History of passenger shipping on the Weser
From around 1843, i.e. with the construction of the Eduard steamship , regular steam shipping was set up on the Weser and economic goods and people were transported by inland waterway vessels . Several shipping companies attempted a liner service with varying degrees of success, with passenger shipping soon having to be abandoned because the railway lines that were being developed were superior to ships in terms of speed and comfort.
United Weser-Dampfschiffahrt-Aktiengesellschaft 1841–1857
In June 1841 a steamship committee was founded in Hamelin . The aim of this committee was to set up a steamboat service between Bremen and Hann. Münden . A short time later, Hann. Münden founded such a committee. In February 1842 both committees published a joint communique on the opening of a steamship between Hann. Münden and Bremen. As a result , steamship committees were founded in Minden , April 1842, and Bremen, May 1842. On November 29, 1842, the United Weser-Dampfschiffahrt-Aktiengesellschaft was founded in Hameln. 1000 shares with a nominal value of 100 thalers were issued as initial capital. The aim was to operate regular passenger shipping between Hann. Münden and Bremen. In addition to passenger transport, freight was also planned. The society was divided into four sections. Hann. Münden (Hann. Münden to Holzminden 82 km), Hameln (Holzminden to Rinteln 85 km), Minden (Rinteln to Nienburg 105 km) and Bremen (Nienburg to Bremen 103 km). The director of the company was Karl Wermuth . In a general meeting on July 20, 1844, a capital increase was decided to finance the purchase of another four ships. Another 1,000 shares with a nominal value of 100 thalers were issued.
The shares were distributed as follows:
| section | 1844 | 1846 |
|---|---|---|
| Hann. Münden | 190 | 285 |
| Hamelin | 262 | 447 |
| Minden | 124 | 190 |
| Bremen | 424 | 1,041 |
Already in 1842 the Gutehoffnungshütte in Ruhrort and Sterkrade was given an order to build a ship. However, the company turned down the order in July 1842 due to overwork. This was followed by contact with the iron wholesaler Wm. Bird & Co. in London . They agreed to have two ships built by Dichtburn & Mare in Blackwall . The steam engines were to be supplied by John Penn & Son in Greenwich . On December 16, 1842, the company submitted the draft contracts. In January 1843 she then declared that she could only deliver one ship. The ship, which was named Wittekind , was not delivered until March 1844. After the refusal to deliver the second ship, the order was placed on February 28, 1843 with the Gâche frères company in Paris . The ship with the name Hermann was delivered on September 19, 1843. The first voyage was on October 3, 1843 from Bremen to Nienburg. On October 4th they drove to Minden, on October 5th to Hameln. On the further way, the only 5.43 m wide lock in Hameln, built between 1732/34, had to be passed. For this, both the wheel arches and the paddle wheels had to be dismantled. After passing the lock, both were rebuilt and the trip went to Holzminden on October 7th. On October 8th the end point was in Hann. Münden reached. The pure travel time from Bremen to Hann. Münden was 36 hours and 49 minutes. On July 19, 1844, the third ship, the Germania , was delivered. It was again built by Gâche frères in Paris. The fourth ship was then built by Gutehoffnungshütte Sterkrade and Ruhrort. The ship with the name Blücher was delivered in August 1844. On November 21, 1844, a contract for the delivery of two ships was signed with Wm. Bird & Co. in London. The delivery dates were set for April and July 1845. The ships were not ready for delivery until January 1846. The company then demanded the contractual penalty specified in the contract . Since both the seller and the producer refused to pay these, the ships remained in England. In December 1845, the company received the extension to purchase the paddle steamer Herzog Wilhelm, which is based in Holzminden. At the shareholders' meeting on February 18, 1846, this offer was rejected. The ship was chartered in the 1846 season. On October 3, 1845, Gâche aîné in Nantes was commissioned to build a ship. This was delivered with the name Weser in February 1846. The Buckau engineering works received the order to build the sixth ship . The ship named v. Vincke was delivered on May 9, 1847. The first trip took place on June 11, 1847. After a few test drives, the acceptance was rejected and the ship was sent back. In Magdeburg was used under the name Buckau by the United-Hamburg-Magdeburger-Dampfschiffahrts-Compagnie.
