To present an exhaustive description of Albert Ballin’s life-work within the compass of this volume is an impossible task, and the more the writer entered into the details of his attempt to do so, the more thoroughly did he realize this impossibility.

The story of a life comprising thirty-two years of incessant hard work, only interrupted when nature’s law or a very imperative behest of his medical adviser made it necessary, and spent at the head of an undertaking which, as a result of this work, developed into one of the greatest that the economic history of the generation just passed has known, cannot be told in full by means of a mere description unless it be accompanied by volumes of statistics which, however, convey no meaning to anyone except the initiated.

The author, therefore, had to content himself with delineating a picture of his hero with a background formed by the events which he himself had helped to shape, and which, in many instances, had received their distinguishing stamp through his own genius. The essence of his character, and the importance of his work to his contemporaries, must stand out from this background as the portrait of a painter—as seen by himself—would stand out from a mirror. What the mirror does not show, and cannot show, is the immensity of the mental forces hidden below the surface which alone give expression to the portrait; all the factors which have brought about the final result—the strength, the courage, the daring, and the feeling of responsibility without which it would never have been achieved.

Still more difficult it is to interpret the very essence of the character of him whose work we see before us, or, indeed, to give a comprehensible account of it to the stranger.

The only way of doing justice to a man of such commanding genius as Ballin is to try to discover first of all the one essential root principle of his personality. Having succeeded in that, we shall find no more difficulty in reconciling the great number of apparently mutually contradictory traits of his character. This principle is the focus where all the rays of light are collected from all directions, and which forms the source of light, warmth, and vital energy.

Albert Ballin was a born business man if ever there was one. To him the noble words of Schiller’s lines apply: “The treasures which his ships carry across the oceans spell untold blessings to all who receive them.” His whole mind was drawn towards the sea; his inborn inclinations and the surroundings amidst which he grew up had destined him to be a shipping man. To the boy Ballin the Hamburg harbour was the favourite playground; and the seven seas were just large enough to serve as a field of action for the youth and the man. There was his real home, and there he felt at rest. How often, indeed, has he assured us that the sleeplessness to which he fell an unfortunate victim whenever he was ashore left him as soon as he was on board ship, and that a miserable river barge was sufficient to have this effect on him. He was proof against sea-sickness, both bodily and mentally. Thus he became a shipping man, because it was his natural vocation; and in this chosen profession of his he became one of the greatest and most brilliantly gifted rulers the world has ever seen.

Whenever there was a problem to be solved he attacked it in a spirit of boldness, yet tempered by the utmost conscientiousness and caution. No task he encountered was so big that his daring could not tackle it and overcome its difficulties; nothing was so insignificant that he would not attend to it somehow. Whatever decision his infallible instinct intuitively recognized as right, and to whatever idea his impulsive nature had given practical shape, had to pass muster during the sleepless hours of the night before the tribunal of his restless mind when, as he used to say, “everything appears wrapt up in a grey mist.” At such times his reason began to analyse and to criticize the decisions he had reached during the day. Then he would often shudder at his own boldness, and the torments of doubt would be aggravated by the thought of the enormous responsibility which he bore towards his company. For it must be understood that from the day he joined the Hamburg-Amerika Linie his interests and those of the company became parts of an inseparable whole.

The company’s affairs absorbed all his thoughts at all times; the company’s well-being was the object of his constant care; he devoted himself exclusively to the service of the company, and the opinions which he formed in his mind regarding persons and things were instinctively coloured according to their relationship to the company’s affairs. The gradual progress during its infancy, the later expansion, and the final greatness of the company, were as the events of his own life to him; when the proud structure which he had raised collapsed his life was ended. His thoughts incessantly converged towards this very centre of his being. All his work, all his words and deeds, were devoted to the furtherance of the company’s interests. He identified himself so completely with the company that he actually was the Packetfahrt, and the Packetfahrt was he. Even his love and hatred were rooted in the company. He remained a grateful and lifelong friend to anyone who had been of service to the company or to him as representing it.

