House Flags of German Shipping Companies (g)

Last modified: 2010-02-27 by jarig bakker
Keywords: gluesing transport | globus |
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• C.G. Gabel
• G. L. Gaiser
• O.Garms & Sohn
• Geestemunder Herings & Hochseefischerei
• GEFO
• H.M.Gehrckens
• GEMCO
• Gemeinwirtschaftliche Kohlen HandelsGesellschaft
• Gerhard & Hey
• Gerhard U. Brzoska
• E.J.Gerhardt
• German Tanker Shipping
• Getreideheber Gesellschaft Hamburg
• Karl Geuther
• Otto Giese
• Gläfcke & Hennings
• H. Glahr & Co
• Globus Reederei
• Reederei Gloria
• Glücksburger Reederei - more
• Gluesing Transport - variant
• Johann Cesar Godefroy und Sohn
• C. Goedelt
• Ludwig & Jakob Götz
• Karl Grammerstorf
• Karl Gross
• Richard Grothmann
• Julius Grube dockyard
• Grundmann & Groschel
• Paul Günther

• Germanischer Lloyd
• Ernst Glässel
• Rud. Christ. Gribel
• Gebr. Grieshaber

• House Flags of German Shipping Companies
• House Flags of Shipping Companies
• Germany

C.G. Gabel

C.G.Gabel - Christian Gustav Gabel was partner of the shipping company Knöhr & Burchard which still exists. Sometimes he supplied ships on his own risk in the 80ies and 90ies of the 19th century. He acquired his 1st ship in 1882. The last ship was sold in 1909 and the company disappeared.
The company used nearly the same flag as Japan. Its a white flag with a red roundel in its centre. The flag should probably mark the connections with Knöhr und Burchard who used a blue roundel.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.89ff.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 31 Mar 2007

G. L. Gaiser

The flag is white with a red border all around and black initials along the center, reading "GLG". And the caption seems to be "G. L. Gaiser".
Jorge Candeias, 1 Jan 2005

It must have been a firm engaged in trading with Nigeria, founded around 1850 and still active in the 1960's... according to a few faint traces on the internet...
Jan Mertens, 2 Jan 2005

O.Garms & Sohn

O.Garms & Sohn
The company was located in Königreich (Jork, SW Hamburg). It was a yellow flag divided horizontally  yellow over white over red over blue over red over white over yellow with estimated ratio of 2:1:1:12:1:1:2. In the middle of the blue stripe is a red capital ?G?.
Source: ?Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT?; Hamburg 1957; p.F9.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 Apr 2009

Geestemunder Herings & Hochseefischerei

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Geestemunder Herings & Hochseefischerei A.G." (#281, p. 50), a  company based in Geestemünde, as blue  with a white "H" in the middle.

The port and town of Geestemünde was founded by the Kingdom of  Hannover in 1845, next to Bremerhaven. In 1927, Geestemünde was merged with Lehe and Wulsdorf to form the new municipality of Wesermünde. In 1939, Bremerhaven was separated from Bremen and incorporated to Wesermünde. Incorporated to the Federal State of Bremen in 1947, Wesermünde was eventually renamed Bremerhaven.
Ivan Sache, 12 Apr 2008

GEFO

GEFO Gesellschaft für Oeltransporte m.b.H. & Co., Hamburg - blue - yellow - blue horizontal triband; in center black "GEFO".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 9 Nov 2005

GEFO is  ?Company for Oil Transportation Ltd?. Firm?s website: The various departments are neatly summed up: deep-sea transportation of chemicals, gas tankers (based at Sas van Gent, NL), chemicals (based at Merksem/Antwerp, BE), oil (?80 Rhinetankers for mineral oil?) and bunkering. Of the branches or firms mentioned under ?The Company? I still have to get to know Unitas at Antwerp or Oceanflag Cyprus; Hansa Hamburg is a shipping investor.

