1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ballin, Albert

BALLIN, ALBERT (1857-1918), German merchant and one of the most eminent representatives of German commercial interests, was born Aug. 15 1857 at Hamburg. After having completed his mercantile training he organized the 'tween-deck (emigrant) traffic of the Carr Line. He next undertook the management of the passenger traffic of the Hamburg-Amerika Line and became in 1886 director and soon afterwards director-general of that enterprise, the expansion of which was essentially his work. The share capital of the Hamburg-Amerika Line was increased tenfold during his management. The network of its service was extended over the whole world, largely by the acquisition of a number of other lines. Ballin succeeded, by means of agreements with other German shipping companies, in developing German shipping on a grand scale; he was likewise the author of the German-American shipping agreement of 1902. He was regarded as enjoying the special confidence of the Emperor William II., who employed his services as an expert in all matters of shipping and commerce. Ballin died suddenly &mdash; heart-broken, it is said, by the military, political and commercial collapse of Germany &mdash; at Hamburg on Nov. 9 1918. (C. K.)