Shipbuilding on Lake Constance

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The construction of Lake Constance ships found in yards instead. There, shipbuilders produce passenger ships for the White Fleet , car ferries and workboats , assemble sections produced by other shipyards or just do the final construction. Shipyards also perform maintenance, repairs and other services, as well as scrapping.

The launch of the first Bavarian steamship Ludwig in 1837 near Lindau.
The former Bodan shipyard in Kressbronn on Lake Constance

history

Shipyards of the cargo sailing ships on Lake Constance

The first written reference to a shipyard on Lake Constance is from Strabon , who reports in the Geographika about the construction of a Roman navy in 15 AD. In the Middle Ages there are references to shipping on Lake Constance and, since the late Middle Ages, there are also references to various types of ships, such as the Lädine and their subdivisions. Their dimensions have been handed down, but construction plans and construction techniques must be derived from the few surviving shipwrecks in Lake Constance and pictorial representations, because there are neither original ships nor records. The shipbuilders relied only on tradition and experience. That is why the cargo sailing ships, which apparently proved their worth on Lake Constance , did not change significantly over the centuries. In contrast, the fast and armed “hunting ships” are more innovative and shipbuilding is better documented.

Larger shipbuilding sites were mainly in Lindau , Bregenz , Hard , Bodman and on the island of Reichenau . Apart from the caulkers and ropers , the craftsmen involved corresponded to those in today's (wooden) boat building . Eight men needed about four months to build a shop, the construction costs were 2000-3000 guilders and the useful life was about ten years. The ship parts were then spare parts, timber or firewood. Since only the first steamers had a hull made of oak, the transition to the iron hull and the end of the cargo sailing ship era around 1900 also meant the end for most conventional shipbuilding companies.

Shipyards of the Lake Constance steamships

The largest steamship on Lake Constance, Dampftrajekt II (1874–1924) in the Romanshorn shipyard.

All cargo sailing ships were built directly on the shores of Lake Constance on a simple, open slipway . In contrast, of the steamships that were put into service between 1824 and 1929, only the first five on Lake Constance itself were built in the traditional way from wood. In all other steamships, the prefabricated components (sections) including the iron hull from an external machine factory were transported to Lake Constance by horse-drawn carriage or later by train and only assembled there under the direction of the manufacturer. Before the construction of the shipyard halls at a shipyard port , the assembly took place on temporary shipbuilding sites in Konstanz (Schiffmacherplatz in Petershausen), Friedrichshafen (near today's shipyard), Lindau (today's yacht school), Bregenz (Bregenz Ried), Rorschach , Uttwil , Stein am Rhein ( Paradieslli ), Langwiesen / ZH and Schaffhausen ( slot ). Putting a steamship on the pile was tedious and took 2–3 days with 200–250 soldiers, later still 12–14 hours with a steam engine.

In total, at least 20 shipyards built around 75 steamers for Lake Constance . 36 ships, almost half of all, were supplied by the Swiss machine works Escher, Wyss & Cie. built in Zurich , six each by the Sulzer brothers machine works in Winterthur and six by JA Maffei in Munich . Three each were built by ÖSWAG in Linz / Danube and machine factory G. Kuhn in Stuttgart .

Shipyards of the motor ships of the White Fleet

Assembly of the car ferry FS2010, the later '' Lodi '', on the slipway of the Bodan shipyard

.

After the First World War, with one exception, only motor ships were put into service, including 82 passenger ships (as of 2014) for the state shipping companies on Lake Constance and their private successors, as well as 13 car ferries for the Stadtwerke Konstanz . Now the origin of the ships had fundamentally changed: the Bodan shipyard in Kressbronn , founded in 1919, was an efficient and innovative shipyard that had built a total of 61 motor ships - two thirds of all new constructions at Lake Constance - by the time it was closed in 2011. The Deggendorfer Werft und Eisenbau built nine ships for Lake Constance, the Korneuburg shipyard six and the Österreichische Schiffswerften AG in Linz two. The Motorenwerke Mannheim (MWM) supplied the diesel engine for 29 ships from 1925 to 1983. Other manufacturers were MAN (6), Sulzer (6) and, since 1984, MTU Friedrichshafen (8). Almost all large German units are powered with VSP , the Swiss with controllable pitch propellers .

