^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

House Flags of German Shipping Companies (m)

Other "M" companies:

See also:

MACS Maritime Carrier

image by Jarig Bakker, 27 Nov 2005

MACS Maritime Carrier A.G., Altendorf - blue flag, white "MaCS".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 27 Nov 2005

Mannesmann Reederei

image sent by Jan Mertens, 2 Sep 2009

Mentioned in ‘Duwvaart’ by Jansen & Van Heck (1988), ‘Mannesmann Reederei GmbH’ at Duisburg was a German firm but earned its place in this book thanks to its Dutch subsidiary. Pages 53-57 tell us that this firm was active since 1952 to serve as shipping department to the famous Mannesmann steelworks. According to 'Duwvaart’ which concentrates on push navigation this kind of shipping was taken up in 1962. The house flag is shown in b/w and rectangular (“square” according to the text). Before proceeding to the flag let me say that 1991 saw the end of the shipping company as it was taken over – 21 vessels strong - by its counterpart at Krupp which in its turn was sold to Haniel in 1999, see this webpage.
Divided per saltire green (top and bottom), and red (hoist and fly), a large white disk in the centre bearing black serifed initials “M” above “W” (for “Werke”, factories) with a horizontal stripe between them. In fact this is the Mannesmann brand or logo. See the similar funnel here.
Photo of table flag shown above. Source: German eBay offer no. 200041012573 (end 2 Nov 2006) put up by “freschkall” who gives approx. dimensions as 19 [cm] x 29cm. But ‘Flaggen auf dem Rhein’ (1952 ed.) shows it as well, mentioning Duisburg Ruhrort as the company seat.
PS: see also FOTW-ws for a US subsidiary or related firm.
Jan Mertens, 2 Sep 2009

Joh. Marbs

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 Mar 2007

Joh.Marbs - The company used a quarterly divided flag white (with a red serifed "M"), red, blue and yellow.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 Mar 2007

MarConsult Schiffahrt

image by Jarig Bakker, 13 Nov 2003

Here is the website of MarConsult Schiffahrt (GmbH & Co.) KG - houseflag: blue with white diamond with red letters MC.
Dov Gutterman, 2 Nov 2003

MarConsult Schiffahrt GmbH & Co. KG is a German maritime consultancy and ship management company founded in 1986. According the firm’s website (see
‘Company’): 19 container vessels are managed and controlled or chartered. Base of operations is Hamburg; all ships are registered in Antigua and Barbuda with one exception, sailing under the German flag.
Jan Mertens, 5 Mar 2006

Maritime Services Aleuropa

image by Jarig Bakker, 23 Oct 2005

Maritime Services Aleuropa, G.m.b.h., Hamburg - white over green flag; on white red disk; on green the firm's name in full and black.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 23 Oct 2005

Marker

$[Schiffahrts und Befrachtungs Kontor Marker GmbH (Shipping Company, Germany)]$ image by Jorge Candeias, 10 Mar 1999

Schiffahrts und Befrachtungs Kontor Marker GmbH - White with two narrow, yellow, horizontal stripes running near the top and the bottom of the flag and a blue 'M' shifted to the hoist. The base of the 'M' extends to the hoist and to the fly, thus forming another horizontal stripe.
Jorge Candeias, 10 Mar 1999

As the longer name says, this is a shipping and freighting office. Homepage (English version) with waving flag: Quote from the introduction: "We are a private company with a background of about 30 years experience in inland shipping. We take over, carry out and arrange inland navigation transports (dry goods) on European inland waterways, all usual services included."
Fed up with looking for acceptable inland navigation software, the company developed its own!
Märker offers various house flags for sale here (click relevant images): ship flag 100 x 150 cm, 17.90 €; jack 40 x 60 cm, 10,20 €; table flag 15 x 25 cm 3.55 €; flag pin 2.30 €.
The site's German version presents interesting press information. We learn that the firm was founded on 22 Aug 1972 (owned and led by Erika Märker after the death of husband Heiko Märker, 1987) and offers yearly contracts to about five or six private bargemen who are mostly active in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium; about a dozen additional ships are under freight contract.
A note in the Dutch `Schuttevaer' weekly (Sat. 1 Sep 2007) announced Märker's takeover by Neukirch, another Bremen transportation and logistics firm. This (and some flag-related things) will be the subject of part 2.
Jan Mertens, 15 Sep 2007