Paddle steamer of the United Weser-Dampfschiffahrt-Aktiengesellschaft
| Ship name | Year of construction and place | Manufacturer | drive | Length / m | Width / m | Draft / m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wittekind | 1843/44 London | Dichtburn & Mare | twin oscillating machine 42 psn | 41.22 | 4.19 | 0.43 |
| Hermann | 1843 Paris | Gâche frères | Balancing steam engine 38 psn | 43.74 | 3.46 | 0.40 |
| Germania | 1843/44 Paris | Gâche frères | Balancing steam engine 38 psn | 43.74 | 3.46 | 0.40 |
| Blucher | 1843/44 Ruhrort | Good Hope Hut | double-armed side lever machine 40 Psn | 46.08 | 3.87 | 0.44 |
| Weser | 1845/46 Nantes | Gâche aîné | Balancing steam engine 42 psn | 41.95 | 3.47 | 0.39 |
In 1848 it was decided to convert the Wittekind. It was lengthened by 2.44 m. It was the first extension of an iron ship in Germany. In autumn 1848 the Hermann was extended by 2.44 m and in 1851/52 the Germania by 3.5 m.
The bad condition of the Weser as a waterway and the competition from the railroad prevented economic success. In the period from 1844 to 1856 the company had a surplus of 64,500 thalers. That certainly did not meet the expectations of the shareholders. At the general assembly held on October 10, 1857, it was decided to sell the five steamships and other properties belonging to the company to North German Lloyd, founded in 1856, for 30,700 thalers in shares. The Weserschiffahrt department of Norddeutscher Lloyd took over the ships and continued operations in 1858.
North German Lloyd 1858–1873
With the takeover of the ships of the United Weser-Dampfschiffahrt-Aktiengesellschaft, North German Lloyd now had five passenger steamers in addition to its five tug steamers Carlshafen , Fulda , Hameln , Münden and Werra . The background for the takeover of the company was the travel business with those who emigrated to America, from which Lloyd wanted to make a profit. But this calculation did not work out. Here, too, the railroad represented strong competition. At the same time, the number of emigrants fell dramatically from 1869 onwards, after a first sharp decline in the period between 1858 and 1864. In 1860 the Weser , renamed Aller in 1857, was sold. In 1865 the Blücher was scrapped. For reasons of profitability, the ship operation was then given up in 1873. Hermann , renamed Armin in 1869 , as well as Germania and Wittekind were sold to the Weser-Dampf-Schleppschiffahrtsgesellschaft in Minden. However, the company immediately sold the ships Germania and Armin to manufacturer Wilhelm Lampe in Hameln.
Oberweser Steamship Company 1874–1875
Wilhelm Lampe, owner of a steamship repair workshop in Hameln, founded the company in 1874 and in June 1874 started the regular service between Hameln and Hann. Open again. The dry summers of 1874 and 1875 forced him to give up the business.
New Oberweserdampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft 1875–1882
In 1875 the banker Herman Ludwig Bock and the hotel owner Jean Meyer founded the New Oberweser Steamship Company. They bought the two steamers from Wilhelm Lampe for operation. Furthermore, they gave the Saxon Steamship and Mechanical Engineering Agency the building contract for a new ship. The ship, named Fürst Bismarck , arrived in Hameln on March 29, 1877 and began operating. The steamers Arnim and Germania were then only used for special trips. Due to the steadily decreasing number of passengers, the two ships were sold to the Wolf company in Berlin in 1881 . In 1882 it was decided to dissolve the company.
