''Blümlisalp'' or ''Blüemlisalp'' is a

paddle-wheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

built in 1906, used in regular passenger service on

Lake Thun Lake Thun () is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton. The lake was created after the last gl ...

. She is named after the

Blüemlisalp The Blüemlisalp is a massif of the Bernese Alps, in the territory of the municipalities of Kandersteg and Reichenbach im Kandertal. Its main peaks are: *Blüemlisalphorn (3,660 m) *Wyssi Frau (3,648 m) *Morgenhorn (3,620 m) *Oeschinenhorn (3, ...

mountain massif in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

. The vessel is operated by

BLS AG BLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. Its ownership is divided, with 55.8% of it owned by the canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two ma ...

Construction and description

The saloon steamer was ordered in 1905 by the Oberländische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft at the company Escher, Wyss & Co. in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, one of the foremost builders of locomotives and industrial machinery at the time. Ordered at a price of 375,000

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s, ''Blümlisalp'' was destined to overpass all other ships on

and

Lake Brienz Lake Brienz () is a lake just north of the Alps, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It has a length of about , a width of and a maximum depth of . Its area is ; the surface is above the sea-level. It is fed, among others, by the upper reaches ...

in terms of size, power and elegance. Construction of the ship required some preparations, among them building a covered, long

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

and a long launching facility, which together cost 165,000 francs. The ship has a main deck length of , a width of , and a draught of when fully loaded and carrying seven tons of coal. The ship carries 800 passengers. Blümlisalp's engine, is an inclined compound marine steam engine..

History

On August 1, 1971 ''Blümlisalp'' was put out of service and was slated to be

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on i ...

. For about twenty years, the ship remained moored in the delta of the Kander River. A cooperative called "Vaporama" undertook a revision of the ship, and after more than two years of repairs and overhaul, the second maiden voyage took place on May 22, 1992. Ever since, ''Blümlisalp'' has been serving in scheduled passenger traffic between April and October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumlisalp (ship) Steamboats in Europe Lake Thun 1906 ships