This highly subjective and indissoluble relationship between himself and the company—which it had been the dream of his life to raise to the highest pinnacle of prosperity—is the key to the fundamental principle which lies at the root of his whole complex personality. But however well-defined his personal individuality stood out, his subjectivity was nevertheless animated by a strong sense of duty. His views, for instance, on the essential principles governing the most perfect organization which modern capitalism has produced—i.e. the joint-stock company—were free from any tinge of personal considerations whatever. He was himself the responsible head of a big joint-stock company, and instinctively this fact exercised such a powerful influence on all his thoughts and feelings that it is quite impossible to arrive at a just appreciation of his character unless this circumstance is borne in mind. His character which appears so complicated to the cursory onlooker, but which is in reality of singular simplicity and consistency, is best illustrated by his reply to a question of one of his friends who had asked him why he did not allow some piece of scathing criticism which he had just expressed in private to be made public. “My dear friend,” he said, “you forget that you are not the chairman of the board of directors of a joint-stock company.” What he meant to convey was that the enmity which he would incur by expressing those views in public would adversely affect the firm of which he was the head, and that the interests of his company compelled him to impose upon himself restrictions which he could ignore in his private capacity.

Although he had nothing but scorn for the very suggestion that this company should receive at any time any subsidies from public funds, he made it to the fullest extent subservient to the needs of the public and of the nation at large. He often remarked that such gigantic concerns as, e.g., the Hamburg-Amerika Linie, are no longer private ventures purely and simply. The ties that bind them to the whole economic life of the nation—and, for the matter of that, to the world in general—are so close and so manifold that it would be disastrous to ignore them or to sever them. Hundreds of industrial, commercial, and agricultural enterprises were lavishly supplied with work through the orders they received from the Hamburg-Amerika Linie in connexion with the building and the equipment of its steamers and with the needs of its organizations on shore. Its hundreds of thousands of passengers and emigrants, and the huge volume of German-made products and manufactured articles carried on board its vessels, spread the German name and German fame throughout the civilized world. Hence, to Albert Ballin the national flag and that of the Hapag were two symbols expressive of but one idea.

A man who, like Ballin, was at the head of the biggest German shipping company and therefore also, by implication, one of the leading spirits in the economic life of Germany, could not very well hold himself aloof where high politics were concerned. The more the economic problems gained in importance, the greater became their bearing on the course of the country’s politics. Ballin, however, would never have become a professional politician from inclination, because he invariably refused to be mixed up with the strife of parties. He never officially belonged to any political party; and although he made friends with members of all the non-Socialist parties, his general outlook on politics was mainly coloured by Liberal views, and he was a firm believer in Free Trade. Whenever questions dealing with the interests of shipping and trade were involved, he had no difficulty in making the responsible people listen to his claims and to his suggestions, but he never tried to make his influence felt on purely political affairs unless they affected the country’s vital international interests. His lengthy and extensive travels to the countries of Europe, to the North American continent, and to the Far East, had broadened his outlook. His profession as a shipping man not only brought him into frequent contact with the heads of the big shipping companies all the world over, but also with a number of the financial magnates and industrial captains of Great Britain, the United States, and other countries of economic importance. He took rank with the greatest economic leaders as an equal, and this unchallenged position of commanding authority was reflected by the esteem in which he was held by the principal statesmen and parliamentarians. He was familiar with the essential and vital needs of other nations, and he therefore not only stood up for the national rights whenever they appeared in jeopardy, but he also raised his warning voice against a policy provocative of conflicts whenever he thought it possible to avoid them. Whoever is conscious of his strength is also aware of the limitations set to his power.

In politics as well as in business he held that “a lean compromise was preferable to a fat lawsuit,” as the German proverb puts it. It has been mentioned elsewhere in this volume that Ballin was essentially the man of compromise. It is very probable that the experiences of his early life had helped to develop this outstanding feature of his personality. It may be assumed that he, a young man of unknown Jewish family, found his path beset with difficulties in a city-state like Hamburg, where the influence of the wealthy patriciate of the merchant classes was supreme, and that he was looked upon as an upstart even after he had reached a prominent position himself. The casual observer is far too much inclined to underestimate the conservative character—both politically and socially—of the three Hanseatic cities. Still, evidence is not wanting that Ballin’s unusual gifts were occasionally recognized and appreciated even in the days of his early career. An English journalist, for instance, who met him some time about 1895, characterized him by the following words: “He struck me as a great man; otherwise nothing so incongruous as such a type of man at the head of a big steamship line could be imagined.” That Field-Marshal Count Waldersee honoured him by his friendship at an early period has been mentioned in a different chapter of this volume. And even in patrician Hamburg he found an immensely powerful friend and patron shortly after he had entered the services of the Packetfahrt. This was no less a man than the shipowner Carl Laeisz, the most eminent representative of the “House of Laeisz.”

