The HADAG (full name HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG, literally "''HADAG Sea-tourism and Ferry service''") is a local public transport company in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It owns and operates passengers ferries across the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

River, overseen by and integrated into the network of

Hamburger Verkehrsverbund The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) ( en, "Hamburg Transport Association") is a transport association coordinating public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide a unified fare system, requiring only a single ...

(HVV). In 2013, 10.6 million passenger journeys were made on the HADAG network. In the 1950s the company operated ferries from Hamburg to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and in the 1980s, the cruise ship

MS Astor MS ''Astor'' was a cruise ship that most recently sailed for Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Transocean Tours subsidiary, under which she operated voyages to Europe, South Africa, and Australia. The ship was originally built in 1987 under the name ...

History

Hamburg Pleasure Boat, dated 21 August 1938 (6046992390)

The ''Hafen-Dampfschifffahrt AG'' (HADAG) was founded on 8 August 1888, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg granted the concession to operate ferries in the

Port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...

. In 1897, the HADAG owned 47 ferries and took over the smaller ''Jollenführer Dampfer GmbH''. With opening of the Elbe tunnel in 1911, the HADAG line

Landungsbrücken The St. Pauli Piers (german: St. Pauli Landungsbrücken, often only referred to as ''Landungsbrücken''; ), is the largest landing site in the Port of Hamburg, Germany, and also one of Hamburg's major tourist attractions. Other English language tr ...

— Steinwerder lost 259,000 passengers p.a.. In 1918, with the end of the concession, the HADAG wanted to rise the fare price. The city of Hamburg refused and the company was in danger of liquidation. On 23 October 1918, the city of Hamburg acquired the HADAG. Later it became a subsidiary for the

Hamburger Hochbahn Hamburger Hochbahn AG (HHA), founded in 1911, operates the underground system and large parts of the bus system in Hamburg, Germany. History The HHA was founded by Siemens & Halske and AEG as a consortium on 27 May 1911. The first chairman ...

(HHA). In 1928 the HHA and HADAG established a shared fare for the trains, trams, and buses of the HHA and the ferries of the HADAG. In the 1950s, the HADAG operated a ferry to England and to the islands

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

and

Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...

. In 1966, the last steam ferries were taken out of service. In 1982, HADAG closed the ferry line from

to the

island, and started a line from

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

, with a combined fare with

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...

, in 1983. Until 1983, the HADAG owned the cruise ship

Operations

The HADAG runs

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

ferries and pleasure boats on the rivers

and

Alster The Alster () is a right tributary of the Elbe river in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, flows somewhat southwards through much of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and joins the Elbe in central ...

. The public transport is supervised by the

Scheduled harbour ferries

Non-scheduled harbour cruises

References

External links