PS ''Skibladner'' is the only

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

operating in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, it sails on lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe. It is the fourth-deepest lake in Norway. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the rive ...

. ''Skibladner'' is a sidewheel design, and her maiden voyage was on 2 August 1856, making her the world's oldest

still in timetabled service. Originally intended to provide passage from the

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

to the towns of

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lak ...

Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten Toten is a traditional district in Innlandet county in the eastern part of Norway. It consists of the municipalities Østre Toten and Vestre ...

, and

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munic ...

along Mjøsa, she still operates the same route, but now offers scenic tours and cultural events during the summer months. The ship sank while in winter storage twice: once in 1937 and again in 1967. After each sinking she was raised and underwent significant renovation. The ship is often referred to locally as ''Mjøsas Hvite Svane,'' which translates to ''The White Swan of Mjøsa.'' The ship's home port is Gjøvik, where it also overwinters in a specially constructed glass-covered structure. On 14 June 2005, the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( no, Riksantikvaren or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environm ...

made ''Skibladner'' subject to a preservation order. This was the first time in Norway that an operating vehicle was listed. The steamer is named after '' Skíðblaðnir'', the ship of

Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden an ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

References

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External links

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Skibladner fremstilles som «slaveskip» i amerikansk dokumentarserie
kibladner portrayed as «slave ship» in an American documentary(28 January 2021) 1856 ships Paddle steamers Passenger ships of Norway Ships built in Norrköping Water transport in Innlandet Gjøvik Steamships of Norway Ships of Norway Cultural heritage of Norway {{Norway-stub