Habsburg (ship, 1884)
 The Habsburg around 1900 before Constance
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The Habsburg was one of the first two steamers of the kk Bodensee Steamship Inspection.
Background: Reorganization of the Bregenz harbor
A resolution of the Austrian Imperial Council on the construction of the Arlberg Railway Innsbruck - Bludenz in 1880 created the first conditions for Austrian steam navigation on Lake Constance. The Lindau – Bludenz railway line, which had existed since 1872, was replaced by the k. k. Austrian state railways. To the state railway network, a steamship institution should be divided now, with first priority to a ferry traffic from Bregenz was thought. The k. k. Lake Constance Steamship Inspection was initially under the direction of Corvette Captain Emil Krumholz . On September 15, 1884, the beginning of the Austrian Bodenseeschifffahrt in the presence of the emperor was Franz Joseph I celebrated.
This was preceded by an expansion of the state shipping port in Bregenz. The two old pier heads were relocated or extended, space was created in the port for three large ships, and the Bregenz-Hafen stop of the state railways was created. This was not opened until 1890, however, and in 1891 an iron walkway over the railway line was added, which existed until 1955. The trajectory bridge was built on the south side of the harbor basin and a second harbor basin was connected to the north side, so that Bregenz now had the third largest harbor on Lake Constance. In 1903, the initially provisional wooden mast with signal lights was replaced by the lattice mast that still exists today, which serves as a lighthouse .
Construction of the Habsburg
The two structurally identical first Austrian Glattdecker Austria and Habsburg were built in a temporary shipyard in the Bregenz Ried. Today the Bregenz Festival and Congress Center is located on the site . Austria was launched on June 5, 1884, followed by the Habsburg five days later . The ships were christened by Karolina von Thurn und Taxis . An incident occurred during the christening of the Habsburgs : the grandstand for the guests of honor collapsed under their weight and several participants in the celebration fell into the lake.
Sinking of the city of Lindau
On October 8, 1887, a momentous incident occurred. Commanded by Captain Wilhelm Graf Mercandin , the Habsburg left the Lindau port at 8:05 p.m. to sail to Bregenz. The ship was ten minutes late and was supposed to reach a railway connection in Bregenz on time, which is why Mercandin, who had taken over the Habsburg just a few days earlier, had ordered to run at full steam. He did not let the pace slow down when he noticed the town of Lindau coming from Rorschach , which wanted to enter the Lindau harbor. His helmsman Stettinger initially refused to obey when Mercandin, known as the “collision captain”, ordered him to turn to port because he feared the shallows there. It was only after Mercandin repeated this instruction that he changed the course of the ship. In the meantime, however, the city of Lindau had also turned to pass the port entrance. Mercandin's command to stop and drive back at full speed was not heeded on his engine stand because he had forgotten to ring the bell beforehand. Even captain Christian Häberlin on the city of Lindau could no longer avoid the collision. The bow of the Habsburg bored into the foredeck of the city of Lindau in front of the left wheel arch and cut it open to over half the width of the ship. The city of Lindau sank in front of the harbor entrance; three passengers were killed, the rest and the crew were able to save themselves or were brought to safety by the steamer Ludwig, who rushed to the rescue . The town of Lindau lay on the lake bed at a depth of four meters for a few weeks and became a tourist attraction before it was lifted. However, the ship proved beyond repair and was scrapped. Only his compass, today on the Lindau , was preserved. The Habsburgs, on the other hand, survived the collision without major damage.
Another fate on Lake Constance
In 1896 a renovation took place. The central nave, which was previously covered but open to the front, was closed. In 1914 the Habsburg was decommissioned. During the First World War she served the Austro-German Lake Constance Flotilla , Bregenz Group, as a stationary barracks ship.
After the First World War, the ships of the Austrian steamship fleet had to be renamed in accordance with an ordinance of the State Office for Transport from December 18, 1919, insofar as their names were reminiscent of the Habsburg era. The Austrian imperial crowns, which until then had adorned the wheel arches, were removed and replaced with city coats of arms; the ships were given the names of places in Vorarlberg . The Habsburg became the Schruns . The ship was no longer used on Lake Constance. It passed into the possession of the Linz shipyard in 1921 and was transported there after it had been dismantled in the Bregenz dry dock.
Whereabouts
The former smooth deck steamer was converted into a saloon steamer. It drove under the name Continental for the Romanian Danube Shipping Company. Apparently the name was changed again later. The former Habsburg was still listed as Anghel Saligni in the Romanian fleet list in 1976 . After a fire in 1984, the ship was either abandoned or used as a restaurant ship in a tributary of the lower Danube .
literature
- Karl F. Fritz: Adventure steamboat trip on Lake Constance . 2nd Edition. Meersburg 1990, ISBN 3-927484-00-8 , p. 85 ff.
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ a b Bodenseeschifffahrt.at
- ^ Karl F. Fritz: Adventure steamboat trip on Lake Constance . 2nd Edition. Meersburg 1990, ISBN 3-927484-00-8 , p. 86
- ^ Karl F. Fritz: Adventure steamboat trip on Lake Constance . 2nd Edition. Meersburg 1990, ISBN 3-927484-00-8 , pp. 86-89.
- ↑ a b History of shipping in Switzerland ( Memento of the original from February 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Over 100 years of Austrian shipping on Lake Constance
- ↑ a b Vorarlberg School Media Center
- ↑ a b ship data