It is clear that GEFO is active on the high seas as well as on inland waterways.  This is a picture of the barge ?Rubens?, flying the house flag: horizontally divided blue-yellow-blue with GEFO in black letters on the yellow stripe.
Jan Mertens, 13 Mar 2006

H.M.Gehrckens

Well, H. M. G. are, for certain, the initials of this company - not only do they appear in the flag (a blue cloth with these initials in it), but they are also the only recognizable portion of the caption. There's something written beyond the "G", but what it is I have no idea whatsoever.
Jorge Candeias, 4 May 2004

That is H.M.Gehrckens, Hamburg. Source: Wolter, "See und Seefahrt", 1968.
Jarig Bakker, 4 May 2004

Heinrich Martin Gehrckens - H.M. Gehrckens became ship broker in 1830 and ship owner in 1860. In 1901 HMG opens a direct line to Southern Finland. In winter the ships are trading with Western Africa. In WWI the company managed to keep all its ships. On the company's website is no information after 1932 available. But the company does still exist in Hamburg. For further information click here.
Source: ?Unter blauer Flagge, 150 Jahre H.M.Gehrckens?, Hamburg 1980
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Aug 2008

GEMCO

GEMCO Schiffahrts- und Handelsges. mbH (Gemco Shipping and Trading Co. Ltd) is a German inland navigation company established in Duisburg, where the Ruhr River meets the Rhine.
Last year, a Gemco flag was offered on eBay under no. 6535951662 between 29 May and 8 June: a green flag with a white ascending diagonal stripe on which is placed the (short) company name in green letters without serifs. Oddly, the firm?s website shows the letters in black:

Some facts gleaned from above site: during the ?fifties of the previous century, Mr G. Möller established a towage firm bearing his name. As ?Gerd Möller & Co.? the company expanded its inland shipping activities to the Benelux countries. Mr Günter Ohm joined the firm in 1987 which he would acquire eight years later.  France was added to the area of operations.
It seems that now more than three hundred private shippers from four countries are working for Gemco who arrange single transport runs as well as long-term deals.  The company lists a number of various kinds of freight but summarizes them, simply, as all goods which may be carried by a vessel.
Jan Mertens, 5 Apr 2006

Gemeinwirtschaftliche Kohlen HandelsGesellschaft

Gemeinwirtschaftliche Kohlen HandelsGesellschaft mbH (belongs to K.R. Fisser & v. Doornum)
The company was located in Emden. It is a red over white over red horizontal triband with red capitals ?GKGL? in the white stripe.
Source: ?Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen?; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.19
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Gerhard U. Brzoska

Gerhard U. Brzoska, Stade - horizontal RWR; on white blue diamond, white "GUB".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 23 Nov 2005

Gerhard & Hey

This one is a red flag with the initials "G&M", in white, along the centre. The caption is more or less readable: "Gerhart" is pretty clear and the rest seems to be "& Mry.", probably an abbreviation of some sort..
Jorge Candeias, 28 Nov 2004

Also in the 1912 Lloyds as No. 729: i.e. Gerhard & Hey, Hamburg.
Jan Mertens, 29 Nov 2004

Gerhard & Hey, Hamburg - red flag, white "G&H".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 28 Jan 2005

E.J.Gerhardt

E.J.Gerhardt, Schifffahrt & Verwaltung GmbH
The company is located at Rügenweg 13 in Minden/Westfalen.
Ernst J. Gerhardt was born in 1942 in Zehdenick/Havel. He worked as a crewman and later as a captain on the ships of his parent?s company.
In 1973 he bought his first own ship. In 1977 he bought a bigger one, which was chartered by TG ELBIA.
Gerhardt was member of the board of ELBIA Eilfracht TG e.G. and in the association of independent entrepreneurs/employers and had a few honorary posts in inland shipping associations.
In 1984 he established his own company in Minden, mainly dealing with tanker shipping.
He is member of the tanker ship commission under the roof of BDB.
In 2003 he and Martin Deymann (Haren) founded the Tankschiffsreederei Gerhardt & Deymann. But the cooperation wasn?t successful. Rhough Belgian company INTERMARES joined G&D the cooperation between Gerhardt & Deymann ended in 2006.
Source: Klaus-Peter Bühne, translated by Klaus-Michael Schneider.

