon with the possibility of another breakdown, asked the “Wotan” 

for this reason to escort them as far as Emden. This was gruffly refused 

with the words that the Bugsier was a salvage company and not a breakdown 

service. As a result, three tugs had to be called from Emden to accompany the 

“Vogesen” to her discharge berth. 

Close encounter with a US cruiser. On a different occasion, the 

ship was to load coal from the region of Hampton Roads and in order to do 

this needed to anchor in the Norfolk Bay (US Federal State of Virginia), where 

the extremely exhaustive American customs formalities were conducted. The 

captain was only allowed permission to enter harbour once this had been 

done. Since the “Vogesen” was swinging at anchor during processing, in order 

for her to enter harbour she had to turn hard to port. The starboard engine 

immediately started up with full speed ahead, but the portside engine absolutely 

refused to get going, the compressed air which had been introduced for 

this purpose screeched through the funnel. At the same time, it was necessary 

that the engine for turning the ship to port be running full astern. 

The horror of this situation was that at exactly the same time, the 

21,000 tonne US warship “Des Moines” was leaving Norfolk and was heading on 


69 

Agreements concerning 

the Latin American 

Free Trade Association 

(LAFTA) come into effect. 

Opening of the Second 

Vatican Council to 

reform the Catholic 

Church. 

The Cuban Crisis ends 

with the dismantling of 

Soviet missile bases on 

the island. 

Trail against Vera Brühne 

who was accused of 

murdering her lover and 

his housekeeper. 


imposes an export ban on 

steel pipes to the Soviet 

Union (Pipe Embargo). 

Introduction of compulsory 

military service in 

East Germany. 

“Spiegel Affair”: Search of 

newsrooms and arrest of 

editors who had alleged ly 

committed treason. 

The “Starclub” is opened 

in Hamburg, the Beatles 

are amongst the artists 

performing.

1963 

The Peace Treaty between the 

Federal Republic and France 

comes into effect. 

Profumo Affair in England: 

Through his denial of a relation- 

ship with the call girl Christine 

Keeler, the Secretary of State for 

War is toppled. 

Federal Chancellor Adenauer 

resigns. Successor is the Minister of 

Economics Ludwig Erhard. 

The Moscow Partial Nuclear 

Ban Treat comes into effect. 

The Soviet Union and China aban- 

don negotiations on the general 

party line of world communism. 

Murder of the Vietnam dictator 

Diem. 

Murder of the US President 

Kennedy in Dallas (Texas). 

Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen 

Bäumler become World 

Champions in pair skating in 

Cortina d'Ampezzo. 

Rolf Hochhuth: “The Deputy, 

a Christian Tragedy” (dramatic 

work). 

MV "Vogelsberg". A photo from June 1960. 

her way out to sea at a considerable speed directly for the “Vogesen”. The dis- 

tance was still considerable but it was already too late for an evasive manoeuvre 

or even for the gun cruiser (heavy cruiser) to stop. They helplessly stood on 

the bridge and saw the monster bearing down towards them, while below deck 

they were feverishly attempting to get the portside engine to start up. Well, to 

cut a long story short: The stubborn engine started up just in time and the “Des 

Moines” with her nine 20.3 cm guns in her triple turrets roared past the “Vogesen” 

like a giant, only touching her with her wake. 

Towards the end of the 1950s, quite a number of newbuildings 

of 10,000 t and above appeared on the market as part of the shipbuilding 

programme. These ships were on the cutting-edge of technology and sailed, 

in comparison to the “Vogesen” which had a 36-man crew, with considerably 

less personnel. Vogemann's ship was antiquated and modernisation would 

be much too expensive even if it were at all possible to accomplish. So with a 

heavy heart, the shipping company had to part with its second ship and sold 

it for scrap to the Eisen und Metall KG Lehr & Co at the end of 1958. 

It's true to say that Richard Vogemann had acquired the first 

two ships by correctly weighing up the cargo situation (“Vogtland” during 

the Korean Crisis, “Vogesen” during crisis-ridden developments in the Middle 

East), but it was different motives altogether which lead him and his company 

towards a third purchase: The “Vogtland” had been, as mentioned, sold for 

such a good price that the only way that the profits would not be eaten up 

in taxes was if Vogemann were to invest in another ship. The same thing applied 

to the “reconstruction loan” of DM 390,000 which had been taken out for 


the “Vogtland” and which would have to be repaid if the sum were not transferred 

into a new acquisition; the Federal Ministry for Transport had expressly 

agreed to such a transfer. Therefore, Vogemann “parked” this money into a 

“escrow account” to be released when a ship was purchased. 

If possible, the ship purchased should be a somewhat more 

modern ship than the previous two had been. By mid 1956, Vogemann received 

a tip from the Ansgar Jensen brokers in Oslo that the E.B. Aaby shipping 

company who were also based in Oslo were offering the motor vessel 

“Peik” on the market. This was a freighter built for piece goods, of particular 

interest on account of her ideal suitability for transporting sawn timber, and 

had been built in 1938 at the Lindholmens Varw AB in Gothenburg; deadweight 

3,980 t. And added to this was the fact that the “Peik” had been taken 

on a time-charter basis until the end of 1957 by the Paal Wilson company in 

Norwegian Bergen at the dream rate of 56/6 shillings per ton and month. The 

charterer certainly did not mind a change of ownership, providing of course, 

that it was to be with a first-class shipping company again. 

Vogemann was persuaded by all these factors into buying the 

“Peik”, even though the market for second-hand tonnage was extremely high 

at the time. On the 30th November 1956, they came to an agreement and the 

“Peik” was transferred over to Vogemann as “Vogelsberg” for 260,000 pounds 

sterling (= DM 3,059,000); the takeover was agreed in Cork in Ireland at the 

beginning of the year in 1957. In the period that followed, the ship handled the 

time-charter for Paal Wilson under the leadership of Captain Bergmann, previously 

First Officer on the “Vogtland” and the Chief Engineer Harz, previously 

Second Engineer on the “Vogtland”. The team and ship proved themselves to 

be successful and the contract ran without any problems. 

But something bad was yet to come. The bottom completely fell 

out of the cargo market in autumn 1957. Even though Paal Wilson wanted to 

charter the ship for a further round voyage, the offer of 25/- shillings per ton 

and month did not even cover the costs anymore. In desperation Vogemann 

tried to find an affreightment elsewhere. To no avail. Wilson's offer for a 

subsequent voyage had nevertheless to be accepted as a last resort. Following 

this, Vogemann had to charter out the “Vogelsberg” on the open market 

again which was still in a very bad state. The ship sailed a great deal as a 

general cargo service to Central America, both as individual voyages as well 

on a time-charter basis. And, of course, she also often sailed from Finland 

with cut timber which, in light of the very good “intake” of the ship previously 

mentioned, at least brought in a small profit. 


71 

1964 

Arrival of the millionth guest 

worker in the Federal Republic. 

Constitution of the German Council 

of Economic Experts (“Five Sages of 

Economy”). 

The first nuclear-powered cargo 

vessel in Europe, the “Otto Hahn”, 

sets sail. 

CPSU Party Secretary and Premier 

Minister Nikita Khrushchev is 

removed from all offices. 

The US Senate creates the basis 

for a massive intervention in the 

Vietnam War with the “Tonkin Gulf 

Resolution”. 

Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston 

to become World Heavyweight Boxing 

champion. 

Martin Luther King, the civil rights 

campaigner, receives the Nobel 

Peace Prize.

The first atom bombs are 

detonated in the People's 

Republic of China. 

With his film “A Fistful of 

Dollars” (starring Clint 

Eastwood), Sergio Leone 

establishes the Spaghetti- 

Western genre. 

Peter Weiss: “The Persecution 

and Assassination of Jean- 

Paul Marat” (dramatic work). 

1965 

Verdicts are pronounced 

against former SS members 

in the Frankfurt Auschwitz 

Trials. 

The Council of the Evangelical 

Church in Germany publishes 

the memorandum “The situ- 

ation of displaced persons 

and the relationship of the 

German People to its eastern 

neighbours”. 

Act on Capital Accumulation 

by Employees (624 Mark Act). 

The US Army opens up 

bombing offensives against 

North Vietnam. 

The East German newspaper 

“Neues Deutschland” starts a 

campaign against the song- 

writer Wolf Biermann. 

No sailing permit. At the end of 1961, Vogemann sold the “Vo- 

gelsberg” to Messrs. Nissille et Soini Oy in Helsinki with delivery in February 

1962. The buyers made the condition: “Delivery to be effected with engine 

survey passed, hull survey due.” Price: 82,000 pounds sterling (just about 1 

million DM). The “Memorandum of Agreement” was signed by both parties. 

Vogemann was appalled when Lloyd's Register in Piombino 

(Province Livorno) categorically refused the onward journey of the ship because 

of considerable hull defects. Vogemann's Inspector Johns travelled to 

the coast of Tuscany in the hope that once he was there locally, he could make 

attempts so that the “Vogelsberg's” sailing permit would not be revoked. To 

no avail. The ship would not receive a sailing permit without class, which 

meant that the contract of sale was now invalid. The shipping company now 

had a dilemma on their hands, either to have the ship do class or to have it 

scrapped. However, the latter would have meant making a heavy loss on account 

of the debts on the ship (which included the “reconstruction loan”). On 

the other hand, it was impossible to do class in Piombino. 


Flag Certificate for 

MV "Vogelsberg".

A member of crew took photos of his journey on board MV "Vogelsberg": Passage 

through the Panama Canal. 


73 

Demonstrations against the 

education crisis in the Federal 

Republic. 

The Federal Republic opens 

up diplomatic relations with 

Israel. 

German cinema release of 

the James Bond film “Goldfinger”. 

1966 

The beginning of the school 

year in the Federal Republic 

is moved from Easter to 1st 

August. 

After breaking the government 

coalition of CDU/CSU 

and FDB, the Union and SPD 

form a Grand Coalition under 

Federal Chancellor Kurt 

Georg Kiesinger. 

France withdraws from NATO. 

The German team loses 2:4 

to England in the World Cup 

Final. Crucial to the outcome 

of the game was that a dubious 

goal for England was 

allowed during extra time. 

The challenger Karl Mildenberger 

is defeated at the 

World Heavyweight Boxing 

Championship by the defending 

champion Cassius Clay.

Students at West German 

universities try out new 

forms of political action 

(Sit-in, Go-in, Teach-in). 

1967 

The student Benno Ohnesorg 

is shot by a policeman dur- 

ing the Shah's visit to Berlin. 

The Federal Republic opens 

up diplomatic relations with 

Romania and thereby disas- 

sociates itself from the “Hall- 

stein Doctrine” according to 

which no diplomatic contact 

should be made with states 

who recognise the GDR. 

Israeli Six-Day-War with its 

Arab neighbours. The Suez 

Canal is closed to interna- 

tional shipping. 

Violent and bloody racial 

riots in the US. 

The Declaration of Inde- 

pendence by the Nigerian 

province Biafra triggers a 

civil war. 

The Outer Space Treaty guar- 

antees all nations free access 

to the universe. 

With Oswalt Kolle's “The 

Miracle of Love”, a series of 

sex education films begins. 

MV "Vogelsberg" in the Port of Vancouver. 

Vogemann negotiated with a number of shipyards in Europe, 

which was made all the more difficult since he needed to find a company 

which would accept an extension of payment for the repairs. Once again, the 

Mercantile Marine Engineering & Graving Dock Co in Antwerp were prepared 

to help out on account of the good relationship they had had in the past. In 

long negotiations with the classification association and the port authorities, 

Johns finally managed to gain permission for the “Vogelsberg” to sail to 

Antwerp in ballast. 

A buyer for MV “Vogelsberg”. The Mercantile company made 

the necessary repairs so that class could be given again. However, owing to 

the general cargo situation, engaging the ship further did not appear to be 

a sensible thing to do. With a certain degree of difficulty, Vogemann found a 

buyer, the Johanship OY company in Vasa, Finland, who already owned the 

sister ship “Pan” of the ex-”Peik”. However, they attached a condition to the 

purchase: “The vessel has been inspected in dry-dock whilst completing classification 

works and accepted thereafter. Therefore the sale becomes definite.” 

The price “fully classed” amounted to 75,000 pounds sterling (around 

900,000). 


Concerns of the shipping companies. 

Towards the end of 1961, the German magazine “Spiegel” 

published a long article spiked with the usual barbs about 

the plight of the German shipping companies who had turned 

to Federal Chancellor Adenauer with a plea for subsidies. 

Displayed amongst the flags on the cover was that of Vogemann. 

It is true that the shipping company was not mentioned 

by name but the fact that Vogemann had parted with its last 

ship in the following year and stayed away from the shipping 

business for a long time, suited the article's tone. Here is an 

excerpt: 

“The West German shipping companies are the 

Amongst the shipping company late returnees to the sea”, in this manner, the Director of Nord- 

flags adorning the cover of the 

deutsche Lloyd, Richard Bertram - Head of Germany's largest 

German magazine "Spiegel" can 

also be found that of the ship- shipping company - justified the shipping companies need for 

ping company Vogemann. 

help. “It is only since 1951 that we have been able to return 

to operating on an international scale. We were put in chains by the Allied powers for this 

length of time and, more recently, we have been entering into an economic downturn more 

and more.” “It is distressing”, lamented Bertram, “that there is only a pill for the physical 

up and down motions felt by the sea while no such palliative can be found for economic sea 

sickness.” 

From Bonn, the shipping companies are demanding for at least the 

next two years 

- state grants and 

- interest-reduced credit. 

They want to be recognised as the poor cousins of the free market economy, as 

equally ripe for subsidies as the Grüne Front (Green Front agricultural party) and the mining 

industry and are acting as whistling buoys in Bonn, constantly repeating the same pitiful 

cry: “Shipping in distress. Save us from ruin.” The shipping companies tirelessly pressed the 

SOS button in order to convince the skeptics “that the majority of owners can neither live nor 

die” - this is how Dr Hans Georg Röhreke, Managing Director of the Ship-Owners Association, 

justified the many trips to Bonn and the interpellations of the Board Members. In order 

to prove their fear for their own economic survival, the ship-owners quote a report from the 

Deutsche Revisions- und Treuhand AG which attests that, according to the accounts, 80 to 90 

percent of all ship-owners sailed at a loss over the last few years, which means at best, that 

their returns covered operating expenses such as seamen’s wages, fuel, ships insurance and 

the wages of management, which the ship-owners grant themselves. 


75 

1968 

The assassination of student 

leader Rudi Dutschke leads 

to unrest in many German 

towns. 

“May 68” - civil unrest in 

France against the Pompidou 

government. For a brief 

period, students and workers 

join together. 

Tet Offensive of the Vietcong 

against the Americans in 

South Vietnam. 

The “Prague Spring” comes 

to an end following an invasion 

by the socialist “Brother 

States”. 

Beginning of the “Thalidomide 

Process” against senior executives 

of the pharmaceutical 

manufacturer, Grünental. 

Introduction of Value Added 

Tax in the Federal Republic. 

The Common Customs Tariff 

comes into effect in the EEC.

Siegfried Lenz: 

“The German Lesson” (novel). 

1969 

The first humans land on 

the moon (“Apollo 11” pro- 

gramme). 

Charles de Gaulle resigns 

after a referendum with a 

negative result. 

Gustav Heinemann (SPD) 

replaces Heinrich Lübke (CDU) 

as President of the Federal 

Republic of Germany. 

Following the parliamentary 

elections, SPD and FDP 

merge to form a social- 

liberal coalition. 

Willy Brandt is the first Social 

Democrat to become Federal 

Chancellor. 

The West German Minister for 

Education and the Arts sets up 

school trials with Ganztags- 

schule (all-day schools) and 

Gesamtschule (comprehensive 

schools). 

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation 

Treaty is signed in Moscow; 

no nuclear weapons for the 


R.W. Fassbinder: 

“Katzelmacher” (film). 

