World of Ships – May 2018

52 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers

RIVER RHINE

While the Danube and several Russian rivers

are longer than the Rhine, none can boast

traffic as intensive as that over a navigable

length of 1,225km from the North Sea into

Switzerland. British steam vessels were seen

as early as 1812, when Prinz van Orange

(originally Orwell), with a tiny 6hp engine,

reached Cologne, and a year later James

Watt junior took Caledonia to Koblenz.

The Belgian vessel L’Espoir d’Anvers also

reached Cologne from Antwerp in 1822, but

it was the Dutch who really appreciated the

possibilities for trade, and approval was given

for Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij

(NSBM) to begin Rhine sailings with the 112ft-

long De Zeeuw in 1824.

The start of German steam navigation from

Cologne followed, with a chartered vessel named

Friedrich Wilhelm in honour of the King of

Prussia, who travelled on the first sailing.

Keen competition ensued between German and

Dutch companies until two German rivals joined

forces in 1859 to create the Koln-Dusseldorfer

Rhein Dampfschiffahrt (KDR). With railways

taking much of the express passenger traffic,

the later years of the 19th century saw river

emphasis switched to seasonal services, the

Middle Rhine sector becoming sufficiently

popular for KDR to order four large Dutch-

built, British-engined steamers.

Smaller vessels had been built with cargo

areas forward, but as passenger demand

increased they were rebuilt as day steamers

and given full saloons. At the start of World

War I the black-and-white-hooped funnel

KDR fleet numbered 39 vessels, with paddle

steamer Hindenburg added in 1916, her name

being changed to the symbolic Frieden (Peace)

after World War II. Vessels were lost between

1914 and 1918, and by 1920 numbers had

dropped to 26 steamers.

Unrest in the 1930s brought a new struggle

for KDR, and when World War II began the

company had 28 vessels, all but eight paddle

steamers. Efforts were made to maintain

services until, in March 1945, the paddlers

Vaterland and Stahlek, requisitioned as

hospital ships and laden with wounded, were

the last to pass beneath the Ludendorff Bridge

at Remagen, across which American tanks

were already rumbling.

Every KDR vessel suffered damage during the

war, with eight steamers among ten war losses.

Although the occupying powers permitted

limited services from 1946, it was another four

years before paddle steamer Mainz re-opened

the Cologne-Mainz service. Half a dozen

steamers survived into the 1970s, with Cecilie

(1913), Bismarck (1914) and Vaterland (1926)

all withdrawn in 1974 and subsequently

broken up, although Cecile, with the last bell-

mouth-topped funnel on the Rhine, lingered

out of use in Holland until 1984.

GOETHE

OWNER KD – Koln-Dusseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt

BUILT 1913 by Gebruder Sachsenberg, Cologne-Deutz

MACHINERY Two-cylinder compound diagonal engine of

750hp by builders with boilers converted to oil fuel 1955;

replaced by twin diesel-hydraulic machinery winter 2008-09

REBUILT 1925 and 1951-52 after World War II damage

DIMENSIONS 83m x 58.2m (hull), 15.7m (over paddles)

PASSENGERS 885.

Now the only operational paddle vessel on

the German stretch of the Rhine, Goethe

was designed to serve secondary routes as a

passenger and cargo ship, with an open deck

forward and only a narrow after saloon until

rebuilding in1925 to increase the enclosed

passenger accommodation, although this

was much to the detriment of draught and

speed. Damaged during World War II when

hit by bombs in separate 1942 air raids

over Cologne, she was sunk at Oberwinter

Harbour in March 1945 while she was in use

as an accommodation vessel for Russian war

prisoners, with 21 losing their lives.

The wreck was partially raised and made

watertight. Complete rebuilding followed at

the Ruthof shipyard, Mainz in 1951 and 1952,

with only the engines and the central part of

the hull retained. Sailings resumed in 1953

with a special light metal superstructure fitted

to improve draught and speed. Conversion to

oil fuel followed in 1955 and Goethe was one of

the surviving KD steamers to be turned out in

a controversial 1977 nostalgia livery with gaudy

scrolled decorations and painted paddle-box

vents to market the paddlers’ status.

By her 75th season in 1988, Goethe was the

only operational steamer, but the following

year brought mechanical problems, and

there was considerable uncertainty before

KDR sanctioned a major refit, which resulted

ABOVE Work took place to give Goethe a more

traditional appearance, including a taller funnel with

the steam whistle being sounded.

Goethe in the 1960s Koln-Dusseldorfer company livery.

ABOVE Goethe at Koblenz in the 1980s before

starting her daily trip to Rudesheim and back.

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