Description of flag: It is a 5-stripes flag with alternating, horizontal stripes of red and white. A white lying oval, taking nearly total height of flag, is superimposing the stripes. The oval has a broad yellow fimbriation and the company?s logo, consisting of the letters ?E?,?J? and ?G?(bigger).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 Mar 2009

E.J.Gerhardt Schifffahrt & Verwaltung GmbH. On their website there are a couple of flag images, which show the oval having straight top and bottom sides and also that the letters are slanted.
The funnel is coloured as per the flag but with the letters erect but shows their makeup in clearer detail. I have two photos of  vessels flying the flag, in one the letters look slanted whilst in the other they look erect, but with both flapping it is inconclusive.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 Apr 2009

German Tanker Shipping

German Tanker Shipping was established in Bremen in 1998. The company operates 12 tankers, all of them sailing under the German flag, named after sea fishes (MT "Seaturbot" to MT "Seamarlin").

The house flag of German Tanker Shipping, shown as a graphic on the company website, is quartered per saltire blue-white with the letters "G" and "T" in the left and right white quarters, respectively.
Ivan Sache, 7 Mar 2008

See the full size item on this clickable photo: (not a very common font for a house flag).  The flag on the right represents the Lindenau wharf at Kiel.
Jan Mertens, 7 Mar 2008

Getreideheber Gesellschaft Hamburg

Getreideheber Gesellschaft: The company was located in Hamburg and is probably dissolved. Jan Mertens found here a page about Johann Oelker dockyard, delivering a new vessel to Getreideheber Gesellschaft, including a photo of the flag. I only spotted an image made of tiles on a wall of the former company building. Probably the company was trading and shipping grain.
Description of flag: It is a white flag divided by a recd chevron, pointing to the top. Red capitals ?G? (upper hoist and lower centre) and ?H? (upper fly) are spread out over the flag.
Source: I spotted an image of that flag on 10 April 2009 in the Hamburg harbour area.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Jun 2009

Karl Geuther

Here is the website of Karl Geuther & Co., - houseflag: white with red flydiagonal strip of c. 1/3 flagheight; in center blue capitals KG outlined white.
Dov Gutterman, 2 Nov 2003

Homepage (English version available): This versatile firm (?shipping ? stevedoring ? freight forwarding ? mail-order business ? travel and tourism ? ferry bookings?), founded in 1958, shows a tiny house flag on the company website. The red stripe behind the blue initials is not a straight stripe (diagonal) I?m afraid, but rather a bowed stripe getting slightly thinner towards the top.  Also the fimbriated blue initials are linked together in such a way that an arrow is seen to point backwards from ?G? to ?K?.
See image from German eBay offer no. 290064096504 (end 25 Dec 2006), table flag put up by ?shipflag?, dimensions given: approx. 15 [cm] x 24 [cm].
Jan Mertens, 16 Feb 2010

Otto Giese

Otto Giese
The company was located in Bremen. It is a white flag divided by a black centred cross. In its centre is a white disc fimbriated black and containing a red capital ?G?.
Source: ?Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT?; Hamburg 1957; p.F10.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 Apr 2009

Gläfcke & Hennings

Jorge Candeias wrote: This one is red with a big white star in the center, charged with a white castle outlined in black.
This is a long shot but... could it be Gläfke & Hennings, Hamburg?  This firm is mentioned a few times on this page, selling the occasional ship to the Deutsche Levante Line.
A picture has been found, but the name is really Gläfcke & Hennings ? see item from Massary cigarette album, 1930. Name of source: ?Flaggen ,die über Meere
Völker verbinden? (i.e. flags connecting peoples across the seas).

