Adria (shipping company)

"Adria" Magyar királyi Tengerhajózási Részvénytársaság ; (Royal Hungarian Maritime Company "Adria")
legal form	Corporation
founding	1882
resolution	1936
Reason for dissolution	Economic difficulties ; (fleet and staff at Tirrenia di Navigazione )
Seat	Budapest ; Rijeka (formerly Fiume)
Branch	Shipping company

The Adriatic was the most important Hungarian shipping company at the time of Austria-Hungary . It was founded in 1882 as "Adria" Magyar Tengerhajózási Részvénytársaság ( Hungarian Shipping Company "Adria" ) with a share capital of 2.5 million guilders and worked with up to 35 ships until 1936. Its motto was: Hazának Használj (Be useful to your country) .

history

Adria Palace in Fiume (1897), seat of Adria AG

Foundation of the company

The starting point for the establishment of the company was the activity of the Adria Steamship Company, founded by Gottfried Schenker in 1879 . In 1880, an agreement between the Adria Steamship Company and the Kingdom of Hungary , which after the settlement between Austria and Hungary in 1867 sought to operate its sea trade as independently as possible from Austria, agreed to make 170 trips to Great Britain annually. Associated with this was an annual subsidy of 150,000 guilders. Nevertheless, the company had to file for bankruptcy in 1882 and was dissolved.

In order to continue the Hungarian maritime trade, the Adria was founded as a joint stock company with a share capital of 2.5 million guilders, which initially had its seat exclusively in Budapest , later also in Fiume (Rijeka). On January 15, 1882, the first ship of the newly founded company, the SS Szapáry , ran aground and was destroyed on December 27 of the same year on the Irish coast with a load of flour from Fiume for Dublin and Glasgow.

Expansion of the liner service

SS “Ferencz József Király” ( King Franz Joseph I ) - official “Adria” postcard from around 1913

SS "Tisza" from aft (postcard from approx. 1905, subject: A. Kircher )

SS "Nagy Lajos" (postcard from approx. 1905, subject: A. Kircher)

In 1885, the liner service was expanded to Malta, Tunis and Algeria - and the company also posted profits for the first time: 80,000 guilders. In 1886 the fleet reached the size of 10 steamships.

After initially as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Austrian Lloyd in the Austro-Hungarian Lloyd (1872 Lloyd Austro-Ungarico had been renamed), it came because of different interests in the subsidization of Lloyd and his direct competitor, the "Adriatic" to growing differences between the governments in Vienna and Budapest. Finally, the Hungarian state gave up its stake in Lloyd and its co-subsidization, which then operated under its old name again from 1891, and concentrated its promotional measures on "Adria AG", but at the same time exerted influence on the establishment of Ungaro, also based in Fiume -Croato , an association of smaller shipping companies. In the same year, a new contract with a term of 10 years was signed between the Hungarian state and the Adriatic Sea . In this, the Adriatic committed itself to expanding its fleet to 25 ships and the liner service as follows:

24 trips a year to Liverpool

18 to Glasgow

18 to Spanish , Portuguese or a western port in France

12 according to Leith

12 to Hull or Newcastle

12 to Rouen

12 to Bordeaux

12 to the eastern ports of Italy , furthermore Sicily, Malta or Tunis

6 to Hamburg

6 to Brazil - alternating with Österreichischer Lloyd (from 1907 Austro-Americana took over the Brazil voyages ).

In return, the annual subsidies from the Hungarian state rose to 570,000 guilders and the company was granted permission to call itself “Royal Hungarian” (“Magyar királyi”). On the basis of the subsidies agreed in the contract, the Adria carried out a capital increase to 1,250,000 guilders to procure the planned ships and in 1892 issued a priority loan of 3,000,000 guilders through a bank consortium .

The new treaty ensured the Hungarian government significant influence in society. At the same time, the Adriatic , as previously only Österreichischer Lloyd, was obliged to carry out trips for military purposes in the event of war - that is, transports of troops, food and war material. In 1901, the contract was extended to December 31, 1921 with essentially unchanged core conditions, with the contract now listing 23 destinations to be served. However, the number of ships had to be increased by the end of 1902 to 35 and after 1911 by 5 units. The steamers to be procured had to develop a speed of at least 10 nm during a test drive . In addition, the passenger transport fees had to be approved by the Hungarian Minister of Commerce and the freight tariffs regulated in detail. Coordination of ticket issuance and continuous baggage transport for passengers on the Adriatic , who also used the Hungarian state railways , was required.

