Steam engine with paddle wheel drive on both sides
Machine performance
150 hp (110 kW)
Top speed
10.8 kn (20 km / h)
Transport capacities
Permitted number of passengers
210
The Wilhelm was the last steamship of the Württembergische Bodensee-Dampfschiffgesellschaft before it was nationalized and taken over by the state railways . In contrast to the previous ship, the wooden Wilhelm from 1824, the hull was made of iron, which earned the ship the nickname "Eisener Wilhelm". Like its predecessor, the Wilhelm was named after King Wilhelm I of Württemberg , who was a patron and important pioneer of Lake Constance steamship.
Although Württemberg largely surrendered its sovereignty after the founding of the German Empire in 1871, the railways of all three southern German states and thus also Wilhelm remained under their respective sovereignty. There were therefore no passenger steamers on Lake Constance that sailed under the flag of the Empire.
After 48 years on the Obersee , the Wilhelm was rented to the Swiss steam boat company Untersee and Rhein for traffic on the Untersee and Rhine from May 1, 1899 , but the ship continued to sail under the Württemberg flag. Her successor ship in the Württemberg Lake Constance fleet was the König Wilhelm in 1901 . Two years later the Wilhelm was replaced by the Mömpelgard on Untersee and Rhein and scrapped in 1902.
literature
Klaus von Rudolff, Claude Jeanmaire: Shipping on Lake Constance. Volume 1 . Edited by the interest group Bodensee-Schiffahrt, Verlag Eisenbahn, Villigen AG (previously unpublished)
Karl F. Fritz: Adventure steamship on Lake Constance , MultiMediaVerlag, Meersburg, 1989, ISBN 3-927484-00-8
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