ABOVE Dressed for the occasion, Stadt Wien after
her arrival in Tulln late in 1995.ABOVE Builder’s plate marking Stadt Wien’s
completion in 1939 and still displayed on board.
(Russell Plummer)Stadt Wien lying at Linz after an overnight stay
before completing a DDSG downstream run to
Vienna in the 1980s. (Russell Plummer)28 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers
undergoing conversion in 1934, while new
paddler Talisman had a line-up of four British
Polar diesels from delivery in 1935 for London
and North Eastern Railway Clyde services.
DDSG took the plunge, ordering a pair of
diesel-electric vessels with cabin berths for the
Vienna-Passau service, Stadt Wien appearing
in 1939 and sister Stadt Passau a year later.
After the start of World War II, limited
operations took place during 1941 and 1942,
but there was nothing in the following two
years. A few local services resumed in 1950,
but the Passau route was not restored for a
further two years, when the diesel-electric pair
became route mainstays, with the dancing
valves on the top of their Sulzer diesels in full
view of passengers from alleyways on either
beam. The engines were remarkably quiet,
which was a good thing, as 16 of the ship’s
passenger cabins were located close by, eight
on either side in the sponsons, with eight more
on a lower deck aft.
The pair continued until DFDS went out of
existence in late 1995, when Stadt Wien was
bought by the Mayor of Tulln. There were
cruises on summer Saturdays from Tulln to
Aggstein and a return through the Wachau
Valley. Stadt Wien made a long trip to visit
Budapest in 2009, berthing alongside former
sister Stadt Passau, now Grof Szechenyi, but
the public excursion programme has since
been reduced to a few special sailings, together
with availability for charters.GISELA
OWNER Friends of Stadt Gmunden
OPERATOR Traunsee Schiffahrt Karl Eder
BUILT 1871 by Schiffswerft Florisdorf, Vienna.
DIMENSIONS 52m x 4.95m (hull), 9.35m (over paddles)
DISPLACEMENT 187.5 tons
PASSENGERS 300
MACHINERY Two-cylinder compound oscillating engine
by J. Rushton Prager Maschinenfabrik, Prague, 120hp;
reboilered 1939 and 1974, now oil-fired
SPEED 15kmhOne of Europe’s most attractive smaller
paddlers is still stirring the waters of Austria’s
Traunsee, and is now owned by the community
at Gmunden. She operates as part of the
commercial cruise fleet of long-established
local operator Traunseeschiffahrt Karl Eder.
For many years recognised as an Austrian
National Monument, Gisela was named after
the daughter of the Emperor of Austria, with
the 300-passenger veteran still powered by
the two-cylinder compound oscillating engine
which came from Prague-based manufacturers
in 1871. New coal-fired boilers were fitted in
1939 and 1975, with the vessel’s appearance
changed down the years by the removal of
both masts and a bow figurehead, while a
wheelhouse was installed aft of the funnel.
Problems arose in 1980 when the annual state
inspection condemned areas of hull plating,
and a unit of the Austrian army used a tracked
vehicle to haul Gisela out of the water at02 Paddlers_Austria_NL.indd 28 17/04/2018 12:00