The Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft für den Nieder- und Mittelrhein (DGNM) was a shipping line and

joint-stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certificates ...

with headquarters in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. Its steamboats sailed on the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

between Rotterdam and Mannheim. It was a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

in the 19t century. In 1853 it founded the partnership Kölnische und Düsseldorfer Gesellschaft für Rhein-Dampfschiffahrt with the Preußisch-Rheinischen Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft. In 1967 both companies merged into the Köln-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt A.G.

History

The competition

On 3 October 1825 the Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrt-Gesellschaft (PRDG) was founded by merchants from Cologne. At about the same time, the Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft von Rhein und Main (DGRM) was founded in Mainz. Together with the

Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij The Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij ((Netherlands Steamboat Co)), abbreviated as NSM or NSBM, was a Dutch shipping line focused on inland navigation. In the 1820s it was important for the quick introduction of steam power on the Dutch rivers ...

, these companies then divided the market for shipping on the Rhine amongst themselves. Competition was prevented by the governments on the Rhine. When shipping on the Rhine became more or less free, the British

General Steam Navigation Company The General Steam Navigation Company (GSN), incorporated in 1824, was London's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels. Foundation ...

wanted to enter the shipping market on the Rhine, and offered a lot of capital.

The DGNM is founded

The joint-stock company ''Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft für den Nieder- und Mittelrhein zu Düsseldorf'' was approved for an unlimited duration on 22 September 1836. Among the founders was

Daniel von der Heydt Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

. The

share capital A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. "Share capita ...

had a nominal value of 550,000

Thaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...

and was divided over 2,750 shares of 200 Thaler. The shares were listed on the Kölner Börse. In 1868 the company had a gross revenue of 303,000 Thaler and made a net profit of 71,000 Talern.''Preussische Dampfschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaften''. In: ''Zeitschrift für Kapital und Rente'', 6. Jahrgang 1870, S. 45. In 1853 DGNM created a partnership with the Preußisch-Rheinischen Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft. It became known as the Köln-Düsseldorfer, but as regards accounting and in a legal sense, the companies remained separate entities. The trick of the partnership was that it made a single offer to the public, and so eliminated the internal competition between the partners. The partnership would finally become the Köln-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG in 1967. Carl Dietze (1824-1896) was chief executive of the company for a very long time.

Company headquarters at Berger Ufer 1

The since disappeared company headquarters were at Berger Ufer 1 (after 1945 Mannesmannufer) in Düsseldorf. The 1898 building by ''Klein & Richard Dörschel'' was showcased by the Architekten- und Ingenieurverein Düsseldorf. The basement held the quarters for the

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of ...

and . The registratur was connected to the office on the main floor. Here the were the offices of the supervisory board, and the offices of the {{lang, de, Vorstandsbeamten. The chief executive lived on the upper floor of the building. The main view from the corner building and its protruding tower offered a view of the Rhine. The brick façade of the building had been made in the

revival style Revivalism in architecture is the use of visual styles that consciously echo the style of a previous architectural era. Notable revival styles include Neoclassical architecture (a revival of Classical architecture), and Gothic Revival (a reviva ...

of the

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...

External links

Documents relating to the Köln-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG

Notes

Companies of Prussia