Märkische Bunker und Service

image by Jarig Bakker, 15 Sep 2005

Another German MBS house flag: that of ‘Märkische Bunker und Service GmbH & Co. KG’, at Berlin, “Märkische” meaning of, belonging to, Brandenburg.
I first encountered this firm in a book dedicated to East German inland shipping: Armin Gewiese & Rudolf Schönknecht: ‘Binnenschiffahrt zwischen Elbe und Oder. Das andere deutsche Fahrtgebiet 1945-1995’ (i.e. Inland Navigation between Elbe and Oder. The other German shipping area 1945-1995), Busse Seewald/DSV-Verlag, Hamburg, 1996, 264 p., ill., ISBN 3-88412-218-5.
MBS is briefly presented on p. 179; the book also carries their advertisement in colour, p. 181.
When after the reunification of Germany the inland fleet of (state owned) VEB Binnenreederei was privatized, the technical department was bought up by two employees (1992). According to Gewiese and Schönknecht, the brand-new MBS fleet comprised 23 “vessels and others” offering bunkering, waste disposal, small repairs, and cleaning services. MBS had the first bilge and oil waste disposal vessel on the former GDR territory.
The advertisement mentioned above shows a drawing of the house flag: sky blue, a yellow oval containing sky blue initials ‘MBS’ in script above a thin sky blue wave. On tiny ships’ photos in said advertisement this flag, as well as that of Aral (German mineral oil brand), Esso Bunkering, and Bilgenentölung can be seen – the last one we already know, yellow with a large black circle (here in a square version).
Company site (look up ‘Standorte’ i.e. places of operation and see above flag on the maps): Important places are Berlin and Brandenburg; the site also reveals the
existence of an aluminium products workshop, a dry dock, and the possibility of chartering some specialized vessels. On various photos we find yellow and a light blue dominating the colour spectrum.
Jan Mertens, 27 Jun 2007

Mathies Reederei

image by Jarig Bakker, 15 Sep 2005

Mathies Reederei, Hamburg - red flag, white diamond, black "M".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 15 Sep 2005

L.F.Mathies & Co.

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

L.F.Mathies & Co. - This company used a green flag with a white diamond touching the edges with a red serifed capital "M".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

C.M-Matzen

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

C.M-Matzen - Christian Michael Matzen was seaman and captain and led his first own ship as captain in 1867. He finally owned 18 ships but when he died in 1904 the company was dissolved and three of the five remained ships were sold to August Bolten, one to Knöhr und Burchard Nachfolger and one to Norway. The company used a red flag with a white diamond with a blue serifed capital "M".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.113ff.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Mecklenburger Hochseefischerei

image by Eugene Ipavec, 16 Apr 2009

“Mecklenburger Hochseefisherei’ (i.e. Mecklenburg High Seas Fishery; 1993) had taken over RFFR in 1993 and is owned, since 1998, by the Dutch company Parlevliet & Van der Plas.
This page shows the house flag on third row, first picture, clickable (date of foundation given: 1991): Again, the white field with ascending and descending stripes in the national colours, suggesting a saltire (the ascending stripe in front), accompanied by black initials without serifs: ‘M’ (hoist), ‘H’ (top), and ‘F’ (fly).
Jan Mertens, 29 Mar 2009

Medorient Shipping Lines

image by Jarig Bakker, 23 Nov 2005

Medorient Shipping Lines GmbH., Hamburg - blue flag, white disk, black "M".
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

Meerpahl & Meyer

image by Jarig Bakker, 13 Nov 2003

Here is the website of Meerpahl & Meyer GmbH - houseflag: red with white diamond with the company-logo.
Dov Gutterman, 2 Nov 2003

Memeler Dampfsch.-AG

image by Jorge Candeias, 21 Dec 2004

The flag is green with a white saltire and 4 white letters in the 4 quarters defined by the cross: M, D, A and G. The caption reads something similar to Memeler Dpf. A. G.
Jorge Candeias, 21 Dec 2004

A slightly longer name I could find was "Memeler Dampfsch.-AG" and so it is as yet unclear whether they meant steamship(s), or steamship company.
Jan Mertens, 23 Dec 2004

Helmuth Mentz, Rostock

image by Ivan Sache, 14 Jan 2004

Following the link found by Joe Mc Millan - The Mystic Seaport Foundation, we can reach the 1911 Lloyd's flagbook, whose full title is (after the scan of the cover): 'Lloyd's book of house flags and funnels of the principal steamship lines of the world and the house flags of various lines of sailing vessels', published at Lloyd's Royal Exchange. London. E.C.
On p. 133, we have: #2039. Helmuth Mentz, Rostock. The flag is blue with a white border and HM and R (black with a white shadow), on two rows.
Ivan Sache, 14 Jan 2004

