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Private company

Peter Deilmann Cruises

Logo: The logo is from the following website: http://www.deilmann-kreuzfahrten.de/fileadmin/deilmann-kreuzfahrten/images/Themenreisen/Parfum_D428_low.pdf, Non-free logo, via Wikipedia3

Defunct German cruise company

Peter Deilmann Cruises (German: Peter Deilmann Reederei GmbH & Co. KG) was a German cruise company which offered river cruises throughout Europe and several ocean cruises. It was headquartered in Neustadt in Holstein, Germany.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1968Founded1

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Peter Deilmann Cruises (German: Peter Deilmann Reederei GmbH & Co. KG) was a German cruise company which offered river cruises throughout Europe and several ocean cruises. It was headquartered in Neustadt in Holstein, Germany.2

Corporate structure

Peter Deilmann Cruises sits at the top of its group. 1 entity, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Peter Deilmann Cruises Neustadt in Holstein
    • MS Deutschland Owned

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Peter Deilmann Cruises reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

  • MS Deutschland

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

The founder Peter Deilmann began by chartering coasters in 1968. In 1973 he started his first passenger service between Neustadt (West Germany) and Ronne (Bornholm) using the small ferry Nordlicht. In 1976 and 1978 he acquired the elderly passenger ships Gripen and Frisia II (renamed Nordshau and Nordpaloma) to start a ferry service between Neustadt and Rodby. Also in 1976, Deilmann acquired the Norwegian Rost (renamed Nordbrise) and started a pioneer service between West and East Germany. Nordbrise was later used for his first cruise venture in Greenland.

In 1979, Deilmann ordered his first new cruise ship, the Berlin. She was owned by a consortium of German investors, and Deilmann only had a minority share. Whilst awaiting delivery, he also bought the Regina Maris, which was sold to Kuwait in 1982 for conversion into a large private yacht. Berlin was chartered for far-eastern service as the Princess Mahsuri between 1982 and 1985. The Deilmann charter of Berlin ended in 2004.

In 1983, Deilmann acquired their first river cruise vessel, the Donauprinzessin. In 1994 the first sailing cruise ship, the Lili Marleen was acquired. The impressive Deutschland was delivered in 1998.

From Wikipedia’s article on Peter Deilmann Cruises, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Former Ocean, Sea, and Coastal Cruises

1980-2004 > MV Berlin

1998-2015 > MS Deutschland. (Last and unique ship of company in 2015)

1994-2004 > MSV Lili Marleen (The unique Sailing Vessel the company had)

1976-1984 > MV Nordbrise

Read the full text

1973-1985 > MV Nordlicht

1978-1985 > MV Nordpaloma

1976-1984 > MV Nordschau

1974-1977 > MV Nordwelle

1980-1983 > MV Regina Maris

Former River Cruise

Due to the weak economy, Peter Deilmann shut down their River Cruise Division in 2010. The vessels of the former fleet were:

2001-2009 > MV Casanova

1999-2009 > MV Cézanne

1983-2006 > MV Donauprinzessin (renamed to MV Rossini)

1994-2009 > MV Dresden (renamed to MV River Allegro)

2002-2009 > MV Frederic Chopin

2004-2009 > MV Heidelberg

2000-2009 > MV Katharina von Bora

1998-2008 > MV Königstein

1993-2009 > MV Mozart (renamed to MV Dertour Mozart)

1992-2008 > MV Princesse De Provence

1991-2008 > MV Prinzessin von Preussen (renamed to MV Prinzessin Katharina)

Around 2000 the cruise line made about $100 million United States dollars per year. In 2009 in the United Kingdom Peter Deilmann Cruises joined the Truly Independent Professional Travel Organisation (TIPTO) marketing consortium, becoming its 16th member.

Accident

The company chartered the ill-fated Air France Flight 4590, the Concorde flight from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, France, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, New York, United States (operated by Air France) which crashed on 25 July 2000 at Gonesse, France, killing all one hundred passengers and nine crew on board the flight, and four people on the ground. The flight was chartered by Peter Deilmann Cruises and nearly all passengers were on their way to board the MS Deutschland cruise ship in New York City for a 16-day cruise to Manta, Ecuador.

From Wikipedia’s article on Peter Deilmann Cruises, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Also owns

  • MS Deutschland

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 2015Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1968Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
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