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F. Laeisz ( ; short form ''FL'') is a German shipping company with offices in Hamburg, Rostock, Bremerhaven and Grabow, Germany, as well as Japan and the Philippines.
Sophie Laeisz.
''
All following new builds after 1861 were christened with names starting with a "P", which is why British seamen called the company the "P-Line".
1892 Ferdinand purchased the company's first iron steamship (Hamburg, renamed Naxos) from the '' Hamburg-Südamerikanischen Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft'' (co-founded by Laeisz 1871) which was employed by Deutsche Levante Linie (DLL, co-founded by Laeisz 1889). A market position developed through establishing further steamship lines (like 1847 co-founder Hapag, 1874 co-founder Deutsch-Australische Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft, 1886 co-founder 
In 1914 the first banana reefer ships, "Pioneer" and "Pungo", were ordered for the Afrikanische Frucht-Companie established in 1912 by F. Laeisz. The outbreak of World War I made it impossible for the company to commission these two ships for employment in its own banana trade. In 1923 with "Poseidon" F. Laeisz commissioned its first steamer for its own liner service to the SAWC and 1926 the last four-masted barque 
Today the company operates
''
*
Reederei F. Laeisz GmbH
(English) * {{Authority control Companies based in Hamburg Shipping companies of Germany
History
The firm was established by Ferdinand Laeisz on 24 March 1824 as a production company for tall hats. Expansion to overseas markets in 1839 enabled him to purchase thebrig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
"Carl", named after his son, who joined the firm as a partner on 1 March 1852. In 1857 the first new build was commissioned, a wooden barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
named "Pudel" after Carl's wife.z. Sophie Laeisz.
''
Hamburger Abendblatt
The ''Hamburger Abendblatt'' (English: ''Hamburg Evening Newspaper'') is a German daily newspaper in Hamburg.
The paper focuses on news in Hamburg and area, and produces regional supplements with news from Norderstedt, Ahrensburg, Harburg, and ...
''. (retrieved 3 March 2008)
All following new builds after 1861 were christened with names starting with a "P", which is why British seamen called the company the "P-Line".
1892 Ferdinand purchased the company's first iron steamship (Hamburg, renamed Naxos) from the '' Hamburg-Südamerikanischen Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft'' (co-founded by Laeisz 1871) which was employed by Deutsche Levante Linie (DLL, co-founded by Laeisz 1889). A market position developed through establishing further steamship lines (like 1847 co-founder Hapag, 1874 co-founder Deutsch-Australische Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft, 1886 co-founder Woermann-Linie
The Woermann-Linie was a German shipping company that operated from 1885 to 1942. History
It was founded on 15 June 1885 by Adolph Woermann and developed as one of the leading shipping companies between Europe and Africa. From 1899 the company ...
, 1890 co-founder Deutsch-Ost-Afrika-Linie).
The companies traded with steamships while F. Laeisz continued the tall ship tradition which generated revenue with the nitrate trade from Chile. Until the end of the 1920s the company kept its engagement in the Chile trade with nitrate until it became possible to produce nitrate by the Haber-Bosch-System and the Chile trade came to an end.
In 1897/98 the Laeiszhof was built at Trostbrücke 1 in Hamburg, the head office of the company. In 1914 the first banana reefer ships, "Pioneer" and "Pungo", were ordered for the Afrikanische Frucht-Companie established in 1912 by F. Laeisz. The outbreak of World War I made it impossible for the company to commission these two ships for employment in its own banana trade. In 1923 with "Poseidon" F. Laeisz commissioned its first steamer for its own liner service to the SAWC and 1926 the last four-masted barque Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
was built. This ship signaled the end of the Flying P-Liner area which terminated with the end of World War II when "Padua" was given to the USSR, still trading as "Krusenstern".
Since 1904 the company has owned shares in the Brazilian BRAHMA, forerunner of the brewery AMBEV. The shares were confiscated by the Brazilian government in 1942 as security for war damages.
After Paul Ganssauge (1924), Willi Ganssauge (1936) and Nikolaus W. Schües (1973) and their families became partners of the Laeisz family, in 1982 the newly established F. Laeisz Schiffahrtsgesellschaft mbH + Co. took over all shipping activities owing to a severe shipping crisis. Owners of the new company are Schües and – for a few years - F. Laeisz.
2004 Schües purchased the 1824 founded partnership F. Laeisz with all legal rights of its history. Reederei F. Laeisz, Rostock, is today the operating company, F. Laeisz GmbH, Hamburg, functions as holding company.
Today the company operates container ships
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
, bulk carriers, gas- and car carriers as well as research vessels for the German government (AWI). Almost all ships are named with the P-names. MV "Peene Ore" the company's flagship, is the largest vessel flying the German flag.Peer Schmidt-Walther: ''Riesenfrachter im Orkan.'' In: Derselbe, ''Frachtschiffreisen. Als Passagier an Bord.'' Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 2. überarbeitete Auflage, Hamburg 2010, S. 153–155, .
January 2005 the Musikhalle Hamburg is again called "Laeiszhalle
The Laeiszhalle (), formerly Musikhalle Hamburg, is a concert hall in the Neustadt of Hamburg, Germany and home to the Hamburger Symphoniker and the Philharmoniker Hamburg. The hall is named after the German shipowning company F. Laeisz, foun ...
". Carl Laeisz had instructed the company in his will to pay 1.2 Million Mark for the construction of a music hall, his widow Sophie increased the amount in 1907 by 40% to finish the building. When in 1908 the building was opened it was the largest and most modern concert hall in Germany and was known as Laeiszhalle until 1933.Sophie Laeisz.''
Hamburger Abendblatt
The ''Hamburger Abendblatt'' (English: ''Hamburg Evening Newspaper'') is a German daily newspaper in Hamburg.
The paper focuses on news in Hamburg and area, and produces regional supplements with news from Norderstedt, Ahrensburg, Harburg, and ...
''. (retrieved 3 March 2008)
See also
* Flying P-Liner
The Flying P-Liners were the sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz of Hamburg.
History
The company was founded in 1824 by Ferdinand Laeisz as a hat manufacturing company. He was quite successful and distributed his hats even in ...
References
Literature
* Peter Klingbeil: ''Die Flying P-Liner. Die Segelschiffe der Reederei F. Laeisz''. Verlag "Die Hanse", Hamburg 1998 u. 2000, . * Hans Georg Prager: ''"F. Laeisz" vom Frachtsegler bis zum Bulk Carrier''. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Herford 1974, .External links
Reederei F. Laeisz GmbH
(English) * {{Authority control Companies based in Hamburg Shipping companies of Germany