Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; lit. North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic development of Bremen and Bremerhaven.

The lucrative North Atlantic route was extremely competitive in this period, with new, attractive ships from other large companies including the RMS Lusitania, RMS Mauretania, and RMS Aquitania, of the Cunard Line, and the RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, and RMS Britannic of the White Star Line. The HAPAG introduced three new vessels of the Imperator class, SS Imperator, SS Vaterland, and SS Bismarck.

In 1929 and 1930, the company placed its two largest ships in service, SS Bremen and SS Europa . With an average speed of about 27.9 knots, both were to take the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossings. In 1929, Columbus was completely refitted.

Passenger service resumed in 1955 using a rebuilt 1924 Swedish ship, the 17,993 GRT MS Gripsholm.[51] Renamed Berlin, she was the sixth German ship of that name, the fourth at NDL, and sailed North Atlantic routes. In 1959, the company added the 32,336 GRT Bremen (formerly Pasteur), and in 1965, the 21,514 GRT Europa (formerly Kungsholm)

On 1 September 1970, the company merged with Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) to form Hapag-Lloyd AG.