After operating at a loss and the sale of the “Vogelsberg”, the 

shipping company of H. Vogemann ended for the time being. Three-and-a- 

half decades were to go by before a new generation of managing directors 

were to dare to attempt a new beginning. Until then, the focus remained on 

the affreightment business in which Vogemann made a good profit during 

the 1950/60s and which gave him the reputation of being a reliable shipping 

agent. Increasingly greater numbers of foreign shipping companies transferred 

the handling of their ships in Hamburg to Vogemann. They could rely 

on their accounts being correct and that all the rebates and discounts Vogemann 

received as an agent would be credited to the principal. So it is not 

without a certain amount of pride that the people of Vogemann still like to 

repeat the tale of the request made by a foreign ship-owner to a brokerage 

firm in London even to this day. The man wanted to know whether in the case 

of “freight payable at destination“, H. Vogemann were safe enough, to cash 

the sea freight and then to release the bill of lading afterwards. The reply of 

the English representative: “Vogemann is as safe as the Bank of England” - 

which was the height of dependability at the time. 

However, Vogemann did not solely rely on handling clearances, 

they also took on other fields of activity too. This meant that the house was 

active as a booking agent for foreign shipping companies; included amongst 

the clients were the lines Deen Shipping, Silver Line, Naviera del Odiel and 

Compañia Sudamericana de Fletes, whose ships regularly called at Hamburg 

and for whom Vogemann booked general cargo (liner parcels). At first, these 

constantly recurring bookings were a solid base for maintaining the business, 

although the main focus of activity was still in affreightment. Vogemann 

always tried to meet all of the customers requirements even when the occasional 

exotic task turned up. Just one example of this: 

Captain Chivers from the afore-mentioned shipping company, 

Deen Shipping, sailed the 11,000 tonne “Exdeen”, amongst others, with a crew 

from Indian Goa, made up of followers of various Hindu religions. Each one 

of these sects had their own cook on board who knew and adhered to the 

appropriate dietary regulations. One day, one of these cooks did not turn up 

for some long-forgotten reason or other, probably to do with his health, and 

his colleagues refused to cook for the group concerned. Chivers turned to his 

agent Vogemann for help, who in turn applied to the Consulate for help, so 

that a suitable cook was actually able to be found two days later. The captain 

paid no heed to the demurrage costs for the two lost days; he was more interested 

in the wellbeing of his men's souls. 


Relationships with the major granaries. The connections that 

had been established and strengthened by Herbert Vogemann continued to 

be fostered following his death through quite a number of trips and visits by 

freighters such as Messrs Hinsch and von Hein to the foreign companies. As 

a result of this, the network of contacts grew whereby the rich experiences Vogemann 

made in affreightment played a major role, particularly where grain 

was concerned. Vogemann maintained excellent relationships with all of the 

major granaries in Geneva, Lausanne and Paris just to name a few of the 

main trading centres. For example, the Compagnie de Change International 

in Paris under the direction of Isaac Pinto was constantly looking for tonnage 

and Vogemann brokered numerous vessels of 10,000 tonnes and more 

to the company. In this regard, the Hamburg company had the advantage of 

good connections with the Società Ligure di Armamento (Ligurian Shipowning 

Co) in Genoa. Their managing director, Dottore Centore, took great pains 

in ensuring that his vessels were always kept pristine. Vogemann was able to 

broker first-class tonnage for three years on a time-charter basis to his Parisian 

clients with the five freighters “Ercta”, “Tideo”, “Fineo”, “Sirio” and “Atrea”. 

Its subsidiary in Hamburg, the Hanimex, bought an oil burner (description 

for ship powered by diesel) at the time with an enormous cubic space. Vogemann 

was entrusted with management of this ship, called “George M.”, by the 

Compagnie de Change. It only carried its own freight so that no affreightment 

services were performed by Vogemann. 

These continued to multiply because, over time, Vogemann did 

not merely deal with grain but also with sugar, cement and other bulk commodities. 

In the 1960s, steel came to be of particular importance on account of 

the boom it was experiencing. This brought new shipping companies onto the 

scene with whom Vogemann also did business. Of course, this was sometimes 

only on a temporary basis if the customer was of the opinion they could ignore 

advice given by Vogemann. J. Willi Siems, with his Speedy International Shipping 

Company for whom a large number of ships were chartered on a timecharter 

basis, was just such a person. Siems booked steel to ports in the US, 

but at dumping rates. When reproached that follow-up costs in the destination 

country would not show up until very much later and, aside from that, also 

appeared to be extremely high, there was no reaction. The rude awakening arrived 

with the final accounts from the US. Siems realised too late that it was 

not just charter hire that needed to be taken into consideration but also the not 

insignificant port and loading costs as well. But he had ignored warnings from 

Vogemann and had, therefore, finally had to abandon his “business” at a loss. 


77 

1970 

Federal Chancellor 

Brandt meets with the 

East German Prime Minister 

Stoph in Erfurt. 

The first spring guns are 

positioned on the inner- 

German border. 

Conclusion of a German- 

Soviet Non-Aggression 

Pact and a treaty with 

Poland on normalisation 

of inter-relations. 

Thor Heyerdahl crosses 

the Atlantic with his 

papyrus boat “Ra II”. 

Law on the equality of 

children born outside of 

marriage in the Federal 

Republic. 

The Soviet dissident 

Alexander Solschenizyn 

receives the Nobel Prize 

in Literature.

1971 

Erich Honecker replaces Walter 

Ulbricht in the office of First 

Secretary of the SED (Socialist 

Unity Party of Germany). 

The Four Power Agreement on 

Berlin guarantees unrestricted 

civilian movement of persons 

and goods between the Federal 

Republic and West Berlin. 

Resumption of telephone 

traffic between East and West 

Berlin. 

The Bundestag adopts a new 

“Städtebauförderungsgesetz” 

(Town and Country 

Planning Law). 

Willy Brandt receives the Nobel 

Peace Prize. 

In Uganda, Idi Amin seizes 

power by means of 

a military coup. 

Inauguration of the Aswan 

Dam regulating the Nile. 

The environmental 

organisation Greenpeace is 

launched and protests against 

US nuclear testing. 

The Bundesbahn starts up 

a regular intercity service 

between 33 major cities. 

Walter Kempowski: 

“Tadellöser & Wolff” (novel). 

The famous 

Hamburg artist, 

Otto Speckter 

(1807 - 1871), 

was amongst 

Paul Speckter's 

ancestors, seen 

here in an early 

photograph. 

Alongside him 

is his painting 

"Going to 

Church in Alt- 

Rahlstedt". 

Other people were more reasonable, were happy to fall back 

on the charterer's experience and, after a certain period of collaboration, left 

their tonnage or their freight to Vogemann, even to be entirely exclusively 

chartered. A particular fond memory of this is A. C. Neleman in Rotterdam, 

whose ship names ended with “....singel”. This refers to the Dutch description 

of streets which run parallel to former fortifications or ditches: “Statensingel”, 

“Coolsingel”, “Provenierssingel” and others. 

Herbert Vogemann had left a sore gap in the business behind 

him. His father, Richard, made every effort to close it and in September 1954 

took his thirty-year old son-in-law, Paul Speckter, into the partnership as 

a personally liable partner. This showed courage and knowledge of human 

nature because Speckter was a trained insurance broker and export merchant, 

but also had a rudimentary knowledge of the duties of a ship broker at his 

disposal. His last position had been with the Georg Duncker company which 

primarily dealt with marine insurance. In this respect, Speckter brought a 

certain number of contacts with him to the shipping company, some of which 

were German and also some from abroad who were less close. 

Following a six-month breaking-in period at Vogemanns, he 

was to obtain the experience he lacked by staying in England for a while with 

Simpson, Spence & Young (SSY), the friendly company previously mentioned 


at the beginning. This, however, changed as Richard Vogemann, who had already 

reached seventy by now, needed permanent assistance locally and did 

not want to be deprived of his young son-in-law for such a long time. On top 

of this, Richard was extremely occupied with his plans for the acquisition and 

operation of his own ships so that he hardly found any time for the day-to-day 

brokerage business. There was nothing left for Speckter to do but to teach 

himself the ropes through learning by doing, he did, however, look around 

for support: 

This he found in 1955 in the form of an experienced maritime 

merchant, Hans-Dieter Westendorf, who had managed the chartering department 

of the Deutsche Afrika-Linien/ John T. Essberger. Furthermore, Speckter 

employed a further two young people with brokerage experience who did the 

preliminary work for Westendorf and him. In addition to the general chartering 

business, no particular spectacular events spring to mind about this time, 

Vogemann's success and revenue relied to a great extent upon agent activity, 

especially in bookings of general cargo and in the supervision of foreign vessels 

calling at Hamburg. Unfortunately, after just barely a decade, Mr Westendorf 

suddenly said goodbye to us again. He had come into a considerable 

inheritance and intended to work as a building contractor; his long-term objective 

was to study law. Although Paul Speckter knew every trick that there 


79 

1972 

A vote of no-confidence 

by the CDU/CSU against 

the Federal Chancellor 

Brandt fails. 

Early parliamentary 

elections sees the SPD 

as being the strongest 

party. 

The Basic Treaty with 

East Germany is signed. 

During the Olympic 

Summer Games in 

Munich, 

Palestinian terrorists 

attack the Israeli 

athletes in the Olympic 

Village. 

Londonderry's “Bloody 

Sunday”: British 

paratroopers shoot 

13 Northern Irish 

Catholics. 

RAF terrorists, Andreas 

Baader, Holger Meins 

and Jan-Carl Raspe are 

arrested. 

Bobby Fisher (US) 

becomes World Chess 

Champion. 

Heinrich Böll receives 

the Nobel Prize in 

Literature.

1973 


and East Germany 

become members of 

the United Nations. 

East Germany rejects 

paying reparations to 

Israel. 

The Treaty of Prague 

between the Federal 

Republic and 

Czechoslovakia 

rescinds the 1938 

Munich Agreement. 

Recruitment of guest 

workers in Germany is 

stopped. 

Alternative civil 

service is declared 

equal to military 

service by law. 

Yom Kippur War of 

Arab states against 

Israel. Deliveries of oil 

to western states are 

reduced. Temporary 

driving ban on Ger- 

man motorways. 

Ulrich Plenzdorf: “The 

New Sufferings of 

Young W.” (play). 

Joachim C. Fest: 

“Hitler” (biography). 

was to be had in the brokerage book by now, the growing volume of business 

demanded a replacement for Westendorf. After numerous interviews with 

young applicants, in 1964 the responsibilities fell to a Mr Ulrich Prüss,. He 

did not see a sufficient base for his varied ideas as a shipbroker nor – and this 

was his particular desire – as a ship-owner, with his employer, the relatively 

small brokerage company of W. Vollert & Co. 

The responsibilities of Ulrich Prüss. Prüss literally threw him- 

self into his work at Vogemann and his excellent skills benefited him well. 

After he had joined the company, the revenue from chartering rose substan- 

tially. In 1965 earnings in this sector lay at DM 380,000, increased in 1966 to 

DM 420,000 and in the following year to as much as DM 622,000. Of course, 

this was not all just down to Prüss, it was also the result of an ever-evolv- 

ing process of team work in which the freighter Jochen Lüdemann and later 


Example of a 

charter from 

1969.

Reinhard Westphal played a part as much as the partner, Speckter. The contacts 

which had been so intensively fostered with Atlantic Shipping, Spliethoff, 

Nidera Handelscompagnie, Conti-Lines, Peter Cremer, Krohn (Thai Europe 

Tapioca Service), Panchaud Frères, A.C. Neleman, Toepfer, Hansa Hout and 

many others proved their worth. New contacts were established with Inflot 

Moscow, Polish Ocean Line, Mahart Shipping and many more besides. 

Quite naturally there were setbacks and breakdowns. Gabriel 

Rybier (pronounced: Roobyeah), manager of the Rotterdam company Blaesberg, 

had chartered a vessel through Vogemann from the shipping company 

Hans Edwin Reith for a six-month period. Rybier rarely paid in due time. Reith 

was therefore sitting on top of a not inconsiderable hire payment demand 

and asked Mr Speckter to travel with him to Rotterdam in order to get the 

best possible result that they could from Blaesberg there. When they arrived, 

the two of them were told that Mr Rybier was in an important meeting and 

they would have to be patient. In the room in which he and Speckter waited, 

Reith discovered a telephone and a directory with internal numbers including 

that of Rybier. On the spur of the moment, Reith dialled the number; Rybier 

answered straight away. “If you do not get here immediately, Mr Rybier”, blus- 

Reith's dishonoured bill of exchange from 1975. 


81 

1974 

Bonn and East Berlin 

establish mutual “Permanent 

Representatives”. 

“Guillaume Affair” leads to 

Willy Brandt's resignation. 

Helmut Schmidt becomes 

his successor as Federal 

Chancellor. 

The age of majority in 

the Federal Republic is 

lowered from 21 years of 

age to 18.

The last “Beetle” rolls off 

Volkswagen's production 

line in Wolfsburg. 

Opening of the Köhlbrandbrücke 

in Hamburg. 

US President Nixon resigns 

over the Watergate Affair. 

Muhammad Ali (formerly 

Cassius Clay) wins the 

World Heavyweight Boxing 

Champion over the titleholder 

George Foreman. 

Germany becomes World 

Cup champion with a 

2:1 win against the 

Netherlands. 

1975 

Mao Zedong receives 

Franz-Josef Strauß as the 

first official visitor from the 


The Federal Constitutional 

Court rejects reform of Article 

218 of the abortion law. 

The Deutsche Bank buys 

Daimler-Benz shares from 

Flick and now owns 57.5 

percent of Daimler Benz AG. 

Re-opening of the 

Suez Canal. 

The Helsinki Accords 

are signed. 

tered Reith out loud, “then I shall pull the plug on this place.” The managing 

director showed up straight away and promised to pay part of the outstanding 

hire payment by bank assignment. However, for the much larger outstand- 

ing amount, he merely wrote out a bill of exchange. Reith bitterly asked his 

debtor, just how much such a paper was worth. Laughingly Rybier replied: 

“Bills of exchange are always worth just as much as the signature on it.” On 

the trip back home, Speckter prophesised that Reith could quite happily write 

the amount off as a dead loss. At that, Reith gave him the bill of exchange 

which, just as expected, was dishonoured. Speckter decided to make a joke of 

it and sent Reith a bundle of antiquated inflation money he had bought for 

the sum involved, together with a heartfelt thank you. Since then, there has 

been an excellent degree of understanding between Vogemann and Reith. By 

the way, soon after this Rybier's company Blaesberg went bankrupt. 

As previously mentioned, the management of ships or acquiring 

ships was a key interest for Prüss. For this purpose, he employed a Mr 

Busch whose time was almost completely taken up with costing out the available 

ships on the market. In 1968, Prüss travelled to Finland after Vogemann 

had made arrangements for two Leonhard vessels with the Finnlines OY., the 

“Finnleonhard” (21 months) and the “Finnheide” (also 21 - 24 months). In Helsinki, 

Prüss discovered that the Swedish shipping company Wallenius had 

booked three bulk carriers of 36,000 t deadweight with the Inflot Moscow to 

be constructed at the Lenin shipyards in Leningrad. In addition, Wallenius 

had an option on a fourth similar vessel for which, however, the company no 

longer had further use for. 

This meant that there was also a vessel from an elaborate series 

of newbuildings for sale, and Prüss immediately attempted to purchase 

the ship which was now available from Inflot Moscow. At a price of 22 million 

DM, the purchase on the part of Vogemann was not really realistic but Prüss 

negotiated under the formula “for account of whom it may concern”. Inflot 

agreed without contradiction and made firm bids. A lawyer, whose name has 

now long been forgotten, with offices in the Hamburg Esplanade heard of 

Vogemann's negotiations, got in touch and explained that he had contacts 

to circles who were interested in considerable financial investments in the 

form of ships or participation in ship ownership. The “circles” in question 

boiled down to one individual interested party, a certain Mr Friedrich Brante 

in Berlin who was willing to purchase at the listed price. Vogemann also 

managed to simultaneously close a deal with the Star Shipping company in 

Bergen, Norway for a five-year time-charter contract “subject purchase of the 


"Star Ravenna", the vessel which landed in the hands of a financial juggler towards the end of 

the 1960s. 

