Location: Croatian Maritime Museum in Split (Glagoljaška 18)

Date: June 16 – September 13, 2026, opening at 5:00 PM

The Austrian Lloyd (Italian: Lloyd Austriaco, German: Österreichischer Lloyd) was the first and at the same time the largest steamship company operating in the Adriatic. It was founded in Trieste in 1833 as a company providing insurers and shipowners with information on maritime trade and markets in Europe and Asia. The company expanded its activities in 1836 with the establishment of the so-called Second Section, which covered steamship operations.

The first steamship, Arciduca Lodovico, ordered from England, arrived in Trieste on April 12, 1837, and its maiden voyage took place on May 16, 1837, on the Trieste–Constantinople route, carrying 53 passengers.

The first steamship line along the Dalmatian coast was established on June 1, 1837, when Lloyd took over postal transport from the Austrian Navy on the route from Trieste to Patras. The following year, Trieste, Dubrovnik, and Kotor were connected, with stops in Mali Lošinj, Zadar, Šibenik, Split, Hvar, and Korčula, and from 1843 also Rijeka. From 1844, Lloyd also began organizing tourist excursion trips. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, routes to Mumbai in India, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Hong Kong were introduced. By 1882, as many as six routes were in operation, including connections between Trieste and Dalmatia and Albania, as well as between Trieste and Durrës, Trieste and Kotor, Rijeka and Zadar, and Rijeka and Kotor. In 1883, additional routes were introduced between Rijeka and Split, Kotor, and between Trieste and Metković.

Frane Mikelić from Split has been engaged in collecting from an early age. Initially focused on numismatics, for the past 30 years he has been dedicated to cartophily (postcard collecting). He owns a large collection of photographs and postcards of various steamship companies, with a special focus on the Austrian Lloyd (Österreichischer Lloyd). He has collaborated with numerous museums in Croatia by lending photographs and postcards for exhibitions. His collection has also been featured in books and monographs covering the history of Split, Dalmatia, and maritime shipping.

The exhibition and accompanying catalogue will present the history of this renowned company within the summer exhibition program of the Croatian Maritime Museum Split in 2026.

Contact: https://hpms.hr/index.php