During the 1930s, a now relatively unknown group of passenger ships emerged in Germany. Forbearers of today’s mass-market cruise fleet, the ships of the Third Reich’s Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) movement became some of the most

successful passenger vessels during that fateful decade leading up to the Second World War.



With over 300 photos, this lavishly illustrated volume by author J. Russell Willoughby (Bremen & Europa: German Speed Queens of the Atlantic) gives a photographic glimpse into the lives of these remarkable ships. Accompanied by a history of each vessel, many of these rare and sometimes haunting images are being published here for the first time.