Wallenius type vessel”. This meant that there was both a financier as well as 

a charterer available. Prüss, Brante and his Chief Clerk, a Mr Schneider, travelled 

to Moscow and cleared up the sales contract. The time-charter contract 

with the Star Lines company could also come into force too. 

In Brante's eyes, Vogemann had now done its duty and was 

therefore no longer needed; in fact, was only in the way. As it turned out, 

Brante was actually a shady “financial juggler” as Vogemann discovered, and 

set out to offer the vessel to his investors for 28 million DM. Protestations by 

Vogemann that the ship would be able to sail and cover its costs at a price 

of 22 million, profitably even, but would not manage that at the higher price, 

were just swept aside by Brante and Schneider. Vogemann had to make do 

with a modest purchasing commission which was divided equally between 

the company and Prüss. Management of the ship was handed to the Stinnes 

company, made the expected losses and eventually had to be sold with further 

losses. Brante went completely bankrupt with his company Ravenna KG and 

absconded leaving a considerable mountain of tax debt behind. Vogemann 

has no information as to whether or not they were successful in catching the 

“write-off artist” with the DM 50,000 reward that was placed on him. 

On the 1st January 1971, Mr Prüss became a personally liable 

partner following the death of Richard Vogemann on 6th October 1969. After 

the bleak experience with the absconded “financier”, Ulrich Prüss concentrated 

on the affreightment of ships from then on. Together with his colleague 


83 

Vast forest fires in 

Lower Saxony. 

Volker Schlöndorff: 

“The Lost Honour of 

Katharina Blum” (a film 

based on the novel by 

Heinrich Böll). 

1976 

First demonstrations 

against nuclear power 

plant construction in 

Brokdorf. 


the law on Co-determination 

of Employees. 

The Palace of the Republic 

is opened in East Berlin. 

East Germany strips 

songwriter Wolf Biermann 

of his citizenship. 

Erich Honecker assumes 

office as Chairman of the 

Council of State of East 

Germany. 

The safety belt becomes 

compulsory in cars. 

The Bundesbahn's last 

steam locomotive is 

decommissioned. 

Wim Wenders' film “Kings 

of the Road” wins the 

Critics' Prize in Cannes.

1977 

Terrorists in Karlsruhe 

shoot the Chief Prosecutor 

Siegfried Buback. 

“Deutscher Herbst” 

(German Autumn): 

Abduction of industrial- 

ist President Schleyer, 

hijacking of the Lufthansa 

airplane “Landshut”, 

storming of the aircraft in 

Mogadishu, suicide of the 

terrorists Baader, Ensslin 

and Raspe in Stammheim 

and murder of Schleyer. 

Civil rights activists in 

Czechoslovakia form the 

“Charter 77”. 

The new constitution of 

the Soviet Union increases 

the rights of individual 

citizens. 

General compulsory 

smallpox vaccinations is 

abolished in the Federal 

Republic. 

The Staufer exhibition in 

Stuttgart is a great 

success with the public. 

and Chief Clerk, Reinhard Westphal, he attained excellent results. Unfortu- 

nately, Vogemann soon had to do without him: At the end of 1973, Prüss was 

struck down by an initially unexplained illness, a paralysis which started from 

the lower extremities and inexorably wandered upwards on both sides. When 

it finally became clear that he was dealing with Landry's Paralysis (a special 

form of the so-called Guillain-Barré-Syndrome, GBS), the treacherous 

nerve disease was so far advanced that the doctors were no longer able to 

help. Prüss died of respiratory paralysis on 30th March 1974. Herr Speckter as 

partner with unlimited liability and his wife, Renate, as partner with limited 

liability (since 1956) were once again sole owners of H. Vogemann. 

Founding of the Trident GmbH. The further development of the 

company management personnel more or less took place as follows: In order 

to put the assets of H. Vogemann safely - practically immortally - back on 

its feet again, Paul Speckter founded the Trident Befrachtungs GmbH in 1975, 

which joined the company now called H. Vogemann GmbH & Co as a further 

partner with unlimited liability. The company, however, no longer needed 

to have the addition of “& Co” as it had been founded prior to 1900. Since 

the early 1970s, Udo Wiese who had started as an apprentice in 1968, was 

extremely active and, together with his colleague Westphal, made excellent 

commercial transactions. Wiese received sole power of attorney in 1974 and 

became a co-partner in 1978. At the same time, Mr Speckter stepped back 

as partner with unlimited liability and made use of his right to exchange his 

unlimited partner share into a limited partner share. 

From now on, Trident Befrachtungs GmbH was the only partner 

with unlimited liability in the KG (limited partnership) within the H. Vogemann 

GmbH company against a “risk compensation” of DM 5,000 p.a. Paul 

Speckter, Renate Speckter and Udo Wiese were limited partners. In 1983, 

Hans-Joachim Boller joined as a limited partner, in 1988 Roland Hensel followed 

in the same role. Renate and Paul Speckter retired from the company 

towards the end of 1992. It was agreed that the couple should be paid compensation 

over the coming twelve years of five percent of the net profit for 

the given year after deduction of fixed partner compensations. This provision 

should be recognised as a thank you from the company for the services made 

by Mr Speckter, which are, of course, impossible to list individually. We would 

just like to mention two of his important customers in particular, customers 

with whom Vogemann, thanks to his efforts, has a very flourishing relationship 

with: 


Paul Speckter. 

Topic's Liberty Freighters. The connection with the Topic family's 

original shipping company based in Triest, reaches far back into Vogemann's 

beginnings as a brokerage company. The company was managed excellently 

by the Inspectors Sladovic and Senjanovic and later relocated its 

head offices to Monte Carlo (Monaco). Its ships were always in tip-top condition 

even the so-called Liberty freighter. This was a cheap, standardised 

building from during the war which were brought out at top speed (around 

240 days) in Canada and in the US in their thousands as a replacement for the 

high loss of tonnage caused by submarines. These 11-knot fast 10,000 tonne 

vessels with coal or oil furnaces were mainly in a dreadful condition which 

explains why Vogemann referred to them disparagingly as “Schrottlauben” 

(load of old junk). 

But this was not the case with Topic; the shipping company 

serviced these incredibly basically-built freighters rigorously and gradually 

replaced them during the 1960/70s with more modern vessels, usually ones 

built in Japanese shipyards. The senior manager had already passed away 


85 

1978 


the government's 

Anti-Terror Laws. 

The last “Beetle” rolls off 

Volkswagen's production 

line in Emden. 

Dockworkers strikes 

paralyse operation of 

German seaports. 

The East German dissident 

Rudolf Bahro is imprisoned 

for eight years. 

Denmark, Great Britain 

and Ireland become full 

members of the European 

Community. 

Egypt and Israel sign a 

skeleton agreement in 

Camp David. 

The Polish cardinal Karol 

Wojtyla is elected pope 

(John Paul II). 

Sinking of the German 

container ship “Munich” 

with a 28-man crew.

1979 

The Bundestag abolishes 

the 30-year statue of limi- 

tations for murder. 

NATOs Dual Track decision 

to retrofit with medium 

range nuclear missiles. 

In a residential area of 

Hamburg, police discover 

a toxic waste dump from 

the Stoltzenberg company. 

The Green Party obtain a 

seat in regional parlia- 

ment for the first time 

following state elections in 

Bremen. 

The US television series 

“Holocaust” starts in 

Germany. 

Margaret Thatcher 

becomes Britain's first 

female Prime Minister. 

The European Monetary 

System (EMS) comes 

into effect. 

First direct elections of the 

European Parliament. 

The Soviets invade 

Afghanistan. 

at the time and an Augustini family was managing the company in the time- 

honoured tradition further. Vogemann also had a large number of ships up 

to bulk carriers of 64,000 tonnes contracted with them. There was never one 

single inconsistency in the charter handling, at least not with the the Topic 

company where a genuine relationship of trust existed. 

If ever problems came up, then they came from a third party. 

And so, in the early 1960s, Vogemann contracted the “Panamant” from Topic 

with grain from Brazil to Italy via the company Neptunia/ Otto Schreuders. As 

a further load was due a short time later, Schreuders turned to Topic directly 

and from now on wanted to contract ships and bypass Vogemann. Naturally, 

Sladovic showed interest in future transactions but informed Schreuders that 

he would not act without Vogemann as it was through the Hamburg company 

that the happy connection had been forged in the first place. This show of loyalty 

obviously impressed Schreuders; in any event Vogemann was later able 

to contract many ships from Topic (and also from other shipping companies) 

with Schreuders. No interference ever occurred again. 

Relations with Panchaud Frères. Topic were never offhand in 

being contracted, they required precise offers and clever negotiating skills. 

But once a contract had been agreed, the charter was conducted in an excellent 

manner. Topic transacted a Panamax vessel of approximately 62,000 

tonnes for a round trip Brazil/Europe for 2 dollars per tonne and month in 

the exact first-class manner as subsequent contracts - with better market 

conditions – for 7 dollars per tonne and month. In fact, only once was there 

a difference with the accounts. And this was not Topic's doing, instead it was 

a third party who subsequently, on account of this, also became one of Vogemann's 

excellent business partners. 

The broker had contracted the Topic vessel “Panamante” to Ravenna. 

The company Panchaud Frères in Lausanne was the charterer and 

Ferruzzi S.p.A. the consignee of the cargo at the final destination. Vogemann 

were to execute the freight collecting for Topic “freight payable at destination” 

and after receipt then stamp the bill of lading for delivery. In the course of 

this there were difficulties with Panchaud who wanted to have the bill of lading 

endorsed first and then to pay for the cargo after receiving its endorsement. 

As a result, Paul Speckter flew to Ravenna in order to defend the interests 

of Topic on the ground. He succeeded in mediating between Panchaud 

and Topic, clearing up the dispute and finding an acceptable solution for all 

parties concerned. 


In the process, Panchaud evidently gained a very positive impression 

of Vogemann. In the final analysis, the Managing Director, Mr Meister, 

learnt from this incident: “If you can't beat him, join him” and established a 

business relationship with Vogemann that was very successful for both sides. 

In the period that followed, the people from Hamburg have chartered a great 

many ships to the Lausanne house both on a voyage and a time-charter basis; 

Topic was very often involved in this. Panchaud Frères S.A. became another 

of the special Speckter clients: Since the small “incident” in Ravenna caused 

by the “Panamante”, there was a perfectly amicable understanding between 

Panchaud under Mr Meister and the second Managing Director, Mr Ruska 

and with Vogemann too. There was no need for a contract in this respect. 

Vogemann had executed all the affreightment for the company 

for more than two decades, at first this was mainly soya or corn shipments 

from Brazil to Europe in the region of approximately 10,000 tonnes. This 

followed with transactions of round voyages of units up to Panamax size. 

In the process, Vogemann was able to instigate a combined business 

arrangement: Rudi Glitz, one of the forwarding agents from the Brazilian 

Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul), asked during one of his Hamburg visits to 

Vogemann, whether the company were able to procure significant tonnage for 

shipments to Brazil. That is to say, the company also imported combined harvesters 

from the Claas company in Eastern Westphalia Harsewinkel for South 

America. This meant that the ships which had been chartered for Panchaud 

from Brazil to Europe could take the agricultural machinery on board for the 

return voyage. Vogemann therefore recommended Panchaud to hire these 

vessels for a round passage on a time-charter basis, which was immediately 

accepted in Lausanne and brought both parties good returns. In the process, 

Vogemann still had the profitable task of handling and loading the ships in 

Hamburg. In addition, Vogemann also took on the entire time-charter calculation 

for Panchaud inclusive of the sailing and bunkering orders. 

Ships of panamax size also increasingly came into consideration 

at that point. Vogemann had to make sure that the costs of the timecharter 

were at a fair market level of rates “per ton” load “northbound” (that 

is to say from Brazil towards Europe). Now, there were the costs for port services, 

fuel, duration of the passage, loading and unloading which needed to 

be taken into consideration, which sometimes turned out to be a rather tricky 

puzzle. Vogemann was proud that they always succeeded in keeping the “per 

ton” rate for the load's passage within the frame of the market price or even 

to sometimes undershoot it. 


87 

1980 

The far-right “Wehrsportgruppe 

Hoffmann” is 

banned. 

Artists and intellectuals form 

an Anti-Strauß initiative. 

Daylight saving time (summertime) 

is introduced into 


With the Middle East 

Declaration, the EU grants 

Palestine the right to selfdetermination. 

The one-time film actor, 

Ronald Reagan, becomes the 

40th President of the US. 

Several western states 

boycott the Olympic Summer 

Games in Moscow on account 

of the Soviet invasion 

of Afghanistan. 

The Circus Roncalli has 

huge success with its 

programme “The Journey to 

the Rainbow”. 

The German entry “The Tin 

Drum” wins the Oscar for the 

best foreign film.

1981 

More than 300,000 people 

gather in Bonn for the larg- 

est peace demonstration in 

the history of the Federal 

Republic. 

The last Mercedes 600 rolls 

off the production line in 

Stuttgart. 

Natural gas deal between 

the Federal Republic and the 

Soviet Union. 

François Mitterand becomes 

President of France. 

The US announces construc- 

tion of the neutron bomb. 

Opening of the Neue Pinako- 

thek (art museum) in Munich. 

Wolfgang Petersen: “Das Boot” 

(war film). 

1982 

The Social-Liberal coalition 

collapses. Following a con- 

structive vote of no confidence 

by the Bundestag against 

Chancellor Schmidt, Helmut 

Kohl (CDU) is elected Chancel- 

lor. He forms a new coalition 

of government with the FDP. 

The Green Party is successful 

in elections in Hamburg, 

Hessen and Bavaria. 

Visit from the department of public prosecution. In May 1992, 

the United Nations Security Council imposed a trade and oil embargo on the 

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which, at the time, only consisted of Serbia 

and Montenegro, this was in order to contain the raging civil war taking place 

in the Balkans. Sanctions were eased in September 1994 and in November 

1995 were finally discontinued under Dayton Agreement. 

However, in 1993 they still applied, air traffic with Belgrade was 

suspended, NATO warships and aircraft patrolled along the coast of Montene- 

gro, Serbian foreign accounts were frozen. 

The Yugoslavian ship-owner with whom Vogemann worked, had 

changed the flag of his ship, the "Rumija" in sufficient time in Malta. This 

meant that in spite of the embargo she was allowed to continue sailing. In 

August 1992, she transported a cargo of 12,000 t feed from Rangun (Burma) 

to Rotterdam for the company of Alfred C. Toepfer. A transaction which ap- 

peared to Vogemann to be legal. It would have stayed this way as well if a Yu- 

goslavian broker from Hamburg had not been involved. "Jugo Agent" received 

a commission of 4,434 US dollars transferred to his account in the United 

States from Vogemann in May 1993 and the investigators took offence at this. 

One day, five of them turned up in Udo Wiese's office in order to question the 

Managing Director and to seize documents. They also put in an appearance at 

Toepfers. But whereas the charterer was soon afterwards left in peace again, 

the department of public prosecution remained with the broker. 

Excerpt from the "Hamburger Abendblatt" dated February 1998. 


Business with Coutinho, Caro & Co. 

