Hermann Helms (shipowner, 1868)
Hermann Christian Helms (born March 29, 1868 in Bremen , † August 9, 1942 in Nuremberg ) was a German shipowner .
biography
Helms was the son of a railroad loadmaster. Since 1881 he learned the trade of a businessman at the newly founded shipping company Deutsche Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft "Hansa" (DDG "Hansa"). In 1903 he became an authorized signatory, in 1910 he was appointed to the board of directors of DDG "Hansa" and then as successor to director Oltmann Johann Dietrich Ahlers († 1910) chairman of the board of directors of Hansa. During his time as a member of the board, the company expanded, and in 1914 it was the third largest German shipping company with 68 ships.
During the First World War , the company lost its entire fleet, with the exception of a small ship. Helms began the reconstruction and in 1921 the Hansa owned 14 ships again on different lines. In the Great Depression of 1929 he managed to lead the shipping company through the crisis. In the 1930s it became the world's largest shipping company for heavy lift freighters and around 1939 53 ships were in service for the DDG "Hansa". In 1940, Helms resigned from his position on the Executive Board and was on the company's Supervisory Board for another two years.
Helms is portrayed as a humble, friendly, competent and internationally respected navigator.
His son of the same name, Hermann Helms (Reeder, 1898), was already the driving force behind the company in the 1920s, and after the Second World War, as CEO until 1969, he was responsible for rebuilding the shipping company. The Hermann Helms , a sea rescue cruiser , was named after him and his son. His grandson of the same name Hermann Helms (shipowner, 1928) led the shipping company after the Second World War.
Honors
The Hermann Helms Street in Bremen- Obervieland was named after him and his son 1969th
literature
- Friedrich Prüser: Helms, Hermann Christian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 504 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Herbert Black Forest : The Great Bremen Lexicon . 2nd, updated, revised and expanded edition. Edition Temmen, Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-86108-693-X .
- Reinhold Thiel: The history of the DDG Hansa . Hauschild, Bremen 2010, ISBN 3-89757-477-2 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Helms, Hermann |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Helms, Hermann Christian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German shipowner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 29, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bremen |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 9, 1942 |
| Place of death | Nuremberg |