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River Elbe at Lauenburg, Germany
PS Kaiser Wilhelm


Kaiser Wilhelm in August 2015. Photo by kind courtesy of Olivier Bachmann

Builders : Dresdner Schiffswerft, Dresden
Length ; 57.2 m
Engines : Compound Diagonal

Built at the shipyard of the Dresden based Elbe steamer concern for operation on the River Weser in 1900
Put into operation between Hameln and Hann Munden by the Oberweser Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft
Lengthened at its builders in 1910
Reboilered in 1954
Withdrawn in 1970 and sold for further use by the Elbe Shipping Museum at Lauenburg on the River Elbe.
Passed by canal from the Weser to the Elbe rivers through what was then German Democratic Republic territory
Took up special and charter sailings on selected weekends generally upstream on the Elbe along the GDR border
Low Pressure cylinder rod broke on June 23, 2001, putting the ship out of passenger service until September 1
Reboilered 2020, remaining coal fired and the aft section of the hull replaced in a major restoration programme, supported by EUR 1 million of state funds
An electrical system pre-heats the boiler

A remarkable early example of operational preservation, the Elbe Shipping Museum at Lauenburg, upstream on the Elbe from Hamburg, acquired the last passenger steamer from the River Weser operation based at Hameln and from 1971 put the then 71-year old steamer to work on cruises along the former East German border. She operates special and charter cruises on many weekends from Spring until Autumn

Internal views of Kaiser Wilhelm by Olivier Bachmann


For more photos of Kaiser Wilhelm in 2015 by Olivier Bachmann, click here
For engines, click here

Lauenburger Elbeschiffahrtsmuseums e.V.
Kaiser Wilhelm Official Website

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Lauenburg / Elbe - Historical