The HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG (often abbreviated as HADAG, rough translated as HADAG sea-tourism and ferry service plc) is a local public transport company in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany. It owns and operates the ferries across the Elbe river, overseen by the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund

Hamburger Verkehrsverbund

The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund is a company coordinating the public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide the user with a unified fare system, requiring only a single ticket for journeys with transfers between different operating companies, and to further...

. In the 1950s the company operated ferries from Hamburg to England, and in the 1980s, the cruise ship MS Astor.

History

On 8 August 1888, the Hafen-Dampfschifffahrt AG (HADAG) was founded and the city of Hamburg granted the concession to operate ferries in the port of Hamburg. In 1897, the HADAG owned 47 ferries and took over the smaller Jollenführer Dampfer GmbH. With opening of the Elbe tunnel in 1911, the HADAG line Landungsbrücken

Landungsbrücken

The St. Pauli Landungsbrücken , part of the Hamburg Harbour, are in the quarter St. Pauli of Hamburg, Germany, between the lower harbor and the Fischmarkt directly on the Elbe River. The Landungsbrücken today are a major tourist attraction and a central transportation hub, with S-Bahn, U-Bahn and...

 — Steinwerder lost 259,000 passengers p.a. In 1918, with the end of the concession, the HADAG wanted to rise the fare price. The city of Hamburg refused and the company was in danger of liquidation. On 23 Oktober 1918, the city of Hamburg acquired the HADAG. Later it became a subsidiary for the Hamburger Hochbahn

Hamburger Hochbahn

Hamburger Hochbahn AG or HHA is a company operating the underground system and large parts of the bus system in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1911 it is headquartered in Hamburg.-History:...

 (HHA). In 1928 the HHA and HADAG established a shared fare for the trains, trams, and buses of the HHA and the ferries of the HADAG.

In the 1950s, the HADAG operated a ferry to England and to the islands Heligoland

Heligoland

Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...

 and Sylt

Sylt

Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia...

. In 1966, the last steam ferries were taken out of service. In 1982, HADAG closed the ferry line from Landungsbrücken

Landungsbrücken

The St. Pauli Landungsbrücken , part of the Hamburg Harbour, are in the quarter St. Pauli of Hamburg, Germany, between the lower harbor and the Fischmarkt directly on the Elbe River. The Landungsbrücken today are a major tourist attraction and a central transportation hub, with S-Bahn, U-Bahn and...

 to the Heligoland

Heligoland

Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...

 island, and started a line from Cuxhaven, with a combined fare with Deutsche Bundesbahn

Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...

, in 1983. Until 1983, the HADAG owned the cruise ship MS Astor.

Operation

The HADAG runs public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

 ferries and pleasure boats on the Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

 river and the Alster

Alster

The Alster is a right tributary of the River Elbe in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, flows roughly southwards and reaches the Elbe in Hamburg. In the centre of Hamburg the Alster has been dammed...

river. The public transport is supervised by the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund

Hamburger Verkehrsverbund

The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund is a company coordinating the public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide the user with a unified fare system, requiring only a single ticket for journeys with transfers between different operating companies, and to further...

.

HADAG figures

• 21 ferries, with diesel drive
• 75 employees + 15 trainees
• 27.6 km length of lines
• 6 lines
• 21 landing stages
• 6.4 m. passengers p.a.