Many a lucrative collaboration also came about through charterers approaching 

Vogemann with special requests. This was the case with the 

steel trading company founded in Hamburg in 1895 of Coutinho, Caro & 

Co. During the last third of the twentieth century and beyond, Harring- 

Detlef Arndt was one of the long-standing senior executives and member 

of the board (since 1990). He recalls the collaboration like this: 

This closely established contact with the H. Vogemann company 

reaches far back into the year 1971. Towards the end of 1970, I had 

just taken over management (as Chief Clerk since 1971) of the shipping 

department at Coutinho, Caro & Co (CCC) and was chiefly attempting to 

step up our growing steel trade with creative ideas in terms of shipping 

on a global scale. It was during the time when steel in international trade 

was no longer just being shipped from Northern Europe but at an increasing 

rate also from ports in the Mediterranean as well as from those in the 

Far East and from the eastern coast of South America. In addition to this, 

there was a colleague of around the same age at CCC who, at the same 

time, was to expand the chemistry department. As a result, not only did 

we have steel to load but this also included vast quantities of fertilizer 

which gave rise to the need of vessels being chartered. 

Vogemann provided a great help to me in these activities 

in the forms of the young, resourceful Udo Wiese (at the time 21 years of 

age and on board the brokerage company for three years already) and 

his boss Paul Speckter. At the time, my colleague Speckter, owing to his 

profound wealth of experience, and Udo Wiese, owing to his seemingly 

limitless supply of energy, were both hugely instrumental in ensuring that 

Coutinho, Caro & Co were always kept up to speed in the international 

steel trade market in matters of transport. With the assistance of the 

accomplished people from Vogemann, we were in a position to be able to 

organise even unusual and often highly complex shipments. Most notably, 

the many new loading and offloading points presented us with unimaginable 

challenges and problems and which required a great deal of commercial 

fantasy being brought into play in order for them to be resolved. 

Initially, we were chartering vessels purely on a voyage 

charter basis and after a few years we followed a suggestion by the 

people at Vogemann and also took on vessels on a time-charter basis. 

At first just for voyages which were being executed for our own in-house 


89 

Scandal surrounding the 

union-owned “Neue Heimat” 

(property developer) shakes 

confidence in the Confederation 

of German Trade Unions' 

functionaries. 

In consumer electronics, the 

age of digital technology is 

heralded. 

A peace movement under 

the banner “Swords to 

Ploughshares” begins in East 

Germany. 

Disputes surrounding 

construction of the western 

runway at Frankfurt Airport. 

The pop singer Nicole wins the 

Eurovision Song Contest with 

the song “Ein bisschen Frieden”. 

1983 

The CDU/CSU-FDO coalition 

government is confirmed in 

new elections. The Green 

Party win seats in the Bundestag 

for the first time. 

Mass demonstrations in 

Mutlangen against stationing 

of the Pershing II missiles. 

Alleged Hitler diaries are 

exposed as forgeries.

US President Reagan presents 

plans for a star wars defence 

system (SDI). 

Start of German teletext Btx. 

The first cases of AIDS occur in 


The restored Wartburg is 

re-opened at festivities for the 

500-year anniversary of the birth 

of Martin Luther. 

1984 

Bavaria is the first state to adopt 

protection of the environment in 

its constitution. 

Resignation of Federal Minister of 

Economics Otto Graf Lambsdorff 

on account of his involvement in 

the Flick party funding scandal. 

East Germany dismantles the 

spring guns on the border. 

Great Britain and China agree on 

the return of the Crown Colony of 

Hong Kong to China. 

Murder of the Indian Prime 

Minister Indira Gandhi. 

The first cable television com- 

pany starts broadcasting in the 


According to a forest damage 

survey, 50 % of German forests 

are damaged. 

steel deliveries, for example, from Brazil and/or Argentina to the Far East. 

It was not long before other companies were also offering us loads via 

our agents, requesting us to also transport these at the most favourable 

freight rates possible. This service quickly developed into an important 

mainstay. As time went by, our shipping activities began to increase to such 

a dramatic size that I began toying with the idea of how I could bundle and 

separate them from the other commercial activities of the Coutinho, Caro & 

Co house. 

For a long time, there had been a CCC subsidiary which went 

by the name of Coreck and had been established as a precaution but as of 

yet, still had not developed very much in the way of noteworthy activities. 

The company appeared to my colleagues and me to be the appropriate umbrella 

for our shipping activities. The company had been operating under 

the name of Coreck Maritime GmbH since around 1980; I assumed the role 

of Managing Director in 1983. As Udo Wiese had, in the meantime, moved 

up the ladder to become a partner at H. Vogemann, our time-chartering 

activities with H. Vogemann were by now being looked after by our Hamburg 

Dane, Frank Jensen. All time-charter contracts were exclusively being 

handled by H. Vogemann. Amongst the time-charter vessels were also 

several long-term chartered general cargo freighters. Back then, this had 

Coreck ships ride at anchor. 


Share certificate of H. Vogemann Inc. 

also included making some extremely good contacts with various Croatian 

ship-owners via the H. Vogemann company. Udo Wiese and I together 

visited these ship-owners in Dalmatia on several occasions during the 

1980s and the early 1990s and brokered good conditions. Aside from that, 

together we started up the American company H. Vogemann Inc. in Stamford 

(Connecticut) which brokered the American export cargoes; Vogemann 

received 40 percent, CCC and Coreck each 30 percent in this company. 

During the mid-1990s, approximately 60 departures were 

being offered through Coreck Maritime GmbH across the globe, primarily 

regularly from Brazil/Argentina to the Far East, from the Baltic ports and 

from other North European ports to the Far East, from the Mediterranean 

to the Far East, from Indonesia to Europe including from the Mediterranean 

ports as well as up to twice-monthly departures from the Far East 

(especially China) to Europe, also including the Mediterranean. And on top 

of this, departures were also on offer from the US Gulf to the Far East, 

from the Far East to South Africa and to the east coast of South America 

as well as from the Baltic Sea ports to the US Gulf and in the Caribbean. 

Every year, on balance, around 1.2 million freight tonnes were transported, 

whereby a portion of the cargo bookings were as a result of H. Vogemann. 


91 

The German programme 

“Tatort” has the ARD's highest 

viewing figures with Götz George 

(“Schimanski”). 

1985 

Schengen Agreement for the 

abolition of internal border 

controls for certain European 

countries. 

The reformist politician Mikhail 

Gorbachev becomes General 

Secretary of the CPSU. 

Friedrich Karl Flick sells his 

corporation to the Deutsche Bank. 

The first red-green state 

government is established in 

Hessen under Holger Börner and 

Joschka Fischer. 

Grand opening of the rebuilt Semper 

Opera House in Dresden. 

Boris Becker wins the Wimbledon 

Tennis Championships. 

Start of the television series 

“Lindenstraße”. 

1986 

Reactor accident in Chernobyl 

(Ukraine). 

The Bundestag votes in introduction 

of machine-readable identity 

papers and European passports.

First artificial heart 

transplant in the Federal 

Republic. 

France and Great Britain 

agree on the construction 

of a channel tunnel. 

The Swedish Prime 

Minister Olof Palme is 

shot. 

The musical “Cats” by 

Andrew Lloyd Webber 

premieres in Germany. 

Bertelsmann enters the 

circle of the world's larg- 

est media groups through 

buying the publishing 

house Doubleday & Co. 

1987 

At the parliamentary 

elections, the CDU/ 

CSU suffer loss of votes, 

however, Helmut Kohl still 

remains as Chancellor. 

State visit of the East 

German Chairman of the 

Council of State, Erich 

Honecker, in Bonn. 

Gorbachev announces his 

reform programme with 

the objectives of “Glasnost” 

(openness) and “Perestroi- 

ka” (reconstruction). 

To begin with, Coreck and its cooperation with Vogemann 

remained little affected by the sale of the parent company CCC in 1984 

and its resale in 1988 and in 1996. Initial reorientation of the majority 

shareholders' business policy at the start of the new century had a 

restraining effect. The long and so prosperous development ended in 

2003 with a petition for insolvency proceedings. Vogemann only experienced 

this marginally at best because the company had in the meantime 

expanded into an impressive group of companies; brokerage was only one 

of a whole string of business activities. 

The trial against Udo Wiese for violation of UN Security Council 

sanctions were opened five years later. It ended with an acquittal. The depart- 

ment of public prosecution would not accept that and filed for an appeal. As 

a result, the court and the defendant came to an agreement whereby pro- 

ceedings were closed against payment of an 8,000 Mark fine, payable to social 

institutions. Udo Wiese was thereby saved from having an entry placed in the 

criminal records. However, nobody took away from him the 30,000 Mark fee 

for solicitors which had accumulated during the proceedings. 

There is another story which belongs to the complicated "War in 

Yugoslavia". The managing director of a Croatian brokerage firm friendly with 

Vogemann, one day turned to Udo Wiese and asked him to save his son from 

dangerous military service as the threat of being drafted into the Croatian 

army was hanging over him. It was agreed to employ the young man for a 

short time as an unpaid trainee. And so, Boris Babic came to Hamburg. The 

"short time" turned out to be 13 years, during which time he put a great deal 

of valuable work into the company. 

Cremer – Krohn – Toepfer. Vogemann had been heavily in- 

volved in the animal feed business with Asia since the late 1970s, acting as a 

chartering broker service. The raw material came from Thailand, Indonesia 

and the Philippines. Originally, India had also been one of the suppliers but 

later dropped out as Indian material could no longer satisfy the require- 

ments once the controls increasingly started to become more stringent and 

limits were raised. The vessels which were being chartered for this were, for 

the most part, tween deckers with a deadweight of 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes. 

They belonged to Greek ship-owners or also to companies from the Eastern 

Bloc, from Poland or Yugoslavia. At the time, there were three large houses 

in Hamburg dealing with feed stuff for the manufacture of mixed feed: one 


of them was Peter Cremer, the second Krohn & Co, and the third Alfred C. 

Toepfer. The relations between Vogemann and Cremer and Krohn had already 

been long established, but not those with Toepfer. Toepfer had his own broker. 

However, he looked upon the enterprising people at Vogemann with interest. 

It came to light that Vogemann was also still able to procure vessels when 

other people had given up the search. The reason being that the people at 

Toepfer were used to chartering North European ships which were often much 

too large to be able to be used intelligently. Vogemann, on the other hand, 

with the much smaller vessels from his Greek or Croatian ship-owners was 

able to fill the gap successfully. 

It happened during a dinner for four; Wiese and Boller from 

Vogemann and Schröder and Meier from Toepfer were sitting together when 

a similar problem turned up again: Toepfer wanted to contract a ship from 

Indonesia on a time-charter basis. However, his broker had been unsuccessful 

in finding one. They tried for days on end but to no avail. Vogemann's men 

were busy with a different problem. They had wanted to close a contract with 

the "Amelia Topic" from the Yugoslavian ship-owner Topic with Krohn & Co on 

a voyage charter basis, but had not got the reserve. The party found a very 

nice solution: Toepfer took the "Amelia Topic" but not on a time-charter basis 

as his Norwegians had done, but on a voyage charter basis. 

The business went so well that Toepfer immediately contracted 

a further two vessels through Vogemann. However, in every instance they 

made sure that others had already found it a tough nut to crack or that others 

would find it a tough nut to crack. Vogemann also passed this test and 

Historic office equipment, today safely stored in a glass cabinet at Vogemanns. 


93 

Prime Minister to 

Schleswig-Holstein 

Barschel commits 

suicide. 

The sporting pilot, 

Manfred Rust, lands 

his Cessna on the Red 

Square in Moscow. 

The first German wind 

farm is opened in 

Dithmarschen. 

Werner Tübke completes 

his monumental 

panoramic painting 

“Early Bourgeois Revolution 

in Germany”. 

Katarina Witt wins 

the World Ice Skating 

Championships. 

Steffi Graf is seeded 

number 1 by the 

Women's Tennis Association. 

1988 

Michael Jackson gives 

a concert at the Berlin 

Wall. 

During an air-show in 

Ramstein, an accident 

kills seventy people. 

Krupp steelworks in 

Duisburg are closed.

The Gladbeck hostage 

crisis ends with three 

people being killed. 

Soviets begin withdraw- 

al of their mid-range 

missiles from East 

Germany and Czecho- 

slovakia. 

End of the Iran-Iraq 

Gulf War. 

1989 

Massacre of students 

protesting on Tianan- 

men Square in Peking. 

Erosion of the Eastern 

Bloc: Hungary opens up 

to the West. 

Beginning of a great 

tide of people fleeing 

East Germany. 

Monday Demonstra- 

tions in Leipzig. The 

regime collapses. The 

borders to the Federal 

Republic open. Civil 

rights activists establish 

“Round Tables”. 

Overthrow and execu- 

tion of the Romanian 

dictator Ceausescu. 

The last Soviet troops 

leave Afghanistan. 

a stable business relationship developed which still, although not to the 

same degree, exists even today. Toepfer soon started calling Udo Wiese the 

"German Greek". This was meant as recognition of Wiese's negotiating skills. 

Wiese had no prejudices against "his" Greek ship-owners. The main thing was 

that they had suitable vessels. Of course, some things ran a little differently 

during negotiations but he was able to adapt to the situation and run with 

it even when conventional opinion regarded matters as being a little too Le- 

vantine. He especially enjoyed having two telephone conversations on the go 

at the same time. The ship-owner from Piraeus on one ear, the German feed 

dealer on the other, then amplifying the Greek through the loudspeakers so 

that the Hamburg business partner could hear all the lamenting and the tor- 

rent of abuse from the other line - and the whole office joined in the fun too. 

It was customary on business trips to Greece at the time that 

regardless of where you stopped off, fish would be served up. Now it just so 

happened that one day a man from Toepfer was present who loathed fish, 

especially when it lay on the plate in its entirety, with head and tail. And fish 

was served like this everywhere. After this had gone on for a few days, the 

man finally asked for a meat dish and after a certain amount of to-ing and 

fro-ing was given it too. 

The meaning of the Polish tonnage. Toepfer also belonged to 

the charterers in the inner-European grain trade. At Vogemann, this business 

sector lay in the hands of Hans Boller who retired from the corporation in 

2008. Boller had a good working relationship with the man at Toepfer, who 

had all the European loads under him and he was repeatedly successful in 

getting a foot in the door for this business. The important thing was access 

to the Polish tonnage. The work involved there was with the state brokerage 

company of Polfracht Gdynia, the shipping company was called Polish Steam- 

ship Company (PSC) based in Szczecin. Roland Hensel had good access but he, 

however, worked for the competition. Which was reason enough to get him 

away from there. In 1984, he was employed at Vogemann, in 1988 he received 

power of attorney, in 1992 he was made a partner. With Toepfer he concluded 

all the transatlantic cargo with PSC which supplemented the inner-European 

trade in a desirable manner. Business flourished, at times there were more 

than ten vessels a month with shipments for Toepfer underway. 

At Toepfer, word was going round that with the Poles it was 

like with the wives at home - "We love them but we just don't understand 

them" - however at Vogemann, people knew just how to adjust to the differ- 


ent mind sets. It was extremely troublesome trying to keep the lines of communication 

open though. There were very few telephones in Socialist Poland, 

international calls had to be handled via Frankfurt, on numerous occasions 

the only means possible of communicating with one another was via the telex 

machine. Business trips from Hamburg, to Gdansk for example, would take 

from ten to twelve hours. The Polish partners liked to have their German 

counterparts visiting them, meetings not only take place in the port cities 

of Gdansk and Szczecin but also in places that offered something to tourists, 

Krakow, Wroclaw and the Masuria. As might be expected, Vodka flowed freely 

at the meetings in Poland which demanded quite a lot of staying power from 

the Vogemann people. Attempts to make a secret agreement with the waiter 

so that he would fill the glasses with water instead of vodka did not help at all 

- the man still served vodka again. And quietly pouring the Schnapps into a 

flower vase did not always work out either. There was also no chance of foregoing 

strong drink when the people from Poland visited the West, but instead 

of vodka it was corn brandy and Aquavit that was served. But it would appear 

nowadays that habits have changed, people no longer drink one another under 

the table at every opportunity. Since the fall of the iron curtain drinking 

behaviour has become more moderate, binge drinking was probably part and 

parcel of a certain historic period, simply that of state socialism. 

From Vogemann's glass cabinet: List of abbreviations used in sending cables. 


95 

Reagan and Gorbachev 

sign a treaty on the complete 

elimination of all nuclear 

mid-range missiles. 