The firm of F. Laeisz, which was successfully owned by its founder, Ferdinand, his son Carl, and his grandson Carl Ferdinand, has stood sponsor to all the more important shipping companies established in Hamburg, and through its great authority helped them all to get over the critical years of their early youth. The sound principles by which the firm was guided might sometimes lead to much disappointment on the part of the shareholders, but they proved to be of unsurpassable benefit to the companies concerned, and nothing illustrates them better than the oft-told episode of the shareholder who went to see Carl Laeisz, complaining that the Hamburg South American S.S. Company did not pay any dividend. “The object of the company is to carry on the shipping trade, and not to distribute dividends,” was the blunt but characteristic reply. Being thoroughly unconventional in his habits, Carl Laeisz—no less than his singularly gifted son, who was one of those rare men whom it was really impossible to replace—nevertheless did invaluable service in connexion with the establishment of new firms in Hamburg, and with the encouragement of existing ones.

It was a great compliment to Ballin that in 1888, when he had only been associated with the Packetfahrt for a couple of years, and when the directors asked for authority to increase the joint-stock capital of the company from 20 to 25 million marks, Carl Laeisz informed them in advance that, at the general meeting of the shareholders, he would move an increase of 10 instead of 5 millions, and that this motion was unanimously carried. Those who have known Carl Laeisz personally will appreciate what it meant to Ballin when, by way of giving him an introduction to the London firm of Messrs. J. Henry SchrÖder, Laeisz scribbled the following note on the back of one of Ballin’s visiting cards:

As this card was found among the papers and documents which Ballin left at the time of his death, it would seem that it was not used for its intended purpose, but that he preferred to keep it as a souvenir of the man whom he always remembered with gratitude and affection, and of whose life he could tell a good number of characteristic anecdotes. The telegram of which the text is given below is also highly typical of Carl Laeisz. I have not been able to discover what was the occasion of sending it, but I am inclined to think that it must be in some manner connected with the conference held in the Berlin Royal Castle, and referred to on an earlier page, at which Ballin first attracted the Kaiser’s attention. The text is as follows:

Although there is scarcely anyone to whom the name of a Hamburg patriot can be applied with greater justice than to Ballin, and although there are few people who have done more to promote the well-being and the prosperity of their native city, and who have had a better appreciation of one of the most lovable features of her inhabitants, viz. their dry, unconventional, and kindly humour, it would be wrong to assume that this local patriotism of Ballin made him blind to the shortcomings and deficiencies of his native city. On the contrary, his eminent sense of the realities of life made him see most clearly the points of weakness in the position of Hamburg, e.g. those connected with the system of her finances. The so-called KÖhlbrand agreement, which, after a hard struggle, put an end to the long controversy between Hamburg and Prussia by stipulating that the course of the lower Elbe should be regulated without detriment to the interests of the town of Harburg, imposed such a vast amount of expenditure upon Hamburg, and the Prussian local authorities concerned insisted on securing the payment of such large compensations to the owners whose rights were adversely affected by the improvement of the waterway, that it might well be doubted whether Hamburg could shoulder these enormous burdens.

