First Danube Steamship Company
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 26.5 ″ N , 16 ° 24 ′ 28.8 ″ E
| First Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft mbH
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | March 13, 1829 |
| Seat |
Vienna , Austria
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| Branch | shipping |
| Website | www.DDSG-Cargo.at |
The Erste Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft (often also Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft , DDSG for short ) is an Austrian shipping company for shipping the Danube and its tributaries. In the 1990s the company was split up and privatized. Your successor companies are DDSG Blue Danube in the passenger area and DDSG Cargo in the freight transport area. The latter was resold in 2007 and renamed Erste Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft again . The head office is located at Wiener Handelskai 265.
The Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän is a frequently cited example of long compounds in the German language.
history
Foundation of the First Danube Steamship Company
For the purpose of shipping on the Danube and its tributaries, the First Danube Steamship Company was founded on March 13, 1829 in Vienna .
The steamer Franz I was already operating in 1830 . between Vienna and Budapest. With the Maria Anna the traffic up the Danube to Linz was started in 1837 . This ship was in service until 1898.
In the founding years , the DDSG was also active in ocean shipping . As early as 1834, the Maria Dorothea, Austria's first sea steamer, was built in Trieste. The engines for this ship came from England. With this and the six following sea steamers, the DDSG was mainly active in the Black Sea and the Levant as far as Alexandria and thus competed with the Austrian Lloyd . As early as 1837, Lloyd proposed a mutual limitation of the operating areas on the Bosporus , which the DDSG did not want to accept at that time.
However, in 1845 the company was reorganized, in the course of which - also due to political pressure - the DDSG had to sell all of its sea steamers to the Austrian Lloyd. With that all sea lines were given up.
The heyday and world wars
In the decades that followed, the DDSG developed into the largest inland shipping company in the world by 1880 after overcoming enormous nautical problems. In 1889, 1,615,850 people were carried by passenger ships (compared to 1,612,520 in 1888) and 155,400 people were carried by ferry and local ships.
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At that time, the DDSG fleet comprised over 200 steamers and around 1,000 barges. The DDSG also had its own shipyards and a coal mine near Pécs (Fünfkirchen) and several branches on the Danube. The DDSG operated its own railway line to develop the Hungarian coal reserves. This route is one of the oldest electrically operated railways in Eastern Central Europe for freight transport . An original DDSG locomotive has been preserved in the Budapest Railway History Park .
At that time, mail with its own postage stamps was also carried on the DDSG ships.
Caesar Delle Grazie (1817–1873), the father of Marie Eugenie Delle Grazie , was a senior inspector in Banat for a time , but switched to the Viennese industrialist Karl von Klein in Drenkowa / Banat due to a visual impairment . There he became director of the coal mine.
The First and Second World Wars caused heavy losses for the DDSG. The shipyards owned by the company , the coal mine and large parts of the fleet were lost.
Post War and Nationalization
During the occupation after 1945, the DDSG was under Soviet control. As part of the nationalization laws, the DDSG was transferred to the property of the Republic of Austria, which the Soviet Union did not want to recognize until the State Treaty of 1955. As a result of this unclear owner situation, the first new DDSG buildings were put into service after the war under the shipping company name Österreichische Bundesschiffahrt (ÖBS) and the DDSG was only standardized again after the State Treaty.
For the 150th anniversary of the company, the foundation stone was laid in 1979 for a new shipping center on Handelskai, which was also available in 1982. In the place of the former DDSG headquarters there is now the audit office , the address of which at Dampfschiffstraße 2 still reminds of the former function of the property.
privatization
From the middle of the 20th century, measures were taken to modernize the fleet. The company switched from the hitherto common train to the more cost-effective pusher shipping . The passenger steamships were also gradually replaced by modern motor ships. However, it was not possible to manage the DDSG again on a profit-oriented basis.
In 1991, the company was divided into the areas of cargo shipping ( DDSG-Cargo GmbH ) and passenger shipping ( DDSG -Donaureisen GmbH, today's successor shipping company DDSG Blue Danube ) for the purpose of privatization .
DDSG-Cargo GmbH was sold to Stinnes AG in 1993, which in turn sold the company to Gerhard Meier AG in 1997. This succeeded in keeping the balance sheet figures in shipping positive. In 2007 it was sold to the Serbian-Cypriot consortium East Point Holding Limited and renamed the Erste Donau-Dampfschiffahrt-Gesellschaft again . The company location in Vienna was retained.
