What is Stromma, anyway?

This is Stromma

When Stromma’s brand-new buses opened their doors to welcome our customers in Berlin for the first time in February 2019, it would have been easy to mistake Stromma as yet another newcomer in the already crowded field of tourism and sightseeing. 

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the roots of our company go all the way back to 1809, and with the founder the son of a German immigrant, returning to the German capital almost feels like a homecoming.

From Gävle out into the world

Per Christian Rettig, the son in question, founded the company P. C. Rettig & Co. in the Swedish small town Gävle. This formed the nucleus of the tourism business that today operates under Strömma Turism & Sjöfart AB, a name that may roll off the tongue for Swedes, but for the rest of us has mercifully been shortened to simply Stromma. Over the decades and centuries, the company went through several iterations from these humble beginnings, operating under different names and across various industries – including tobacco, shipping, forestry, and, eventually, tourism.

Stromma as it operates today began to take shape in 1968 with the formation of Nya Ångfartygs AB Strömma Kanal. After a number of fusions and acquisitions, the most famous probably being the still immensely popular cruises on the Göta Kanal, this company eventually turned into its present-day form as one of Northern Europe’s longest standing and biggest tourism and sightseeing businesses.

Today, we’re happy to offer a huge range of options in a total of 15 destinations, of which Berlin is the most recently added one, in 6 countries across Northern Europe. Whether you want to go for a boat cruise in Stockholm and its famous archipelago, take a hop on – hop off sightseeing tour by bus through Copenhagen, discover Amsterdam’s most beautiful sights from the city’s canals, or something else entirely, you’ve come to the right place!

And we of course also offer something special in Berlin: in addition to our Hop On – Hop Off buses that take you to the most beautiful and famous attractions of the German capital, we also offer unique Hop On – Hop Off boat trips on the Spree river and Berlin’s waterways. So, we’re extremely happy to continue Stromma’s long and storied history in one of the world’s most exciting cities and to perhaps welcome you soon as a guest aboard our green and environmentally friendly buses!

By the way: did you know that Stromma has proudly been serving as the purveyor to the court of Sweden for several decades now? This means that if the king or a member of the royal family is in the mood for some sightseeing, they know exactly who to call.