The ''Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees'' or Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to SGV) is a public

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

company operating passenger ships and boats on

Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne (, literally 'Lake of the four Waldstätte, forested settlements' (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), , ) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. Geography The lake has a compli ...

. The company is based in the

city of Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of ...

, and its origins can be traced back to 1836. Today it is the largest inland shipping company in Switzerland, and is notable for operating a number of historic

paddle 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 ...

s, in addition to more modern

motor vessel A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship Marine propulsion, propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often Ship prefix, prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were develo ...

s. The company provides public transport routes to 32 places along the shore of the lake, with interchange to both main line and mountain railways at various points. Whilst much usage of these services is tourist or leisure oriented, the company also continues to provide practical public transport links between the smaller lakeside communities. The company also owns its own shipyard, Shiptec Lucerne, which undertakes new build and rebuild work both for the SGV and for other shipping companies.

History

Lake Lucerne has formed an important part of Switzerland's transport system for many centuries, and at least since the opening of the first track across the

Gotthard Pass The Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass (; ) at is a mountain pass in the Alps traversing the Saint-Gotthard Massif and connecting northern Switzerland with southern Switzerland. The pass lies between Airolo in the Italian-speaking canton of Ti ...

in 1230. This trade grew with the opening of a new

mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

road across the pass in 1830. This road had its northern terminus at

Flüelen Flüelen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Flüelen is first mentioned in 1266 as ''Vluolon''. Flüelen formed an important transshipment point on Switzerland's transport system for many centuries, and at least sin ...

at the extreme eastern end of the lake, and the lake provided the only practical onward link to the cities of northern Switzerland. In 1835, Casimir Friedrich Knörr decided to take advantage of the growing trade on Lake Lucerne by forming a steamship company and building a

, the Stadt Luzern of 1837. His service began operating in 1837, although political pressure by the watermens guilds prevented it operating into the

canton of Uri The canton of Uri ( ; ; ; ) is one of the cantons of switzerland, 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss ...

, and hence to Flüelen, for the first year of its operation. Once this vessel showed the way, various other steamship companies were established. Eventually this led to price cutting, and several steamboat companies failed, or were merged into their rivals. In 1870, the two oldest and largest companies merged to form the ''Vereinigten Dampfschiffgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees'' (United Steamboat Company of Lake Lucerne). In 1885, this was renamed the ''Dampfschiffgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees'' (Steamship Company of Lake Lucerne; DGV), and in 1960 it became the SGV.

Fleet

A fleet of 21

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

s, including five historical

s and 16

s of various ages and sizes is operated by the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees. SGV's flagship is the paddle steamer ''Stadt Luzern''.

Routes

The SGV operates several routes, with many variants, on Lake Lucerne. The following places are served, listed here in clockwise order around the lake shore from Lucerne: Not all services serve all stops, nor are they necessarily served in the order presented above. The SGV operates both historic

s and more modern

s on its scheduled services. Whilst either kind of ship may operate an individual service, the company publishes in advance those services for which it is planning to use paddle steamers. The SGV services are well integrated with other public transport and tourist services. The landing stages at Lucerne and Flüelen provide 'cross-quay' interchange with the main line railways at Lucerne station and Flüelen station respectively. Similar links are available to the Pilatus rack railway at Alpnachstad station, the

Vitznau–Rigi railway line The Vitznau–Rigi railway line is a Swiss standard gauge rack railway that runs from on the shore of Lake Lucerne to Rigi. It was built in 1871 by the Rigibahn, and is now owned by Rigi Railways, along with the Arth–Rigi railway line, which r ...

at , the Treib–Seelisberg funicular at Treib and the

Bürgenstock funicular The Bürgenstock Funicular (; BB) is a funicular railway in the canton of Nidwalden, Switzerland. The line links the landing stage at Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock, served by the regular passenger boats of the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstätt ...

at Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock.

Gotthard Panorama Express

The interchange at Flüelen forms a key part of the

Gotthard Panorama Express The Gotthard Panorama Express is a tourist-oriented boat and panoramic train line which connects Lucerne to Lugano, crossing the Swiss Alps from North to South through the Gotthard crest tunnel. Until 2017, the train was known as the William Te ...

, a tourist oriented combined paddle steamer and rail service that connects

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

and

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. The SGV provides the link from Lucerne to Flüelen, connecting there with a

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

train to Lugano.

References

External links