The Hamburg connection was right on the dot, in fact the company seems to have had no second thoughts about appropriating the castle.
Here we see the ?Polynesia? who once was owned by Gläfcke & Hennings from 1904 till 1921:
Jan Mertens, 26 Dec 2006

H. Glahr & Co

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of H. Glahr & Co. GmbH (Bremen) - white swallotail with two 5 points blue stars situated diagonaly.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Globus Reederei

Globus Reederei GmbH., Hamburg: The flag was divided by saltire into white and green with a white oval fimbriated red and containing a red capital ?G? in its centre.
Source: based on a photo of a table flag of Klaus-Peter Bühne.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 May 2009

Globus Reederei A.G., Bremen: apparently red with blue globe, white lines of latitude and longitude added; the globe in the center of a blue double-barred cross encircling it (space between double bars is white)
Jan Mertens, 16 Nov 2003

You do not have an illustration of Globus Reederei Houseflag.
See illustration of flag on this page.
Alan Dingo, 10 Aug 2009

Reederei Gloria

Reederei Gloria GmbH
The company was located in Hamburg. The flag is divided by saltire into white, black (top) and red (bottom) with a white disc in the centre, showing a yellow capital ?G?.
Source:  ?Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen?; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.33
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Glücksburger Reederei

Glücksburger Reederei GmbH
The company was located in Glücksburg (Schleswig-Flensburg county) near the Danish border. The flag is derived from the Gottorp civil ensign of 1696. But it is not a split flag. The golden crown has been replaced by a ?crownish? white zigzag above the shield and in the canton is a golden capital ?G?.
Source: Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen?; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.20
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Apr 2009

Glücksburger Reederei - more

Glücksburger Reederei. The image is not quite right mainly because the source shows the lions facing the fly, with there also being minor differences in the white "zigzag" above the shield which seems to actually be a single object, and possibly the shape of the "G" although like their presentation of the lions that might not mean
anything. Certainly the lion shapes shown by the FOTW image look to be more in line with the original Arms. Anyway I enclose a scan of the Esso source in support.

More importantly, I feel, check out this webpage, which gives a report in Der Spiegel 30.9.1953 of a court case. My interpretation of the translation, which is subject to correction as needed, is that Gotthard Schwarzlose departed from what was then Stettin under German control just before the end of WW2 and settled in Glücksburg where he occupied a house owned by Hans Hansen-Schmidt. Schwarlose had previously formed two shipping companies and now formed a third, Glücksburger Reederei GmbH in partnership with Prince [Friedrich Ferdinand] of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, being a resident also of Glücksburg and who put in 70,000 D-Marks. He already had a house flag for his first two companies of horizontal bands of black, white and red with the letters "Sch & S" on the white. For the new company he used as a basis the flag of the Prince of Schleswig-Holstein who had led the revolt of 1848 against the Danish Government and which later became the battle flag of the battleship "Schleswig-Holstein" [built in 1906 and which served in both world wars], making a change by replacing the ducal crown with the letter "G" for Glücksburg. I understand that post WW2 there were a large number of shipping companies formed to replace the lost tonnage but company formation did not always equate to having sufficient funds to build or buy vessels. That the Glücksburger Rederei GmbH was established by 1949 is proved [? ] by the court case which resulted from the election of Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor. Schwarzlose had 3 flag poles outside his residence so he proposed to celebrate the election result by flying flags for 3 days comprising the federal black-red-gold on the centre pole, his black-white-red house flag with the "Sch & S" on the left pole and his new Glücksburger flag on the right hand. However landlord Hansen-Schmidt made an unexpected return and objected to the display but the court found against him.

This account gives a different subsequent derivation from that supplied by Klaus-Michael for the origin. I also enclose an image of the Arms of Schleswig-Holstein as the two halves of the two duchies seem to have been combined on the flag with the white leaf of a nettle (Holstein) presumably being the white surrounds on this flag with the yellow oval being the shield bearing the lions of Schlesweg (facing sinister).

As mentioned, funds did not always follow company formation straight away and in the case of Glücksburger Reederei GmbH their first ship, "Holstein" was not launched until 1953 after Emder Verkehrsgesellschaft A.G. became involved with the company. They seem to have ceased operations with the sale of the "Don Roberto" in 1965.