It speaks volumes for Ballin’s unprejudiced mind that he frequently maintained nothing would be of greater benefit to Hamburg than her renunciation of her sovereignty as a city-state in favour of incorporation with Prussia. Prussia, he argued, was her natural hinterland, after all; and if she consented to be thus incorporated, she would be such a precious jewel in the crown of Prussia that she could secure without an effort all the advantages and privileges which Prussia, by pursuing the strictly Prussian line in her politics, now actually prevented her from acquiring. In course of time, however, her present isolation would undermine the foundations of her existence, especially if and when the increasing volume of traffic passing through her port should demand a further expansion of the latter, and, consequently, a further rise in the financial burdens. In that case the unnatural position which resulted from the fact that the “Elbe delta” belonged to two different states, and which had its origin in the political history of the district, would make itself felt with all its drawbacks, and the ultimate sufferer would be the country as a whole of which Hamburg, after all, was the connecting link with the nations beyond the sea.

These are the same arguments and considerations which are used when the modern problem of a “Greater Hamburg” is under discussion, with this difference only, that in Ballin’s time the only solution which was regarded as possible was that Hamburg should cast in her lot with her Prussian neighbour.

Ballin repeatedly vented the full force of his sarcasm against the advocates of an “out-and-out Hamburg policy” to whom his own views sounded like heresy, a policy which found perhaps its most comic expression in the speech of a former Hamburg burgomaster who referred to the King of Prussia as “our illustrious ally.” Ballin did not recognize the existence of a line of demarcation which, as many lesser minds imagined, separated republican Hamburg from the rest of Germany. In reality there is no such separation; Hamburg, indeed, receives year after year a constant influx of human material and of ideas from her German hinterland, without which she could not exist at all, and in spite of which she has never had a superfluity, but—at times, at least—rather a deficiency of specially gifted citizens. This latter circumstance and the frequent absence of that quality of mental alertness which Bismarck, in speaking of the German character in general, used to designate as the missing “dash of champagne in the blood” once made Ballin say: “I quite see that what this town wants is 10,000 Jews. I do not, by any means, shut my eyes to the disagreeable qualities of the Jewish character, but still, another 10,000 of them would be a decided advantage.” This utterance confirms how free from prejudice he was where the Jewish question was concerned. Although not at all orthodox, but rather indifferent in his religious views, he was far too proud to disavow his origin or his religion, or to change the latter. Of someone who had changed his name, he said, in a tone of bitter reproach, that he had insulted his father.

Ballin’s relations with the working classes and his attitude towards the Labour question were not such as the Socialist papers were fond of alleging, especially at the time when the Labour controversy was at its height, and when strikes were constantly occurring or threatening. The first big strike affecting Ballin’s special sphere of activity was that of the Hamburg dock labourers in 1896. It was caused by wages disputes which the Packetfahrt tried in vain to settle by raising the wages paid to the men. The interests of the employers in the ensuing struggle were not, however, specially represented by the associations of the shipping firms, but were looked after by the big “Association of Employers of Labour,” and therefore the attitude taken up by the employers as a whole was not determined by practical considerations from the point of view of the shipping companies. The Packetfahrt, however, seems to have emphasized the necessity of being guided by such practical considerations, as may be inferred from the fact that the Packetfahrt was the only one among the large firms of employers which advocated from the outset that certain concessions should be granted in respect of the demands put forward by the workmen. Although, as has been remarked, the company succeeded in seeing its recommendation adopted, the strike started on November 18th, 1896. At first it was restricted to the dockers, but the number of the strikers was soon swelled by the adhesion of the quay-labourers and of several other categories of port-labourers and seamen. When this had occurred, and when the Packetfahrt suggested that steps should be taken on the part of the employers with the object of reaching a friendly settlement, these suggestions did not secure a majority in the counsels of the employers, and it was in regard to this that Ballin’s notes, under date of December 9th, contain the following entry: “We are continuing our efforts to induce the Employers’ Association and the Shipowners’ Association to give the strikers a chance of an honourable retreat. What we propose in detail is that the men should be asked to resume work of their own accord in consideration of which the employers would promise to submit their grievances to a bona fide examination. All our efforts have failed because of the attitude taken up by the Employers’ Association. We can only hope that the Senate will consent to mediate in the conflict.” This body, however, was afraid of being accused of prejudice in favour of the employers, and declined to act as mediator. “It is very much against my wish,” Ballin’s notes continue, “that our own interests are represented by the Employers’ Association,” and on December 23rd, he wrote: “Meanwhile, the Senate, in reply to the resolution passed by the men, has asked them to resume work unconditionally against the promise to look into their grievances, and as far as they appeared to be justified, to redress them after a joint conference had been held between the employers and the strikers. This offer of a compromise was rejected by the workmen.” The employers were able to get the most urgent work done by substitute labour, and the strike came to an end in the early days of February.

