Eckelmann – port entrepreneurs since 1865

The name Eckelmann has been inexorably tied in with the evolution of the port of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg since 1865. In this family of entrepreneurs, innovation and tradition go hand in hand. Following this maxim, the Eckelmann family has helped to shape the historical development of the Port of Hamburg through two world wars and beyond. Founded as a barge company in the days when cargo ships were still sailing ships, the Eckelmann corporations today are modern port service providers that adhere to the values of the Hanseatic “honest merchant”. Kurt Eckelmann, EUROKAI’s founder, is considered the pioneer of container handling at the Port of Hamburg. He was a member of the international commission for specifying the dimensions of the ISO standard container, which made globalisation possible. In 1997 the road where the Company has its headquarters was named after him. Today, with the help of state-of-the-art technology, the Company handles the world’s biggest container vessels here at Waltershofer Hafen. EUROKAI has in the meantime grown beyond the boundaries of Hamburg to become an international corporate group with container terminals and an intermodal transport network.

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  Tom Eckelmann

  6th generation: Tom Eckelmann (born 1983)

  With Tom Eckelmann the family business has moved into the 6th generation. On 1 January 2019, he took over as Managing Director of EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg. Previously, he was already entrusted with the management of the Corporate Strategy and the position of Energy Officer of the EUROGATE Group as authorised signatory. Tom Eckelmann holds both a Master of Arts in Economics and Italian from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Science in Shipping, Trade and Finance from CASS Business School in London.

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  Thomas Eckelmann

  5th generation: Thomas H. Eckelmann (born 1951)

  Thomas H. Eckelmann joined the company in 1980 and was appointed Chairman of the EUROKAI Management Board in 1986. In 1990 the Eckelmann-EUROKAI Group was divided up, with the family inheritance being split between the two brothers Robert M. Eckelmann and Thomas H. Eckelmann. Robert Eckelmann has since then continued to run Carl Robert Eckelmann AG, while Thomas Eckelmann is responsible for the EUROKAI container business. 1999 was the watershed year in EUROKAI’s corporate history. This was the year that Thomas Eckelmann founded the EUROGATE joint venture together with the Bremen-based BLG Logistics Group and took over the Italian Contship Italia Group, bringing 33.4 percent of the shares into the newly founded EUROGATE.

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  Kurt Eckelmann

  4th generation: Kurt Eckelmann (1916–1994)

  Kurt Eckelmann decided to develop the land-side of the business and worked successfully towards his goal of creating a cargo handling company for containers.  And so EUROKAI KGaA was founded on 16 March 1961 and took up operations in 1969. In 1984, EUROKAI went public. Kurt Eckelmann extended into the tank cleaning and tanker shipping business, which became the basis for the waste disposal and waste recycling business segment. He withdrew from active management in 1986.

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  Carl Robert Eckelmann

  3rd generation: Carl Robert Eckelmann (1880–1948)

  When Carl Robert and Cäsar Eckelmann took over at the helm of the company in 1902, they introduced more innovations. For example, the unpowered raked hopper barges were replaced by box hopper barges. By 1948 the fleet of barges comprised a total tonnage of 5,500 tons, as well as four tugboats and a launch.

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  Carl Johann Lorenz Eckelmann

  2nd generation: Carl Johann Lorenz Eckelmann (1847–1900)

  In 1872, Cordt Eckelmann brought his son Carl Johann Lorenz into the company and just three short years later handed over the management of the company to him. C. J. Lorenz Eckelmann managed the barge company with great success. He also traded on the Hamburg stock exchange, expanding continually.

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  Cordt Eckelmann

  1st generation: Cordt Eckelmann (1812–1880)

  In 1865, Cordt Eckelmann built three unpowered wooden barges, laying the cornerstone for the family business. Barge shipping remained the mainstay of the family business for almost 100 years.