42 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers
Laubegast Yard when a new narrow forward
saloon was created while the after saloon
was extended. New boilers were also fitted,
although they remained coal-fired until the
winter of 1992-93, when the steamer went
for overhaul at Gethin on the River Havel for
oil-firing to be introduced along with a bow
thruster. The journeys were accomplished
with Meissen under tow from the preserved
steam tug Sachsenwald.PILLNITZ
BUILT 1886 by Werft Blasewitz, Dresden
MACHINERY Two-cylinder simple oscillating engine of
230hp, from ONWDG-Werft. Dresden, compounded in
1912.
NEW BOILER 1983, oil-fired since 1993
DIMENSIONS Length 60.7m, width 5.6m (hull), 11.3m (over
paddles). Passengers 603.Built in Dresden to mark the 50th anniversary
of the SDG company with a licence for 790
passengers, Pillnitz started life as Konigin
Carola and was renamed Diessen in 1919.
The engine had been compounded in 1912,
all but doubling performance from 120hp
to 230hp. In 1920 plans for sale to an Elbefreight operator fell through. In 1927 the hull
was lengthened to accommodate a new after
saloon and upper deck with the name Pillnitz
introduced at the same time.
Used for evacuation duties from Hamburg
in 1943, she sustained damage back in
Dresden during air attacks February 1945.
The name was changed to Weltfrieden –
World Peace – amid great ceremony on May
Day 1952, with a big refit at Werft Laubegast
in 1967 including attention to the saloons
and a mechanical overhaul. The vessel was
selected for two-day excursions to Usti in
Czechoslovakia in 1978 and 1980, althoughboiler defects then brought withdrawal and
replacement by one of the diesel-electric
paddlers. Weltfrieden was out of service until
1983, coming back with a new boiler and
funnel. Fresh deck saloons with the after area
topped by a new steel deck were fitted before
a return to service, with the name Pillnitz
restored in 1993.KRIPPEN
BUILT 1886 by Werft Blasewitz, Dresden
MACHINERY Two-cylinder simple oscillating engine
of145hp, from ONWDG-Werft, Dresden
NEW BOILER oil-fired 1994; renovated 1928 and 1967
REBUILT 1994 at Schiffswerft Brand, Oldenburg, Germany
DIMENSIONS Length 54.6m. Width 4.9m (hull), 9.9m (over
paddles)
PASSENGERS 628Built as Tetschen for service from Dresden, the
vessel was renamed Krippen in 1946, spending
a couple of years in reserve before being sold
out of the fleet for static use by the community
of Kloschwitz on the River Saale near Halle.
Although Krippen was hauled ashore for work
in 1987, the hull deteriorated and the project
was abandoned. The steamer was returned to
Dresden in 1991, with preparations starting for a
move to Holland which also failed to take place.
A family from Meissen then became owners,
with the steamer taken to the Hitzler Yard in
Lauenburg, where the hull was cut into three
sections and transported by barge via the Elbe
and Weser to Oldenburg on the River Hunte,
where restoration included fitting of a new
boiler with oil firing. After returning to the
Elbe via the Mittelland Canal, Krippen saw
limited service from Meissen, doubling up as a
floating restaurant.
There were visits to Hamburg and Berlin
in both 1995 and 1996, but after a move to
Dusseldorf financial problems increased and
the vessel was impounded on the Rhine, with
bills unpaid. She was chartered by the Köln-
Düsseldorfer company for services on the
river Main from Frankfurt between 1997 and- She was then sold and returned to the
Dresden fleet, arriving after a 15-day journey,
to begin a refit in November 1999.
KURORT RATHEN
BUILT 1896 by Werft Blasewitz, Dresden
MACHINERY Two-cylinder compound oscillating engine of
145hp from ONWDG-Werft, Dresden
NEW BOILER 1971, oil-fired since 1992
DIMENSIONS Length 55.5m Width 5.4m (hull), 10.3m (over
paddles)
PASSENGERS 752Unusually by Dresden standards, this vessel
retained its original name Bastei for moreABOVE A well-loaded Meissen has the
largest passenger capacity of the older steamers
in the SDG fleetABOVE Pillnitz emerging from the ‘Blue Wonder’ bridge at Loschwitz in 2004.Meissen in the black-
funnel era near Radebeul
in 2014. (Phil Barnes)07 Paddlers_Germany_NL.indd 42 17/04/2018 12:09