Among the subsequent Labour troubles those of 1907 are of special significance. In that year, after a strike of the dockers and the seamen, all those employers who had occasion to employ any workmen in the port of Hamburg founded an organization somewhat on the lines of a Labour Bureau, called the Hafenbetriebsverein. The termination of the strike just referred to was brought about by Ballin’s personal influence, and it was he who conducted the prolonged negotiations with the heads of the Labour organization. Later on, in 1911, when the Hafenbetriebsverein began to conclude agreements with this organization by which the wages for the various categories of dock labourers were fixed—a policy which did not exactly meet with the full approval of large sections of employers, it was again due to Ballin’s influence that these agreements were generally accepted. It is just possible that a certain event, insignificant in itself, may have strengthened Ballin’s natural tendency towards a settlement along the lines of a compromise. As has been said before, the year 1907, which, from the business point of view, had been excellent (at least, during the first six months), and during which the above-mentioned strike occurred, was succeeded by a year which brought exceedingly unsatisfactory earnings to the company. Ballin did what he had done on a previous occasion, in 1901: he sent a memorandum to all the employees of the firm asking them to cut down expenses to the lowest possible extent, to contribute their share towards a more economical working of every department, and to submit to him any suggestions of their own as to how the necessary retrenchment could be effected. I was instructed to examine the general expenses account with a view to finding out in what way a reduction would be possible, and I drew Ballin’s attention to the fact that the considerable sums which had to be spent in 1907 in consequence of the strike would, of course, not appear again in the balance-sheet for 1908, so that this would lead to an automatic reduction of the working expenses. Ballin was surprised to see how large this particular item was, and the whole occurrence proved once more that a lean agreement would have been preferable to a fat lawsuit.

As Ballin was pre-eminently a man whose mind was bent on practical work and on the production of practical results, it is but natural that he was greatly interested in the practical aspects of social politics, and that he applied its principles to the activities in which he was engaged as far as he thought he was justified in doing so. Not in peace times only, but also during the war did he hold these views, and when he was connected with the work of provisioning the civil population, and, later, with that of preparing the economic post-war reconstruction, he was frequently brought into contact with men who occupied prominent positions in the world of Labour.

His capacity for work was enormous and seemed wellnigh inexhaustible. He made a most lavish use of it, especially in the early part of his life, and the personal assistance he required with his work was of the slightest. His greatest aid, indeed, was his marvellous memory, which almost enabled him to do his work without ever referring to the files of letters and documents. He could always recall to his mind every phase of past events, and every detail of all the ships he had built or purchased, and he was never wavering in the opinion he had formed of anyone who had ever crossed his path, because such opinion was founded on facts.

Very gradually only did his fellow-members on the Board of Directors succeed in persuading him to refrain from putting in an appearance at his office on Sundays, and to do such Sunday work as he wanted to do at home. The telegraph and the telephone always kept him busy, both on weekdays and on Sundays. Even on his travels and on his holidays he wanted to be informed of all that was going on, and he could be very annoyed when any important news had been withheld from him, or when he believed that this had been the case, so that his secretariat, to be on the safe side, had gone rather far in forwarding on his correspondence when he was away from town. When I first entered upon my duties with him he had just returned from a rest cure at Kissingen. He pointed at the huge pile of letters that had been forwarded to him on his so-called holiday, adding, in a tone of bitterness: “You see, every expansion of a business becomes a curse to its leader.” Sometimes his absences from Hamburg would amount to as much as eight months per annum, and it was certainly no easy task always to know what to send on and what to hold over until after his return. To do so one had to be well acquainted with all the details of each transaction and to know what was important, especially what was important to him; and if one wished to see his mind at ease it was necessary never to let him think that anything was kept back from him. Any apparent neglect in this respect he was apt to regard as a personal slight. And yet the time which he had at his disposal for attending to current correspondence, both when at the office and when travelling, was but limited.

