1934 Hamburg American Line Brochure and Map of Around the World Voyage

This is a 1934 Hamburg-American Line advertising map of the world illustrating a planned 1835 round-the-world voyage. The SS Resolute was scheduled to leave New York on January 12, 1935, and return 136 days later after visiting 29 countries and transiting the Panama Canal. This luxurious trip started at the whopping price of 1750 USD, equivalent to 40,000 USD today.

A Closer Look

Depicting the Earth using a polar projection, a black line illustrates the projected route for the 1935 voyage. The map labels only those continents, countries, regions, and cities the 1935 voyage would visit. Vignettes surrounding the map highlight cultural sites, including the Great Pyramids and the Nile in Egypt and Mt. Fuji in Japan.

The Rest of the Booklet

The rest of the advertising booklet includes information concerning the itinerary, shore excursions, and other practical information. It is very well illustrated, with photographs providing prospective clients with glimpses into the planned adventures offered on this 136-day, 32,900-mile journey around the world.

The SS Resolute

The SS Resolute was laid down in 1914 for the Hamburg-American Line. However, World War I (1914 - 1918) delayed completion, but she was finally finished in 1920 and sold to the Royal Holland Lloyd. United American Lines bought the ship in 1922 and renamed her Resolute. Resolute was transferred to the Hamburg-American Line in 1926. While with Hamburg-American, Resolute completed nine around-the-world voyages, then the record for around-the-world voyages. Hamburg-American sold Resolute to the Italian government not long after the end of the 1935 around-the-world voyage. The Italians converted Resolute into a troop ship, renamed her Lombardia, and employed the ship in that capacity during the Abyssinian War. The Lombardia was damaged during an air raid on Naples in 1943 and was sold for scrap in 1947.

The Hamburg-American Line

Formally known as the 'Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft' (HAPAG), the Hamburg-American Line was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, Germany, in 1847.  It was founded by Albert Ballin (1857 - 1918), a German Jew from a wealthy mercantile family. The company originally focused on connections between European and American ports - being the primary vector for German immigration to the Americas in the second half of the 19th century. By 1914, HAPAG expanded its operations to a global shipping network, becoming the world's largest shipping line. Despite the loss of most of its fleet during World War I, HAPAG persevered, rebuilding in the Interwar Period (1918 - 1939) - even expanding into Zeppelins.  During World War II (1939 - 1945), the HAPAG's interests took another hard hit, with most of their fleet seized or destroyed.  After the war, they once again rose from the ashes.  In 1970, the company merged with its longstanding rival, Norddeutscher Lloyd of Bremen, to establish the present-day company Hapag-Lloyd.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by the Hamburg-American Line and North German Lloyd and was published in September 1934. This is the only known cataloged example of the present map and booklet. We have not found separate examples of either the map or the booklet.