BLG Logistics Group AG & Co. KG is a seaport and

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

company with

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. The operative divisions offer services for automobile, industry and trading customers. The company has nearly 100 locations in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

History

1877 to 1933

65 merchants founded Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- (BLG) in February 1877. A key factor in the company's creation was the desire of Bremen

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

traders to obtain an improved warehousing and trading infrastructure, including the option of issuing

warehouse receipt A warehouse receipt is a document that provides proof of ownership of commodities (e.g., bars of copper) that are stored in a warehouse, vault, or depository for safekeeping. Warehouse receipts may be negotiable or non-negotiable. Negotiable wareh ...

s and

warrants Warrant may refer to: * Warrant (law), a form of specific authorization ** Arrest warrant, authorizing the arrest and detention of an individual ** Search warrant, a court order issued that authorizes law enforcement to conduct a search for eviden ...

. The business was restricted to handling and storage; it did not include the

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

of goods. The company's own initial five warehouses went into operation in 1878 on the left bank of the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

in the Sicherheitshafen – referred to since approx. 1900 by locals as Hohentorshafen. BLG itself provided for the early connection to the

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

. In the first decade of operation, the company stored mainly

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

and

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

and

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, cotton, sheep's

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

and

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. In 1888, BLG expanded its operations to the Europahafen (Free Port I) on the right bank of the Weser, which following Bremen's accession to the Customs Union (October 1888) was conceived as a

free port A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

; the relevant operating agreement between Bremen and BLG dates back to May 1888. BLG played a seminal role in the development of port facilities on the right bank of the Weser up until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. With its completion in 1906, the company also became active in the Free Port II, the operating agreement was amended for this purpose. Moreover, from 1897, the company ran the Getreideverkehrsanlage (grain transport system) and in 1929, it took over the Weser Railway Station. As a reaction to the ramifications of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, BLG introduced the so-called "Krümpersystem" in the beginning of April 1932, intended to prevent unemployment through staggered furloughing of workers. The system remained in force until the end of April 1935.

1933 to 1945

During the course of the seizure of power by

National Socialists Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in Bremen, the long-standing Chairman of the management board Kurt Dronke, a member of the

German State Party The German State Party ( or DStP) was a short-lived German political party of the Weimar Republic. The party was formed on 28 July 1930 by the merger of the German Democratic Party with the People's National Reich Association (the political wing o ...

group in the State Parliament of Bremen, was forced out of office in April 1933. His successor was an

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

member. A similar fate befell Carl Krüger, who had been a member of the management board since 1931: Under political pressure, he requested a six-month leave of absence in September 1933, and on May 31, 1934, he retired. Based on National Socialist legislation, also in Bremen all temporary workers of the port were hired in an overall port operating company (in Bremen since June 25, 1934: Hafenbetriebsverein in Bremen e.V., a port operating association). This association assigned workers to the port operators, also to BLG. After the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, these laborers also included foreign workers,

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, slave laborers from Central and Eastern Europe, and occasionally also prisoners and

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

inmates. In early January 1941, a fire set off by

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

ravaged the administrative offices of BLG. Explosive and incendiary bombs destroyed a large part of the port and its facilities by the end of the war (warehouses,

silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...

s, enclosures, cranes,

hydraulic Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

equipment, rails, lines, grain facilities, Weser Railway Station etc.).

1945 to 1998

The authorities in the

American Zone of Occupation The American occupation zone in Germany (German: ), also known as the US-Zone, and the Southwest zone, was one of the four occupation zones established by the Allies of World War II in Germany west of the Oder–Neisse line in July 1945, aroun ...

dismissed ten executive employees of BLG on September 17, 1945. The company obtained a renewal of its operating permit on November 29, 1945. As repairs to the port progressed, the activities of BLG were revitalized. Initially, the business was focused mainly on the Überseehafen, then repairs began on the Europahafen. In 1951, the Weser Railway Station resumed operations. In the first half of the 1950s, operations also began in the cold storage warehouse at the Holz- und Fabrikenhafen. HafenhochhausBremen

From mid-1953, BLG was also directing operations in the Ports of

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

. This involved the Kaiserhafen, Columbuskaje, the Neuer Hafen and the Verbindungshafen. The Nordhafen was added later.''Bremer Lagerhausgesellschaft''. In: Schwarzwälder: ''

Das Große Bremen-Lexikon ''Das Große Bremen-Lexikon'' is an 18th-century encyclopaedia by the Freie Hansestadt Bremen, written by Herbert Schwarzwälder about * the region, as Territory of Bremen, as Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (Bremen Archbishopric), as Bremen-Verd ...

