The history of ferry services between mainland Europe and England

The first attempts: the 19th century and the pioneers of steam

The first attempts to establish regular ferry links between the near Continent and England were made as early as the 19th century. One of the first official services was set up on 28 August 1841 by the Hanseatic Steamship Company, which put its steamer Hamburg on the Hamburg-Hull route. This connection marked the beginning of scheduled shipping between two rising trading nations of the day. The hope of carrying mostly business travellers and freight was not fulfilled, however, and the company had to file for bankruptcy in 1852.

Bremen entered the scene at almost the same time. As early as 1843 the Bremen merchant Eduard Ichon founded a ferry service between Bremen and Amsterdam. A few years later, in 1845, a scheduled line between Bremen and Hull was set up with the steamers Horsa and Hengist. This venture also failed, and the company had to sell its ships to England in 1849.

North German Lloyd: the start of a successful era

Despite these early failures, the ground was prepared for the shipping lines that followed. One of the most important companies to break through was North German Lloyd, founded in Bremen in 1857. In its first years North German Lloyd built several modern steamers for passenger and freight traffic between the mainland and England.

One of the first ships was the "Adler", which made its maiden voyage from Nordenham to London on 28 October 1857. The "Adler" was the first North German Lloyd sea-going ship to begin a regular passenger service between the Weser region and England. Other steamers followed, such as the Möwe, Falke, Condor, Schwalbe and Schwan. These ships carried not only passengers but also livestock and other goods.

North German Lloyd's England service was a success into the 1880s. The steamers carried passengers in two classes and freight between the ports of Bremen, Nordenham, Hull and London. Passenger numbers rose above all because of the growing emigration to America, since many emigrants travelled to the United States by way of England.

The Argo line and the rising competitive pressure

North German Lloyd's England service was taken over in 1897 by the Argo line, also based in Bremen. Argo chose more modern ships and extended its network further. Alongside the links between Bremen and Hull and between Bremen and London, crossings to Scotland were added, in particular to Leith and Edinburgh. The company placed great value on comfort and service for passengers, especially for the growing number of emigrants and business travellers.

Argo's steamers, such as the Albatros, Falke, Reiher, Adler and Schwan, could carry both freight and passengers. Rising competition between the lines led North German Lloyd to take over Argo in 1925 and to fold the England services into its European network. Despite the merger, the England service remained an important part of the business, and the ships continued to sail weekly between Bremen, Hamburg and England.

The interwar years and growing competition

The years between the wars were marked by intense competition between the shipping lines. Economic difficulties forced the companies to reorganise their routes in the 1930s. Even so, the links between the mainland and England endured, with the ships of the Roland Line and North German Lloyd continuing to play an important part.

A major milestone in the history of the ferry links was the arrival of roll-on/roll-off traffic, intended above all for carrying vehicles and goods. From 1963 the Argo line put modern ro-ro ships into service between the mainland and England, which greatly simplified and sped up freight transport. These ships were designed mainly for freight, however, while passenger traffic increasingly moved into the background.

The arrival of passenger ferries: Prins Hamlet and the modern era

A new chapter in the history of the crossing began with the arrival of modern passenger ferries in the 1960s. On 31 May 1969 the ferry Prins Hamlet sailed from Hamburg to Harwich. Operated by the Danish company DFDS Seaways, the ferry had room for 1,032 passengers and 315 vehicles and gave travellers a direct link between northern Germany and south-east England.

The Prins Hamlet was part of the so-called Prinzenlinie, a brand under which DFDS ran several ferries between the mainland and the United Kingdom. At first these ferries were a success, in particular with British service personnel and with holidaymakers who used them for short trips or to bring their cars across.

Despite the early success, passenger numbers fell during the 1980s. With the rise of the low-cost airlines and the opening of the Channel Tunnel, the ferries grew less attractive. The end of duty-free sales on board made the services less profitable as well. Although DFDS put further ferries into service in the 1990s, such as the Duchess of Scandinavia on the Hamburg-Harwich route, the decline could not be halted.

The end of an era: the service is withdrawn

The last attempt to keep the connection alive was made in 2002, when the route was moved from Hamburg to Cuxhaven. The aim was to cut the sailing time down the Elbe and make the route more economical. Even this step could not save the service. On 6 November 2005 the Duchess of Scandinavia left Cuxhaven for the last time, bringing to an end the era of direct passenger ferries between northern Germany and the United Kingdom.

The withdrawal was the result of several factors at once: growing competition from the low-cost airlines, the opening of the Channel Tunnel, the loss of duty-free sales and falling passenger numbers all made the service uneconomic. Travellers increasingly preferred the shorter crossings from Belgium, the Netherlands and northern France, which offered quicker passage to England.

Nostalgic memories of days gone by

The history of the ferry links to England is a history of change. What began as an innovative way to travel grew into an important connection between the mainland and the British Isles. As the transport network changed and air travel took hold, however, the ferries lost their importance on the longer North Sea routes.

Today there are no direct passenger ferries between northern Germany and England. The crossings that carry travellers to England now run from France, Belgium and the Netherlands, over the shorter and busier routes across the Channel and the southern North Sea. Yet the memory of the old ferries stays alive, as a symbol of a time when a voyage across the North Sea was still an adventure.