Steffi Graf und Boris Becker 

win the Wimbledon Tennis 

Championships. 

1990 

Occupation of the Stasi 

headquarters in Berlin. 

The CDU is the strongest 

party at the first free East 

German general election. 

“Two Plus Four Conference” 

on foreign policy aspects of 

German unity. 

Currency, economic and 

social union of the Federal 

Republic and the German 

Democratic Republic. 

The German Democratic 

Republic enters the constitutional 

sphere: Re-unification 

of Germany. 

In Paris, the Conference on 

Security and Co-operation 

in Europe adopts a charter 

to end the cold war in 

Europe.

Baltic States declare their 

independency. 

The German football team 

wins the World Cup in Italy. 

Pink Floyd perform the 

rock-opera “The Wall” at 

the torn-down wall in 

Berlin. 

1991 

International forces drive 

Iraqi troops out of occupied 

Kuwait. 

The Bundestag elects 

Berlin as the capital city of 

Germany. 

Right-wing extremists 

attack a home for asylum 

seekers in Hoyerswerda 

(Saxony). 

The last “Wartburg” and 

“Trabant” roll off the pro- 

duction lines. 

In Maastricht, heads of 

state and government from 

the 12 EEC countries vote 

to establish the European 

Union (EU). 

Boris Yelzin becomes 

President of Russia. 

An attempted coup 

against the Soviet 

President Gorbachev fails. 

The business dealings with the Polish shipping company, now 

transformed into a private company, still take place today, even though they 

are no longer to the same extent. 

Difficult communication. The first response when anybody 

asks how communication during the 1970s or the 1980s was actually man- 

aged, is always a deep sigh of: The costs! 20,000 Marks a month for telephone 

calls, the same amount again for telex! Every possible means was attempted 

to try to cut costs. Telexes were sent via Holland because they were cheaper 

there, a system of abbreviations was invented to reduce the overall size of the 

messages. Communication with the US, for example, took place in the following 

manner: Telexes were only directed to a single recipient in Germany who 

would then duplicate them domestically. Because the telex machines made 

such a loud noise when they were operating, they were placed in separate 

rooms as far away from ordinary work places as possible, in the cellar or at 

the end of the corridor. People used to smoke while they were working, still 

fresh in our minds are those individual employees who would sit at the telex 

machine puffing away at one cigarette after another and who used to place 

it on the edge of the table. The burn marks in the wood then displayed their 

own message, permanently. The first PC appeared at Vogemann in 1984, a 

machine called Sirius, purchased for the princely sum of 15,000 Mark. Compared 

to today's computers it could do very little but it made written communication 

from the workplace possible. To begin with it just dealt with sending 

information but then later receiving it too, so that the visits to the telex cabin 

became less and less until they finally disappeared altogether. Nowadays, 

with the advent of e-mail, 5,000 electronic messages arrive at Vogemann every 

day, compare this with the "mere" 100 telexes from the age of the clattering 

teleprinter. In bygone days, waiting for a message from the outside world was 

akin to being on hot pins until it finally arrived, nowadays new methods need 

to be invented to slow the influx down, filters need to be installed which are 

able to fish out the most important information because nobody is in a position 

anymore to read everything that floods into the company. 

Increasing need for raw materials. Vogemann continued the 

cooperation initiated with Coreck (see page 89 ff.) along similarly structured 

business sectors, partly with people who had left Coreck and who had established 

their own companies, for example, MACS Cross, Pro Line Carrier, 

Hamburg Bulk Carrier. A chequered time. "No two days were the same", says 


The company's 

headquarters in 

Hallerstraße 57. 

partner Frank Jensen today. Amongst other things, Vogemann had carved 

a niche out for themselves, the affreightment of tween deckers, vessels with 

a deadweight of 15,000 up to 20,000 t, stop-gaps so to speak, which fitted in 

extremely well when there were no other vast quantities to transport. But 

by the mid-1990s, transactions with this type of vessel were becoming more 

scarce. The reasons for this were the increasing use of containers as general-purpose 

transport containers and in globalisation. General cargo was no 

longer loaded individually but would be packed into containers which would 

be transported in large quantities on vessels which were purpose built. And 

the growing global demand for raw materials lead to this bulk commodity 

almost exclusively being shipped in the bellies of a new breed of large-scale 

carrier, the so-called bulk carrier. 

The old style tween decker had served its purpose. Of course, it 

still continued to exist and even exists today, however it is limited to specific, 

narrowly defined purposes. But for Vogemann, they were out of the question. 

Following the demands of a developing world, the company entered into 

the bulk carrier business, the "Panamax" with a deadweight of 60,000 up to 


97 

Civil war in disintegrating 

Yugoslavia. 

1992 

The “Stasi-Unterlagengesetz” 

(State Security 

Records Act) comes into 

effect. 

Revision of Article 218: 

Abortions are nonpunitive 

until the twelfth 

week of pregnancy. 

Joint suicide of 

two Green Party 

politicians Petra Kelly 

and Gert Bastian. 

The last section of 

the controversial 

Rhine-Main-Danube 

Canal is opened. 

Helmut Dietl receives 

the Film Awards in Gold 

for “Schtonk”. 

Maria Jepsen becomes 

the first female bishop 

of the Evangelical 

Lutheran Church. 

The German 

Olympic team is the 

most successful nation 

at the Winter Games in 

Albertville, France.

1993 

The German Post Office 

introduces a five-figure 

postcode. 

The Green Party merges 

with the East German civil 

rights movement Bündnis 

(Alliance) '90. 

The trial against Erich 

Honecker is discontinued. 

The Kurdistan Workers' 

Party PKK is forbidden 

in Germany. 

The Saxon Foron 

Haushaltswaren GmbH 

produces the world's first 

CFC-free refrigerator. 

Czechoslovakia is sepa- 

rated into the 

Czech Republic and the 

Slovak Republic. 

Signing of the Gaza- 

Jericho Agreement 

between the Israeli 

government and the PLO. 

75,000 t or the smaller "handysize" with 20,000 up to 40,000 t. Coal and ore 

were also added to the previously predominant cargoes of grain. 

Lars Rudebeck, who had joined in 2003, opened the door to a 

further business sector, the affreightment of raw materials and additives for 

the metal industry, chiefly that of aluminium. In 2003 alone, 25 passages from 

the fifth continent to South Africa were able to be contracted for the BHP Billiton 

company in Australia. From a small commercial enterprise brokered 

by Rudebeck with 1,700 t "Anode scrap paste" (petroleum coke is the residue 

derived from the thermal cracking process of petroleum which is used in the 

manufacture of electrodes or electro graphite) from Mississippi to South Africa, 

developed a stable relationship whereby the client had amounts of up to 

200,000 t petroleum coke a year to be transported. By 2008, the big day had 

arrived: The ten thousandth contract closure could be celebrated. 

Change of address. The broker scene was changing. Whereas 

in the 1960s, it was small companies with three or four brokers who had the 

bulk of businesses, the larger companies were also gaining more and more 

ground. The history of the Vogemann house reflects this development. There 

were five of them in 1978, plus one secretary. Today, the company numbers 

thirteen brokers plus an additional three in Postfixing. The sphere of activities 

a chartering broker undertakes has grown, his services stretch from market 

analysis and travel cost calculations to issuing of freight contracts and 

supervision during the runtime up to turnaround accounting and the final 

accountings. 

In 1971, Vogemann moved offices from within the Fölsch Block 

from the west side of the building over to the east side, from the address 

Plan 5 to the address Hermannstraße 46. In 1994, the company moved out of 

the city to Rothenbaum. The new premises lay in the Hallerstraße Nr. 57. Ten 

years later, in the year 2004, the leap was made to the other side of the road, 

Vogemann moved into quarters in the Hallerstraße Nr. 40, into a building in 

which Warner Bros. had previously resided (Dieter Bohlen began his carrier in 

the recording studio in the cellar). The previous site was not abandoned however, 

Wallem GmbH & Co KG, a member of the Vogemann group, remained in 

the Hallerstraße 57. 

A meeting over a knuckle of pork. What would a profession 

life be like without the socialising that is attached to it? Once a year, on 

the first Friday in November, the Vereinigung Hamburger Schiffsmakler und 


VDR Counsel Jan-Thiess Heitmann (left) with the Vogemann partners Udo Wiese and Jens Arndt 

at the ship-owners reception in 2009. 

Schiffsagenten (Hamburger Shipbrokers' Association) invites everybody to a 

meal of knuckle of pork. This goes back to a custom initiated by the Association's 

managing director of the time, Bruno Jansen. In November 1948, he 

gathered all the bosses of the member companies, 110 in total, for a meal on 

the disused steamship "St. Louis", which had been hastily patched together 

after it had been hit by heavy bombing and was used as a floating hotel and 

restaurant. Today, between 5,000 to 6,000 people from the shipping industry 

attend this event which now takes place in the CCH. 

At Vogemann, it has now become a habit to prepare for this 

big event by having private parties in restaurants from the Monday onwards 

during the week in question. On the Wednesday, the company invites their 

business friends to the Brauhaus Albrecht on the Adolphsbrücke until it is 

finally time on the Friday to wend their way on their pilgrimage to the CCH. A 

tradition that nobody wants to miss. The same thing applies to the members 

meetings and receptions by the Association of German Ship-Owners or the 

summer fetes which have taken place in the gardens of the office villas in the 

Hallerstraße with local customers since 1995 - where, if the World or European 

Cup Football Championships are also taking place at the same time, a 

stylish "Public Viewing" event with a large screen belongs. 


99 

1994 

The CDU/CSU-FDP coalition 

wins the parliamentary elections 

by a narrow margin. 

The European Economic Area 

(EEA) for the free movement 

of goods, services and capital 

comes into effect. 

The Bundesverfassungsgericht 

(Federal Constitutional Court) 

declares that it is permissible 

for the Bundeswehr to participate 

in foreign operations outside 

the NATO area. 

The Deutsche Bundesbahn 

and Deutsche Reichsbahn are 

privatised and merged to form 

the Deutsche Bahn AG. 

The Treuhandanstalt (Trust 

Agency) for managing national 

property in East Germany comes 

to a close. 

The so-called Uruguay Round 

approves the establishment of the 

World Trade Organisation (WTO). 

The department store 

blackmailer “Dagobert” is 

arrested in Berlin. 

Michael Schumacher wins the 

Formula 1 World Championships 

for the first time.


Chapter 3 

Chapter 3 – Reorganisation of the fleet since 1995 

Reorganisation of the fleet 

since 1995 

101

1995 

An art project by the 

married couple, Christo 

and Jeanne Claude 

involved wrapping the 

Reichstag in Berlin. 

The Shell concern has to 

abandon its plans to sink 

the decommissioned oil 

platform “Brent Spar” in 

the North Sea in the wake 

of international protests. 

The Federal State Ministers 

of Education and the Arts 

adopt the reform of the 

German orthography. 

The European Union (EU) 

becomes a community of 

Reorganisation of the fleet 

since 1995 

By the mid-1990s, the old traditions of the company were finally ready to 

fly the flags once more: Vogemann entered the shipping business with 

its own vessels. The acquisition of a 20,900 tonne freighter owned by the 

former Yugoslavian state shipping company Jadroplov, triggered the build 

up of a fleet which now has 23 units with sizes ranging up to 170,000 

tonnes. The following presentation is based on the memoirs of Udo Wiese 

and Jens Arndt. 

T 

he spirit of a house can still dominate its conception of itself 

even when this appears to have changed beyond recognition or 

to have vanished altogether. In any case, H. Vogemann did not 

relinquish his hold on the chronicles of the shipping company 

even when the founder's son, Richard, should have realised in the early 1960s 

that the company's future was not to be found in its own fleet. Nevertheless, 

industrious Ulrich Prüss picked up the threads shortly after the death of the 

boss once more, but equally failed, this time to a dubious “investor”. From 

that point onwards, any further ideas involving a renewal of the shipping 

company venture were met with a great deal of skepticism by the people in 

charge at the time and later. In any event, Paul Speckter and his wife Renate 

did not want to know anything about it and concentrated all their efforts on 

the brokerage business. 

However, with a change in leadership in 1993 thoughts of 

becoming ship-owners again could no longer be resisted. The catalyst for 

such a new beginning was attributed to the previously-mentioned good relations 

to the Croatian ship-owners initiated by Udo Wiese, especially those 

to the Jadroplov company based in Split. As a result of the collapse of the 

communist planned economy, the former Yugoslavian state shipping company 

was being reorganised and parts were being outsourced as Split Ship 

Management (SSM). In the wake of a costly renovation of its fleet, Jadroplov/ 

SSM was forced to let older ships go. Initially, no taker could be found for 

the “Marko Marulic”, named after the famous Croatian poet and humanist 


(16th century). It would be true to say that the asking price of 3.6 million 

dollars for the 20,900 tonne ship built in Bilbao in 1977, actually exceeded 

even Vogemann's possibilities, however, Jadroplov offered a 50:50 compromise: 

The company wanted to continue providing technical management and 

crew, while Vogemann should take over commercial management including 

chartering and pay its share in instalments. 

On this basis an agreement was made. The Vogemann logo has 

been emblazoned on the bulk carrier since 1995, which was at first renamed 

to the “Marul” without the Croatian ending. It also brought in good returns, 

Vogemann was able to pay its instalments off quickly but the surpluses were 

siphoned off by the partner company in a way which was difficult to pinpoint. 

Actual or alleged damages to the ship were invoiced so that there was very 

little or nothing left of the profits that were made. 

But this was not all, in the three years that Vogemann sailed 

with the ship, a particularly embarrassing episode stands out which kept 

management busy for a fair number of weeks. The “Marul” had been chartered 

out to the Bremen company Pac Line for 18 months who were not in the 

best of financial health. Delays in paying the charter fees continued to get 

longer and longer. Eventually, the “Marul” lay in New Orleans, had just been 

unloaded and was to be loaded with grain in Mississippi River again, when 

Pac Line tried to extricate themselves out of the obligation to pay by arguing 

The “Marul”, purchased in Croatia, prompted Vogemann's return to the shipping business. 


103 

15 states through accession 

of Austria, Finland and 

Sweden. 

Ten years after signing the 

Schengen Agreement for 

the abolition of identity 

checks at European internal 

borders it finally comes into 

effect. 

The participating states at 

the UN climate conference 

in Berlin are unable to 

agree on a concrete plan 

of action regarding climate 

protection. 

Bosnian Serbs murder 

several thousand Muslims 

in the UN “safe area” of 

Srebrenica. 

The Dayton Agreement 

ends civil war in former 

Yugoslavia. 

The Israeli Prime Minister 

Yitzhak Rabin is shot dead 

by a Jewish fanatic. 

1996 

First cases of the “mad cow 

disease” BSE in Germany. 

The shipbuilding company 

Bremer Vulkan Verbund AG 

goes bankrupt. 

Changes in the law for store 

closing times allows retailers 

to stay open from 6 a.m. 

to 8 p.m. 

Millionaire Jan-Philipp 

Reemtsma is kidnapped.

The euro-stability pact 

sets a maximum budget 

deficit of 3 % of the gross 

domestic product. 

Radical Islamic Taliban 

militia seize the Afghan 

capital city of Kabul. 

The Deutsche Dom 

(German Cathedral) in 

Berlin is re-opened. 

1997 

Opening of the so-called 

“Wehrmachtsausstellung” 

(German Army exhibition) 

with documents on 

the War of Extermination 

in East Germany. 

Flooding along the Oder 

forces thousands of people 

to evacuate their homes. 

The British Princess 

Diana is killed in a car 

accident in Paris. 

The UN climate 

conference in Kyoto (Japan) 

approves reductions in 

greenhouse gases. 

In the so-called Politbüro 

Process, Egon Krenz, the last 

State and Party Leader of 

the GDR, receives a six-and- 

a-half year prison sentence. 

that the vessel did not comply with the safety regulations, the hatches were 

not watertight. This was “proven” by means of an ultrasound test. 