Shipyards of the "United Shipping Companies for Lake Constance and Rhine" (VSU)

Between 1847 and 1901, the state railways of the four neighboring states of the Grand Duchy of Baden , Kingdom of Württemberg , Kingdom of Bavaria and Austria-Hungary as well as the private Swiss Northeast Railway built railway lines to their main locations on Lake Constance: Constance, Friedrichshafen, Lindau, Bregenz and Romanshorn. The expansion of these Lake Constance ports for ferry traffic was the reason to build shipyards with workshops for the assembly, maintenance and repair of the steamers. With the establishment of the Bodan shipyard, the cessation of ferry traffic and the scrapping of steamers, the shipyards of the ship operations lost their importance. The VSU is an association of the four largest shipping companies on Lake Constance , whose predecessor organization was founded in 1860.

Constance shipyard

In 1846 a makeshift shipyard was built west of the port and converted into a permanent facility in 1855. The individual parts of the first saloon steamship Kaiser Wilhelm delivered from Zurich were assembled in the old Konstanz shipyard in 1871, on the slide at the later Zeppelin monument . In 1872 a spacious shipyard was built in the new port with a stack , crane, shipyard building, workshops and a pier for ship repairs. During the restructuring measures of the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the 1960s, the shipyard in Constance was closed; only a repair shop remained. Constance is the home port of the Friedrichshafen work ship .

Friedrichshafen shipyard

View inside the BSB shipyard in Friedrichshafen, which usually has no orders in the summer.

In 1851 a covered facility for the assembly of steam ships was built, which was expanded in 1877. It burned down completely in July 1889 with the steamship König Karl , but was rebuilt in 1890 and enlarged in 1931. In an air raid in 1944, the shipyard burned down on the slipway together with the Friedrichshafen steamship . It was temporarily repaired and rebuilt in 1949/52. Since 1967 it has been the central overhaul and repair workshop of the Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe . In the case of intensive land inspections, two ships are completely refurbished for around four months each winter, when ship operations are idle. This means that older ships, such as the listed Baden (built in 1935), remain safe for traffic. The work is carried out by employees of the shipyard, external companies and crew members, all of whom must be trained in the craft. New constructions, conversions and major repairs, on the other hand, were carried out by the Bodan shipyard until it was closed in 2011. When the largest ship of the BSB, the Friedrichshafen car ferry , is washed out for a land inspection, only five centimeters of “air” remain on each side. The 60 meter long BSB shipyard is too short for larger ships.

Lindau shipyard

In 1847/48 the shipyard was built by Lindauer Dampfboot AG for repairs and from 1855 it was also used for assembly. Nationalized since 1861, it was modernized in 1893 and expanded in 1926/27. At the end of 1960 the shipyard was closed by the Deutsche Bundesbahn.

Bregenz and Fußach shipyards

In 1886–1891, when the port was being rebuilt, a dry dock was built on the coal storage area of ​​the former “Wirtatobel” mine near Bregenz . Four Austrian ships were built there, most recently the Austria in 1939 . In 1940 the shipyards were closed and the dry dock filled. Instead, a large workshop building for ship maintenance was built in 1955. In 1978 a second workshop building was built. The Austrian ships have been overtaken on the transverse slipway of the uncovered shipyard in Fußach since 1961. Large ship units are also assembled there.

Romanshorn shipyard

The first shipyard was built in 1861–1864 and expanded in 1872. 1904–1906 followed by reconstruction, modernization and construction of a shipyard, later several extensions. The shipyard is now a listed building. Nevertheless, in 2014 the SBS decided to significantly expand the hangar: 18 meters longer and one meter higher. Then, even after the Bodan shipyard closes, large passenger ships and ferries from all shipping companies on Lake Constance can be built and maintained again. Since Switzerland is not a member of the EU , the shipyard should become a duty-free area .

Langwiesen shipyard / ZH

The URh shipyard Langwiesen on the Upper Rhine.

