Hohentwiel (lake steamer)

[john sefton]

Hohentwiel was built in 1913 for the services from Friedrichshafen of the Koniglich Wurttembergische Dampfschiffahrt (Royal Wurrtemberg Steamship Co). Her builders were the Swiss Escher Wyss Company of Zurich which also constructed the paddle steamer Gallia for Lake Lucerne in the same year and the paddler steamers Stadt Rapperswill for Lake Zurich and Lotschberg for Lake Brienz the following year.

After the First World War Hohentwiel passed into the ownership of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German State Railway) and in 1934 she was modernised and given an additional saloon on the foredeck and a raised bridge.
Returning to service after the Second World War initially for the Sudwestdeutschen Eisenbahn (South West German Railway) and subsequently for the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railway), Hohentwiel continued to operate on the lake until 1962 when she was withdrawn to start a new static life as a sailing club headquarters at Bregenz.

This career came to an end in 1979 and after several years of discussion about her future, subsequent planning and fundraising, work started on her restoration in 1986. She returned to service in 1990 as an Austrian ship with Kapt Reinhard Kloser as captain and driving force behind the operation and she has since operated a programme of private charters and a selection of public sailings each season.The standard of restoration and the subsequent continued maintenance of the ship has been of the highest order.

Hohentwiel is a truly international paddle steamer making calls at piers and harbours around Lake Constance in Germany, Austria and Switzerland enabling her to tap into the lucrative charter market of wealthy parts of three different countries. Sailing aboard her is more like travelling on a luxury yacht than an excursion vessel and a cruise is highly recommended.

http://www.pskc.freeserve.co.uk/hohentwi.htm

Switzerland SG1265 Germany SG2522 Austria SG2347

[aukepalmhof]

Austria 2013 0.62Euro sg?, scott?

She was named after an extinct volcano in South Germany.
10 April 1913 maiden voyage on Lake Constance.

Tonnage when built 282 ton, dim. 56.85 x 6.50 over paddle wheels 13 meters.
Powered by a steam engine of 950 hp, speed 30.5 km/h.
Accommodation for 700 passengers.

After modernised in 1934.
Tonnage 314 ton, with a passenger accommodation for 850 passengers.

[Arturo]

Hohentwiel

Ausrtia, 2003.