Menzell & Co.

image by Jorge Candeias, 23 May 2004

This one is blue with a white triangle and a red M inside the triangle. The caption is quite readable: Menzell & Co.
Jorge Candeias, 23 May 2004

See this page from a very useful European Shipping Company site, lists a Menzell & Co Schiffsmakler - and their homepage.
James Dignan, 24 May 2004

Ernst Menzer-Werft

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Sep 2007

Ernst Menzer-Werft, Geesthacht
The red (hoist and fly) and white(top and bottom) flag is divided by saltire. In the red parts are black serifed white-shaded capital letters "E"(hoist) and "M"(fly). I the centre of flag is a slightly modified or older coat of arms of the city of Geesthacht (Herzogtum Lauenburg county, Schleswig-Holstein. Ernst Menzer ran a dockyard there.
Source: I spotted this flag on 28 May 2004 in a pub in St.Pauli. The flag was identified with the help of Josef Nuesse, Drochtersen on 25 September 2007.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Sep 2007

Merkur Schiffahrt

image by Eugene Ipavec, 21 Apr 2009

‘Merkur Schiffahrt – Baustoffe GmbH’ (i.e. Merkur… (or Mercury or Mercurius or Hermes DVS) Shipping and Construction Materials Co.) at Berlin (DE) is a small firm doing exactly what its name proclaims. Modest website: Said materials include sand, gravel, flagstones, crushed stone, etc. which are delivered by truck
(lorry) or, in case of transports of 500 metric tonnes or more, by inland vessel.
Other bulk goods between 500 – 1500 tonnes, such as coal or wheat, are shipped as well.
Shown on the webpage’s header is the house flag: white with a thin green border (all around), bearing a large initial ‘M’ in script.
The ‘Transport’ page offers a clickable photo (middle one of three) showing this flag. The green colour is rather more vivid than the one used in the drawing.
Jan Mertens, 20 Apr 2009

Gebr. Meyer

image by Jarig Bakker, 16 Apr 2007

‘Gebr. Meyer Bauunternehmung GmbH & Co.’, Cologne (i.e. Meyer Brothers Construction Company, Ltd).
Houseflag: Divided per saltire white (left and right fields) and green (upper and lower fields), a rather small white disk in the centre bearing a black initial ‘M’ (no serifs).
As “Ausbau des Rheins” lists these firms, detailing who did or was doing what and where, we learn that Gebr. Meyer were busy deepening the Rhine at the Nackenheimer Schwelle i.e. removing underwater rocks, dredging, and reinforcing river banks near Mainz, 1972-74.
Additionnally, river breakwaters were built near Rüdesheim in 1976, the famous Binger Loch and immediate surroundings having already been dredged, rock removed, etc. 1966-68 and 1970-75.
Gebr. Meyer cooperated with other specialized firms some of which we know e.g. W. de Beijer (NL).
On p. 20 the brochure shows a large flagoid painted on the side of drilling vessel ‘Mittelrhein’ but p. 23 shows an actual flag flying on a bucket dredge on the Lower Rhine. That is one advantage of being nearsighted – the flag on the photo measures only 1 by 2 mm but is recognizable!
One snippet of information found on the ‘net leads me to believe Gebr. Meyer was founded in or around 1879.
Jan Mertens, 16 Apr 2007

Karl Meyer

image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

Karl Meyer, Wischhafen - white flag, stylized green "M", pierced by a double-pointed red arrow.
(Wischhafen is NW of Hamburg in Niedersachsen, along the Elbe)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

Louis Meyer

image by Jarig Bakker, 21 Sep 2005

Neue Schleppdampf Schiffahrts Reederei Louis Meyer, Hamburg - blue flag, white cross
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 21 Sep 2005

Robert Meyhoefer

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Robert Meyhoefer
The company was located in Bremen. It is a dark blue flag with white capitals “RM” in the upper hoist.
Source: “Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen”; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.28
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Meyrose

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Feb 2007

Meyrose - Meyrose is a salvaging-, freight- and logistics company in Hamburg.
The flag is a blue over red horizontal bicolour with a white diamond with a black capital "M" in its centre.(spotted at 28 May 2004 in Hamburg).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Feb 2007

