Rotterdam Photo Gallery - Holland America Line HQ

Holland America Line's history goes back to 1872 when they made the first transatlantic sailing to New York. The Netherlands-American Steamship Company was founded the following year. Headquartered in Rotterdam, its primary business was to move immigrants from Europe to the United States at a time when seeking new pastures in the New World was immensely popular. In 1896, the company's name became Holland Amerika Lijn. The US government imposed immigration restrictions in the early 1920s that severely impacted the transatlantic steamship companies. The Great Depression then hit the industry further and the company gradually transitioned to the vacation business, ultimately moving its headquarters to the US in the late 1970s. The former Holland America Line headquarters in Rotterdam sits at the edge of Kop Van Zuid and dates from 1901. It survived World War II bombings that cleared out much of the city, and was repurposed into a 72-room hotel in 1993. Heading inside through a fairly low-profile door on the side away and not in the middle of the grand facade, you are quickly transported into a nostalgic era.