Nicolaus Ebeling
Nicolaus Ebeling (born September 19, 1870 in Cranz , Hanover province , † April 5, 1939 in Hamburg ) was a German shipowner. By 1938 he put 30 fish steamers into service in Altona and Bremerhaven.
Life
Ebeling was the youngest son of eight children of ship owner and freighter Claus Ebeling . The mother died early. He earned his first money in fishing and selling fish at the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken . With his father he went to sea as a cabin boy on the freighter Petrus . After several years on cutters , he served in the Imperial Navy . After that, he signed on as a seaman on a "Qualmewer" of the Altona fish steamer shipping company Nippe . With the wages saved he was able to pay for a visit to the Hamburg navigation school . He stayed with Nippe as a helmsman and was appointed captain of the fishing liner Elbe after just one year . Johann Hinrich Köser later transferred the management of the Platessa to him . When he broke his leg while jumping from the bridge and was out for a long time, Ebeling felt the urge to go into business for himself. He bought a small tug which he named after his father's freighter, Petrus . With him he ran a successful maneuvering business on the Elbe .
T&E
On November 8, 1905, he agreed to found a shipping company with the businessman Johannes Thode . The evening founding meeting "in Mr. Inzelmann's locale" lasted one and a half hours. Ebeling, Thode, Heinrich Albers, H. Behrends, H. Brandt, C. Cohrs, August Flashoff, J. Inzelmann, P. Ketelsen, J. Krohn, JH Mewes, Franz Müller and Joh. Vester decided to build initially two fish steamers . The third was ordered on December 4, 1905. SCHLESWIG was launched on October 18, 1906, followed by HOLSTEIN a little later. AUGUSTENBURG also had a name rich in references. The company was expanded to become a partner shipping company. In order to compensate for the risks of deep-sea fishing, four fish steamers were basically merged into an interest group. They settled accounts for profit and loss together. With the growing fleet, four such business and asset communities were created. After the shipping company was temporarily relocated to Hamburg in 1907, it returned to Altona with the expansion of the Altona fishing port. The first office building was on Grosse Elbstrasse in Altona. At first they only fished in the North Sea , later also off Iceland and Norway . Since the catch results and profits were good from the start and the fellow shipowners were satisfied with their correspondent shipowners, more fish steamers could be built.
Sole responsibility
When Johannes Thode died in 1914 at the age of 54, Ebeling was also responsible for the internal administration of the shipping company. Nevertheless, another steamer was ordered from Janssen & Schmilinsky in 1915 . It was unanimously decided to name the ship N. EBELING. The First World War interrupted the shipping company's success and growth. The fishing was subject to the war-related restrictions. New fish steamers were laid on the keel, but complaints were made by the Navy. Five ships were lost. The remaining units came back, but first had to be converted back into suitable fishing vessels. Undauntedly, Ebeling acquired the new AXEL WALTER building as early as 1918, which was sent to catch as NORBURG. In the same year, FLENSBURG was the first post-war building to be ordered.
Shipping company Ebeling
In 1921 Ebeling managed 15 ships. The early 1920s was difficult; but in 1926 nearly 15 million pounds of sea fish were landed. From January 31, 1920, the blue-white-red shipping company flag no longer showed the initials T & E in the middle, but a seven-pointed gold star. It was the personal emblem of the now sole correspondent shipping company Ebeling. On 18 October 1922 he founded under the name N. Ebeling a general partnership , which operated the business of a correspondent shipping company. The following day Ebeling's son-in-law Werner Berger joined the company as a partner; six years later he died in an accident. On January 26, 1923 Ebeling's second son-in-law, John Mahn, became a personally liable partner. A new fish steamer was christened in his name in 1927 .
inflation
Inflation made it impossible to calculate beyond the day. To compensate and avert the worst inflationary damage, more catches were landed in Aberdeen and Grimsby . 1923, the great chaos year of the Weimar Republic , hit Ebeling hard, like the whole of deep-sea fishing . Due to the peace treaty of Versailles , the Ruhr area completely ceased to be a sales market. Therefore had Ebeling in April 1923 four steamer hang up . A three-month strike by the ship's crews exacerbated the situation. In 1924 , N. EBELING, GLÜCKSBURG and SONDERBURG ran aground in fog and heavy ice on the Elbe. Despite all the difficulties and setbacks, Ebeling was able to preserve the substance of the fellow shipowners and secure a full revaluation for the shipping company beyond the legal amount.