, Vol. 1, A–K''. In 1959, the municipality of Bremen and BLG concluded an operating agreement, which provided that the city maintain the majority of shares. In 1961, the company moved into the newly built port high-rise structure at the head of the Überseehafen. Two years later, the City of Bremen and BLG signed a contractual agreement that allowed the company to assume third-party loans in the

capital market A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers ...

for additional projects. This is how it financed the significant expenditures for the building and operation of the Neustädter Hafen (operating from 1965/1966) as well as for the building and operation of the

container terminals A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where Intermodal container, cargo containers are transshipment, transshipped between Intermodal freight transport, different transport vehicles, for onward transportati ...

in Bremerhaven (construction from 1968; operation from 1971). Already in 1966, the first container vessel appeared in Europe, the ''Fairland'', and called on the Überseehafen. Since 1967, there was a temporary facility for RoRo vessels in this port; at the end of 1973, there was one available on a permanent basis in the Europahafen. From 1970 on, Bremerhaven was regularly frequented by LASH mother ships. From February 1974, a floating

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

moorage was located at the head of the Überseehafen. In 1979, BLG took over the Cape Horn handling facility from Anker Schiffahrtsgesellschaft with access to the Weser as well as to the Industriehafen. In the same year, the RoRo facility in the Neustädter Hafen was ready for operation. BLG participated in the booming container business in the 1980s, which completely reshaped the port economy and in Bremerhaven, in particular, led to the expansion of the terminals in several phases. The stiff competition put downward pressure on the

margins Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page *Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...

at BLG. The recession of the world economy at the beginning of the 1980s led to

layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...

s of BLG employees in the industrial and commercial sector. Through business contacts to

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

and later to

Daimler-Benz Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...

, the company began with logistics services for the

automobile industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by ...

and in doing so, improved its

value added Value added is a term in economics for calculating the difference between market value of a product or service, and the sum value of its constituents. It is relatively expressed by the supply-demand curve for specific units of sale. Value added ...

, initially per dispersion of supplier material to German factories, then per Semi Knocked Down and Completely Knocked Down. BLG also took over logistical services with improved value added since 1980 for

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated ...

. The fall of the socialist regimes in

Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...

at the end of the 1980s/beginning of the 1990s meant significant cargo losses for BLG in the conventional business. The company experienced a crisis.

Since 1998

At the beginning of the 1990s, the objective was to develop from a local port company into an international logistics group, according to Detthold Aden, who as Chairman of the Management Board promoted this change from 1999 to 2013. Already in 1998, the organizational structure was revamped: The BLG Group was created with Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- as the general partner and the new BLG Logistics Group AG & Co. KG as the limited partner. As a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, the KG focused on the strategic orientation and growth of the Group. Since that time, several branch subsidiaries and affiliates have operated under the Group umbrella in corporate independence. They fall under the three operative divisions: automobile, contract and container. In 1999, the container business was merged with

