Anniversaries
News: Zurich celebrates 100 years of its steamboat ‘Stadt Zurich’
The Zurich Navigation fleet owns 15 motorboats and 2 steamboats. The boats navigate each year mainly from April through October. On the 25 miles long lake of Zurich you can take regular boat trips and special cruises.
The ‘Stadt Zurich’ (City of Zurich) boat has a special birthday this year, as it was built in 1909 by the Zurich company Escher Wyss. In 1914, followed its sister boat ‘Stadt Rapperswil’.
Stadt Zurich steamboat in Wollishofen
For the last 100 years, the boat has undergone renovations and can be rented for up to 5 hours for a price of 12,985 CHF. It is 193 feet long and 92 feet wide. Six to seven crew members are always on board.
While the motorboats are used for shorter trips, the steamboat is mainly used for long trips such as to Rapperswil. The ‘Stadt Zurich’ is also used for the international wine exhibition ‘Expovina’ from Sept 29th – Nov 12th and for the annual 1st of August fireworks, where people are brought close to the shooting for better viewing.
In 2009 the ‘Stadt Zurich’ held many music and dining cruises. Guests were able to listen and dance on jazz and oldies music and eat Italian and fondue dishes for instance.
After its last trip on October 4th with more than 435,000 miles
(700,000 km) since its building, the steamboat will retire until next spring. It is kept in the Wollishofen port, where it normally stays at night.
