History of company

The history of our company dates back to 1858 when Carl Hartwig, a citizen of Wielkie Ksiestwo Poznanskie (The Great Duchy of Poznan) registered his company. After several years of trading fuel and building materials, he decided to switch to transport. The decision was related to the dramatic development of railway and the growing need for cargo forwarding between railway stations. In a short time Hartwig managed to gain several transportation wagons and several horses, thus becoming the first professional transport and forwarding company in Poland.

When Carl Hartwig died in 1879, the development of the company was continued by his wife in cooperation with Edward Hempel and August Ditlich. After a few years, they took over the company, and decided to maintain its name — C Hartwig a well-estabilshed name with a good reputation on the market. At the same time, the company expanded its services beyond the area of Wielkopolska, setting up branches in Galicja among others.

After World War I, in independent Poland, the company was purchased by Bank Zwiazku Spolek Zarobkowych (Earning Companies Union Bank) and transformed into a joint stock company with 90% of shares belonging to the Bank and 10% to private investors. As a company providing full forwarding service, authorised to organise customs clearance, managing own transit, duty free depots, the company earned the reputation of the largest Polish forwarder, well-known and highly valued both in Poland and abroad. Becoming the exclusive forwarder for Polskie Koleje Panstwowe (Polish National Railways), Panstwowe Targi Poznanskie (Poznan National Fair) and Targi Wschodnie in Lwow (East Fairs in Lwow) were the rnost successful moments for the company at that time.

Alter the outbreak of World War II and the occupation of Poland by German forces, the property and staff of C. Hartwig were taken over by SCHENKER, a German forwarding company and subordinated to the occupants rule

On 15 May 1945, the company was officially reactivated by the Komitet Ekonomiczny Rady Ministrow (Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers) in its own original name C. Hartwig. The first branch to restart its services managed by the new state administration was the branch in Poznan, which supervised the launching of 29 branches in large cities and 55 local branches. Alter the nationalisation of private companies in 1950, C. Hartwig became the exclusive forwarding company in Poland providing international services However in 1953 the Ministry of Foreign Trade restructured the C. Hartwig Company, dividing it into 5 branches, giving each of them considerable economic ingependence.

In 1969, C. Hartwig went into liquidation and five independent units of Przedsiebiorstwo Spedycji Miedzynarodowej (International Forwarding Company C. Hartwig) were established. The 5 January 1970 was the official date of establishing C. HARTWIG WARSZAWA On 8 January, the Minister of Foreign Trade granted it the status of a superior company, established to coordinate the international forwarding of the C. Hartwig Company. The company functioned in this form for over three years and finally became an entirely independent company alter the decision by the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Thus, five inde­pendent companies of Przedsiebiorstwo Spedycji Miedzynarodowej C. Hartwig started to compete for the customers.

In 1982, we launched our own transport stock which allowed us to forward a wide variety of cargo by means of modern vehicles in all European directions, as well as to the Asian regions of the former USSR. The change in situation of Przedsiebiorstwo C. Hartwig Warszawa and its diminishing dependence on the superior institutions was a direct consequence of the changes in politics and the economy.

In the early 90s, the Polish forwarding market was liberalised, allowing the emergence of a strong international forwarding and transport sector. A strongly competitive environment with hundreds of companies offering their services to clients evolved. At the same time in 1997, the management of the company was handed to the Ministry of the Treasury, which started the commercialisation process, by transforming it into a jointstock company - C. Hartwig Warszawa, a year later. Thus, the companys privatisation process was initiated.
None of our achievements and success would have been possible without our committed, highly professional staff.

Currently, C. Hartwig has over 450 employees who have modern equipment and technology, extensive knowledge and experience at their disposal. Their efficiency, ability to challenge the competitors and a constant drive to refine their professional qualifications contributed to the granting of the ISO
9001:2000 Certificate, an international recognition of our services high standard. The fact that our company was placed in the United Nations internationally recognised companies register is also an unquestionable success. We continue to modernise our local branch network, adjusting their location and services according to the changing needs of our customers.

Our company was the cofounder of the Polski Zwiazek Spedytorow Miedzynarodowych (Polish International Freight Forwarders Association) and a member of the International Road Transport Union. One the international level, we are also an active member of FIATA (Fedaration Internationale des Associacions de Transitaires et Assimiles) and and an agent of IATA (International Air Transport Association). In the year 2000, we also became a member od IELA (Internation Exhibition Logistics Associates).

Please take your time to learn more about the services offered by our company. We will be more than happy to help you with additional information and we wish you successful cooperation with our company.

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