Neptune (ship, 1875)
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The Neptun , formerly the Schwalbe , was a Swiss screw steamer that sank in Lake Biel in 1880 .
history
In the first years of its existence, the ship was called the Schwalbe . It was built in 1875 at Sulzer in Winterthur for Gottlieb Zingg from Meggen . The ship was hull number 15. It was about ten meters long and two meters wide and had an empty displacement of three tons. It was powered by a machine that had about ten horsepower. Two people were required as a crew. Zingg used his Schwalbe , which began operating on August 16, 1875, for regular services on the Küsnachter arm of Lake Lucerne , but sold it to a company that had been founded in Biel and a ship for both scheduled and scheduled services in 1879 Excursion trips sought.
In Biel, the ship was renamed Neptun . The plan was to employ one person as a skipper only for the time of the season. Only the machinist Affolter was to have a permanent position with the company. Apparently, the ship was at least temporarily operated by passengers, including on July 25, 1880, when the ship crashed. A party of 16 people from Biel made an excursion to Auvernier on the Neptun that day ; The machinist Affolter was also on board. A stopover was made on Petersinsel towards evening. The local innkeeper warned of the impending thunderstorm and warned to leave, but it was probably too late. Only 600 meters from the harbor, the Neptun , controlled by the headmaster Zigerli, got caught in a thunderstorm in the evening between 8 p.m. and 8.30 p.m., hit full and sank within a very short time. 14 passengers and the machinist were killed. According to the Gazette du village of July 28, 1880, Zigerli had made the mistake of exposing the broadside of the ship to the gusts of wind because he absolutely wanted to reach Engelberg, and thus caused the accident.
The day after the accident, the newspaper Der Bund reported various details, including that most of the ship's occupants were in the cabin at the time of the accident and sank with the ship. “Only two gentlemen, who were on top of the little canopy and who were thrown from the ship into the lake, were able to cling to the sloop the ship was carrying and were rescued. Among the drowned were 5 men and women, all of whom lived in Biel and who enjoyed general respect and popularity. To lift the ship and the corpses, telegraphs were sent to divers and apparatus to Zurich and Geneva , "reported the newspaper, before listing the names of the victims:" Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Eberhard, banker; Mr. and Mrs. E (?) Zigerli, senior teacher; Mr. and Mrs. Hunziker-Seitz from the Montandon family; Mr. and Mrs. J. Schneider-Lanz, engraver; Mr. and Mrs. G. Gerber-Jossi, teachers; Mrs. Tschantre-Lanz, Negotiant; Mrs. Engel-German, iron negotiant; Miss Zigerli, teacher, Miss Jester, teacher; Machinist Affolter. Messrs Engel and Tschantre were able to save themselves. ”Residents of Tüscherz , who had observed the accident, would have saved the iron trader and the negotiator. According to the newspaper report, only Mr. Zigerli's corpse could be recovered promptly, which, as the limping messenger wanted to know in 1881, showed “signs of a violent agony”. Zigerli, father of six children, tried to get ashore for more than an hour, they heard his screams, but couldn't help him in the storm.
Elevation and whereabouts of the ship
The Neptune , which lay at a depth of 45 meters, was lifted a month after the accident. This was made possible by a pliers-like construction, an invention of the lawyer Charles Favre from La Neuveville , which was built by engineer Wolf from Nidau . The ship showed only minor damage. It cost 3842 francs to lift the ship and another 1,500 francs to repair it. Thereafter, the Neptune was sold to Strasbourg at a price of 3500 francs . There their trail is lost.
monument
The sculptor Karl Alfred Lanz created an obelisk in memory of the victims of the shipwreck. Part of this monument has been preserved and is now used as a well for the well connected in 1959 at Wildermethmatte in Biel. Originally the obelisk had its place in the old cemetery in the dance mats.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Neptun screw steamer , on www.bielersee.ch ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 2
- ↑ a b Collection of newspaper reports on www.memreg.ch
- ↑ More detailed information on names and life dates can be found at www.memreg.ch
- ^ Marine casualty , in: Der Bund , July 26, 1880, online at www.oocities.org
- ↑ Christoph Lörtscher, Die Neptun , on www.memreg.ch
- ↑ The last trace of the obelisk for the victims of the Neptune catastrophe , at www.memreg.ch