No suitable buyer could be found for the DDSG Danube trips, which meant that the ships in this area were given to various companies. The majority of the passenger ships were taken over by DDSG Blue Danube Schiffahrt GmbH, which has successfully continued this business area to date (see below).
Example: 1983
In 1983 the fleet consisted of the following ships:
- Schönbrunn
- Theodor Körner
- City vienna
- City of Passau
- Vindobona
- Maria
- Wachau
- Austria
Extract from the 1983 timetable:
- Every day except Monday a ship from Vienna via all stations to Linz and in the opposite direction (mostly operated by the ships Schönbrunn , Stadt Wien , Stadt Passau and Theodor Körner )
- Every day except Monday a ship from Linz to Passau and back (mostly operated by the ships Schönbrunn , Stadt Wien , Stadt Passau and Theodor Körner )
- Every day except Wednesday a ship from Passau to Linz and back (mostly operated by Austria )
- Every day except Tuesday a ship from Melk to Krems and back (twice a day) (mostly operated through the Wachau )
- Daily round trips on the Danube and the Danube Canal with departure from Schwedenplatz in Vienna (mostly operated by the Danube bus Maria and the ship Vindobona )
- Danube trips with Theodor Körner from Vienna to Budapest and the Black Sea
- Evening events at the Vindobona in Vienna (wine tavern evening, disco evening, ...)
- Offers with partner companies: 3-country tour from Vienna with Tancsics , hydrofoil trips from Vienna to Bratislava and Budapest
DDSG passenger ships
DDSG passenger shipping was operated by steamships until the middle of the 20th century. The paddle steamers were gradually replaced by modern motor ships.
After the end of the DDSG Danube trips, the newly founded, private DDSG Blue Danube took over five ships and thus the majority of the fleet. The other ships were either sold before 1995 ( Juliane , Kriemhild , Maria , Mozart ), used elsewhere ( Schönbrunn as a casino ship in Budapest) or resold to other private companies in 1995 ( City of Vienna , City of Passau , Austria , ACC Donaupfeil ).
Here is a selection of the most famous DDSG passenger ships that have been sailing the Upper Danube in the company's recent history (20th century):
- Hebe , built in 1905, fleet list 296
- Schönbrunn , built in 1912, fleet list 305
- Johann Strauss , built in 1913, fleet list 309
- City of Vienna , built in 1939, fleet list 349
- City of Passau , built in 1940, fleet list 355
- Danube bus Juliane , built in 1957, fleet list 409
- Danube bus Kriemhild , built in 1957, fleet list 410
- Danube bus Maria , built in 1957, fleet list 411
- Theodor Körner , built in 1965, fleet list 423
- Delphin , year 1968, fleet list 439 (hydrofoil)
- Austria , year 1970, fleet list 440
- Wachau , built in 1975, fleet list 464
- Vindobona , built 1979, fleet list 470
- Admiral Tegetthoff , YOC 1987
- Prinz Eugen , born 1987
- Mozart , born 1987
- ACC Donaupfeil , manufactured in 1985
- Vienna , built in 1988
Schönbrunn
The paddle wheel ship Schönbrunn , built in 1912, was sold to the Austrian Society for Railway History (ÖGEG for short) and has been operating on special and charter trips from Linz ever since. She is the pride of the Austrian Danube Fleet, as she is the last paddle steamer. The fascination of this very fast ship lies in the countless details that were painstakingly built up after being completely destroyed by countless volunteers. After it was decommissioned, the ship was initially used for special trips by the DDSG regular service; later it was transferred to Budapest, where it served as a floating casino - here the beautiful Art Nouveau salons were completely destroyed; Back in Austria, it served as an exhibition ship at Donauwelt Engelhartszell for a year before it was sold to the ÖGEG for the symbolic price of 1 Schilling plus 20 Groschen VAT.
City of Vienna and City of Passau
The two sister cycle ships City of Vienna and City of Passau experienced two shared fates. Until 1995 they were jointly in the liner service between Vienna, Linz and Passau. Now the city of Vienna is moored as a restaurant ship on the Donaulände in Tulln and sails to the Wachau on weekends under the flag of the former Tulln mayor Wilhelm Stift ; the city of Passau was first sold to Passau , bobbed there on the Bavarian Danube in Heining without use until 2001 , was finally bought by K. Földi, a Hungarian, and transferred to Budapest with his own machine power ; After the new shipowner was murdered, the partly renovated ship was lying unused on Budapest's Elisabeth Bridge. In 2005/06 the tide turned and the city of Passau was resold within Hungary. The new shipowner had the ship completely renovated in the Slovak shipyard Komárno and has been using it for charter trips from Budapest since 2007. The new planned name of the ship was Széchenyi István , but is now Gróf Széchenyi .
