Elbeseitenradschleppdampfer Württemberg

About the museum

The Württemberg was built in 1908/09 at the Gebrüder Sachsenberg shipyard in Roßlau on the Elbe for the Neue Deutsch-Böhmische Elbeschiffahrt AG in Dresden. As a side-paddle tug it towed cargo barges between Hamburg and Ústí nad Labem. Toward the end of the war in 1945 it was badly damaged by low-flying aircraft and partly burned out; by November 1946 it had been repaired again in Dresden-Laubegast.

After the Second World War it remained in service on GDR inland waterways and covered about 800,000 kilometers in total. As the last tug of its kind, from 1972 it sailed alone on the Elbe until, in April 1974, after 65 years of service, it was retired with a farewell voyage in the parade of the Weiße Flotte in Magdeburg.

The December 1974 flood helped bring the ship onto the Elbe meadows in front of the Stadthalle. There it was set ashore in 1975 and converted into a museum and restaurant ship by 1976; on April 21, 1976 it opened in the Kulturpark Rotehorn. Today Uwe Bunk operates the ship as a museum and restaurant. In the front section visitors can see the exhibition room and the boiler and engine rooms; the restaurant in the stern section seats about 100.

Highlights

• Last surviving Elbe side-paddle steam tug, built in 1909
• Exhibition on the history of Elbe steamship navigation
• Boiler and engine room open for viewing
• Restaurant in the stern section with about 100 seats
• Mooring place in the Kulturpark Rotehorn on the Elbe

Permanent exhibition

• Museum an Bord – Exhibition in the exhibition room and in the boiler and engine rooms on Elbe steamship navigation and the hard daily work on board.

Founded

1976

Operated by

Uwe Bunk

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

• Restaurant

Restaurant on board in the stern section, with about 100 seats; regional cuisine and international specialties.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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