 "Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft" was founded in 1872 by a group of five local shipowners who previously had all their steamboats built in England as most German shipowners did in the 19th century.The first ship, the iron tall ship "Doris Brodersen", was delivered to one of the founding partners in 1875.The cargo steamer "Septima" was commissioned a year later.