Rhein History

Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape

River Rhein, Germany

BRIEF HISTORY OF PADDLE STEAMER OPERATIONS

The KD can trace its history back to 1853 when two earlier companies, the Preussisch-Rheinischen Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft (PRDG), the "Koln" company and the Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft fur den Nieder- und Mittelrhein (DGNM), the "Dusseldorf" company, merged at a time of intense competition and the in response to the loss of much of the freight and passenger traffic along the Rhine following the expansion of the railways along its banks.

Despite the merger, the two companies, which were established in 1826 and 1836 respectively, maintained semi-independent operations ordering their own vessels which were known as "Koln" or "Dusseldorf" boats. Although other companies operated vessels during this period, especially in the more northerly and southerly stretches of the river, the KD came to dominate and absorb the competitors, such as the Mulheim Company (MDAG), with the exception of the Dutch Steamboat Company (NSM/NSR), which traced its inception back to 1823, when steam was first intoduced for passenger and goods transport. From 1927, Dutch and German services were run in cooperation and there was some interchange in vessel ownership.

The first trials of a steamboat on the Rhein were in 1816, when the new form of propulsion was demonstrated by English interests, and the link was developed when the DGNM was established with links to the General Steam Navigation Company, with a view to establishing services down the Rhein from the U.K.

HISTORICAL PADDLE STEAMERS


The last major Rhein paddler to be scrapped was PS Cecilie (left) in 1983. Two vessels continue to operate, one still for the KD line, whilst the last built paddler of all, Mainz, is retained as a floating museum at Mannheim..	Still in traditional design, Rheinland passes the Lorelei rock in the early 1950s. Renamed Rudesheim she was later "modernised" and now sails in the Netherlands having been withdrawn in 1981 and sold out of the KD fleet in 1993

List of PRDG, DGNM and "Dutch" paddlers built from 1880 onwards. Eduard Bundgen (see bibliography below), lists "Siegfried" as vessel 64 in the chronological list of Rhine steamers, indicating the scale of the fleets and the constant introduction of new tonnage.

Vessel name - Date built - original operators - length in metres - withdrawal date (Rhein service) - Historical notes.