Danube buses
The three Danube buses Maria , Juliane and Kriemhild , each with a capacity of around 110 people, were mainly used in the Wachau local boat service and on the Vienna tour courses.
- Maria was sold to the Donauschiffahrt Ardagger, which used it to run tours in the Strudengau. After around 15 years, the ship was sold to Fritz Leitner in Au / Naarn or Enns. He operates the ship in cooperation with Donauschiffahrt Ardagger in charter operation.
- Krimhild has been sold to the Austrian Bodensee shipping company. The ship was rebuilt, extended and has been providing the tour service from Bregenz as Montafon ever since .
- Juliane stayed on the Danube. She is used as a work boat in the Österreichische Schiffswerften AG in Linz.
Theodor Körner
In 1967 the passenger ship Theodor Körner was put into service as the most modern passenger ship of the DDSG. The combined day trip cabin ship was built primarily for the daily line traffic Vienna-Linz-Passau and the cruise traffic from Vienna down the Danube to Belgrade and the Black Sea. The gray bow in particular was a trademark of Theodor Körner . When the DDSG Danube Travel was shut down, the Theodor Körner in the Korneuburg shipyard was also shut down and bobbed around until 1998. Then the ship was bought by the travel agency “Favorit Reisen”, given a general overhaul in Korneuburg and cruised between Passau and the Black Sea under the Austrian flag. The distinctive gray bow has been replaced by white paint. The Theodor Körner goes now for the organizers of cycling holidays "Wheel & Travel" Wheel cruises from Passau to Vienna and Budapest.
Mozart
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The passenger ship Mozart was built for the DDSG in 1987 at the Deggendorfer Werft (Germany). It is the largest inland cruise ship in Europe and is very luxuriously equipped. The ship is a semi-catamaran with the dimensions L = 120.6 m and W = 22.85 m. It is driven by two motors of 1,185 kW each. It was used for river cruises to various destinations. But the million dollar colossus did not make the hoped-for profits - so there was no longer any construction of a sister ship that was to bear the name Schubert .
Only six years later, the Mozart was sold in 1993 to the German Peter Deilmann Reederei , which had successfully used the ship on the Danube cruises mainly between Passau and Budapest. After the insolvency of Deilmann Reederei, the company Transocean Kreuzfahrten (successor to the now insolvent Transocean Tours ) took over Mozart in December 2009 .
Austria
The passenger ship, built in 1970, was built for the Upper Danube Valley , the section of the Danube between Passau and Linz. Since it was no longer possible to operate the Wachau regular service with steam ships, Austria was withdrawn from the Upper Danube Valley and relocated to the Wachau. The ship did not particularly prove itself, as the passengers - due to the open deck at the stern - only had insufficient clear views.
In 1975, another ship of a similar type was commissioned from the Korneuburg shipyard: the Wachau . Here, however, a large open deck was set up, which allowed a "free view". The Austria was then used again from Passau for daily scheduled trips to Linz and back. When DDSG-Donaureisen was liquidated in 1995, the ship was first sold to a Dutchman before it was taken over by a Danube shipping company a little later.
ACC Danube Arrow
During the DDSG's fleet renewal program in the 1980s, in addition to the Prinz Eugen and the Admiral Tegetthoff , a fast ship for around 80 people was purchased. It was intended to counteract the Hungarian shipping company “Mahart Passnave” and be used as a counterpart to the Hungarian hydrofoils on the Vienna-Budapest-Vienna destination. Since the ACC Donaupfeil did not quite meet the requirements, various modifications had to be carried out, which impaired the fast driving operation (approx. 55 km / h) somewhat. The continuous use of this high-tech vehicle left its mark, so the ship often had to be serviced after arriving in Vienna. Even the captain often lent a hand and helped with repairs. After an accident in March 1990 in which the ship was badly affected, the Danube arrow had to be taken out of service due to frequent failures. He was sold to Croatia.
Meanwhile there is another innovation on the Danube: The two Twin City Liner , high-speed catamarans that connect the cities of Vienna and Bratislava via the Danube Canal and Danube up to five times a day.
Driving routes
The range of boat trips offered by the DDSG was primarily limited to long-haul routes Vienna-Linz-Passau and additional courses in the Danube region of Vienna, in the Wachau and between Linz and Passau.