Midgard

image by Jorge Candeias, 14 Mar 1999

Midgard AG & Co. KG - Divided per saltire, white on top and bottom and blue at hoist and fly, with a white oval in the centre, bordered blue and charged with a blue snake (with a huge head, and an even bigger eye, in relative terms).
Jorge Candeias, 14 Mar 1999

Midgard snake (Midhgardhsormr) keeps the world in place by clasping it into its rings. When the snake relaxes, a generalized flood shall occur and the world shall disappear during the so-called Ragnarok - Fate-of-the-Powers, very often mispelled Ragnarokr, Twilight-of-the-Powers -Midgard snake is compared to Yggdrasill, the ash tree which supports the world with its branches. When Yggdrasill collapses, the world shall disappear. Source: Encyclopaedia Universalis.
Ivan Sache, 19 Sep 2001

The company name is Rhenus Midgard A.G. & Co. K.G. They were formed in 1905 as Midgard Deutsche Seeverkehrs A.G. and at some point after the mid 1990s the company, who are now described as port operators, seem to have been taken over by Rhenus A.G. & Co.
Neale Rosanoski, 18 Oct 2004

Klaus Mimietz

image by Jarig Bakker, 19 Jan 2006

Klaus Mimietz, Rendsburg - horizontal BWR flag, in center white shield bordered black, red "M".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 19 Jan 2006

William Minlos

image by Ivan Sarkobruniland, 28 Mar 2008

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "William Minlos" (#122, p. 42), a company based in Lübeck, as horizontally divided white-red with the blacl letters "Wm M" in the middle.
Ivan Sarkobruniland, 28 Mar 2008

MOBIL OIL AG

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 Apr 2009

MOBIL OIL AG in Deutschland
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a white swallow tail flag. At top and bottom edge are celestial blue stripes. In the centre is a red Pegasus of nearly total height of the white stripe.
Source: Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen”; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.28.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 Apr 2009

Montan Reederei

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

Montan Reederei Gmbh
The company was located in Hamburg. It is a red over yellow over red horizontal triband. The yellow stripe is slightly wider. In the yellow stripe is red capital “M” surrounding the symbol of mining, hammer and mallet.
Source: “Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen”; 2nd ed.; Hamburg 1956; p.28
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 Mar 2009

MSLAG

image by Eugene Ipavec, 21 Jul 2006

At some time during WTAG’s existence (see message of 6 June 2006 for this there existed the affiliated MSLAG or Münsterische Schiffahrts- und Lagerhausgesellschaft. This was the ‘Münster Shipping and Warehousing Company’ based at Münster, located near the Dortmund-Ems canal in North Rhine Westfalia state.

A local archive has records for the years 1926-1970 and then of course the house flag clearly shows the WTAG connection, having the company initials
‘M.S.L.A.G.’ in black on a broad white horizontal stripe edged red.

Source of the attachment is yet another German eBay offer i.e. item no. 6624032748 (ended 29 April 2006) being a table flag. (It also appears on a German site which certainly merits a separate message but no additionial information is gained there.)
Jan Mertens, 20 Jul 2006

Robert Müller

image by Eugene Ipavec, 2 Apr 2006

‘Robert Müller Schiffahrt (GmbH & Co.) KG’, part of the Robert Müller Firmengruppe (group of companies) has an interesting history which starts, very modestly, in 1911. History and background are found here (English version not yet ready).
Founded in 1911 by Robert Müller, a Hamburg-based shipping agent who also operated an Elbe barge inherited from his father. From 1919 on he had his own firm selling stone for road and waterway construction, followed by salt trade in 1922. Inland navigation started with one vessel in 1927 and the first sea-going ship joined the fleet in 1936. Three years later, Robert Müller died.
As could be expected, WWII caused heavy damage: ships and warehouses were lost and some vessels, barges as well as ships, were handed over to the Soviet Union as war compensation. In all, merely two barges remained.
A new start led to building of more sea-going ships which started in 1951; in 1954 a separate firm was established to take care of shipping matters. All vessels were sold in 1961 but the next year new barges on modern lines were launched. The ‘eighties saw further expansion on the logistics side. Various company splittings were followed in 2000 by the merger of the group's shipping and logistics interests known as ‘Reederei und Handelsgesellschaft Robert Müller (GmbH & Co.)’ only to be demerged again in 2003 into three entities ‘Schiffahrt’ (shipping), ‘Logistik’ (logistics) and ‘Handel’ (commerce).
The house flag is found on the company site: quarterly divided red (upper and lower triangles) and white (left and right triangles), a green disk bearing a white initial ‘M’ is placed in the centre.
Jan Mertens, 1 Apr 2006