The waiting-room outside his private office was nearly always crowded with intending visitors. The callers were carefully sifted, and all those who were strangers and those who had come without having an appointment were passed on to someone else as far as this was possible. Great credit is due to his ever faithful personal attendant at home and on his travels, Carl Fischer, for the perfect tact which he showed in the performance of this difficult task.

In spite of all this sifting, however, the time left for getting through a day’s mail was not sufficient. I therefore, shortly after entering the company’s services, made it a point to submit to his notice only those letters which I considered of real importance. According to the mood in which he seemed to be I then acquainted him with the contents of as much of the remainder as I thought it wise to do. I believe I gradually succeeded in acquiring a fair amount of skill in reading his mind, and this facility enabled me to avoid more dangerous rocks than one. I tried to proceed along similar lines when he was away from Hamburg, especially when he was taking a holiday. On such occasions I forwarded on to him only the important letters, taking great care, however, that he was not kept out of touch with any matter of real consequence, so that he should never feel that he was left in the dark about anything. After some time I had the satisfaction of being told by him when he returned from a holiday that that had been “his first real holiday since he had joined the Packetfahrt.”

Once one had learnt to understand his way of reasoning and his individual traits, it was not difficult to know how to treat him. If a mistake had been made, or if some oversight had taken place, the most foolish thing would be not to tell him so at once. To act otherwise would mean the immediate and permanent forfeiture of his confidence, whilst an open admission of the mistake would strengthen his faith enormously. He hated to be shut out from the actual practice of the company’s business by a Chinese wall of bureaucratic control. Whenever such a wall was in process of erection he quickly and inexorably pulled it down, and he always remained in personal contact with every department and with every prominent member of the staff as far as the size of the huge undertaking enabled him to do so. For this reason he but rarely, and only when the pressure of other business was encroaching too much on him, omitted to receive at his private office the captains who came to make their reports to the directors. He knew, of course, every one of them personally, as he had appointed many of them himself years ago. He was no stranger to their various idiosyncrasies, and he knew all their good qualities. He was also personally acquainted with a great many of those unconventional and often somewhat blunt but always good-natured individuals of humble rank who seem to thrive wherever much shipping is going on. He was not too proud to write an appreciative article on the death of one of them, which, since it reflects high credit on his own generosity and kindness of heart, ought not to be allowed to be forgotten altogether. It was published by the Hamburger Fremdenblatt, to the staff of which the subject of his appreciation might, in a sense, be said to have belonged.

Ballin very frequently went to New York—which might be called the most prominent outpost of the company—because he recognized the value of being in constant touch with every aspect of the many activities carried on by the Packetfahrt, and especially with those persons whose interests it was of importance to the company to cultivate. The numerous pool conferences often took him to London, where he always made a point of keeping on friendly terms with the leading British shipping firms, and, later on, with some of the leading politicians as well. There were few people in Germany who could rival him in his knowledge of the psychology of the American or the British mind. This knowledge resulted from his great capacity for rapidly and correctly summing up the character of anyone with whom he had to deal. He had developed to a high degree the art of treating the different types of people he met according to their different individualities. His kindness of heart, his brilliant powers of conversation, his prodigious memory, his quickness of repartee, and his keen sense of humour made him a favourite wherever he cared to be one. One felt his charm as soon as one came into personal contact with him. His wonderfully alert eye, which could express so much kindness, the soothing tones of his melodious voice, and the firm and friendly grip of his hand, made one forget that he was not a handsome man, although his powerfully developed forehead and his head which, in later years, was almost bald, were of classic perfection.

Albert Ballin would never have gained the commanding position he held if the keenness of his intellect and the force of his character had not been supplemented by that pleasing amiability which distinguishes all really good men. To him was given a large measure of that noble courtesy which springs from the heart. He who could be hard and unyielding where the business interests entrusted to his care were at stake, was full of generosity and sympathy towards the members of his family circle and his friends. Nothing delighted him more than the happiness of others. Those whom he cared for he treated with a tender regard which was deeply touching. He loved to give presents, and did so with the most delicate tact. He never expected any thanks; it was sufficient for him to see the happy face of the recipient. And if he ever met with ingratitude or spitefulness, he ignored it and dismissed it from his mind.

