Pantaenius celebrates 125 years of company history

Hamburg on a warm September day in 1899: Young Johann C. Pantaenius is likely to be found somewhere on the quays of the Hanseatic city. He casually goes by Hans, is 33 years old and has learned the insurance business. The burgeoning economy of the German Empire and Hamburg's role as the centre of overseas trade make him hope for lucrative opportunities.

And indeed, his newly established company benefits from the optimism of the Wilhelminian era. He hires people, marries, makes his money in marine insurance and pins a flower on his lapel, which makes him know as the 'Baron of Violets'.

Coal fuels the industrial development of the German Empire at that time - and Germany has plenty of this black gold. But coal not only needs to be mined, it also needs to be transported. Steamships carry it to the overseas stations of the colonies, where ships can bunker.

For the Empire, this is a prerequisite for expansion and imperial ambitions; for Pantaenius, the insurer, it is good business. For Mr. Pantaenius himself, however, good times soon come to an end: The end of the First World War coincides with his untimely death. Johann C. Pantaenius dies suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 52.

Little does the young entrepreneur know at that time that he would be at the helm of the company for more than 40 years. And how the world - and his home town - would soon become a different place ...

From July 1943, Hamburg faces massive waves of air raids. "Operation Gomorrah", which largely reduces the city to rubble, is one of the Allies' responses to the criminal world war under the ideology of the Nazis.

By the time the bombs fall, however, Kölln himself is long gone from the city. Since he is drafted in 1939, his wife runs the company based at the Chilehaus. The famous expressionist brick building is hit only once during the entire war. Fortunately, the fire can be put out. At the end of the war, hardly a single building remains standing. Hamburg is considered one of the most heavily damaged cities in the world.

Franz Kölln returns from Russian captivity in 1949 and takes over the management of his small company again. It goes surprisingly well: The economic boom, fueled by the Americans with over 3.3 billion dollars, needs to be insured and secures him good profits.

Only a few kilometers down the river Elbe another family that survived the war can be found: After being bombed out and after his marriage failed, Erich Baum lives aboard his ship “ALIBI” with his two sons Harald and Hans-Peter. The 7.80-metre-long pointed barge is moored in Teufelsbrück harbor. Needless to say, Hans-Peter and Harald grow up on and in the water! But the brothers' wet playground is quite dangerous. Countless wrecks lie in the Elbe, mines are washed ashore, aerial bombs and unexploded ordnance make dredging, fishing and even sailing incredibly risky. Harald Baum starts an apprenticeship at 17 and learns to be a shipping clerk. He grows real sea legs on a transatlantic voyage on the steamer FRIEDENAU of Hamburg's Bugsier shipping company, and at home he roams the banks and islands of the Elbe on the barge “COURTAGE”.

Not only Hamburg, but also London was hit hard by the Second World War. However, reconstruction progresses rapidly there and if we were to look at Tower Bridge, we would notice a bright red MG TA built in 1946, and even more so the blonde man at the wheel: Harald Baum spends the Swinging Sixties in the bustling cosmopolitan city.

Back in Hamburg, Harald Baum starts working for insurance broker H. Pantaenius in 1967. Franz Kölln would later describe his young employee as a ‘young rebel’. According to Kölln, the business would come sooner or later and he would need patience. But patience is not Harald Baum's thing. In 1970, H. Pantaenius becomes his company.

Not long after, a devastating barn fire, of all things, should be the initial spark for the development of modern yacht insurance. Many yachts are lost in that fire, including some owned by Harald's friends. The disaster reveals lousy insurance conditions. The friends are shocked and ask Harald for better cover. He takes on the matter and develops new conditions.

Blankenese becomes home to the Baum family. The hillside overlooks the Elbe, their motorboat COURTAGE is moored down by the "Bull'n", the children sail their dinghy and with their parents on their Swan. Customers who become friends are frequent guests in the "Treppenviertel".

The internationalisation of the yacht division is progressing. Monaco is the third office after Great Britain and Denmark. ‘CREOLE’, the world's largest wooden sailing yacht, is insured by Pantaenius.

With Monaco, Pantaenius taps into the growing market for large and superyachts.

To date, the company has opened further offices in Austria, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Greece and Australia.

The area of property insurance grows continuously as well. Be it Munich, Düsseldorf, Eisenach or Kiel - the Hanseatic commitment of Pantaenius has made a name for itself throughout Germany.

While Kölln had already expanded the business areas to include corporate and private insurance, the upturn in the economy provides an opportunity to expand this segment. Large medium-sized companies such as Illbruck AG and Goetze AG make a start, Dörner and Büll & Liedtke follow. Today, companies such as HADAG, Quantum and the construction company Aug. Prien, among many others, are among the insurance broker's clients.

RUND SKAGEN is the name of the legendary, longest and most challenging ocean race in Germany.

First held in 1932, it is part of the North Sea Week and runs over 510 nautical miles from Helgoland across the North Sea around Skagen into the Baltic Sea to Kiel.

As skipper of the "DIANA III", Harald Baum sets a record in 1973 that remains unbroken for 27 years. At the beginning of the 1990s, there is a lack of committed sponsors. The traditional race is on the verge of being cancelled. Harald Baum steps in: Since 1994, the race is called PANTAENIUS RUND SKAGEN.

Time for a break! On several voyages, the young family Baum sails across the Atlantic, to the Caribbean and to the South Seas and lives on board of the ELAN for many months.

Undine Baum will remember the time on distant shores, together with her family, as one of the best times of her life.

Construction time! Daniel Baum, who has since taken over the management of the property insurance division, is the driving force behind the plan to finally build a proper Pantaenius house. The Hafencity, Hamburg's central, newly developed neighbourhood, does not yet exist, not even roads are there.

The Pantaenius House, designed by English architect Sir David Chipperfield, is one of the first buildings to be erected in the wasteland around the Sandtor harbour. In the early days, colleagues wear wellies to work. Today, the characteristic brick building shapes the area of Großer Grasbrook and the Magellan Terraces.

A family business is run by the family!

Gradually, the Baums' three children join the company. Daniel Baum takes over the property division, Martin Baum the yacht division and Anna Baum the in-house marketing agency.

Under their leadership, the company grows enormously, many new business areas open up and the course for the future is set.

And Harald Baum? More than 50 years after joining Pantaenius, he finally follows the advice of his early mentor Franz Kölln and takes it easy.

The newfound time is well invested. In early sailing and entrepreneurial education of his eight grandchildren, for example.

After all, one day they too should get their chance to shape the future of the family business.