Nostalgia or fashionable yearning for the past is not the only explanation for the popularity of the paddle steamer. Travelling aboard this old-timer gives direct contact with the technology; experienced through the hiss of the steam emitted by the engine and the slap of the paddles as they plunge into the water or the sight of the powerful, oscillating connecting rods. By about 1900 there was on the Rhine a large fleet of so-called saloon steamers with luxurious internal fittings. The "Goethe" was built in 1913 at the shipyard of the Sachsenberg brothers at Kln-Deutz and was designed for a combination of goods and passenger transport. Since then this half saloon half cargo ship was equipped with a two-cylinder compound superheated steam engine with valve timing gear, giving it a power potential of 700 hp and transferring that power to two paddle wheels with 8 iron paddles each. In 1925 the "Goethe" was extended into a double-decker saloon steamer. On 3.3.45 she was sunk by a bomb near Oberwinter and in 1951/52 she was rebuilt at the Ruthof shipyard in Mainz-Kastel. A new ship was built on the basis of the old one, but lengthened by 5 m to 83 m to give it a passenger capacity of 1600. Her speed is 25 kph upstream and 16 kph downstream. As the only steam ship owned by KD (Kln-Dsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG)) the "Goethe" regularly plies back and forth on the 198 km Rhine route between Cologne and Mainz.
Detailed decals for nostalgic decorations and lots of flags
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