After all, the company was committed to patriotic interests in all of its business policy, including the preference for Hungarian products and services. The subsidies, unchanged in value, should now be paid out in the amount of 1,140,000 kroner (forint) in arrears monthly installments of 95,000 kroner. As a result, the services provided by the Adriatic on the basis of the contract were sometimes critically debated in the Hungarian parliamentary opposition, as the contractually planned new ships were not built and the planned routes were only partially served.

In 1898 the Austrian and Hungarian governments concluded an agreement on the division of traffic zones between Lloyd and the Adriatic . According to this, the West, namely Italy, Malta, Spain, France, Great Britain, North and West Africa (excluding Egypt) and North America were reserved for "Oesterreichischer Lloyd the Orient, East Africa, India, China and Japan" stay. The Black Sea area is neutral. "

Pleasure rides

The Adriatic ran amusement cruises in the same way as Österreichischer Lloyd, but to a much lesser extent. For the 1907 season z. B. weekly trips on the Mediterranean routes Fiume-Bari-Naples-Genoa-Marseille-Barcelona-Valencia-Trieste-Fiume and Fiume-Trieste-Bari-Naples-Genoa-Marseille-Nice-Genoa-Fiume occupied.

The Adriatic in World War I

When the war broke out in 1914 , the Adriatic fleet comprised 33 steamers. Compared to Österreichischer Lloyd, it was not only significantly smaller in terms of numbers, but also in terms of its tonnage . While the 65 ships of Lloyd had tonnages from 2,000 and 3,000 GRT up to 8,500 GRT, the ships on the Adriatic averaged between 1,500 and 3,000 GRT. The largest ship, the Arad , had 3,927 GRT.

The shipping company from 1918 to 1936

After the end of the war, only 25 ships returned, which initially had to sail under the inter-allied flag. The company was taken over by a financially strong group, including Alberto and Oscar, members of the Cosulich family, and renamed Società anonima de Navigazione marittima Adria . The main ports were Venice and Voloska until 1924 , then again Fiume. In 1936 the company was closed for financial reasons. The fleet and personnel were taken over by the Neapolitan shipping company Tirrenia di Navigazione .

Headquarters


Seat of the Adriatic Sea in Budapest, built 1900–1902 (contemporary postcard and today's partial view)

In 1897 the Adria Palace , designed in neo-baroque forms by the architect Francesco Mattiassi and built by the Trieste Giacomo Zammattio, was completed. He wears figural jewelry with maritime motifs by Sebastiano Bonomi.

In 1903 a company headquarters was also opened in Budapest. It was located on the second and third floors of the also neo-baroque Adria Palace ( Adria hajóstársaság palotája ) located on Szabadság tér (Freedom Square) No. 16 , which was designed by the German architect Arthur Meinig .

Advertising, timetables, agencies


Timetable of the "Adria AG" from approx. 1900 with the illustration of the SS Carola on the back and the indication of a total of 33 ships used (282 × 169 mm, print: Stabilimento tipo-litografico Emidio Mohovich in Fiume)

In order to inform the passengers about the lines operated by the Adriatic Sea and the departure times, the shipping company published advertising materials in various languages and also advertised in various newspapers and magazines, such as The Flag .
Like all larger shipping companies, the Adriatic had set up a network of agencies in many capitals, such as Amsterdam, Dublin, Copenhagen, Lisbon or Paris, and port cities, which spanned Europe in particular, and which could advertise the company specifically on site and the ship passages to travelers sold. However, from the timetable information shown, only the Hamburg-based trading company AC de Freitas & Co. is the representative for Germany . But representatives from the Adriatic were also present in North Africa (Casablanca, Oran, Tangier, Tunis) and even in South America (Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires).

