Rhein History

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River Rhein, Germany

Paddle Steamer Mainz of 1929 was the last of its kind built for service on the Rhine and the last major paddler for use in continental Europe outside of the Soviet Union along with Stadt Uberlingen on Lake Constance, both built by the Christof Ruthof yard at Mainz-Kastel. Seen in 1987 in Mannheim and moored statically as a museum ship she was restored to approximate her original appearance although the glazing on the upper deck has been extended further aft than was the original design. Photo by Gordon Stewart

Today's dominating Rhein excursion ship operator KD Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt GmbH retains paddle ship Goethe in its fleet albeit now as a diesel-hydraulic vessel

The KD can trace its history back to 1853 when two earlier companies, the Preussisch-Rheinischen Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft (PRDG), the "Koln" company dating back to 1826 and the Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft fur den Nieder- und Mittelrhein (DGNM), the "Dusseldorf" company dating back to 1836, 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, based at Cologne-Mulheim and taken over in 1925),

The Dutch Steamboat Company, Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (NSM/NSR, from 1859), which traced its inception back to 1823, ran between Rotterdam and Mannheim in cooperation with the German companies until 1928 when the KD become the majority shareholder. Although the "Dutch" ships were nanaged and operated by the NSR they were effectively run on charter to the KD. After World War II, the Dutch company was reestablished as an independent entity, the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Reederij Akkermans (NSRA) but survived only until 1954 with the KD taking over its motor vessels and all remaining Dutch paddle steamers scrapped.

Absorbed Companies

The Mulheimer Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft was based at Mulheim, a suburb of Cologne on the east bank of the Rhine (not to be confused with the town of the same name on the River Ruhr). When it was taken over in 1925 (and called Koelner Reederei AG by that time) the remaining vessels of the company were quickly sold with the exception of Stadt Dusseldorf. Albertus Magnus, seen above in a post card view, lasted one year until being sold for use on the Elbe

Other local operators

Although the KD and its antecedents dominated services on the river with their enormous paddle steamers, more localised services were also available with smaller operators.

Click here for more

HISTORICAL PADDLE STEAMERS : KD and antecedents

List of PRDG, DGNM and Dutch-owner paddle steamers 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.
Click on the link on the vessel name below for more information/photos
* Ships taken over from the Koelner Reederei (noted here as MDAG) in 1925
** Ships sold to the Dutch operator

Note : Many of the photos in the vessel pages are shown with kind permission of Markus Graf (Chief Engineer at CGN Lausanne) who owns these photos, many of which were shown in the above mentioned book by Eduard Bundgen. Mr Graf's father contributed photos to the book and was given other photos by Mr Bundgen which are now in a collection owned by Mr Graf. These are scans from original photos

For ships built for the Dutch operator see here

Vessel Name (s)	Built in	For	Length (m)	Until	Notes

Mainz	1929	DGNM	83.62		- Survives as a static museum ship in Mannheim
Juliana Prinses der Nederlande / Juliana	1928	Dutch	79.00	1944	Sunk in 1944 as blockade ship at Ijmuiden
Vaterland	1926	PRDG	79.03	1972	Scrapped 1978
Rheinland / Rudesheim	1926	DGNM	79.10		- Remains in service as De Majesteit at Rotterdam NL
Hindenburg / Frieden	1916	PRDG	77.80	1968	Renamed Frieden in 1946 after reconstruction. Burnt out in Cologne Rheinauhafen in 1968
Bismarck	1914	DGNM	78.00	1974	Scrapped 1978
Goethe	1913	PRDG	77.80		- Remains in service with KD but now with diesel-hydraulic drive
Kaiser Wilhelm II	1912	DGNM	82.00	1959
Bluecher	1912	PRDG	84.30	1944	Sunk by bombing at Koln -14/10/44 - Scrapped 1946
Kronprinzessin Cecilie / Cecilie	1910	PRDG	77.80	1974	Sunk 1945. Rebuilt 1950 and renamed Cecilie. In reserve from 1967. Scrapped 1983
Loreley / Ostmark	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
Grossherzog Ernst Ludwig / Ernst Ludwig	1906	DGNM	75.50	1963	Scrapped 1964
Albertus Magnus *	1906	MDAG	57.00	1926	To KD in 1925, to Magdeburg in 1926 as Markgraf . Sold in 1936 to Hamburg as a tug. 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 / De Zeeuw / Stahleck	1902	DGNM**	73.00	1945	Sold to Dutch (1930) as De Zeeuw, bought back (1935) as Stahleck
Neptun / De Nederlander	1901	PRDG**	71.00	1943	Sold 1929 to Dutch as De Nederlander
Gutenberg / Rheinstein / Siegfried	1900	DGNM**	73.00	1945	Renamed Rheinstein in 1911. Sold to Dutch as Siegfried. 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 / De Rijn	1896	DGNM**	72.50	1946	To Dutch in 1929. Renamed De Rijn
Stadt Koln *	1896	MDAG	52.00	1925	KD 1925, Lauenburg/Elbe (1925-57). In Holland (1957-75) as motor ship Prinses Irene. Burnt out in Cologne (22 dead)
Hollandia	1894	Dutch	72.62	1955
Elsa	1894	PRDG	71.60	1932	Sold for use as Restaurant. Burnt out in 1945
Undine / Stolzenfels	1894	PRDG**	67.75	1945	Sold to Dutch, renamed Stolzenfels (1929). Sunk 15/3/45
Stolzenfels / Amicitia	1892	PRDG**	77.50	1942	Sold to Dutch, renamed Amicitia (1929). Sunk 31/5/42.
Arnold Walpod	1892	DGNM**	71.60	1933	Sold to Dutch. Out of service from 1933
Willem III Koning der Nederlande / Willem III	1891	Dutch	72.50	1954
Wilhelmina Koningin der Nederlande / Wilhelmina / Willem	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 Koningin der Nederlande / 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 - Derelict hull was still extant at Cologne in 2005
Niederwald	1886	DGNM	67.00	1930	Sold for use as a house - boat
Hohenstaufen	1884	PRDG	61.25	1920	Sold for use as a tug in Duisburg but not used again due to being underpowered and scrapped 1936
Bismarck / Freiherr von Stein / Westmark	1883	DGNM	67.00	1926	Renamed Freiherr vom Stein (1914), Sold to Magdeburg in 1926. Rebuilt by Reederei Luwen in 1937 as Westmark. Fire in 1951
Moltke	1882	PRDG	70.50	1928	Sold - Stadt Magdeburg (1928) then to Reederei Luwen Duisburg as Gluckauf in 1930. Lost to fire in 1945
Willem I Koning der Nederlande / Willem I	1881	Dutch	71.00	1936	Survived as restaurant ship at Ludwigshafen into the 1960s
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

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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Independent operators on the Rhein
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