The further development of the timetable of the 1st DDSG to today's DDSG Blue Danube is interesting. Many additional offers, innovative ideas and entertaining themed cruises are in the program today. In addition, unprofitable stations were deleted from the timetable. Almost all of the destinations up the Danube from Melk were passed on to other companies. The DDSG Blue Danube concentrates with its own (today six) ships on the core zones of Vienna and Wachau.
Since then, the long-haul Passau-Vienna operation has been operated by Donau Touristik and the German shipping company Wurm & Köck . The excursion boat trips in the Upper Danube Valley between Passau and Linz are also operated by Wurm & Köck.
DDSG Schifffahrtszentrum - Vienna, Handelskai 265
The shipping center on Wiener Handelskai near the Reichsbrücke was built as a replacement for the DDSG headquarters in downtown Vienna. They wanted to be prepared for the growing passenger shipping with spacious offices, their own print shop and restaurant. However, the costs of the multi-million dollar project increased many times over compared to the planned expenditure.
After the end of the DDSG Danube trips in 1995, the office building was used significantly less than before. In 2006, the DDSG Blue Danube , which had previously set up its company headquarters in Friedrichstrasse at the Austrian Tourist Office, decided to return to the traditional location at Handelskai. Since then, the former passenger hall has been available to DDSG Blue Danube as an office and sales area.
The building serves as a backdrop for the TV series SOKO Wien .
Pontons (landing stages) and lands
In addition to the passenger and cargo ships, the DDSG also had all the ship piers between Passau and Vienna, all of which were regularly serviced. After the liquidation of the DDSG, the moorings were also sold:
- Landings in the Vienna area (Handelskai, Nussdorf, Schwedenplatz): to Donauraum Wien GmbH.
- Landings in Lower Austria (extract: Hainburg, Tulln, Krems, Dürnstein, Spitz, Melk, Ybbs): to Donaustationen GmbH.
- Landing points in Upper Austria (excerpts: Grein, Linz, Aschach, Schlögen, Engelhartszell): on the Danube-Upper Austria
literature
- 175 years of the 1st Danube Steamship Society - From the Biedermeier to the third millennium 1829-2004 , series of publications by the Schiffahrts-Museum Regensburg eV working group
- Josef Kurt Darmstädter, The Danube and its White Fleet , 1988.
- Josef Kurt Darmstädter, The Danube Woman smiles and weeps , 2000.
- Josef Kurt Darmstädter, First Danube Steamship Company Manual for Danube Travel, 1960.
- Johannes Binder, Ernst-Ulrich Funk, Helmut Grössing, Manfred Sauer: Red-white-red on blue waves. 150 years of the DDSG . First Danube Steamship Company, Vienna 1979.
- Franz Dosch: 180 years of the Danube Steamship Company . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-86680-522-4 .
- Erwin Hauke: Donaudampfschifffahrt - postcards tell a story, Volume 1: From Regensburg to the Black Sea . bahnmedien.at, Vienna 2017, ISBN 978-3-9503921-9-7 .
- Erwin Hauke: Donaudampfschifffahrt - postcards tell a story, Volume 2: Ships and barges of the Danube shipping companies . bahnmedien.at, Vienna 2017, ISBN 978-3-903177-00-0 .
Web links
- Early documents and newspaper articles about the First Danube Steamship Company in the 20th Century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Steamship advertisement. In: Wiener Zeitung , No. 230/1834, October 6, 1834, p. 926 ( Appendix ), column 3. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ Premicon takes off with Transocean cruises ( memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 39 kB). Retrieved February 17, 2010.
- ↑ MG: The end. In: ACC Donaupfeil. Retrieved May 13, 2018 .
Remarks
- ^ After Archduchess Maria Dorothea (1797–1855). - Also: Maria Dorotea , especially in Italian-language periodicals . Hungarian: Mária Dorottya .
- ↑ Including the winter harbor in Alt-Ofen , which opened in 1835 and the shipyard, and the shipbuilding facilities in Linz (1846) and Korneuburg (1852). - In: Martin Schmid: City on the river: Vienna ports as socionatural scenes from the early modern era to after the Second World War . Vienna 2013, p. 15. From: Lukas Morscher (Hrsg.) Et al .: Places of the City in Change from the Middle Ages to the Present. Meeting places, traffic and care . Studienverlag, Innsbruck / Vienna 2013, ISBN 9783706553049 .
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