Egypt
In 1924, SONDERBURG sailed to Alexandria in 19 days under Captain Carl Wilhelmi . Ebeling and his son-in-law Berger wanted to open up new fishing areas in the Mediterranean and set up a new fishery in the Nile Delta . Meanwhile, John Mahn ran the shipping company. The Egyptian authorities allowed fishing in the three-mile zone . The proceeds weren't bad, but the costs were too high. Therefore, the company was canceled after five months.
From the Elbe to the Weser
As chairman of the fishing steamer shipping association "Elbe" for many years , Ebeling clearly saw the advantages and disadvantages of the fishing ports on the Elbe and Weser :
“The essential solution to the task of combating the current difficulties lies in increasing production and, in particular, in rationalizing the entire operation ... As far as the geographical location of the fish markets is concerned, Altona distances itself from Cuxhaven by 55 nautical miles, while Wesermünde – Bremerhaven as well as Cuxhaven can be reached at the same time from the areas fished by deep-sea fishing.
The local difference is therefore 110 nautical miles or half a day for each fishing trip, but without overestimating it increases to a full day if it is taken into account that in Wesermünde and Cuxhaven the departure times of the fishing steamer after the end of the tariff laytime, in contrast to Altona must be paused, furthermore time losses occur due to flood and ebb currents, ice and fog.
Taking into account a daily rate of expenses of approximately 400 RM and an annual average of 20 fishing trips for a fish steamer, an annual amount of approximately 112,000 RM could be saved by relocating to the Unterweser.
While the Altona registered fish steamers landed 27.7 million pounds of consumer fish in their home port , this turnover in Wesermünde was 164.7 million pounds with a fleet of 134 fish steamers. These essential differences can also be seen in the numbers of fish mail order businesses. While 156 registered fish wholesalers support the Wesermünder Fischmarkt, their number is limited to 19 in Altona!
Modern and economical systems - in particular an exemplary dispatch station - are responsible for the enormous fish turnover in Wesermünde. Sales are not insignificantly promoted by the more advantageous shipping location of Wesermünde, in particular to West, South and Central Germany - in contrast to Altona, where inadequate conditions often result in late arrival of fish products at their destination. ... On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that Altona has so far achieved the largest sales in herrings due to its developed industry and imports. However, if you look at the steadily increasing sales curve of the Wesermünde fish market for herring, one can rightly doubt whether Altona will not have to cede this priority to Wesermünde over the next few years ... The current, disadvantaged situation of the Altona fish market is not least due to the downright inconsiderate lack of interest of the competent authorities, which do not take into account the interests of the local fishing industry. "
223 out of 268 eligible voters voted for the company to move to the Lower Weser .
Bremerhaven
The city of Bremerhaven was able to assign the shipping company premises and workshops of the former Sirius AG at the old harbor as a conveniently located construction and working site. The shipping company also found generous support in the Hanseatic City of Bremen . The move itself required an enormous amount of work and organization. In addition, all repairs and equipment were carried out by craft businesses in Altona; on the other hand, the deep-sea fisheries located in Wesermünde-Bremerhaven covered all equipment requirements on their own. That made me independent, but brought more work and responsibility. The Ebeling company had to expand its business considerably; the entrepreneurial hopes were fulfilled in the first few years. The organically structured ancillary businesses soon included a net maker and rigging shop , a large equipment store, and a shipbuilding and mechanical engineering repair shop with a joinery and carpentry shop . Following the example of almost all other shipping companies, N. Ebeling founded the sea fish wholesaler "Seefisch" Herings- und Fischhandelsgesellschaft mbH on July 31, 1930. It gained importance with the curing of herring .
John Mahn
Ebeling, who is now 60 years old, entrusted his son-in-law Mahn with setting up the business and managing the fleet; but he should create his own fleet. From 1931 to 1939 there were eight fish steamers. The average interest rate was 11.6%. Mahn founded the North Atlantic Deep Sea Fishery in 1929 .
Ebeling died after a serious illness at the age of 68.
literature
- Karl Peter Kern: N. Ebeling • Deep Sea Fishing • 1905/1955 . Nordwestdeutscher Verlag Ditzen, Bremerhaven 1955.
Remarks
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ebeling, Nicolaus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German shipowner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 19, 1870 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cranz , Province of Hanover (Harburg) |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 5, 1939 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |