Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfab

In 1849, the Hamburg merchant and shipping house Johan Cesar Godeffroy & Sohn purchased a small shipyard on the Reiherstieg River. The purpose was to build and maintain vessels for the company’s own fleet.

The three-masted barque Sophie was constructed there in 1849–1850 and became the shipyard’s first new vessel, listed as Baunummer 1, or build number 1.

As shipbuilding increasingly shifted toward iron hulls and steam propulsion, the yard developed beyond its original role within the Godeffroy enterprise. It was separated from the parent company in 1857 and formally incorporated in 1861 as Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the shipyard grew into one of Hamburg’s major shipbuilding companies. In the 1920s, it merged with Deutsche Werft and later became part of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW).