The PS Helvetia was a paddle steamer that operated on Lake Zürich in Switzerland between 1875 and 1958. She had a capacity of 1200 passengers. [1]
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat 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 were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western, central, and southern Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva.
The Helvetia was built in 1875 for the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB), and acquired by the Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG) in 1903, when the NOB became part of the Swiss Federal Railways. Between 1909 and the 1950s, she operated alongside the later, and still extant, paddle steamers Stadt Zürich and Stadt Rapperswil as the backbone of the ZSG fleet. She last operated in 1958 and, after briefly serving as a restaurant ship, she was partially scrapped in 1964. The remains of her hull were scuttled at the harbour of Nuolen, where they remain. [1]
The Swiss Northeastern Railway was an early railway company in Switzerland. It also operated shipping on Lake Constance (Bodensee) and Lake Zürich. Until the merger of the Western Swiss Railways into the Jura–Simplon Railway (JS) in 1890/91, it was the largest Swiss railway company.
The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft or Lake Zürich Navigation Company is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich.
Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usually referred to by the initials of its German, French, and Italian names, either as SBB CFF FFS, or used separately. The Romansh version of its name, Viafiers federalas svizras, is not officially used.
The Helvetia was named after the national personification of Switzerland, and this name is now carried by the ZSG's motor vessel Helvetia.
Helvetia is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially Confœderatio Helvetica, the Swiss Confederation.