As far as the original Schwarlose companies are concerned I can find nothing about there their ships but my 3rd image is for the selfsame flag shown in "Flaggen auf dem Rhein" for Reederei Gotthartd [sic] Schwarzlose & Söhne so they were apparently involved in inland shipping but by then based in Duisburg.
Neale Rosanoski, 4 Feb 2010

Gluesing Transport

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Gluesing Transport Gmbh (Cuxhaven) - Orange over Blue charged with white "GT", fimbriated blue.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Gluesing Transport - variant

Gluesing Transport, or to be more exact, Glüsing Transport GmbH. Santiago has produced an image in line with the flag logo shown on the company website but it is not a correct rendition of the actual, the best source being the Josef Nüsse table flag which shows that  "G" is more blockish with straight lines slightly rounded at the corners and the "arm" does not rest on the blue but is on the orange in line with the top of the "T",  and there is not any blue outlining of the letters on the orange [see above]. I have a photo of the flag being flown by their "Ebba" in 2006 which has a poor flap but there is enough to confirm these points. Just to help confuse matters the "G" on the funnel bands is rounded.
Neale Rosanoski, 25 Feb 2010

Johann Cesar Godefroy und Sohn

Johann Cesar Godefroy und Sohn - J.C. Godeffroy VI. was born on 1 July 1813 in Kiel and died on 9 February 1885 in Dockenhusen. He was merchant and owner of a dockyard and ships. His family immigrated in the 18th century from La Rochelle. He overtook his fathers company, which dealed with South America trade, in 1842. He managed to establish a branch on the Samoa island of Upolu in 1857 using ships, which were built on his own dockyard "Reiherstieg". The company traded with copra and nacre shells. Though he had to give up some parts of business after a crisis in 1857, he rised up to be the "Südsee-König" (=King of the South Seas). He founded plantations at 50 different stations all over the South Pacific. He supported scientists and established a museum.
The company fell into bankruptcy in 1879 but was caught up by a new company supported by banks and trading companies. J.C. Godeffroy VII. became director of this "Deutsche Handels- und Plantagengesellschaft". The "Godeffroy-Empire" finally marked the begin of the German colony of (West-) Samoa.
Source: Franklin Kopitsch; David Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-9805687-9-2; p.179.

The company used a white flag with a golden dove on blue horizontal bar with golden stripes. The dove shows ist back, spreads its wings and wears a ribbon around its neck. Below the bar is a blue inscription: "J.C.G. & S.".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 Apr 2007

The Godeffroys were French Huguenots of La Rochelle where the leader of their successful family was mayor of the city. However, in 1737 they were forced to flee France to avoid religious persecution brought about by King Louis XIV?s anti-Protestantism. The family sought asylum in Germany and, after a few moves, finally settled in the trading port of Hamburg, which, although predominantly Lutheran, was tolerant of persons of all religions.
Source: this webpage.
More historical details on the company in the South Pacific here (not the correct spelling, Godeffroy) here.
Ivan Sache, 12 Apr 2007

C. Goedelt

C.Goedelt - The company had a white flag with red stripes on either edge. In the centre are black serifed capital letters "CG".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Ludwig & Jakob Götz

Situated at Neckarsteinach on the Neckar, East of Heidelberg, Ludwig & Jackob Götz GmbH & Co. KG is a firm active in inland shipping and freighting.  Its sand and gravel exploitation activities, at least, have been taken over by Heidelberger Sand & Kies (part of the famous Heidelberg Cement group).

Here is an article (in German) describing the tough life on board the river dredger (sand and gravel scooping) ?Götz X? now property of Heidelberg Cement; and here a page of the Binnenvaart site (in Dutch) presenting the ?Jakob Götz? along with a drawing of the house flag:

The image, however, is after the brochure ?Ausbau des Rheins? (October 1977) describing extensive engineering works on the German part of the Rhine, specifically naming L&J Götz as responsible for strengthening the river banks.