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

's Eurokai into Eurogate. Today, this

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

operates container terminals on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, and in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. In 2002, BLG Logistics took over the contract logistics of Paul Günther Logistik AG (Hamburg) and thus gained logistics locations in eastern Germany. Furthermore, it acquired 50 percent of the shares in the vehicle forwarding company E.H. Harms Automobile Logistics operating in Bremen and Bremerhaven. In 2009, the company increased its share to 94 percent. In the year 2002, the headquarters of BLG Logistics moved into a building next to the former American Consular Agency, and since 2006, also into this historic building. In 2003, the high-bay warehouse went into operation at Bremen's Güterverkehrszentrum (cargo transport center). In 2008 the company acquired half the shares in CTL Car Transport Logistics GmbH. This company changed its name and became BLG AutoRail GmbH. Up to 2017, it expanded its rail vehicle carriers to some 1500 units. The contract division began in 2015 with the establishment of the Fashion logistics division. In 2016, the company acquired ''Fortagroup'', followed in 2017 by the purchase of ''Kitzinger & Co.'' and its subsidiary ''Arno Rosenlöcher''. In 2021, the company sold its forwarding activities in the sea and air freight business, which were organized in ''BLG International Forwarding'', to '' Rhenus. Air & See''; the BLG forwarding location in Bremen war not part of that deal. 2022, a joint venture with

Hyundai Glovis Hyundai Glovis Co., Ltd. is a logistics company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and part of the Hyundai Motor Group. Its predecessor company, Hankook Logitech Co. Ltd was formed in February 2001. Hyundai Glovis supplies ocean transportation l ...

was launched in Bremerhaven. Since the end of 2022, the company has been a partner of the

United Nations World Food Programme The World Food Programme (WFP) is an international organization within the United Nations that provides food assistance worldwide. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and the leading provider of school meals. Founded in 1961, ...

to provide logistical expertise in emergencies. In 2023, a permanent car train connection from

Kelheim Kelheim () is a town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the Kelheim (district), district Kelheim and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Altmühl and Danube. Kelheim has a population of around 16,750 (2020). His ...

Köseköy Kartepe is a municipality and district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 301 km2, and its population is 136,625 (2022). The mayor is Mustafa Kocaman ( AKP). Geography Kartepe (literally Snowy hill referring to mountains to the south ...

on the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

was launched. In early 2025, Matthias Magnor took over the position of CEO from Frank Dreeke. In the same year, the company built another domestic terminal for cars at Ahlhorn Airport.

Structures and shareholders

Structures

The BLG Group consists of Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- as general partner and BLG Logistics Group AG & Co. KG as limited partner. The Municipality of Bremen owns 100 percent of the KG. It owns a majority (50.4 percent)BLG Logistics
''Information about our share''
information on the website, retrieved on July 18, 2023. in Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877-. Several branch subsidiaries and affiliates have operated under the Group umbrella in corporate independence. They fall under the three operative divisions Automobile, Contract and Container.

Shareholders

The shares of the publicly-listed Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- are divided up between: * Freie Hansestadt Bremen, Municipality * Financial holding of the Sparkasse in Bremen (Sparkasse savings bank in Bremen) * Waldemar Koch Stiftung foundation * Panta Re AG *

Free float In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of Share (finance), shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, control ...

Additional information

Buildings at headquarters

The company headquarters has been in a building complex in the center of Bremen since 2002. This includes the building of the former Consular Agency of the United States on Präsident-Kennedy-Platz in the Bremen district of Mitte. It was built in 1954 in the so-called post-war modern

international style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

according to blueprints from

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

, in collaboration with Otto Apel. It has been under

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

since 1994. From 2005 to 2007, it was refurbished for use by BLG Logistics.

Bremer Unternehmergespräche event

Detthold Aden, the long-standing BLG Chairman of the Management Board launched the Bremer Unternehmensgespräche, a round table for business. The event regularly occurs in the

Bremen City Hall Bremen City Hall () is the seat of the President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen, Germany. It is one of the most important examples of Brick Gothic and Weser Renaissance architecture in Europe. Since 1973, it has been a protected historical ...

and is hosted by BLG Logistics, along with the

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of Economics, Labor and Europe and the Bremen

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

Sponsorships

Since 2005/2006, the company supports the professional basketball club

Eisbären Bremerhaven Eisbären Bremerhaven () is a professional basketball club from Bremerhaven, Germany, that competes in the ProA. The team was established as the professional section of the club BSG Bremerhaven and played in the first-tiered Basketball Bundesliga ...

. Since 2010, the company is also a sponsor of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

References

External links

BLG Logistics Group
* {{Authority control Companies based in Bremen (city) Logistics companies of Germany German companies established in 1877