Peter Rickmers (1838-1902)

Peter Rickmers (1838-1902)

Peter Rickmers is born in Bremerhaven in 1838. After attending the polytechnic college in Hanover, he begins work in the family business, taking on numerous activities. Among other things, he is a representative of the newly founded Geestemünde Chamber of Commerce and travels widely on business on behalf of the company.

1876–1879 Member of the Prussian State Parliament

In 1886, following the death of R.C. Rickmers, Peter Rickmers and his brother Andreas change the focus of the Rickmers shipyard to the construction of ships made out of iron and steamships.

In 1889, the “Helene Rickmers”, the company’s first steamship, goes into service.

By the 1890s, the Rickmers Rice Mill in Bremen is one of the largest rice-processing plants in Europe. Tall ships carrying the Rickmers insignia cross from Europe to Asia and back to serve the demand of the rice mill.

In 1901, Rickmers AG sets up the first river steamboat company operating under a German flag on the upper Yangtze in China.