Since 1868: 140 Years of Tradition
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1840
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On 5
th January 1868, Heinrich Ferdinand Schuldt, born 17
th October 1840 in Hamburg, founded an independent business, H. Schuldt, with a
chartering, clearance, commission and haulage business in Flensburg, which only recently had become
a Prussian provincial town and whose port became increasingly important after the opening of the
North Baltic Canal in 1895.
The establishment of a branch in Holnis, a narrow area in the Flensburg Fjord where
sailing ships had to navigate extremely carefully and slowly, gave H. Schuldt the decisive
advantage of being able to offer captains his clearance services well before their approach to the
harbour and led to the erection of the first telephone line outside Flensburg.
Previously, he had been completed an apprenticeship in a Hamburg business and gained further knowledge and experience in the fields of shipping, haulage and insurance after his move to Rendsburg. The business’ losses in its first year had already been made good by the end of its second year. |
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1869
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It was the brokerage and clearance business, in particular, that flourished as a result of the
new wave of companies that were being established in Flensburg in 1869, the so-called 69ers, and
this lead to H. Schuldt entering into its first shipping commitment in 1875: a 7/16 share in the 81
BRT topgallant schooner MINNA, thus founding the shipping business. This was followed, for example,
by a stake in the full-rigger ship SCHIFFSWERFT in 1877, which gained a reputation as a training
ship for Flensburg's seamen.
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H. Schuldt’s strategy was to secure access to the brokerage business of numerous Flensburg partner shipping companies, by obtaining small stakes in their businesses. In addition, its great expertise and experience in brokerage formed the basis for the confidence placed in it by third parties as well, and they were crucial for the company. H. Schuldt becoming the leading regional and national brokerage company in Flensburg until its relocation to Hamburg in 1933. |
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Other milestones in the company history were the relocation in 1881 to the first company-owned residential and office building at Schiffbrücke 21, which housed the family, the company and outside apprentices and the first steam powered vessel being ordered in 1882 from the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, with a capacity of around 1,200 tonnes. |
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1896 |
When the founder’s oldest son, Hermann Schuldt, joined the company in 1896, the company was
converted into a partnership. Financing for the future fleet was provided by the foundation of the
Flensburger Dampfercompanie AG as a stock corporation, whose advantage over the tried and tested
partnership shipping company was that ships could be bought and sold within the company without
having to liquidate companies. Further, a spread of risk could be achieved in which the more
successful ships could support the others. The share capital totalled 400,000 Mark, 95% of which
was held by Heinrich and Hermann Schuldt. Moreover, this year marked the foundation by Hermann
Schuldt of an insurance agency which bore his name.
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