Rheindampfer Goethe

Nostalgia or the fashionable longing for the past is not the only explanation for the popularity of the paddle steamer. The ride aboard this classic car gives direct contact with the technology through the hissing of the outgoing steamer, the clapping sound of the diving paddles or the glimpse of the huge, swinging connecting rods. As early as 1900 there was a large fleet of so-called salon steamer with luxurious interiors on the Rhine. In 1913, the Goethe was built at the shipyard Gebrüder Sachsenberg in Cologne Deutz and was intended for the combined transport of goods and passengers. The semi-finished goods vessel has since been equipped with a two-cylinder compound hot-steam engine with valve control, which has a power potential of 700hp and transmits its power to two paddle wheels with 8 iron vanes each. In 1925, the Goethe was expanded to a double deck saloon steamer. By a bomb hit she was sunk on 3 March 1945 at Oberwinter and rebuilt in 1951/52 on the Ruthof shipyard in Mainz-Kastel. On the basis of the old machine, a new ship was built, which was extended by 5 m, to 83 m and can now accommodate 1600 passengers. The speed downstream is 25 km / h, upstream 16 km / h. As the only steamer of the KD (Cologne-Dusseldorf German Rhine Shipping AG) the Goethe frequented for a long time regularly on the 198km long Rhine route between Cologne and Mainz.