Oberweser Steamship 1883–1964
The mill entrepreneur Friedrich-Wilhelm Meyer wanted to revive passenger shipping on the Oberweser. Therefore, on February 9, 1883, he bought Prince Bismarck for 12,000 gold marks . The ship was lengthened by 6 m in Bremen and began on May 19, 1883 with the line trips between Hameln and Hann. Münden. Outside the season, the ship was used as a transport ship. The Oberweser-Dampfschiffahrt (OWD) operated under the umbrella of the Wesermühlen. After the transfer of Wesermühlen into an AG on July 27, 1898, it became a subsidiary of Wesermühlen AG. Due to the increasing number of passengers, it was decided in 1899 to build another ship. Dresdener Maschinenbau und Schiffswerft AG received the order . On 18 May 1900, the ship with the hull number 386 was Dresden in the name of Emperor Wilhelm baptized. It then arrived in Hameln on May 23, 1900. Since the positive trend in passenger numbers continued, it was decided in 1906 to buy two more ships. They were the two sister ships Blasewitz and Loschwitz of the Saxon-Bohemian Steamship Company (SBDG). These ships, built in 1888, were overhauled and rebuilt on behalf of the OWD at the Laubegast shipyard . From May 5, 1906, the ships were used under the new names Kaiser Friedrich and Graf Moltke . On January 26, 1907, passenger shipping was spun off from Wesermühlen-Aktien-Gesellschaft and became independent under the name Oberweser-Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft FW Meyer Hameln (OWDG). On March 17, 1907, the company bought another ship from the SBDG. The ship, built in 1881 under the name of Meissen , was rebuilt in the Laubegaster shipyard and began its voyage to Hameln on May 5, 1907 under the name of Crown Prince Wilhelm , where it arrived on May 13, 1907. After the end of the 1909 season, the Kaiser Wilhelm went to Dresden and was extended by 10 m here at the shipyard in Übigau . In 1910, the company bought another ship from the SBDG. The ship, built under the name Libussa in 1870, was also rebuilt at the Laubegaster shipyard and went back on April 26, 1910 with the Kaiser Wilhelm under the name Braunschweig . The fleet was complete and ready for the next few years. The number of passengers had risen from 30,000 to 40,000 to 150,000 between the turn of the century and 1912. Another ship was needed to set up an excursion route from Hameln to the Ohrberg . To this end, the V6 torpedo boat, built in 1884 and bought in 1907, was converted into a passenger motor ship at the Kaminski shipyard in Hameln. The ship, which had previously been used as a pier in Bad Karlshafen, set sail in 1924 under the name Forelle . The steamer Fürst Bismarck was subsequently taken out of service and scrapped. The steam engine was given to Braunschweig , which was lengthened by 8 m at the Roland shipyard in Bremen in 1924 and started up again under the name of Fürst Bismarck II . The motor ship Lachs , built in the Roland shipyard in Bremen in 1924 , was bought by the OWDG in 1925. (In 1938 extended from 25 m to 39.67 m) In 1923 and 1925 the Graf Moltke in the Arminius shipyard in Bodenwerder was extended by 4 m each. This was followed by the renovation of Crown Prince Wilhelm in 1925/26 . It was extended by 5.80 m. The completion of the renovation work on the ships was the Kaiser Friedrich in 1928/29 . It was extended by 8 m and received new wheel arches. The motor ship Hecht was built in the company's own shipyard in 1935 . Then in 1938 the motor ships Stör and Stint . In 1941 the Kaiser Friedrich and Graf Moltke were confiscated by the Wehrmacht . They were used on the Vistula in the Puławy area as supply ships. Both ships did not return after the war. While the remaining three paddle steamers were buoyant but not operational in 1945, the motor ships Pike , Salmon and Sturgeon had sunk due to fire. The Troelle ship was badly damaged. Only the stint was operational . She was used as a ferry on the blown up Weser bridge in Hameln. On June 16, 1946, the Crown Prince Wilhelm was the first ship to resume regular service. Shortly afterwards, the Kaiser Wilhelm and the trout were operational again. In the summer of 1947 six ships were again in service. The Lachs was the last ship to be rebuilt in 1949 and put into service in 1950. In 1955, the motor ship Möwe , built in 1914, was bought by a Berlin ship owner . The paddle steamer Fürst Bismarck was launched in Hameln in 1958 due to the poor condition of the ship . A planned modernization and a conversion to diesel drive were not carried out for cost reasons. In 1962 the ship was scrapped and the steam engine exhibited in the Focke Museum in Bremen. It was later handed over to the Museum of German Inland Shipping in Duisburg . Declining passenger numbers brought the OWDG into financial difficulties, so that they had to file for bankruptcy in 1964. Personenschiffahrt Oberweser GmbH, founded in the same year, took over all OWDG ships in 1965.