Personally generous to the limit of extravagance, he never spent a penny of the funds of his company without being convinced that it would be to its benefit. He left nothing undone when he thought he could realize a profit to the company, or cut down expenses. Money, to him, was only a means to an end; and the earnings of the company were in the first place intended to be spent on increasing its scope and prosperity wherever possible. Those who know what remuneration the heads of other concerns receive may well be surprised to see how little Ballin made for himself out of his position, but they would do him a great injustice if they thought he ought to have made more out of it. He even spent the greater part of his income for purposes of representation in the interests of his company. His amiable charm of manner and his brilliant conversational gifts did much towards making the entertainments he provided the successes they invariably were; and even if so much representation, especially that in connexion with Kiel Week, became somewhat of a burden to him, his company reaped rich benefit from his munificence.

But to appreciate to the full the charm of his personality one must have been his guest at his beautiful home in Hamburg or at his beloved country seat near Hamfelde, and have listened to his conversation while sitting round the fire of an evening, or been his companion on his long walks and rambles through the neighbouring Forest of Hahnheide. His conversation was always animated, his witty remarks were always to the point, and he was unsurpassed as a raconteur. He was excellent as a speaker at committee meetings, and he always hit upon the right words suitable for a political toast. The skill with which he wielded the pen is proved by numerous newspaper articles, memoranda, and descriptions of his travels, but above all by his voluminous correspondence. He was probably one of the most versatile letter-writers, and yet so conscientious in this as to be almost pedantic. In his early years he had also tried his hand at poetry. His beautiful home, which was adorned with pictures and sculptures by eminent masters, was a source of great pleasure to him. He was very fond of music and congenial company, and he knew how to appreciate the pleasures of a full and daintily arranged table.

When I intimated to one of Ballin’s old friends that I intended to write his Life, he told me that this would not be an easy task, and that he hoped I would not forget to depict Ballin as the amiable charmeur to which side of his character so many of his successes were due, and which was the secret of much of his great popularity. The number of people who claimed to be his friends, both before and after his death, but especially when they were trying to get some advantage out of the company, was surprisingly large. They were, in fact, so numerous that such a claim, when put forward, was generally—and rightly—looked upon with a great deal of suspicion. Very often, when such self-styled friends were announced to him, Ballin would reply: “I do not know the man,” or “I do not remember him, but I may have met him.” Ballin may justly be described as a man of world-wide fame, and whenever he went abroad the papers eagerly followed his movements. In New York especially it required all his cunning and resourcefulness to escape from the reporters desiring to interview him.

Owing to his prominent position before the public he received an abundance of honours during his life. The many distinctions and presents which the Kaiser bestowed on him were a source of gratitude and delight to him, and he valued them because they were a symbol of the personal ties that linked him to the Kaiser; but the foreign decorations, of which he also received a great many, were of so little interest to him that he did not even trouble to have those of them replaced which once were stolen from him. It was a great disappointment to him, however, not to be able to recover the Japanese ornamental swords which were taken on the same occasion, and which he had always carefully treasured because of their high artistic value. They were a present from the Marquis Ito, whom Ballin had once helped to obtain an audience of the Kaiser—an audience which, he hoped, would lead to the establishment on a permanent footing of Germany’s relations with the Empire of the Mikado. It would appear, indeed, that, if the leaders of Germany’s political destiny had shown some more circumspection, the same friendly relations might have been brought about between Germany and Japan as were entered into later on between Great Britain and the latter country. Personal souvenirs, like those just mentioned, were prized so highly by Ballin that no persuasion would induce him to part with them, and even Professor Brinckmann, the Director of the Hamburg Museum for Arts and Crafts, who was one of the leading authorities on the subject of Japanese applied art, and who tried hard to secure possession of them for his museum, met with a flat refusal.