The house flag is red, horizontally edged by two white stripes and having a white diamond, bearing a black initial ?G?, in the middle.
Jan Mertens, 13 Jul 2006

Karl Grammerstorf

Karl Grammerstorf - Grammerstorf came to Kiel in 1908. First working as a clerk he advanced and became manager of ?Kieler Kohlen Großhandels GmbH? (KKG). In this position he managed the supply of ships with coal.
This became main part of business during the following years and finally Grammerstorf left KKG. He worked as a shipbroker and organized transportation of Scandinavian iron-ore to the mouths of rivers Weser and Ems. He also opened a transportation- and warehousing branch and ran several tugboats and lighters. Since 1919 he used his ships as mobile warehouses due to lack of warehouses in Copenhagen, which was the most important town of warehousing after WWI.
In 1920 a Hamburg branch was opened. Together with ?Neue Dampfer Compagnie Kiel?  he changed three steamers into tugboats. The business then was transportation of grain and feed stuff. The company grew and acquired a number of steamers until the outbreak of WWII. At its end all the ships had gone lost.
In 1949 Grammerstorf gained full permission to act as shipbroker, ship owner, agent and transporter.
On 1 April 1964 the company was split into ?Karl Grammerstorf-Schiffahrts GmbH? and  ?Karl Grammerstorf Kiel-Kanal GmbH?. After Grammerstorf had resigned ?L. Possehl & Co.? (Lübeck became shareholder of both companies which worked together with Possehl group and ?Lübeck Linie?.
Afterwards all ships had been sold. The ship agency branch however remained.
Source: Klaus-Peter Bühne; translated by Klaus-Michael Schneider.
Description of flag: It is a red flag with a white lozenge fimbriated black and containing black capitals ?KG? in its centre.
Source: ?Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen?; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.20.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 15 May 2009

Karl Gross

International freight forwarder ?Karl Gross Internationale Spedition GmbH?, a German firm, is established at Bremen (main office).  Thecompany website (in German) is being renewed. The Dutch branch?s site resembles the old version: In both cases we see a drawing of the house flag in a traditional form (Dutch site; also on building) and a modern, more dynamic one (German site ? a few stripes were dropped in the process).

This image shows the real thing which very much resembles one of the many rowing club flags Klaus-Michael has sent us.
Basically a ten-stripe horizontal flag (BWB, etc.) with a large canton, the two upper stripes are replaced by the name ?KARL GROSS? in large blue letters without serifs ? thus leaving four blue and four white stripes visible.  The white canton seems to take up 2/5 of flag width, its height being equal to six stripes.  Said canton contains a thin St Andrew?s cross in blue and consequently defines four triangles: the upper one contains the letter ?B? (for ?Befrachtung? i.e. freighting?), the left one ?K?, the right one ?G? and the lower one the year ?1876? (all in blue and no serifs).

1876 is indeed the year of foundation of this freight forwarder and logistics enterprise which now has offices in Germany, the Netherlands, and China. According to the company site, Karl Gross ? still in private hands, by the way ? offers a complete palette of services in its chosen field.

Back to the flag ? source of reduced attachment is yet another German eBay offer, no. 330038261367 put up by ?lz530? who likes to hang out his (her?) goods on the garden clothesline.  End of offer 21 Oct 2006, dimensions given as 0.90 m x 1.40 m.  (A similar offer ending 29 Apr 2007 shows a flag ? in a lying position - with dimensions given as 1.12 m x 1.97 m.).
Jan Mertens, 27 Mar 2008

Richard Grothmann

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Richard Grothmann" (#276, p. 50), a company based in Hamburg, as horizontally divided blue-white-blue  with the red letters "RG" in the middle of the white stripe.
Ivan Sache, 12 Apr 2008

Julius Grube dockyard

Julius Grube dockyard; Hamburg
It is a red flag with a white lozenge containing black, serifed capitals ?JG?.
I spotted an image of this flag on the dockyards wall in Hamburg-Billwerder in September 2008.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 Feb 2009

Grundmann & Groschel

Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Grundmann & Groschel, Geestemünde - white flag with Spanish fess; "G" in black in center. Geestemünde is part of Bremerhaven.
Jarig Bakker, 13 Dec 2004

Paul Günther

The flag is white with a wide blue border all around. In the center of the white part, a blue 5-pointed star is sided by two initials, also blue: P to the left and G to the right. The caption seems to be composed of two words and the first is almost certainly "Paul". The second, though, is not legible. I guess"Gantter".
Jorge Candeias, 30 Dec 2004

It's Paul Günther Schiffsmakler GmbH & Co. KG, see company homepage: a shipping agent/broker, over a century old!
Jan Mertens, 31 Dec 2004