Paddle steamer of the Oberweser Dampfschiffahrt
| Ship name | Year of construction & location | Manufacturer | drive | Length / m | Width / m | Draft / m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Bismarck | 1877 Dresden | Dresdener Maschinenbau und Schiffswerft AG | oscillating two-cylinder compound steam engine 125 psi | 40.30 | 3.50 | |
| Kaiser Willhelm | 1900 Dresden | Dresdener Maschinenbau und Schiffswerft AG | Inclined two-cylinder compound steam engine 168 psi | 57.44 | 4.44 | 0.93 |
| Emperor Friedrich | 1888 Dresden | Blasewitz shipyard | oscillating two-cylinder compound steam engine 80 psi | 45.06 | 3.90 | 0.48 |
| Count Moltke | 1888 Dresden | Blasewitz shipyard | oscillating two-cylinder compound steam engine 80 psi | 45.06 | 3.90 | 0.48 |
| Crown Prince Wilhelm | 1881 Dresden | Blasewitz shipyard | oscillating two-cylinder compound steam engine 110 psi | 55.94 | 4.75 | 0.51 |
| Prince Bismarck II | 1870 Dresden | Blasewitz shipyard | oscillating two-cylinder compound steam engine 125 psi | 48.50 | 4.32 | 0.45 |
Personenschiffahrt Oberweser GmbH 1965–2003
The shareholders of the new company were the federal states of Hesse , Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , as well as cities and communities on the Upper Weser. In 1966 the city of Münden was bought by the Hafen-Dampfschiffahrts AG Hamburg. The ship, built in 1925 in the F.Veldhuizen shipyard in Zaandam (Netherlands), was used there under the name Franz Lehar . In the same year, the motor ships Troelle and Möwe were retired. While the trout was being scrapped, the seagull was still used as a floating clubhouse in Holzminden. On June 3, 1967, the motor ship Weserbergland built in the Arminius shipyard in Bodenwerder was put into service. At the end of the 1967 season, the paddle steamer Kronprinz Wilhelm was retired and transferred to Bremerhaven in September 1968 . There fore and aft ship were scrapped. The central nave with boiler, engine and paddle wheels, however, was returned to the original state of the Meissen and incorporated into the museum holdings of the German Maritime Museum . From 1969, the company again carried the name of Oberweser Dampfschiffahrt. In the next two years two new buildings were put into service. On May 16, 1970 the Karlshafen and on May 15, 1971 the city of Hameln . Both ships were built by the Rasche shipyard in Uffeln . At the end of the 1970 season, however, the last paddle steamer, the Kaiser Wilhelm , was shut down and the Stint was sold to Kassel . This is still privately owned as a pleasure craft. The Kaiser Wilhelm bought Ernst Schmidt on behalf of the Association for the Promotion of Lauenburger Elbschiffahrtsmuseums . The handover took place in Hameln on October 15, 1970. After sailing over the Mittelland Canal and the Elbe , the ship arrived in Lauenburg on October 25, 1970 . The city of Münden was launched in 1974 and sold to the Dutch shipping company Keur in Zwolle in January 1977. In 1978 the salmon was then scrapped and scrapped. In 1978 and 1980 the Arminius shipyard built the Holzminden and the Höxter for the OWD . In 1980, Sleeping Beauty , built in 1979 in the Büsching & Rosemeyer shipyard in Vlotho , was also purchased. In 1981 and 1983 the last two old motor ships were taken out of service. While the pike was scrapped in February 1982, the sturgeon was laid on land in Holzminden in 1985. She should serve as a museum ship here. However, the plans were not implemented and the ship was scrapped in October 2016. In 1985 the Weserbergland was sold to Gebr. Helle Schiffahrt GmbH Emmerich. For this purpose, the Bodenwerder was acquired in 1987 by the Essen White Fleet . The ship built in 1974 by the Lux shipyard in Mondorf was used there under the name Werden . In 1992, the Warnecke shipping company, based in Hameln, was taken over with its four ships. These were the Freiherr von Münchhausen II , built in 