Did you know the Nazis operated a highly successful cruise line throughout most of the 1930’s? Well, read on!

1. Or how cruising became a tool for National Socialist
ideology and ambition in the 1930’s – a closer look
at the Kraft durch Freude cruise empire

2. 6
Hitler’s Cruise Line
The 11.492 GRT steamer Sierra Cordoba
in KdF livery (illustration 1937)
D approved onboard leisure activi-
ties. More charters followed to
more exotic locales during the
1930’s and by 1937 the KdF were
regularly operating nine ships
1930during
In 1938-39 the KdF launched two
custom-built cruise ships, the
Wilhelm Gustloff and the Robert
Ley – both around 26.000GRT,
205m long and with room for
approx. 1500 guests and 440
crew. No longer bound by using
chartered commercial ships, the
KdF was free to pursue their
ideal of true classless travel and
both ships were built without the
traditional 3-tiered class struc-
ture of ocean liners; all cabins
were basically the same, all
facilities and services were avail-
able to all guests, and everyone
paid the same price for a cruise,
regardless of class. Previously, on
the chartered ships, KdF had to
sidestep the class structure of
the ships, by assigning cabins by
lottery, giving everyone a fair and
equal chance at getting a 1st or
2nd class cabin, but with the
newbuilds fairness and equality
was assured from the start.
Given their classless nature and
mass appeal KdF ships were not
about luxury and high-society.
The ships were in fact quite
modest compared to other liners
of the day, especially those
custom-built or refitted for KdF
use.
id you know the Nazis
used to run a cruise line?
Not only that! For a while there
in the 1930’s, the Nazis operated
the largest tourism organization
in the world. That also goes a
long way towards explaining why
Indiana Jones kept bumping into
them all over the world. But
seriously, the Kraft durch Freude
(Strength through Joy) leisure or-
ganization, a part of the national
German labour organization, was
dedicated to instilling and
strengthening National Socialist
ideals and unity by providing
affordable class-less leisure and
travel opportunities for the Ger-
man masses.
One of many leisure and travel
activities within KdF was a cruise
brand – starting in 1934 with
chartered ships from the Ham-
burg-Süd line, operating out of
German ports on the Baltic and
North Sea. Initial itineraries inclu-
ded the fjords of Norway, the isle
of Wight and Madeira but – inte-
restingly enough – destination
exploration seems to have been
of secondary concern. Many
Norway cruises did not even
have any ports of call – merely
scenic cruising and lots and lots
of bonding National Socialist – of
and
(bought or chartered) with desti-
nations all around the Baltic /
Scandinavian area, Western Eu-
rope and the Mediterranean.
Clearly, the concept had proven
popular enough to warrant its
own fleet.
Vintage travel poster for the KdF ‘Urlaubs-
fahrten’ (holiday cruises)
Cover: The Wilhelm Gustloff sets sail
from Hamburg under the KdF logo

3. 2
Hitler’s Cruise Line
use. The dining options were li-
mited and far from haute cuisine,
the cabins and public areas were
spartan and functional, rather
than elegant and opulent, but to
German working class families –
having struggled through the
dark years of post-World War I
depression – that did not matter
in the least. To them, the ships
were fantastic, exotic and repre-
sented a family vacation experi-
ence they could have never af-
forded otherwise, courtesy of the
National Socialist Party.
Life onboard was not unlike that
of other contemporary cruise
ships – there was a daily activi-
ties program, heavy on commu-
nal, bonding sports- and leisure
activities, music and entertain-
ment options and enrichment /
destination lectures – all of
course sanctioned and super-
vised in accordance with National
Socialist philosophies and ideals.
However, other aspects of the
experience were significantly
more disciplined and authorita-
rian; everyone had to wake up by
8am at the latest and by mid-
night latest there had to be ‘Ruhe
im Schiff’ – peace & quiet on-
board.
Despite the overall ideological
agenda of the organization, the
KdF (wisely) chose never to force
politics overtly on their cruise
guests – though the ship format
was eminently suited for hosting
ideological indoctrination events
(talk about a captive audience),
that was never practiced. The Kdf
was indeed all about the fun,
enjoyment and relaxation of the
working class, while subtly ma-
king sure the workers knew very
well who to thank for the privi-
lege.
In commercial terms, the KdF
cruise organization had little in
common with other cruise lines
of the day. As partially govern-
ment-funded enterprises they
were not aimed at turning a
profit. Rather, they were tools of
propaganda (to the Germans
themselves and to the world at
large)
The 14.000 GRT Monte Sarmiento on a KdF-charter in the Norwegian Fjords in 1934
May 1937; the custom-built 25.500 GRT cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff is launched
A group of German women presenting the Nazi salute on the deck of a KdF ship

4. 3
Hitler’s Cruise Line
large), a means of forging nation-
al and ideological identity and
ideal vessels for cultivating social
unity under Nazi leadership. But
in terms of sheer numbers of
passengers introduced to vaca-
tions on the high seas, it was
every bit as influential as some of
the largest of the traditional
cruise brands in the 1930’s.
The Nazi cruise adventure ended
abruptly in September 1939 with
the German invasion of Poland.
Plans to build more kdF ships
were mothballed and the existing
ships drafted into war service.
Incidentally, the flagship Wilhelm
Gustloff went on to tragic fame.
In late January 1945 she was
torpedoed by a Soviet submarine
in the Baltic Sea, while evacu-
ating German settler families and
soldiers from the territory of East
Prussia. Due to chaos and panic
during embarkation, no one had
an exact count of how many
refugees the ship was carrying
but estimates range wildly
between 8.000 and 10.000. Only
1.239 of them were saved from
the dark, cold waters of the
Baltic, making the Wilhelm Gust-
loff the biggest death toll in any
maritime disaster in history.
From April 1938; a welcome pamphlet from a KdF cruise, detailing dining schedule..
..and a Daily Program, detailing a (mostly musical) day at sea in the Atlantic Ocean
By Jacob Lyngsøe
a.k.a. the Cruise Insider
September 2016
Want to learn more
about the fascina-
ting history of crui-
ses and passenger
shipping, contact
the Cruise Insider!
‘Spartan and functional’ interior decor on the Wilhelm Gustloff A packed sun deck on a KdF Norway cruise