Thingvalla Line

Date: 1879 to 1898
Location: Denmark
Surnames/tags: Immigration Shipping company Emigration

Thingvalla Line was a shipping company founded by Danish financier, industrialist and philanthropist Carl Frederik Tietgen in 1879 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It maintained a route between Copenhagen and New York City calling at Kristiania (present day Oslo) and Kristiansand on the way. At its peak, it had ten ships in its fleet.
The company had a series of accidents which became a setback for the line. Most notable were the sinking of the S/S Danmark in 1889 and the collision in 1888 of the S/S Geiser and S/S Thingvalla, both of which were owned and operated by the Thingvalla Line.
In 1898, the company was bought by DFDS, another Danish shipping company, and the name was changed to Scandinavian America Line.^[1]

Before the company was established, German shipping companies like HAPAG and North German Lloyd, had conveyed the majority of Danish passengers. The new competition from the Thingvalla Line was not very popular. Their westbound route started off at Copenhagen calling at Kristiania (Oslo) and Kristiansand before crossing the Atlantic to New York. By including the Norwegian ports of Kristiania and Kristiansand, the Thingvalla Line also became an important competitor not only to the German companies, but also the British based companies. It is obvious that it was more convenient for Norwegian emigrants, living in the surrounding areas to Kristiania and Kristiansand, to travel directly from Kristiania or Kristiansand to New York, rather than going via Germany or Britain. Other advantages were of course, that the crew and customs on board was Scandinavian, and the composition of passengers was more homogeneous. However, there were disadvantages too, as the ships were smaller and slower than most of the ships of the great German and British companies. This did not seam to bother the Scandinavian passengers too much, as the line soon became quite popular. What was much worse for the company, was that it had a series of accidents, and that became a setback for the line.^[2]

A Thingvalla Line promotional pamphlet 1887:^[3]

Ships owned by Thingvalla Line:

SS Thingvalla
SS Danmark
SS Geiser
SS Amerika
SS Harald
SS Hekla 1
SS Hekla 2

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thingvalla_Line
2. ↑ http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_shiplist.asp?co=thing
3. ↑ http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/voyages.asp?articleid=88&zoneid=6