Hilgers shipyard
The Hilgers shipyard in Rheinbrohl was part of the Stahlbau Hilgers company founded in 1867 . The shipyard was founded in 1939 and existed until 1985.
history
As early as 1873 Hilgers was making lightweight pioneer pontoons for the Prussian military administration. These were also exported to Holland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Turkey. In 1899 a floating bathing establishment was built for the city of Düsseldorf and in 1907 a floating boathouse for the Cologne rowing club. The pontoons developed by Hilgers got bigger and bigger over the years, most recently they were around 17 meters long and could transport 20 tons. This was the first step towards future shipbuilding.
From 1939 ship repairs were carried out there and the first inland vessels were built. During the war years Hilgers manufactured sections for the submarine class XXI and converted Rhine barges into ferries and landing craft. Despite difficulties caused by the war, the company had been working to capacity with 1,274 employees from 1941 until March 1945, after days of bombardment, production came to a standstill.
Work with salvage and repairs of ships could already be resumed in the summer of 1945. In 1947 the shipyard was enlarged to 20 runways and the first new buildings were delivered from 1950. In 1955 nine cargo ships and tugs were built. The construction program consisted of push boats , push barges , inland freighters, inland tankers, pontoons and collapsible barges . Gas tankers , lightships and passenger ships , coasters and floating systems such as drilling and explosive vessels for deepening the Rhine or floating pumping stations for use in the German canal network were part of it. Well-known ships were the inland vessel Reuterweg , which could be coupled with three barges, the tanker Aluminia , the first tanker made of aluminum and the passenger ship Stolzenfels .
In 1963 Hilgers built the first pusher joint for the shipping company Lehnkering AG for traffic on the West German canals. It consisted of the 19 meter long push boat Frankfurt and two barges 61 and 67 meters in length. The shorter boat was pushed and the longer one pulled. The rear lighter could be steered with a hydraulic tow joint.
Two tugs were built for the construction of the Aswan Dam and port push boats for Chile . Hilgers built a total of almost 270 ships. Becker oars were manufactured under license for barges.
On November 7, 1985 the Rheinbrohler ferry Brule was the last ship to be launched. The slipway was then dismantled and shipbuilding stopped.
literature
- Broele trans Rhenum, Rheinbrohl through the ages by Hansfried Schäfer. Declaration by the municipality of Rheinbrohl in 1972
- 100 years Hilgers Rheinbrohl + Neuwied, book on the 100th anniversary of Hilgers AG in 1967
Web link
swell
- German inland tanker shipping 1887 - 1994 by Ingo Heidbrink, Convent Verlag ISBN 3-934613-09-8
- Detailed construction list of the shipyard, Rhine kilometer 621