1953, the coat of arms of Karlshafen , built in 1928, the coat of arms of Emmerthal , built in 1928 and the coat of arms of Lower Saxony , built in 1983. The city of Hameln was sold to Magdeburg to finance the takeover . Here it was used as a casino under the name Jackpot . Since 1998 it has been used as a restaurant in Ingelheim under the name Matula . The Freiherr von Münchhausen II was not put into service and in 1993 it was sold to the Neuman passenger shipping company in Eberswalde , where it is still in use today. The coat of arms of Karlshafen was renamed the City of Hameln II in 1993 . 1993 of which should Shipyard Oberwinter built Hesse used by the OWD. But this did not happen. Since they could not come to an agreement with the owner, the Stadtwerke von Karlshafen, the ship was operated by the Stadtwerke itself and is still in use today. In September 1998, some time in Hameln was launched crest of Emmerthal to John Heyen from Heyen shipping Wiesmoor sold and came there under the name crest of Wiesmoor used. In 2000 the Sleeping Beauty was sold. It is still in use today by the Oberelbe passenger shipping company in Pirna, the Saxon Switzerland . After another negative business result in 2002, the Supervisory Board decided to apply for OWD's bankruptcy. In February 2003 the company was liquidated.
Weser fleet since 2003
The MECO GmbH Nienburg acquired in the spring of four ships ( Bodenwerder , Holzminden , Hoexter , Karlshafen ) of OWD and took 2003 under the name Fleet Weser the marketing of these and two ships ( Nienburg and Verden ) of Verden pleasure cruises since 2003, the fleet Weser heard on. The coats of arms of Lower Saxony and the city of Hameln were sold to the Reiter company in Mettlach in 2003 . The city of Hameln now operates as Duke of Lauenburg with the Helle shipping company in Lauenburg and the coat of arms of Lower Saxony as Bastei II with the Oberelbe passenger shipping company in Pirna. In 2004 the Sleeping Beauty II ( ENI 05500830) was bought. The ship was built in 1969 at the Leendert Cornelius de Groot shipyard in Arkel, the Netherlands. Before that, it was in action from April 15, 2000 as Junker Griese for Maria Janssen in Barßel . The Dornröschen II was sold to Mündener Fahrgastschifffahrt GmbH in 2020 and is managed by Hann. Münden from used as MS Weserstein . In 2005, the Weserbergland , which was sailing under the name Oderland from the Weisse Flotte Oderland GmbH in Bad Freienwalde (Oder) , was bought back and used under the name Hameln . In 2009 the Bodenwerder was sold to Poland. The ship is now in service as Faryj III on the Masurian Lake District, near the city of Ruciane-Nida . The last ship to be acquired in 2011 was Bremen from the Seeland administrative association in Nachterstedt . The ship, built in 1972 by the Lux shipyard in Mondorf, was used there under the name Seelandperle on Lake Concordia . As of January 1, 2012, the Mindener Entwicklungs- und Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft (MEW) leased the paddle steamer coat of arms from Minden . At the beginning of 2015, the Minden coat of arms was jointly acquired by the shipping companies Flotte Weser and Hal Över from Bremen as new owners. On April 14, 2015, the ship was renamed Weserstolz . The ship has been stationed at the Schlachte in Bremen since then .
literature
- Fritz W. Franzmeyer and Robert Kauffeld: Brief history of passenger and freight shipping on the Upper and Middle Weser in words and pictures: A Mindener Perspective Books on Demand, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7322-6499-5 .
- Jan Kruse: The Oberweser Dampfschifffahrt Suttonverlag, Erfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-7322-6499-5 .
- Hans Szymanski: The steam shipping in Lower Saxony and in the adjacent areas from 1817 to 1867 European university publisher, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86741-678-8 .