Every year Ballin spent at least six months, and often more, away from Hamburg, and during such absences the work he had to accomplish was not less, but rather more than that which he did when in Hamburg. Conferences followed upon each other in quick succession at all times of the day, and the time that was left was filled up by visits. Often the amount of work was so great that he had to get through a whole series of difficult problems in a single day. The number of visits he had arranged was always considerably augmented by numerous others not allowed for in his arrangements for the day; because wherever he went the news of his arrival spread immediately. He could never even think of travelling incognito. It is literally true that he was known to every hotel porter all over the world. He was in the habit of extending his hospitality twice a day to a larger or smaller number of business friends when he was travelling. At first his love of congenial society had prompted him to do this, but in after years he continued it because he wanted to secure some benefit for his company even in his hours of relaxation. Still, he was often quite glad when, late at night, he had come to the close of his day’s work, and when he could let the happenings of the day pass before his mind’s eye in the quiet solitude of his room, or, as he liked to express it, “to draw the balance of the day’s account.”

Even before 1900 the never-tiring energy of his mind and the excessive strain on his nervous system brought about a practically permanent insomnia which never left him either in Hamburg or on his travels. Only when he was on the sea, or was staying at his country house, did he obtain any relief; and at such times he could dispense with the drugs to the use of which he had become a victim more and more regularly and extensively as time went on. The fact that this habit did not entirely ruin his nervous system proves that he was possessed of an iron constitution, which only gave way under the huge strain caused by the war. When he saw that his life’s work had been broken to fragments, and when he felt that he had not enough strength left for a second attempt of such magnitude, even his immense nerve force collapsed under the blow.

The anxieties caused by the war—a war which he knew would be lost—weighed more and more heavily on his mind the longer it lasted. Outwardly he bore himself bravely and steadfastly, but his mind was full of dark forebodings, especially when he was by himself. If he had not had the unvarying sympathy of the faithful partner of his life, with whom he shared thirty-five years of mutual happiness, and if he had not always derived fresh consolation from his beloved adopted daughter and from his grandchildren, he would indeed many a time have felt very lonely. In spite of his apprehensions as to the result of the war, he yet remained faithful to the task of his life, and he hoped against hope. His ardent love of his work was constantly struggling with his reason, which foretold him the ruin of the Empire and in consequence that of German shipping.

This fact explains some apparent contradictions in his views and actions. What was the general public to think of a man who was watching the progress of the war with the greatest pessimism, whilst at the same time bringing all his influence to bear on the passing of a law which was to make possible the reconstruction of Germany’s merchant fleet, knowing that such reconstruction could only be achieved if the Empire which was to set aside the funds were to remain intact. In this matter, as in others, it was the intuition of the born business-man which guided him, or perhaps a sort of instinct which made him discover new ways when the old ones had failed. These forces of his mind had nothing in common with logical reasoning, and they prevented him from drawing the practical inference from the sentiment so often expressed by us during the war: “If the Empire falls to pieces, we shall all be ruined; and if the Empire becomes bankrupt, we shall be insolvent too.” Events have shown that this sentiment was not justified by facts. Empires and individuals may perish; but the nations, and their trade and commerce which are the outcome of their economic needs and of their geographical position, will outlast them.

Neither is it likely that the life-work of those men who have left their mark on their epoch will ever be in vain. There are two great achievements which, it appears, will always stand out like two pillars in the wreck of destruction that has fallen upon Germany, viz. Bismarck’s work of political unification, and—a necessary preliminary of it—the powerful economic foundations laid with incessant toil by the great industrial leaders of whom Germany had so many during the era of her prosperity.

Albert Ballin was one of the most gifted among their number, and the world-wide fame of his achievements has outlived his death. When, after five years of isolation from the rest of the world, Germany appeared once more amongst the nations, she did so with the knowledge that the foundations of the proud structure which Ballin had built up were still unshaken, and this knowledge has proved one of her greatest assets when she entered upon the task of reconstruction.

If German shipping is to flourish again, and if German steamers are now ploughing the oceans once more, credit is due to Albert Ballin. His work it is from which new life is emanating, and it is to be hoped that his spirit will continue to animate German shipping both now and in the future.

Extract Annotated by William II-1

Extract Annotated by William II-2

Extract Annotated by William II-3

Extract Annotated by William II-4