The Holland America Line: A MONUMENTAL CELEBRATION
The Holland America Line was not only a symbol of hope and new beginnings for the more than two million immigrants it transported to the New World, but even to this day, the renowned shipping company bears witness to Rotterdam’s illustrious maritime history and pioneering spirit. Words Paola
A WELL-RUN SHIP
Though it was officially founded on 18 April 1873 as the Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (the Netherlands-American Steam Navigation Company), the Holland America Line’s roots go back to 1871 when clever entrepreneurs Otto Reuchlin and Antoine Plate established their eponymous shipping company (Plate, Reuchlin & Co.) with the aim of providing a direct connection from Rotterdam to New York. The completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg (a waterway connecting the Maas River and the North Sea) in 1872 couldn’t have come at a better time. With more space to accommodate larger vessels, Rotterdam’s port was given an unprecedented boost, and the company would flourish at a time when the market for passengers and transatlantic freight to North America was booming. It wasn’t long before the Holland America Line, as it was ultimately named in 1896, would become a worldwide leader, priding itself on being a “well-run ship.”
FROM HISTORIC CARRIER OF IMMIGRANTS TO FAMOUS CRUISE LINE
It was 15 October 1872 when the Holland America Line’s first steamship, aptly named Rotterdam (and later Rotterdam I), departed for New York on a maiden voyage that would last 15 days. Measuring 81.84 metres in length and 10.9 metres in width, the ship had modest dimensions when compared with the vessels that would follow. On board were one captain, 43 crew members, 10 first-class cabin passengers and 60 passengers who travelled in steerage (third-class). While some left for religious or political motives, most immigrants who departed from Rotterdam (mainly Eastern Europeans and Dutch) between that first voyage and well into the 1920s were humble farmers seeking to build a new life abroad with their families. In fact, the majority of people who immigrated to the US or Canada during that time did so aboard the Holland America Line.
While both World Wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s dealt the company some serious blows, it would continue to fulfill its main purpose as a carrier of immigrants until
the late 1960s when air travel became easier and more affordable. With the end of the Holland America Line’s transatlantic services in 1971, the company started to focus exclusively on offering cruises. By 1978, the Holland America Line relocated its headquarters from the Hotel New York building in Rotterdam to Stamford, Connecticut. Five years later, it moved west to Seattle, and in 1989, it became a subsidiary of the world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation. Despite its new home in the United States, the company remains firmly anchored in its Dutch roots.
COMMEMORATIVE VOYAGES
Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2022 and 2023, the Holland America Line can boast being one of the world’s longest-operating travel companies. This significant milestone is being honoured with myriad activities and special events, including two commemorative transatlantic crossings. Last year, on 15 October, the sumptuous Rotterdam VII left the port of Rotterdam for New York, kicking off the festivities. According to Gus Antorcha, the company’s president, the anniversary crossing was “a tribute to the voyage millions of immigrants took to the New World.” There were guests who sailed in October “because their grandparents immigrated to the United States on a Holland America Line ship or because they’ve been fans for years.”
The second commemorative voyage is set to depart from New York on the 6th of April this year and will arrive in Rotterdam on the 18th, just in time for the historic company’s noteworthy anniversary.
THE VAN DER VORM LEGACY
The crisis years of the Great Depression did not leave the Holland America Line unscathed. In fact, between 1931 and 1933, twelve ships were sold and international offices were either closed or consolidated. Thanks to the financial support of wealthy businessman Willem van der Vorm in 1933, however, the famous shipping company managed to stay afloat.
Van der Vorm became director of the coal trading company Scheepvaart & Steenkolen Maatschappij in 1905, later selling the business and investing in other sectors. The Van der Vorm family not only played a major role in the history pages of the Holland America Line, but also in the city of Rotterdam. The bulk of their fortune – they are the second-wealthiest family in the Netherlands with a net worth estimated at $8.9 billion – was acquired through the sale of the Holland America Line in 1989. With those proceeds, Martijn van der Vorm founded HAL Investments that year, a publicly traded fund with interests in the maritime, timber and aviation sectors. Today, the Van der Vorms are putting their wealth to noble use through Rotterdam-based philanthropic foundations, De Verre Bergen and Droom en Daad. While De Verre Bergen focuses on tackling the city’s social problems, Droom en Daad, headed by former Kunsthal and Rijksmuseum director Wim Pijbes, invests in the cultural sector and has funded everything from the renovations of the Nederlands Fotomuseum and the Euromast Park, to the public art depot of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and the International Film Festival.
“Despite its new home in the United States, the remainscompanyfirmly anchored in its Dutch roots.”Historical Advertising Poster from late ‘40s Holland Americass RODM Hoboken NJ circa 1910