Quarrel about “leaky” hatch covers. Now, this “Ultrasonic” 

method was not the most commonplace method. Vogemann had the hatch 

covers tested in the usual way using high-pressure water jets. In the course 

of this, only small leaks were visible which Vogemann immediately had repaired. 

This was not enough to suit the charterer, who stood by the results 

of their testing method. The vessel was declared off-hire and it was obvious 

that Pac Line wanted to get rid of the charter; namely because freight levels 

had dropped in the meantime and were now below the charter hire that they 

had agreed to. Vogemann in turn found themselves in a catch-22 situation, 

they could not withdraw the vessel and make a claim for damages precisely 

because the vessel was officially off-hire. Tedious negotiations on the correct 

method of testing the hatch covers followed until an agreement could 

be reached and the vessel was able to leave port after a four-week laytime. 

The next charter fees were once again unpaid in due time which meant that 

Vogemann now had recourse to withdraw the vessel from the charter and - at 

a lower price - to charter her to the company Macs Cross. 

Pac Line, however, did not give up so easily. They arrested the 

“Marul” in Rotterdam on account of allegedly lost profits and Vogemann had 

to provide a guarantee of 450,000 US dollars in order to free the vessel from 


“Vogetrader”, a bulk carrier of 72,000 tonnes.

the arrest. For this purpose, Vogemann had to enter arbitrations and conduct 

these until their conclusion, even though Pac Line had in the meantime filed 

for insolvency; there was no other way that the 450,000 dollars could be 

recovered. Vogemann were also awarded their claims against Pac Line in an 

arbitration but this was of little use as there were so many other creditors 

that there was no more money to be expected. 

In this respect, it was all the more surprising that Vogemann 

were able to keep the bulker anyway and the “Marul” was even able to renew 

class in Argentina for around 300,000 US dollars. But what to do with the vessel? 

Vogemann had a buyer on hand who wanted to buy her for 900,000 dollars. 

However, the Croatian partner had other plans, Jadroplov/SSM thought 

to have the “Marul” scrapped, for 600,000 dollars, and pointed out that a sale 

to a third party involved far too many risks. As a result, Vogemann decided 

to buyout their partner's 50 percent share basing this on the value of the 

scrap. But the Croatians refused. Udo Wiese had to perform marathon negotiations 

in Split until an agreement was finally found: Jadroplov parted with 

their share, however, a surcharge of 10 percent was added onto the scrap value. 

The Bremer Landesbank, who were financing the purchase price, proved 

themselves to be very cooperative. 

An end was later made to the murky structure of Jadroplov/SSM 

- the technical Ship Management (SSM) were in a splendid position, while 

the shipping company (Jadroplov) continued to go downhill, it was close to 

bankruptcy - the shipping company was rescued in 2000/2001, whereby Vogemann 

and the Hamburg ship-owner Peter Döhle were substantially involved. 

One result of this was that Vogemann was allowed to exclusively handle the 

chartering matters of the three Jadroplov bulk carriers, “Ist”, “Solta” and “Don 

Frane Bulic”. This still applies to the latter ship even today, the others have 

been sold meantime. 

How did the first years as a ship-owner balance out? They were 

not exactly a success and several rather unpleasant experiences were had 

along the way as well. Nevertheless, the new management were not to be 

diverted from their new path. 

In 2001, a shipping company from Taiwan offered six bulk carriers 

for sale. A crisis prevailed in the Far East, the freight rates were low, the 

shipping company was suffering from liquidity problems. Vogemann kept a 

close watch on the developments. When one vessel after another was going 

at a low price, people in Hamburg started saying to themselves: What about 

us, can't we manage it as well? And so it was decided to take action. Liter- 


105 

Jan Ullrich is the first 

German to win the Tour de 

France. 

Hong Kong is put under 

China's control as a special 

administrative region. 

The comet Hale-Bopp comes 

within 197 million kilometres 

of the earth. 

A million people celebrate the 

“Love Parade” in Berlin. 

1998 

In a train accident in 

Eschede 101 people are killed. 

For the first time in the history 

of the Federal Republic, 

the governing party is 

completely replaced by the 

Opposition: At the elections 

for the Bundestag, the Social 

Democrats are the strongest 

parliamentary group. 

Gerhard Schröder forms 

a coalition government 

with the Green Party under 

Joschka Fischer. 

Deutsche Post and Telekom 

AG lose their monopolies in 

the postal and telephone 

services. 

The concerns Daimler-Benz 

and Chrysler join forces.

The world's largest 

banking institute emerges 

through the fusion 

of Deutsche Bank and 

Bankers Trust. 

Monica Lewinsky, a White 

House intern, accuses 

President Clinton of hav- 

ing had sexual contact 

with her. 

Great Britain and Ireland 

sign the “Good Friday 

Agreement” in the North- 

ern Ireland peace process. 

1999 

After the failure of the 

Kosovo peace conference 

in Paris, NATO begins air 

strikes on Yugoslavia. 

As a result, the Yugosla- 

vian army pulls out of 

Kosovo. 

The euro is introduced 

as a cashless form of 

payment. 

The federal government 

and twelve German com- 

panies agree on a founda- 

tion to compensate former 

slave labourers under the 

Nazi regime. 

Oscar Lafontaine resigns 

from his office as Party 

Chairman of the SPD and 

as Finance Minister of 

the Schröder/Fischer 

government. 

ally right at the last minute, the documents for the tender offer had landed 

in the waste paper basket, Hans Boller fished them out again. The last two 

from the previous fleet of six vessels, two 72,000 tonne bulk carriers built in 

1996, came to Vogemann, each for approximately 20 million US dollars and 

sailed from then on under the names of “Vogetrader” and “Vogevoyager”. The 

transaction was financed by the Hamburgische Landesbank. Vogemann have 

built up an excellent relationship with them over the years. Jason Chan from 

the company Wallem was equally helpful in providing assistance. 

“Vogetrader” and “Vogevoyager” were chartered back to the sell- 

ing companies for ten years, in the form of a Bareboat Charter in fact, where- 

by the charterer himself is responsible for ship management and must bear 

the costs of maintenance, repairs and operating supplies during the period 

of use. This practice is rare in the shipping business, but was useful in this 

instance as Vogemann were not willing to contract the technical management 

out to a third party again following the bad episode with the “Marul”, however, 

as pure chartering brokers they were not - yet - in a position to handle the 

technical management through their own shipping company. 

Vogemann had granted the Taiwanese a buyback option after six 

years at the level of the original purchase price of approximately 20 million US 

View of the bridge aboard the “Xin Shi Hai” which became the “Voge West”. 


dollars. In 2001, the likelihood of this option being exercised was still regarded as 

extremely far-fetched, however, in the following years, markets for bulk carriers 

developed in a direction which exceeded all expectations: By the end of 2006, the 

market value for the then ten-year-old vessels had risen to 35 million US dollars 

already. Since Vogemann wanted to keep the vessels, they bought the buyback 

option back from the Taiwanese for a two-figure million US dollar sum. When 

the purchase price is factored in, Vogemann had paid more than 35 million US 

dollars each for the vessels in doing this. But the money was well invested. In 

2007, “Vogetrader” and “Vogevoyager” were sold to a closed-end shipping fund, 

still managed by Vogemann as contract carrier today, for 43 million US dollars 

each. One year later, a price of more than 60 million could have been attained, 

but nobody could have foreseen that at the time. 

A contract of sales as thick as a book. Such advantageous 

offers as the previous one from Taiwan do not come around so often, was 

the thinking at Vogemanns. However, a short time later yet another plum 

offer landed on the table again. This one came from a Norwegian shipping 

company who were being compelled by their bank to sell the entire fleet. 

Two Panamax carriers were included which fitted into the Vogemann concept 

well. The purchase price of each was 15.5 million US dollars. The vessels 

had been chartered out to the Chinese state shipping company Cosco for ten 

years. Cosco would have the opportunity of dropping out of the charter if 

the ship-owner changed hands. Therefore, Vogemann would have to buy the 

ship-owners companies in order not to lose the charter. This made the buying 

negotiations in Norway exceedingly difficult. There were ten men sitting 

around the table, lawyers and accountants amongst them who were to assess 

the mortgage and point out any fiscal considerations. 

The contract of sale which was eventually thrashed out, was as 

thick as a book. The banks willingly went along with it, the good name of the 

Chinese state ship-owners went a long way towards smoothing the financial 

path. In the contract of sale, Vogemann was awarded the option of buying 

themselves out of the charter after a six-year period for 1 million dollars. 

And this is what the company did in 2008. The 70,000 tonne vessel “Xin Shi 

Hai” was then called “Voge West”, the 68,000 tonne vessel “Xin Xing Hai” became 

“Belem”. At the present time, the latter is chartered out to the Hamburg 

Süd-Gruppe for a five-year period. The – rarely used – principal of Bareboat 

Charter was also brought into action with both of the Norwegians as well. 

Now though, it was about time for business to start taking a different tack. 


107 

Germany takes part in the 

international peacekeeping 

force in Kosovo 

(KFOR). 

Opening of the Jewish 

Museum in Berlin, designed 

by Daniel Libeskind. 

The Bundestag makes 

the decision to build a 

Holocaust memorial in 

Berlin according to plans 

designed by 

Peter Eisenman. 

World population figures 

cross the six billion mark. 

Günter Grass receives the 

Nobel Prize in Literature. 

The film by Tom Tykwer, 

“Run Lola run” receives 

eight awards at the German 

Film Awards Festival. 

2000 

Angela Merkel becomes 

party leader of the CDU. 

The Federal Government 

and the nuclear industry 

agree to withdraw from 

nuclear energy. 

Same-gender couples 

can enter a marriage-like 

commitment (registered 

partnership) in Germany.



109 

Everyday life on board 

A ship calmly crossing the ocean 

and seamen absorbed in their 

work - photos taken during a 

voyage with the Handysize bulk 

carrier “Voge Eva” in January 

2010.

In the Treaty of Nice, Heads 

of State and Government 

of the European Union 

agree to expand the EU 

eastwards. 

Licences for the next mobile 

phone generation UMTS are 

auctioned for 98.8 billion DM. 

The World's Fair “Expo 

2000” opens in Hanover. 

Reederei Roth responsible for technical management. Vogemann 

found a reliable partner in Hamburg-based Reederei Roth to take over the 

technical management. Roth owned three Panamax bulk carriers themselves 

and managed five tween deckers formerly operated in a South America - Far 

East liner service by Pro Line Carriers of Hamburg. But since four of these five 

units were bound for scrapping, Roth was interested in filling this gap with 

Vogemann vessels. 

The first carrier to come under Roth's technical management 

was the “Greta R”, named after Udo Wiese's mother, Greta Reinkendorff. 

Vogemann acquired her in early 2003 from a shipping company based in Mon- 

te Carlo for 10.1 million US dollars. The transaction was brokered through 

the company Hamburg Bulkcarrier (HBC), who also took part as partners and 

raised equity capital via their emission house. “Greta R” remained in Vogemann's 

possession until 2009 and was chartered out to Alfred C. Toepfer in 

most cases . 


“Greta R” in heavy seas off the Japanese coast.

The next one to come along was the “Ulla R”. But before an 

acquisition could be made, something occurred which once again demonstrated 

on just what shaky ground you could sometimes find yourself when 

buying and selling ships. In point of fact, Vogemann actually had their eye on 

a different ship. This was a 50,000 tonne vessel, around 20 years old, from 

the fleet of the Turkish ship-owner Karahasan. He had financed his vessels 

through the Hamburgische Landesbank but was involved in a dispute with 

them and this had resulted in the bank detaining his entire fleet, a total of 

five ships, and inviting tenders for compulsory auction. The vessel which Vogemann 

was interested in, lay in Chinese Tianjin, formerly known as Tientsin. 

Market valuation and prospects for charter were favourable, 

so Vogemann decided to bid and deposited one million dollars in security 

with the auction house in Tianjin. A delegation left for China in order 

to be present at the auction. On the evening of arrival, the news came in 

that: Charter rates are increasing. This meant that the value of the vessel 

also increased. At the auction, a higher price would presumably be reached 

than was originally thought. This necessitated Vogemann into tackling the 

proposed charterer, Alfred C. Toepfer, into improving the charter agreement 

which had previously been agreed. Toepfer promised to oblige. So 

duly armed, the people from Vogemann entered the auction. There were 25 

bidders registered, of these three remained: One Chinese, one Greek and 

Vogemann. The Greek made all the running and his tender was the one to 

be accepted, although for some reason or another he had been spared from 

having to provide a deposit as security. 

Without having achieved anything, the people from Vogemann 

had to return to Hamburg. And there they were met with the news: The auction 

house refused to hand over the deposited million. The money never arrived, 

was what they had been told. Udo Wiese had to set off back to the Far 

East once more. He negotiated twice in Tianjin. There was always at least ten 

men sitting round the table. In the beginning, a Chinese interpreter who was 

able to speak excellent German was also present. However, she was soon 

replaced by a male colleague who was unable to speak either German or 

English. After great difficulty, the language-competent Chinese lady was successfully 

brought back again. But even with well-chosen words, the matter 

could still not be resolved. To this day Udo Wiese is completely convinced that 

the negotiations would have gone on forever, had he not been completely un- 

Chinese and at a certain point rudely walloped the table. But this meant that 

Vogemann finally got their money. 


111 

2001 

In the face of international protests, 

the Afghan Taliban order 

the destruction of the Buddha 

statues from Bamyan. 

Muslim terrorists, members of 

the al-Qaida network, hijack four 

passenger planes in America and 

divert them into the Pentagon 

and the World Trade Center in 

New York. The US demand extradition 

of the al-Qaida founder, 

Osama bin Laden from the Taliban 

regime in Afghanistan. 

For the first time in its history 

NATO invokes Article 5, 

the mutual self-defence clause, 

Germany also participates in the 

War on Terror. 

In the PISA country comparison 

of school performance, Germany 

reaches one of the lowest ratings. 

Opening of the new Federal 

Chancellery in Berlin. 

The Deutsche Angestellten 

Gewerkschaft (DAG (German 

Salaried Employees' Union)) and 

four other employee representatives 

of civil servants join forces 

to become the trade union “ver. 

di”. With more than 3 million 

members it is the world's largest 

single trade union.

2002 

A trial initiated to ban the 

far-right NPD is suspended by 

the Verfassungsgericht (the 

highest court in Germany). 

The euro is introduced as notes 

and coins in Germany and a 

further eleven countries. 

Switzerland becomes 

the 190th member of the 

United Nations. 

A former student of the 

Gutenberg-Gymnasium (gram- 

mar school) in Erfurt, runs 

amok shooting 14 teachers 

and two students before turn- 

ing the gun on himself. 

A commission headed by 

the former VW manager 

Hartz develops plans for “Ich- 

AGs” (Me, Inc.) and “Mini-Jobs” 

in reforms to the German 

labour market. 

In Shanghai, the Transrapid 

monorail completes its maiden 

journey. 

World Summit of the 

United Nations (UN) in 

Johannesburg on poverty 

reduction and environmental 

protection. 

The “flood of the century” on 

the Elbe. 

Compulsory auction in Singapore. This all occurred in the Oc- 

tober of 2003. “Ulla R” entered the Vogemann fleet as a new acquisition in 

November. A vessel which also came from the ownership of Karahasan, a 

43,000 tonne vessel which at the time was still called “Edip Karahasan”. The 

vessel was awaiting compulsory auction in Singapore. On this occasion, no- 

body from Vogemann went there, they left it up to a local solicitor to bid on 

Vogemann's behalf and followed the auction by telephone. Jens Arndt had the 

solicitor on the line, Alan Woo the Korean company who had been won to act 

as charterer. The telephones had been put on hands-free so that each could 

hear the other and knew just at what point everything was at. 

