The mystery of the knight Roland

While our history began in 1982 as a joint venture with the Bremen Roland Spedition, that of the knight Roland took place sometime earlier – namely in the eighth century.

Who was knight Roland?

He is said to have been Charlemagne’s nephew and a war hero. Knight Roland went into battle to free Spain from the Saracens and to reconquer it for Christianity. On the retreat, the brave knight and his loyal companions were ambushed and, despite relentless fighting, lost their lives.

Knight Roland did not survive the battle, but he became a symbol of freedom and independence. Consequently, many towns put up statues of the knight during the Middle Ages to support their striving for independence.

How did the knight end up at a forwarding agency?

In Bremen, where our former partner comes from, the knight Roland has adorned the market square since 1404 as a guardian of law and freedom. These laws include, among other things, the right to hold markets, which in the Middle Ages permitted the holding of a permanent and regular market for the public.

In the meantime, the knight Roland – a kind of European Statue of Liberty – has become an important landmark of Bremen and thus a significant symbol for our logo, even if our products are no longer offered via a market stall.

Even though the shares of Bremer Roland Spedition were taken over at the end of the 1990s and Roland Spedition became an independent family business, knight Roland remains a part of our common history and we look forward to many more successful years together with our knight Roland!