German Ship Lamp Manufacturers

You will find detailed information about several German ship lights manufacturers on this page.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you deem any information missing.

Many of the photos on this page are from Reiko Batsch; I am very grateful to him for allowing me to use these images. Also, take a look at his website (click on the image below) for a wide range of maritime items, including many ship lamps.

Radio Bremen made a great film in 1961 about the use and inspection of ship lamps.

The video is in German. And definitely worth a look.

Ship Lights Inspection

Peters & Bey

Jacob Hinrich Peters and Albert Bey founded Peters & Bey in 1881 and were always closely positioned in the Hamburg harbor. Here they started with a sheet metal and galley inventory. Originating as a ship plumbing company, it later expanded production to include navigation lights. More than 140 years later, they still produce ship lights. The company is currently led by a descendant of the founder, Thomas Peters.

Peters & Bey has had different names on the ship's lamps. J.H. Peters & Bey, after founder Jacob Hinrich Peters and Peters + Bey.

Ahlemann & Schlatter

Since 1870, the Bremen family business Ahlemann & Schlatter has focused on developing ship lamps, of which they produced many. Most are zinc and are regularly found on online marketplaces such as eBay. In 1986, Ahlemann & Schlatter renamed to Aqua Signal GmbH and became a member of the Norwegian Glamox Group in 1995. Nowadays, Aqua Signal is still active in Bremen.

Like Peters & Bey, Ahlemann & Schlatter has also changed their name with a plus (+) symbol after Ahlemann + Schlatter. Ahlemann & Schlatter labeled some ship lamps with the text Ahlemann Leuchten Aus Bremen. The same A is still visible on Aqua Signal ship Lights.

Franz Schilbach Stettin

Frans Schilbach was an active manufacturer until the end of the second world war. After that, the town of Stettin was handed over to Poland (Szczecin). Like many other metal industries, Frans Schilbach's activities fell under the VEB as a state-owned company. The production of ship lamps was restarted in Ueckermünde, 60 km northwest of Szczecin, and the company changed to VEB Schiffslaternenwerk Uekermünde.
VEB was part of VVB MEWA.

Based on the dates on the ship lamp's marks, the lights were frequently used in WWII and are recognizable for their unique shaped chimney.

VEB Schiffslaternenwerk Uekermünde

After Frans Schilbach changed to VEB Schiffslaternenwerk Uekermünde, they produced a lot of zinc ship lamps, train lamps, signal lamps, and bicycle lamps.

Schiffslaternenwerk Uekermünde was active until at least 1982; it is unknown to me when the company stopped. The factory of VEB Schiffslaternenwerk Uekermünde now houses a hotel, which is appropriately called Schiffslaterne. It's noteworthy that, within the hotel, many ship lights are still used as decoration.

F.F.A. Schulze Berlin

The company F.F.A. Schulze was founded in East Berlin in 1842 as a manufacturer of lamps and lanterns. They mainly supplied the Post, Bahn (railways), and Marine. In 1932 they opened a second factory in Hamburg to develop and produce shipbuilding articles.

After 1945, the factories were confiscated by the Soviet Union. The company could only continue with its factory located in Hamburg. After all these years, the company is still in business.

Below are German manufacturers known to have made ship lamps, but further information is (yet) found.