The final decision fell when it was three o'clock in the morning 

in Hamburg. The bid from Vogemann against the last remaining competitor 

was accepted, by the way, this was exactly the same man from Greece who 

had excelled over the Hamburg people in Tianjin. The last offer was put at 

12.6 million dollars, an enormous sum of money and the financiers from the 

Hamburgische Landesbank (who were now called the HSH Nordbank fol- 

lowing their merger with the Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein a few months 

previous) were appalled when they heard how much it was, but still agreed 

in the end. 

Vessels from a compulsory auction are free from encumbrances, 

this is a basic principle in shipping. However, this is not recognised in Turkey, 

or at least not in instances where the auction takes place outside of Turkey. 

A vessel which is registered in Turkey, still continues to remain Turkish fol- 

lowing an auction in a foreign country. Vogemann was not aware of this, and 

the other buyers who acquired vessels from the Karahasan fleet were also 

not aware of this, and were forced to undergo the experience of having their 

vessels arrested whenever they put into ports in which the previous owner 

had been able to furnish prima facie evidence for his possessory claims to the 

authorities. In any case, the Bosporus was to be avoided, the difficulty being 

that even when a security for the ship was deposited, once she was arrested, 

there was no certainty of her being released again. 

For the most part, the cargoes that were to be transported by 

the “Ulla R” originated from ports in the Black Sea, which meant that it was 

not always possible to avoid sailing into Turkish territorial waters. In spite of 

this trading limitation, the vessel could be successfully operated and even 

when the vessel was disposed of in 2006, a work-around was found. “Ulla R” 

was sold to a Chinese shipping company who operates the freighter solely 

between the Chinese ports - Karahasan's arm does not extend that far. And 


“Ulla R” with the San Francisco skyline in the background. 

it was still a good business deal for the investors attracted from the HBC 

Capital Consult as the Chinese paid 15 million US dollars for the carrier. 

Grand finale on Christmas Eve. November 2003, the year had 

not yet drawn to a close. “Neigh on weekly”, this is how the shareholders 

remember the frequency of vessels being purchased. “Bulk Asia” and “Bulk 

Europe” were the names of the last two additions to this year, modern 2001 

Japanese built Capesize bulk carriers, each with a cargo carrying capacity of 

more than 170,000 tonnes. They belonged to the shipping company Livanos 

in Monte Carlo. The situation was not due to necessity, the shipping company 

wanted to sell in order to optimise their balance sheets and were thinking of 

chartering the vessels back for a seven-year period. This time it was HCI who 

took on raising investors. The Grand Finale of the purchase negotiations took 


113 

2003 

In a coalition of the willing, 

the US eliminates the regime 

of Saddam Hussein. The 

dictator of Iraq is suspected 

of developing weapons of 

mass destruction. 


Schröder refuses German 

participation in the attack. 

The FDP politician 

Jürgen Möllemann 

commits suicide.

IG-Metall breaks off the 

strike to introduce the 

35-hour week into the new 

federal states. 

In Perl-Nenning in the 

Saarland, a new German 

record temperature is 

measured at 40.8 degree 

Celsius. 


Schröder presents a 

programme of reforms 

(“Agenda 2010”) to improve 

the prevailing circum- 

stances of the economy and 

relieve the burden on the 

municipalities, combined 

with cuts in social services. 

The Serbian Prime Minister 

Zoran Djindjic is assassi- 

nated in Belgrade. 

The International Criminal 

Court in Den Haag begins 

its work. 

Worldwide occurrence of 

the previously unknown 

pulmonary disease SARS. 

According to the “Red List” 

of the World Conservation 

Union IUCN, there are more 

than 12,000 threatened spe- 

cies of animal and plants 

worldwide. 

The filming of Caro- 

line Link's best-selling 

novel “Nowhere in Africa” is 

awarded the Oscar for the 

best foreign language film. 

place on Christmas Eve and for a sum of 52 million US dollars apiece, both of 

the giants changed owners. 

Cooperation with Reederei Roth, who continued to be responsi- 

ble for technical management, became even closer. Vogemann took over 20 

percent of the shares and were instrumental in the management relinquish- 

ing their premises in the Hamburg City Nord and moving into the building in 

Hallerstraße 40, which has been the headquarters of Vogemann since 2004. 

In 2004, yet another mishap of the kind that never seems to 

leave business life behind happened again. The keyword is “Top Glory”. Top 

Glory is the name of the Chinese trading house to which a shipping company 

also belonged. They, in turn, wanted to get rid of its entire fleet of bulk carri- 

ers in a single stroke. An invitation to take part in purchase negotiations was 

issued to Vogemann from Beijing. And so Udo Wiese and Jens Arndt travelled 

there. Together with solicitors, brokers and representatives from HCI, they 

sat in a row facing at least ten Chinese from the trading house Top Glory. 

A chairman solemnly opened the meeting and proceeded to hold a speech 

which lasted for an hour. An interpreter translated but it was completely in- 

adequate. As far as the guests were able to make out, the speech dealt solely 

with the flourishing business that the Top Glory house was making all over 

the world. Not a single word about any kind of vessel that might be available 

for purchase. Then, after an hour, the curt message: The vessels were sold 

to somebody else yesterday. End of session, all rose. It transpired later that 

“Voge Katja” with a cargo of timber leaving the port of Napier (New Zealand). 


The Vogemann Family in the early 1950s. From left to right: Richard Vogemann, 

Irma Vogemann, Herbert Vogemann; Renate Vogemann, son-in-law Paul Speckter. 

Handysize bulk carrier “Lake Maja” joined the Vogemann fleet in the spring of 2005. 

a buyer had existed for quite some time but the Chinese were probably only 

wanting to speed up the negotiations a little by involving interested parties 

from the West. Incidentally, the chairman could most likely have given the 

desired information himself without the help of the bumbling interpreter. Because 

as he accompanied the guests to the door and politely made Smalltalk, 

it turned out that he spoke fluent English. 

And then the painful experience was rounded off when the 

evening meal that the people from Hamburg had been hoping to treat themselves 

to, ended particularly unhappily. They met up in a fine restaurant 

where one of the delegation who claimed to know about such things, with an 

air of importance recommended a dish which was served in numerous small 

bowls and which contained little in the way of anything edible. Udo Wiese 


115 

2004 

The EU is extended by ten 

members (Estonia, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Malta, Poland, 

Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, 

Hungary and Cyprus). 

Mass protests against the Hartz 

IV laws on labour market reform 

(amalgamation of unemployment 

and social security benefits). 

The following double-page spread: 

“Vogerunner” under way.



117

All six defendants, includ- 

ing the head of Deutsche 

Bank, Josef Ackermann, 

and the former IG-Metall 

Chairman, Klaus Zwickel, 

are acquitted at the trial 

regarding million-euro 

bonuses during the take- 

over of the Mannesmann 

corporation through 

Vodafone. 

The SPD suffers a setback 

in the European Parlia- 

ment elections, whilst 

the Green Party obtain a 

result in double-figures 

for the first time (11.9 %). 

A tidal wave (Tsunami) 

caused by an undersea 

earthquake devastates 

the coastal region of 

South-East Asia, approxi- 

mately 300,000 people 

are killed. 

During a terrorist attack 

on a commuter train in 

Madrid 200 people are 

killed. 

A scandal is triggered 

by videos with images 

of prisoner abuse at the 

hands of US soldiers in 

Iraq. 

came off best as he had mistrusted the recommendation and had simply or- 

dered himself some fried rice. At least he ended up being full, whilst the rest 

of the party had to leave the table sad and hungry. 

First of the Handysize bulk carrier sales. However, Vogemann 

still had an alternative to the units from China to fall back on. This came 

in the form of two Capesize carriers built in Spain in 1996 which were being 

offered by a Greek ship-owner who had, in turn, purchased these from the 

large trading house Cargill. Vogemann had had links with Cargill for a long 

time. And this bore fruit, following the purchase of “Vogesailor” and “Vogecarrier”, 

both vessels could be chartered out to Cargill. For the time being, 

the purchase series of Capesize carriers was then closed with the acquisition 

of “Vogebulker” (ex “Heng Shan”) from the ownership of a Chinese-Canadian 

shipping company in Vancouver in 2004. 

In spring 2005, Vogemann lined up the first of the Handysize 

bulk carriers in his fleet with the acquisition of “Lake Maja” (24,500 t) and 

“Voge Katja” (23,900 t). By now, Vogemann was well stocked with Panamax 

carriers and also with Capesize carriers too. The objective had been to have 

around six or seven of each type available, and that had more or less been 

reached. Now, the goal was to create a presence with the smaller class too; 

as a matter of fact, the Handysize segment was actually what Vogemann had 

always regarded as being its main field of activity, even as a chartering broker 

too. 

By 2009, the number of Handysize carriers at Vogemann grew 

to seven, this included the three, “Voge Paul”, “Voge Renate” and “Voge Eva”, 

taken over as a package from the Danish shipping company Clipper. In providing 

them with names this time round, Christian names were taken from the 

families of the company's founder and partners: Renate Speckter, née Vogemann, 

Paul Speckter, Maja Wiese, Katja Wiese, Eva Arndt. 

Up to that point, all acquisitions had been made second hand. 

With all Handysize vessels in the fleet originating from around 1996 to 1998, 

they were definitely not new-buildings. Vogemann decided to take the final 

leap in early 2006. The Japanese shipyard in Osaka was commissioned with 

the order to build a Capesize carrier of 176,800 t. Discussions had already 

taken place within the company. And the results of this was: Breaking new 

ground, planning over a longer period of time and taking higher risks than 

before, was just something that they would have to get used to. Chartering 

brokers deal with transactions within minutes or hours, possibly even days 


Christening of the “Vogerunner” in Osaka. 

but when something takes more than a week to complete, then usually there 

is something wrong. 

When purchasing a used vessel, negotiations take weeks or even 

months until they are wrapped up. But when dealing with a newbuilding; then 

you are looking at years. Even if everything runs smoothly, it will almost certainly 

take 1 ½ years until delivery and if the shipyards' order books are full, 

then it can take even longer. This notwithstanding, Vogemann decided to go for 

the newbuilding. By doing this, it was possible to acquire vessels of exactly the 

right size and with the exact attributes that one wanted to have. 

However, the shipping company were not given a great deal of 

leeway in exercising any influence over the construction of their first born. 

The shipyard had a clear vision of the vessel that they were to deliver and did 

not permit discussions from outsiders, let alone any special requests. That 


119 

With box office figures 

totalling 4.5 million, “Der 

Untergang” (“Downfall” 

with Bruno Ganz in the 

role of Adolf Hitler) 

becomes one of the most 

successful films of the 

German post-war era.

2005 

The truck-toll system 

begins on German motor- 

ways. 

Following defeat in the 

North Rhine-Westphalian 

state election, Federal 

Chancellor Schröder asks 

for a vote of confidence in 

the Bundestag. New elec- 

tions are held, the CDU/ 

would only interfere with the meticulously planned schedule, it was said. So, 

making sure the necessary number of toilets required by the German See- 

berufsgenossenschaft (Seamen's Accident Prevention and Insurance Associa- 

tion) were fitted, required a tremendous amount of effort. Japanese regula- 

tions did not require so many, so consequently they were not in the plans 

and nobody in the shipyard wanted to alter the plans. Eventually though, 

additional toilets were incorporated, six in all - but they added an additional 

105,000 dollars to the final bill. Before the shipyard started work, there were 

several things which needed to be clarified and nobody at Vogemann had 

reckoned with these. So, the people from Hamburg had to answer a comprehensive 

list of questions regarding the history of the company. When did the 

Handover of the “Voge Trust”. From left to right: Jens Arndt, the charterer Mr Y.K. Chung, the ship's godmother Mrs Chung, Alan Woo. 


last owner with the name of Vogemann die, when did Paul Speckter go into 

retirement, the Japanese wanted to know all this. But the shipyard kept to all 

the arrangements that had been laid down, great value is placed on contract 

compliance in Japan, there was no question of renegotiating and Vogemann 

discovered that once a customer had been accepted by one Japanese shipyard, 

then he was also accepted as a reliable and trustworthy business-partner by 

the other Japanese shipyards. 

Newbuilding under the German flag. The new vessel was delivered 

in December 2008 and was christened with the name of “Vogerunner” 

by Christiane von Saldern, the daughter of Paul Speckter. A woman also took 

over the command on board, Birte Jessen, one of five female captains that 

exist in Germany. She is still employed by Vogemann and one of the best captains 

in the Vogemann fleet. 

Just like the Capesize bulker “Vogemaster” acquired in 2007, the 

“Vogerunner” was also taken under the German flag. By doing this, Vogemann 

conformed to the negotiated agreement entered into by the German shipping 

companies whereby part of the total fleet is to sail under the German flag. 

The growing fleet made it necessary to enlist a second shipping 

company for technical management. This was the company Wallem, a shipping 

company headquartered in Hong Kong and founded by the Norwegian 

Harkon Wallem towards the end of the 19th century. Wallem wanted (and 

needed) to establish a branch office in Germany at the end of 2004 in order 

to acquire shipping companies as customers for technical management. The 

model of depreciation which had dominated ship investments for decades 

looked like it was coming to the end of the road. In order to be able to reap 

the benefits of the tonnage tax system with its low, flat taxation that now 

existed, technical management was required to have its headquarters based 

in Germany. In this way, the state secures revenue from wage- and income 

taxes. Wallem, like so many other foreign ship managers, therefore founded a 

branch office in Hamburg, Wallem Germany. To begin with, only a single person, 

Captain Joe Corcoran from England, acted as a representative. Nowadays, 

Wallem Germany which has relocated into the old Vogemann headquarters 

in Hallerstraße 57, has around 30 members of staff. The company (Vogemann 

holds around 41 percent of its shares) is currently Technical Manager for 30 

vessels, ten of which come from the Vogemann fleet. Wallem had gained experience 

in the tanker business and was held in esteem by the oil majors. This 

motivated Vogemann into expanding its newbuilding programme to tankers. 


121 

CSU are the strongest 

parliamentary group. 

A Grand Coalition is 

formed with the SPD 

under Federal Chancellor 

Angela Merkel. 

Following the death of 

John Paul II, the German 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger 

ascends the Papal Throne 

as Benedict XVI. 

Seven years after being 

signed, the Kyoto Protocol 

on climate protection 

comes into force. 

The European aircraft 

manufacturer, Airbus, 

presents the A 380 in 

Toulouse, the largest 

civilian commercial 

aircraft in the world. 

Lufthansa takes over 

the Swiss airline 

company Swiss. 

Inauguration of the Holocaust 

memorial in Berlin. 

The newly re-constructed 

Frauenkirche in Dresden 

is solemnly consecrated 

60 years after being 

destroyed by bombs.

2006 

The Football World Cup 

held in Germany turns into 

a “Summer Fairytale” for 

the enthusiastic crowds. 

However, the German team 

are defeated by Italy, dash- 

ing any hopes of being in the 

final game. 

A special reporter from the 

United Nations criticises the 

German school system and 

the discrimination of foreign 

children in education. 

After all attempts to capture 

him fail, the brown bear 

“Bruno”, wild to the Tyrol 

and Bavaria, is shot by 

Bavarian hunters. 

2007 

Germany is host to the G8 

summit meeting at Heiligen- 

damm on the Baltic Sea. 

Romania and Bulgaria join 

the EU. 

The Conservative Nicolas 

Sarkozy wins the run-off 

election for the presidency 

in France. 

The radical Islamic 

Hamas gain control of the 

Gaza Strip. 

Excerpt from the Kenyan newspaper “The Star” on the accident with the “Voge 

Trust”. The oil spill feared by so many, never materialised. 

The “Voge Dignity” and “Voge Trust”, two product tankers each of 38,000 t and 

completed in 2009 at Guangzhou Shipyard International (China), were handed 

over to Wallem's technical management. For the time being, however, they 

remained the only tank vessels flying the Vogemann flag. 

