Important information about the steamboats used to be published in newspaper ads
Companies in Cologne and Düsseldorf competed fiercely for passengers and freight business
Drawing on a postcard from
, August 17, 1921
Information about KölnDüsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt GmbH is available, for example, on the company’s website at www.k-d.com. Anyone who follows KD on social media can stay right in the thick of the action on board. The printed timetable is helpful for planning your own trip. “RheinZeit,” the lifestyle magazine of KD, offers interesting background stories. This free magazine is available to guests on KD ships and at KD agencies. In addition, special publications and advertisements appear at irregular intervals in various daily and weekly newspapers throughout the entire operating area of KD.
Newspapers as Important Media
This diversity of modes of transportation did not exist in the early years of steamship navigation on the Rhine, Main, and Moselle. The two predecessor companies of Köln-Düsseldorfer—the Prussian-Rhenish Steamship Company, founded in Cologne in 1826, and the Steamship Company for the Lower and Middle Rhine, founded in Düsseldorf in 1836—were nevertheless keen to publicize their services quickly and as comprehensively as possible. To this end, they regularly placed advertisements in the newspapers with the highest circulation or greatest significance at the time. In Cologne, this was primarily the “Kölnische Zeitung,” founded on July 19, 1798. It was published by M. DuMont Schauberg until April 8, 1945. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was among the leading national German daily newspapers. After World War II, the “Kölnische Zeitung”—like all newspapers that had been published during the Nazi era—was banned. In 1949, the publishing house launched the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (KStA) as its successor. Since 1962, the KStA has carried the subtitle “Kölnische Zeitung” on its front page.
“Interior spaces are heated”
A look at the August 25, 1827, issue of the *Kölnische Zeitung* shows just how well the Prussian-Rhenish Steamship Company was already established in its very first year following its founding on June 11, 1826. The “Announce” section states, among other things: “During the months of September and October, the Prussian-Rhenish steamships sail four times a week from Cologne to Mainz and back.” – “Fares for passengers, carriages, and horses have remained unchanged.” – “In cold weather, the interior compartments are heated.” We also learn that boat trips back then were for early risers. Depending on the destination, departure times were at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. You can browse through old newspapers via the “zeit. punktNRW” newspaper portal, among other sources. Funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the project digitizes local newspapers from North Rhine-Westphalia dating from 1802 to 1945. This allows for digital research into important historical, social, and economic contexts—including the period before the people of Cologne began and continued their own chapter in steamship travel.
A Dutchman with an “office” in Cologne
On July 15, 1825, the Rotterdam Steamship Company announced in the “Kölnische Zeitung” via an “Announce” that it “has the honor of announcing that its travel office in Cologne at the Rhine Bridge is open daily from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. to provide all information regarding the boarding of passengers and the shipment of goods.” Furthermore, “the company will be happy to arrange for entire cargoes to be hauled downstream. In this way, such a shipment can be transported to Lobith in a single day.” Wait a minute, Lobith? That rings a bell. Exactly: The KD event ships MS RheinFantasie, MS RheinMagie (formerly RheinEnergie), and MS RheinGalaxie were designed and built at a shipyard in the town of Lobith in the Dutch province of Gelderland.
" (
), dated May 19, 1849, from
Protest in red
, June 1, 1848
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as Authors
The “Rheinische Zeitung für Politik, Handel und Gewerbe,” founded on January 1, 1842, did not have quite as large a circulation as the “Kölnische Zeitung” once did. It was published only until March 31, 1843, after the Prussian authorities banned it. Among its most prominent contributors were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In 1848 and 1849, Marx launched a new journalistic venture in Cologne with the publication of the “Neue Rheinische Zeitung.” Its subtitle was “Organ of Democracy.” Friedrich Engels also contributed articles once again. A plaque at Heumarkt 65 in Cologne commemorates the “Neue Rheinische Zeitung.” That was once the location of the newspaper’s editorial office; at the time, the street was called “Unter Hutmacher 17.” It was a small alley leading to the meat market at Heumarkt. The entire row of houses was demolished in the early 1900s.
Politics, Trade, and Commerce
, November 6, 1842
” steamboat on the Rhine. Based on an original drawing from *
* by
C. Kolb, 1867
" of the " KD," ca. 1965
. Drawing by
B. Vautier, ca. 1875