Juliana	1928	Dutch	79.00	1944	Sunk in 1944 as blockade ship at Ijmuiden
Vaterland	1926	PRDG	79.03	1972	Scrapped 1978
Bismarck	1914	DGNM	78.00	1974	Scrapped 1978
Kaiser Wilhelm II	1912	DGNM	82.00	1959
Bluecher	1912	PRDG	84.30	1944	Sunk by bombing at Koln -14/10/44 - Scrapped 1946
Cecilie	1910	PRDG	77.80	1974	Sunk 1945. Rebuilt 1950. In reserve from 1967. Scrapped 1983
Loreley	1908	DGNM	73.00	1945	Rebuilt and renamed "Ostmark" in 1931
Prins-Hendrik	1907	Dutch	81.72	1955
Stadt Dusseldorf	1907	MDAG	60.25	1944	To KD in 1925. Sunk 22/4/44
Ernst Ludwig	1906	DGNM	75.50	1963	Scrapped 1964
Albertus Magnus	1906	MDAG	57.00	1936	To KD as "Markgraf" in 1925. Sold 1936. Scrap 1960
Schiller	1905	PRDG	72.30	1944	Lost to bombing 18/12/44. Scrapped 1946
Elberfeld	1905	DGNM	73.00	1967
Barbarossa	1903	PRDG	76.00	1970	In reserve from 1963
Rheingold	1902	DGNM	73.00	1966	Scrapped 1967
Parcival	1902	DGNM	73.00	1945	Sold to Dutch (1930), bought back (1935) as "Stahleck"
Neptun	1901	PRDG	71.00	1943	Sold 1929 to Dutch as "De Nederlander"
Gutenberg	1900	DGNM	73.00	1929	Sold to Dutch. Survived until 1945
Borussia	1899	PRDG	85.85	1921	Sold for use as tug. Scrapped 1934
Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria	1899	DGNM	85.85	1921	Sold. Bombed and sunk in 1945
Rotterdam	1898	Dutch		1954
Kaiserin Friedrich	1897	PRDG	68.50	1944	Bombed and sunk at Ludwigshafen on 13/9/44
Deutschland	1896	DGNM	72.5	1946	To Dutch in 1929 as "De Rijn"
Stadt Koln	1896	MDAG	52.00	1925	KD 1925, Lauenburg/Elbe (1925-57), Holland (1957-63) Burnt out
Hollandia	1894	Dutch	72.62	1955
Elsa	1894	PRDG	71.60	1932	Sold for use as Restaurant. Burnt out in 1945
Undine	1894	PRDG	67.75	1929	Sold to Dutch, renamed"Stolzenfels" (1929). Sunk 15/3/45
Stolzenfels	1892	PRDG	77.50	1929	Sold to Dutch, renamed "Amicitia" (1929). Sunk 31/5/42.
Arnold Walpod	1892	DGNM	71.60	1929	Sold to Dutch. Out of service from 1933
Willem III	1891	Dutch	72.50	1954
Wilhelmina	1890	Dutch	73.00	1954	Renamed "Willem" in 1950
Overstolz	1890	PRDG	68.00	1941	Bombed and sunk 1/3/41
Lohengrin	1890	PRDG	68.00	1938
Frauenlob	1890	DGNM	68.60	1956	Scrapped 1960
Emma	1889	Dutch	73.00	1936
Drachenfels	1888	DGNM	68.60	1960	Scrapped 1963
Rhein	1888	PRDG	67.00	1924	Sold to Hamburg intersts as "Hamburg II". Scrap 1948
Hansa	1886	PRDG	67.00	1924	Sold 1924 for in use as restaurant -now derelict
Niederwald	1886	DGNM	67.00	1930	Sold for use as a house - boat
Hohenstaufen	1884	PRDG	61.25	1920	Sold but not used again - scrapped 1936
Bismarck	1883	DGNM	67.00	1951	Renamed Freiherr vom Stein (1914), Westmark (1931)
Moltke	1882	PRDG	70.50	1928	Resold for further use. Lost through bombing in 1945
Willem I	1881	Dutch	71.00	1936	Survived as Restaurant ship
Chriemhilde	1880	Dutch	71.00	1945	Scuttled 1945 and later scrapped
Siegfried	1880	Dutch	71.00	1936	House boat and restaurant. Bombed & sunk in 1944

PADDLERS STILL IN EXISTENCE


PS Mainz, spent her latter years in service sporting the KD's "nostalgia" livery, but it was not until she was sold out of the fleet for use as a museum that she reverted to a more traditional appearance	When Goethe returned to operational service for KD in 1996, she was extensively modernised, but with traditional-style internal fittings and outward appearance

Vessel	Entered Service	Withdrawn	Notes
PS Mainz	1929	1980	Museum ship at Mannheim
PS Rudesheim (ex-Rheinland)	1926	1981	Now PS Majesteit in service in the Netherlands
PS Goethe	1913	Still operating	Normally running between Koblenz and Rudesheim
PS Hansa	1886	1924	Laid up at Koln-Mulheim after use as restaurant

The three large ships still surviving, of which two are operational, were all sunk and subsequently rebuilt at some stage of their career. Goethe and Rheinland were sunk in the later stages of World War II in 1945, the latter not being raised until 1950. Both emerged in essence as new ships in the early 1950s. Mainz survived the war intact but in June 1956, she sank in a collision off Koblenz.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Die Personenschiffahrt auf dem Rhein : Vom Schaufelraddampfer zum Kabinenschiff
Eduard Bundgen
1987
ISBN : 3-88255-501-7
EK-Verlag, Postfach 5560, 7800 Freiburg, Germany
The definitive 444 page history, highly illustrated with old black and white photos and vitually every available fact about the vessels.

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Geschichte der Raddampfer am Rhein