In contrast, giant strides were being made in the Handysize 

segment. Since late 2006, negotiations for construction of 12 vessels, each 

of 35,000 t, have been taking place with the Indian shipyards ABG at their 

new location in Dahej, north-west of Mumbai. Delivery of the first vessel is 

expected to be in the second half of 2011. Vogemann maintains their own 

team at ABG to supervise construction. Jens Arndt and Markus Lange had 

planned to visit there on the 26th November 2008, this visit could have 

ended disastrously for the two men had it not been cancelled at the last 

minute. It was on this very date, 26th November 2008, that attacks took 

place on several buildings in Mumbai by Islamic terrorists, with at least 

163 people losing their lives. One of the terrorists' targets was the Taj Mahal 

Hotel and it was this very hotel that the people from Hamburg were 

booked into. If their journey had taken place as planned, they could possibly 

have been involved in the kidnappings, bomb explosions and gunfire 


that had taken place there. Vogemann had a number of new experiences 

with the Indian shipyard. In Japan, they had got to know a tight system with 

a high degree of automation. During the build there were very few workers 

to be seen, management had calculated processes down to the smallest 

detail and no deviations were allowed, but they always adhered strictly to 

the conditions which had been agreed. Hierarchies and authorisation could 

be clearly recognised at any given moment. In China, on the other hand, 

far greater numbers of personnel were used; whenever there was a break, 

crowds of workers streamed out of the ship but who exactly had the final say 

and in which area that was, could not always be determined and one always 

had to be prepared for subsequent corrections to the contract terms. India 

was a different matter again, here it was necessary to meet the possible 

delays with patience, nerve and a talent for improvisation. 

Vogemann also increased its middle segment as well. Two Kamsarmax 

bulk carriers of 80,000 t each have just been delivered: “Voge Challenger”, 

built by New Times/New Century close to Shanghai in December 2010, 

and “Voge Enterprise”, built by Cosco in Dalian (China) in February 2011. 

Accidents and the hazards of piracy. Vogemann vessels are 

not immune to accidents. When Hurricane “Katrina” struck the coastal region 

of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005, the “Greta R” 

lay at anchor in the Mississippi. The chains broke, the vessel was adrift and 

rammed the jetty. A tug offered to help but demanded that a guarantee of 

cost transfers be signed first. There was subsequently a long debate about 

the millions that the recovery operation should cost. In the chaos that dominated 

the coast, repair services could scarcely be found and when somebody 

did come, then he had difficulty reaching the vessel which, of course, was 

not lying peacefully at the quayside, but lay somewhere out there in a wasteland, 

where the difference between shipping route and flooded land could no 

longer be distinguished. 

Even though harbour pilots were on board, the tanker “Voge 

Trust” ran aground in the port of Mombasa on her maiden voyage in December 

2009. Water poured through a leak in the shell plating, the vessel developed 

a list. To the spectators gathered on the shore, this appeared to be dangerous 

and people were also apprehensive that an ecological disaster caused by the 

escaping oil would occur. But fortunately, it was only the outer shell that was 

damaged, the inner shell of the double hull held and the repair was relatively 

easy to accomplish. 


123 

Knut, the baby polar bear, 

captivates people in Berlin. 

Germany records the warmest 

winter since the start of 

regular weather readings 

in 1901. 

Satellite pictures show that 

the Northwest Passage off 

Canada's coast is ice-free 

for the first time in 30 years, 

making it navigable for 

shipping. 

2008 

In Hamburg, the CDU and 

Grün-Alternative Liste 

(GAL (Green Alternative List)) 

form an alliance 

government. 

The French President 

Nicolas Sarkozy marries the 

singer Carla Bruni. 

The Bundesmarine takes 

part in Operation “Atalanta” 

to combat piracy off the 

Horn of Africa. 

Dresdner Bank is taken over 

by the Commerzbank.

Insolvency of the US 

investment bank Lehman 

Brothers aggravates the 

international financial 

crisis. Germany launches a 

bank rescue package with 

a volume of 480 billion 

euros. 

The Democrat Barack 

Obama wins the Presiden- 

tial Candidacy in the US. 

The car concerns General 

Motors and Chrysler are 

saved from bankruptcy by 

emergency loans. 

Opening of the Svalbard 

Global Seed Vault on the 

Island of Spitsbergen. 

2009 

After the Bundestag elec- 

tions, a coalition govern- 

ment under Angela Merkel 

is formed with CDU/CSU 

and FDP. 

The G20 agree on billions 

in aid to combat the eco- 

nomic and financial crisis. 

The Bundestag and Bun- 

desrat resolve to introduce 

a “Schuldenbremse” (debt 

brake) into the constitu- 

tion for debt reduction. 

A month later, in January 2010, it was the turn of the “Voge- 

trader” in Hawaii. Even though a harbour pilot was on board on this occasion 

too and two tug boats were assisting the vessel, despite the excellent weather 

conditions and clear visibility she ran aground on a reef on her approach to 

the moorings. It still remains a mystery as to how this happened. Aerial photographs 

show the stuck freighter at the edge of a shipping channel which is 

clearly recognisable by the darker colour of the water, all she needed to have 

done was to sail straight ahead. But the harbour pilot, instead of explaining 

himself, disappeared straight after the accident and was not seen again. 

The Vogemann shipping company also had to make the acquaintance 

of pirates off the Horn of Africa as well. The radar showed on at 

least one occasion several caper boats approaching, which quickly turned 

about however, when the vessel made a distress call and a helicopter from 

the Atalanta Mission appeared. 

And the crisis? Since 2008, worst hit by the tremors of the financial 

market has been container shipping, followed by tanker shipping and 

finally also - even if not to the same extent - bulk carriers. Financial models 

with raised capital had previously perished. The emission houses fell short 

of their promises, Vogemann needed to find the necessary equity capital to 

finance newbuildings themselves. 

Barbed wire on the ship's side as protection against pirates. 


The second-youngest Vogemann newbuilding, Kamsarmax bulk carrier “Voge Challenger” 

casting off from the quay of the Chinese shipyards New Time/New Century. 

This burden went right up to the pain threshold and, sometimes, 

even beyond. The banks behaviour altered under the conditions of the crisis. 

Structures which the banks had hitherto approved without any problems were 

suddenly no longer supported. 

Despite all the criticism levelled at the banks, they did not leave 

the shipping companies with their problems out in the cold. Restructuring 

of the “Voge Trust”, re-organisation of the Indian newbuildings and cancellation 

of the “Voge Spirit” were enormous challenges which could not have 

been overcome single-handedly without support from the banks. However, a 

bitter taste still remains: The Vogemann partner, the emission houses, were 

not asked to pay up. A short time later, their bosses stood facing the press 

and announced tender green shoots of profits again. In banker's jargon, this 

is known as asymmetrical distribution of burden. In spite of the tight financial 

squeeze, even during the most difficult time in early 2009, Vogemann was 

still in a position to kick-start two fresh acquisitions. “Voge Lucia” and “Voge 

Lena” were financed during the zenith of the crisis. The Bremer Landesbank 

played a significant role in this and, in so doing, provided an exemplary pillar 

of support to Vogemann. 

The realisation of these projects gives rise to confidence that 

collecting equity from private investors and obtaining loans from the banks 

will also be possible in the future. A business model which has been in existence 

for 400 years and which will continue to exist in the future too. 


125 

Israel wages a military 

offensive against the 

Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

Irreplaceable cultural 

objects are lost when the 

city archives in Cologne 

collapse. 

2010 

The federal government 

adopts an austerity package 

for debt reduction. 

A mass panic at the 

Love Parade in Duisburg 

causes the death of 21 

people. 

Horst Köhler stands down 

from the office of Federal 

President, successor is 

Lower Saxony's Prime 

Minister, Christian Wulff. 

A drilling platform in 

the Gulf of Mexico sinks 

causing a devastating oil 

spill. 

The Ruhr region is 

declared a European 

Capital of Culture.


38 

43 

28 

The Vogemann Crew 

17 

1 

23 

39 

25 

2 

44 

3 

29 

18 

24 

1 Hauke Wetzel Chartering Manager 23 Angelique Richter Reception/ 

2 Moritz Hartmann Trainee 

Assistance 

3 Tabea Ohlendorf Chartering 

24 Tim-Philipp Werkholz Trainee 

4 Steven Jacob Chartering Manager 25 Valeri Zaika Facility Management 

5 Monika Fabich Accounting 

26 Frank Jensen Director, Chartering 

6 Heike Kraschutzki Accounting 27 Saskia Drews Head of Accounting 

7 Kai Elsen Director, Chartering 28 Melanie Wriedt Assistance 

8 Frank Kruss Accounting 

29 Markus Lange Managing Director 

9 Ilka Auerswald Accounting 

30 Jens-Michael Arndt 

10 Jevgenij Gorelik Facility Management Managing Director 

11 Heike Patjens Accounting 

31 Lars Rudebeck Director, Chartering 

12 Jurik Harmeyer Trainee 

32 Nils Luedecke Chartering Manager 

13 Olaf Brüning Manager IT Systems 33 Udo Wiese Managing Director 

14 Ivana Kravar Operations 

34 Stephanie Collée 

15 Lioba Müller Accounting 

Head of Ship Finanance/Controlling 

16 Nicole Riedemann Accounting 35 Alan Woo Managing Director 

17 Karl Mohr Head of Operations 36 Maria Katsaouni Operations, 

18 Philipp Sichtling Chartering Manager Chartering 

19 Roland Hensel Managing Director 37 Aleksander Niemas Chartering 

20 Andreas Rau Accounting 

38 Alexander Dreißig Chartering 

21 Jens Wanitschke Project Manager Manager 

22 Andreea Stoica Accounting 

39 Romina Cob Arranz Operations 

26 

40 

4 

5 


7 

30 

45 

6 

19 

8 

31 

9 

20 

10 

32 

46 

12 

27 

41 

33 

11 

13 

34 

127 

14 

21 

47 

42 

15 

16 

22 

35 

36 

40 Olaf Münch Deputy Head of 

Accounting 

41 Robert Stegen Ship Finance/ 

Controlling 

42 Anika Harms Chartering Manager 

43 Stefan Boldt Project Manager 

44 Peter Brasch Operations Manager, 

Chartering 

45 Franziska Klier Operations 

46 Angela Reimann Operations 

Manager, Chartering 

47 Marion Haaks Operations, Chartering 

48 Renate Neumann Operations 

Manager, Chartering 

Not present: 

Rüdiger Hartwig Project Manager, 

Chartering 

Britta Strehlau Reception/Assistance 

Harald Schmidt IT Administrator 

Ophelia Peters Administration 

48 

37

Friedemann 

Bedürftig 

In memoriam Friedemann Bedürftig 

Concept of this book originated from my long-time friend, 

the Hamburg author Friedemann Bedürftig. It was intended 

that Friedemann Bedürftig write the text and should conduct 

the necessary interviews and that his colleague, Reinhard 

Barth, with whom he had already collaborated on many book 

projects, should be in charge of photo acquisition, editing and 

design. However, it was not possible to sustain this division of 

labour. In the summer of 2010, a serious illness forced Friedemann 

Bedürftig to hand over work on the text to his colleague 

Barth, to begin with only in part, but then completely. He was 

not able to see the book's completion as he died in November 

2010. With him, I have lost an exceptional conversationalist 

Acknowledgement 

We would like to express our heartfelt 

thanks to the following Hamburg institutions 

for supplying photo material: Museum 

für Hamburgische Geschichte, Hamburger 

Kunsthalle, Denkmalschutzamt Bildarchiv, 

Museum der Arbeit. 

Valuable factual information was 

provided by Prof Frank Bajohr from the For- 

Picture credits 

Archive for Art and History Berlin: Pg 8 side 

margin bottom, 10, 11 side margin, 14 and side 

margin bottom, 16 left, 16 side margin, 20, 21 side 

margin bottom, 24 side margin, 26 side margin, 

27 side margin, 29 side margin, 30 side margin, 

31, 33 side margin top, 36 side margin bottom, 37 

side margin, 44 side margin middle, 45 side 

margin middle, 52 side margin, 68 side margin, 

69 side margin, 74 side margin, 91 side margin 

Denkmalschutzamt Hamburg photo archives: 

Pg 11, 18, 25, 32, 43, 44, 49, 54, 57 

Kunsthalle Hamburg: Pg 79 

Museum der Arbeit Hamburg: Pg 34, 36 

Museum für hamburgische Geschichte: Pg 12/13, 

38/39 

Christoph Papsch: Pg 4, 108/109, 116/117 

schungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg 

and Jürgen-Wolfgang Goette from the Erich- 

Mühsam-Gesellschaft in Lübeck as well as 

Willem Meier from the company H.F. Navigator 

in Hamburg and Max Johns from the 

German Shipowners’ Association. 

The following people made themselves 

available for interview: Jens Arndt, 

Picture alliance/dpa: Pg 102 side margin, 10 side 

margin, 71 side margin top, 87 side margin 

bottom, 105 side margin, 107 side margin, 110–112 

side margin, 118 side margin, 121–124 side margin 

Vogemann company archives: Pg 8 side margin 

top, 9 side margin top, 14 side margin top, 21, 23, 

29, 41, 42, 51–53, 56, 58, 59, 61–65, 66 side 

margin bottom, 67, 68, 70, 72, 73–75, 80, 81, 83, 

83 side margin 85, 88, 90, 91, 93, 95, 95 side 

margin, 97, 99, 103, 104, 106, 110, 113–115, 119, 

120, 122, 124, 125 

Christian Zentner, Munich: Pg 16 right, 56 side 

margin, 60 side margin, 62 side margin top, 66 

side margin top, 69 side margin, 70 side margin 

top, 78, 78 side margin, 81 side margin, 85 side 

margin, 89 side margin, 95 side margin, 99 side 

margin, 33 side margin bottom, 63 side margin 

and a friend. Everybody who knew him, and he was known 

by many at Vogemann, will forever remember his profound 

knowledge, his attentiveness for the world around him, his 

humour and his straightforwardness in the realm of interpersonal 

relationships. 

Hamburg, in March 2011 

Udo Wiese 

Managing Partner 

H. Vogemann Group of Companies 

Robert Krewaldt, Bonn: Pg 9 side margin top 

In the public domain: 9 side margin bottom, 10 

side margin, 15 side margin, 17 side margin, 18 

side margin top, 19 side margin, 20 side margin, 

21 side margin top, 23 side margin, 28 side 

margin, 34 side margin, 35 side margin top, 42 

side margin (Gus Pasquerella), 43 side margin 

bottom, 44 side margin, 45 side margin bottom, 

49 side margin, 50 side margin bottom, 53 side 

margin, 54 side margin bottom, 57 side margin 

top, 62 side margin bottom (Library of Congress), 

70 side margin bottom, 71 side margin bottom 

(Library of Congress), 73 side margin, 75 side 

margin, 77 side margin (Berthold Werner), 80 side 

margin, 87 side margin top, 90 side margin, 

96–97 side margin 

Henry Mühlpfordt: 25 side margin 


Harring-Detlef Arndt, Roland Hensel, Frank 

Jensen, Lars Rudebeck, Paul Speckter, Udo 

Wiese, Alan Woo. Furthermore, the authors 

were also permitted to use written records 

from Harring-Detlef Arndt, Markus Lange 

and Paul Speckter. 

Stefan Boldt and Tabea Ohlendorf 

helped with picture acquisition. 

Bayer: 18 side margin bottom 

Bernhard Hossner: 31 side margin 

German Federal Archives: 32 side margin, 35 side 

margin bottom, 36 side margin top, 40 side 

margin, 43 side margin top (Lange, Eitel), 48 side 

margin, 50 side margin top, 55 side margin, 57 

side margin bottom, 61 side margin, 76 side 

margin, , 82 side margin, 84 side margin, 88 side 

margin, 92–94 side margin 

World Telegram staff photographer: 41 side 

margin 

National Archives USA: 45 side margin top 

Lars-Göran Lindgren, Sweden: 54 side margin 

Kroelleboelle: 59 side margin 

Thomas Zarges: 126/127

www.vogemann.de

S - H. Vogemann

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