BALLIN, ALBERT

(1857-1918)

   Hamburg shipping magnate. After building up the steamship company that his father established, he took advantage of the opportunities afforded by the transatlantic passenger trade. From 1886 he transformed the Hamburg-Amerika Line into Germany's foremost shipping concern with a fleet of 400 vessels. During World War I he organized the shipping of foodstuffs to Germany, circumventing the Allied blockade.