Others

The now structurally partially neglected Adria building in Budapest was the location of the first episode of the 2016 British television series "Maigret" with Rowan Atkinson in the lead role.

literature

Horst Friedrich Mayer , Dieter Winkler: Austria was in all the ports - the Austro-Hungarian merchant navy . Edition S, Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-7046-0079-2 .
Ferenc Nagy, Géza Homonnay and Dénes Czirók: The golden age of Hungarian sea navigation 1868-1914 . in: Philatelica 2015/2, p. 1 ff., Budapest 2015 ( online )
Márton Pelles: Az Adria Magyar Királyi tengerhajózási Rt. Szerepe Fiume hajó- és áruforgalmában (1874–1914) ( The role of the Royal Hungarian Maritime Company “Adria” Fiume in shipping and freight traffic ). in: Közgazdasági Szemle ( economic review), Budapest 2016 (63rd volume), issue 2, pp. 188–208 ( digitized version )
Heinz Plocek, Franz Juba: History of the Hungarian shipping company Adria in: MARINE - Yesterday, Today. Naval news . Published by the Working Group for Austrian Naval History, Volume 13, Issue 1 (March 1986)

Web links

Commons : Adria (shipping company) - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Horst Friedrich Mayer, Dieter Winkler: Austria was in all ports - the Austro-Hungarian merchant navy . Vienna 1987, p. 138

↑ According to an entry on the "Adria" Internet forum, the date of departure is said to have been January 10, 1882.

↑ The scene of the accident was 4 nm west of Bar Lough, Wexford ( The Wrecksite ).

↑ In addition to the SS “Szapáry”, Adria AG lost another 6 ships: the “Báró Kemény” (1898), “Báthori” (1914), “Carola” (1916), “Jókai” (1897), “Petőfi” (1903 ) and “Szent István” (1908) ( The Wrecksite ).

↑ The postcards with painted ship motifs issued by the Adriatic often show discrepancies between the ships actually painted and the names in the card text.

↑ Compare the Internet forum Naše sidr .

↑ Compare the situation in the Hungarian transport system at that time in the article "The transport system of Hungary in 1891", supplement to Pester Lloyd of January 9, 1892 ( digitized version ).

^ Advertisement in the newspaper Das Vaterland on February 11, 1892 ( digitized version ).

↑ The main content of the contract is printed in the (Salzburg) foreign newspaper of February 2, 1901 ( digitized version ).

↑ The routes traveled in June 1894 are listed in an advertisement in the Agramer Zeitung dated May 30, 1894 ( digitized version ).

↑ Reproduction of the general debate on the draft laws relating to the shipping contracts in the Reichstag of March 4, 1914 in Pester Lloyd of March 5, 1914 ( digitized version ).

^ The maritime transport of Austria in Hungary . in: Vorarlberger Landes-Zeitung of March 4, 1898 ( digitized version ).

^ Meyer's travel books. The Mediterranean . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna 1907, intent: “Steamship connections in the Mediterranean 1907”, p. VII

↑ Detailed views of the building on the Hungarian website: Az egykori "Adria" székház díszítőszobrai and Mesélő Házak ( Buildings steeped in history ).
↑ Emidio Mohovich (* July 18, 1838 in Fiume (today: Rijeka), † March 5, 1898 ibid.) Founded the Stabilimento Tipo-litografico, the most important printing house of the 19th century in Fiume, together with Carl Huber in 1863. His books were awarded at exhibitions in Trieste (1871), Paris (1878) and Budapest (1883). His diary appeared in the “Giornale di Fiume” from January to December 1865, until it was officially banned. Until his death he edited the newspaper "La Bilancia", founded by him in 1868 (until 1919), which was also sold in Pest, Vienna, Trieste, Hamburg, Berlin and Zurich, he wrote the leading articles and wrote regular reports from the Hungarian and Croatian Parliament. His publishing spectrum included newspapers, magazines and books in Italian and Croatian. After his death, the publishing house was continued by his sons Vito (1865–1903) and Mario (1872–1923). (After the online entry in the Hrvatska enciklopedija )
↑ Compare the illustration on p. 148 in: Horst Friedrich Mayer, Dieter Winkler: Austria was in all ports - the Austro-Hungarian merchant navy . Vienna 1987.
↑ Compare the English Wikipedia .

[Gründung_Adria-1] A ^b Horst Friedrich Mayer, Dieter Winkler: Austria was in all ports - the Austro-Hungarian merchant navy . Vienna 1987, p. 138

[2] According to an entry on the "Adria" Internet forum, the date of departure is said to have been January 10, 1882.

[3] The scene of the accident was 4 nm west of Bar Lough, Wexford ( The Wrecksite ).

[4] In addition to the SS “Szapáry”, Adria AG lost another 6 ships: the “Báró Kemény” (1898), “Báthori” (1914), “Carola” (1916), “Jókai” (1897), “Petőfi” (1903 ) and “Szent István” (1908) ( The Wrecksite ).