The shipyard of the Schweizerische Schifffahrtsgesellschaft Untersee und Rhein (URh) has been serving the assembly, maintenance and repair of URh ships for over 100 years. However, extensive work was transferred to the Bodan shipyard for decades. Since their closure in 2011, the six ships have also been completely overhauled. For this purpose, the dry dock hall, built in 1964, was equipped with an indoor crane for engine replacement in 2012.

Current shipyard work and revisions of the VSU shipyards

In 2013 all VSU shipyards carried out and documented extensive measures on the ships of the White Fleet.

Web links

literature

  • Michael Berg (editor): The former Bodan shipyard in Kressbronn on Lake Constance 1919–2011. On the history of an important inland shipyard , regional culture publisher, Ubstadt-Weiher [2019], ISBN 978-3-95505-135-8
  • Michael Berg: Motor shipping on Lake Constance under the Deutsche Reichsbahn and in the post-war period. Planning, construction and use of the White Fleet 1920 to 1952. Verlag regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher et al. 2011, ISBN 978-3-89735-614-6
  • Dietmar Bönke: paddle wheel and impeller. The shipping of the railway on Lake Constance . GeraMond Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-86245-714-4
  • Karl Heinz Burmeister: From cargo ship to pleasure ship. On the history of shipping on Lake Constance . Universitätsverlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1992, ISBN 3-87940-426-7
  • Johannes Leidenfrost: The cargo sailing ships of Lake Constance. A contribution to the history of shipping . Sigmaringen 1975
  • IBN magazine (Internationale Bodensee + Boot-Nachrichten, printing and publishing house Hermann Daniel, Balingen)

References and comments

  1. ↑ All three processes took place in 2010 during the construction of the Überlingen at three different locations: The manufacture of the sections at ÖSWAG in Linz , their assembly for the shell construction at the Fußacher shipyard and the final completion of the ship by the BSB shipyard in Friedrichshafen .
  2. ^ Ernst Howald, Ernst Meyer: Die Romanische Schweiz , p. 59, quoted from Burmeister, p. 12.
  3. ↑ Leidenfrost, pp. 12-16
  4. ↑ Dietrich Hackelberg on the construction of the prince-bishop's hunting ship in 1742/43 online
  5. ↑ Burmeister, pp. 53–60
  6. ↑ Most of the time, the shipyard also manufactured the steam engine and the steam boiler .
  7. ^ Karl Schweizer: When ships were still being built at Lindau's shipyard .
  8. ↑ Bönke, Ship Portraits, pp. 195–236
  9. ↑ For example, the pioneering role in the Voith Schneider drive and the design of ships in the 1930s and 1960s. See also Schiff & Hafen: Designer ships from Lake Constance / ShipPax Award for the Bodan shipyard.
  10. ↑ On the introduction of the Voith Schneider Propeller on Lake Constance, see in detail at Michael Berg, p. 36ff.
  11. ↑ Bönke, Ship Portraits, pp. 237–295
  12. ↑ Bodensee Schiffsbetriebe (Ed.): 100 Years of the Port of Constance . Constance 1979
  13. ^ Eva-Maria Bast and Karl F. Fritz: The shipyard grew with the ships . In: "Südkurier" from September 17, 2013
  14. ↑ Karin Bechinger: The beauty farm of the Bodensee ship operations . In: "Südkurier" from December 29, 2000
  15. ↑ Because the stern protrudes from the hall, the ship has to be turned; a shipyard conversion is planned. IBN 1.2014, p. 15
  16. ↑ In addition to a shipyard, there were two other types of shipyards in Friedrichshafen in the first decades of the 20th century: the Zeppelin airship yard and the aircraft yards of Theodor Kober and Claude Dornier .
  17. ^ Karl Schweizer: When ships were still being built at Lindau's shipyard .
  18. ↑ Over 100 years of Austrian shipping on Lake Constance 1884–1984. Local history lesson picture series. Publisher: Office of the Vorarlberg State Government School Media Center, Bregenz 1984/2003.
  19. ↑ SBS story
  20. ↑ VSU press kit 2014, accessed on July 20, 2014 ( Memento of the original from July 28, 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. Current information on the shipyards of BSB (p. 11), VLB (p. 13), SBS (p. 15), URh (p. 18). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vsu-online.info