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The Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt of Dresden, Germany is
the oldest and biggest paddle steamer fleet in the world. It consists of
nine wheel steamers, two salon ships and two motor ships. It was formerly
known as the White Fleet (Weisse Flotte in German). All the ships have names
of Saxon towns and cities or Saxon people like August the Strong. The ships
connect Meißen via Dresden to Saxon Switzerland along the river Elbe where
they pass some remarkable castles, vineyards and villa quarters.
Ref:
en.wikipedia.org/Sachsische_Dampfschiffahrt&redirect=no
Steam navigation for passenger transport on the River
Elbe can look back on a history of 175 years. It was on 8 July 1836, that
twelve Dresden citizens received a royal privilege for steam navigation
within the borders of Saxony. Shortly afterwards, the
“Elbdampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft” was founded. The company’s name has
changed several times over the course of many decades. In 1910, the fleet
moved to its present moorings on the Dresden Terrassenufer quayside below
the famous Brühlsche Terrasse, and in 1911 the company already owned 33
steamers. After 1945, sadly, their number were reduced to eight. During the
GDR years, the fleet operated under the name “Weisse Flotte Dresden”. German
unification, however, heralded a new period of uncertainty. In 1993 and
1994, the new owner of the fleet, Sächsische Dampfschiffahrts GmbH & Co.
Conti Elbschiffahrts KG, initiated the restoration of the eight remaining
paddle steamers, devoting careful attention to original historical details.
The Dresden fleet was thus preserved as the oldest and largest paddle
steamer fleet in the world. In December 1999, the Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt
repurchased the passenger steamer “Krippen”, which was subsequently
reconstructed at the Laubegast shipyard in the summer of 2000, prior to
joining the fleet once more as the ninth historical paddle steamer.
Ref:
saechsische-dampfschiffahrt.de/en/
I In the fleetlist below the vessel numbers refer to
those assigned in the Gűnter Niemz/Reiner
Wachs book Personenschiffahrt auf der Oberelbe (1981) and later
also used in Mit Dampf und Schaufelrad auf der Oberelbe by Frank Műller
and Wolfgang Quinger (1988).
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- Simplon Ship Postcards
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