Being founded as early as 1922 means Wallmann & Co. can build on the experience of over eight decades and still today utilises this continuity and the strength of a permanently proprietor-run private business. The start was made by Otto Wallmann, who the company is named after, and his two companions Wilhelm Suhl and Albert Schmidt – at the time as Hamburg Port shipping agents in the inner city and a branch office opened at the same time in Berlin. As well as the classical forwarding with trucks the business also included the import and export of large batches of sugar, cereals and foodstuffs. The founding of the Motorschiff Gesellschaft in 1929 meant that the “Wallmen” were able to successfully start the inland water transportation business that was then operated until 1987.