type s.a. industry transport founded 1890 91 headquarters z rich switzerland area served lake z rich website http www.zsg.ch the z richsee schifffahrtsgesellschaft or lake z rich navigation company commonly abbreviated to zsg is a public swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on lake z rich . the company operates services connecting lake side towns between z rich and rapperswil as well as more tourist oriented cruises and boat services on the limmat through the centre of the city of z rich . it is a member of the z rich public transport network zvv and transports over 1 5 million passengers every year . 1 the zsg is a joint stock company with a share capital of 11 million swiss francs chf . the share capital one third is in private hands is divided into 110 000 bearer shares each with a nominal value of chf 100 . 2 contents 1 history 2 fleet 2.1 current fleet as of 2011 2.2 former fleet 3 operations 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the first touristic steamship gate 1835 1883 at bausch nzli in z rich steam navigation started on lake z rich in 1834 when franz carl caspar and johann jakob l mmlin founded a new company caspar und l mmlin unternehmer der dampfschiffahrt auf dem z rcher und walensee and ordered their first ship from william fairbairn of manchester england . the minerva entered service the following year . 3 when the cuty fortifications were abolished the then called bausch nzli bastion remained intact and served from 1835 to 1883 as the landing site for the first steamboats on the lake later provided by the z richsee schifffahrtsgesellschaft . 4 over the years various other companies started operating steam ships on the lake and various mergers took place until the entire fleet was taken over by the swiss northeastern railway nob in 1874 . the nob also owned most of the railway network around the lake and this monopoly led to consumer resistance and to the formation of the z rcher dampfbootgesellschaft z rich steamship company in 1890 91 . in order to operate a tram like suburban traffic a series of nine screw steamships was ordered . 3 paddle steamships stadt rapperswil to the left and stadt z rich in rapperswil harbour estimated to be in may 1914 when the nob became part of the swiss federal railways in 1903 the z rcher dampfbootgesellschaft took over its fleet of ships on lake z rich . this included the large paddle steamer helvetia . in 1909 and 1914 it ordered two further large paddle steamers which were to become today s stadt z rich and stadt rapperswil respectively . in 1934 the z rcher dampfbootgesellschaft introduced its first successful motor ship the etzel and from then on the fleet became increasingly motorized . 3 for the swiss national exhibition of 1939 four sister motor ships the taucherli schwan m ve and ente were placed into service . these vessels provided a connecting service between the two exhibition sites at wollishofen and z richhorn . the second world war brought economic difficulties but the cross lake services were maintained . as a consequence of the transition from steam power to motor vessels the company changed its name to z richsee schifffahrtgesellschaft or zsg for short in 1957 . 3 in 1990 the zsg became part of the z rcher verkehrsverbund zvv the public transport network established in the same year accepting the zvvs common tickets and tariffs . 1 in 2009 there was a centennial exhibition on board stadt z rich at z rich b rkliplatz . on june 12 2009 exactly 100 years after the maiden voyage of the steamship stadt z rich its anniversary trip with invited guests and its sistership stadt rapperswil was celebrated . 5 and in 2014 for its then 100 years aged sistership . fleet edit current fleet as of 2011 edit a fleet of 17 passenger ships including two historical paddle steamers stadt z rich built in 1909 and stadt rapperwil 1914 and 15 motor vessels of various sizes is operated by the z richsee schifffahrtsgesellschaft . zsg s flagship ms helvetia has a capacity of 1200 passengers . the fleet includes three small limmat boats for round trips on the limmat and on the lower lake z rich at z rich . 6 name type built in passengers builder engine named after image stadt z rich paddle steamer 1909 750 escher wyss & cie. 368 kw escher wyss the city of zurich stadt rapperswil paddle steamer 1914 750 escher wyss & cie. 368 kw escher wyss the city of rapperswil helvetia motor ship 1964 1200 bodan werft gmbh 635 kw man helvetia the national personification of switzerland linth motor ship 1952 1000 bodan werft gmbh 730 kw 2 365 man the linth a river that feeds lake z rich limmat motor ship 1958 850 bodan werft gmbh 485 kw man the limmat the outfall river of lake z rich w denswil motor ship 1968 700 bodan werft gmbh 442 kw man w denswil a town on lake z rich panta rhei motor ship 2007 700 swag 884 kw 2 442 man everything flows in ancient greek s ntis 7 motor ship 1957 300 bodan werft gmbh zsg 440 kw man s ntis a swiss mountain albis motor ship 1997 300 bodan werft gmbh 500 kw 2 250 man albis a range of hills near z rich pfannenstiel motor ship 1998 300 bodan werft gmbh 500 kw 2 250 man pfannenstiel a mountain overlooking lake z rich uetliberg motor ship 1999 300 bodan werft gmbh 500 kw 2 250 man uetliberg a mountain overlooking z rich bachtel motor ship 1962 250 bodan werft gmbh 250 kw man the bachtel tower overlooking lake z rich zimmerberg motor ship 2001 150 bodan werft gmbh 294 kw 2 147 man zimmerberg a mountain overlooking lake z rich forch motor ship 2001 150 bodan werft gmbh 294 kw 2 147 man forch a village near z rich turicum limmat boat 1992 51 bodan werft gmbh 116 kw 2 58 mwm an early name for z rich felix limmat boat 1993 51 bodan werft gmbh 116 kw 2 58 mwm felix one of z rich s patron saints regula limmat boat 1993 51 bodan werft gmbh 116 kw 2 58 mwm regula another of z rich s patron saints former fleet edit the paddle steamer helvetia built in 1875 and last operated in 1958 was scrapped in 1964 . the so called landi boote built for the swiss national exposition landi of 1939 ms etzel halbinsel au m ve and speer were decommissioned at the end of the 1990s and replaced by three motor ships 300 passengers each of the albis type albis pfannenstiel and uetliberg in addition to two smaller 150 passengers each motor ships zimmerberg and forch . name type built in passengers builder engine decommissioned named after image helvetia paddle steamer 1875 3 1200 3 escher wyss & cie. 480 ps escher wyss 1958 scrapped and scuttled in 1964 3 helvetia the national personification of switzerland etzel motor ship 1934 3 150 8 escher wyss & cie. 8 2001 now used by the etzel society 8 etzel a mountain overlooking lake z rich halbinsel au ex schwan motor ship 1939 9 200 9 escher wyss & cie. 9 moved to amsterdam renamed euro 9 the au peninsula in lake z rich m ve motor ship 1939 9 200 9 escher wyss & cie. 9 moved to brussels renamed gueuse 9 speer ex taucherli motor ship 1939 9 200 9 escher wyss & cie. 9 moved to the ijsselmeer renamed elvira 9 speer a mountain overlooking lake z rich ufenau motor ship 1977 10 bodan werft gmbh 10 2001 now used as davidoff by hensa ag at rapperswil 11 ufenau an island in lake z rich gl rnisch motor ship 1955 3 escher wyss & cie. since 2007 serving as restaurant ship in w denswil gl rnisch a swiss mountain 3 st fa motor ship escher wyss & cie. serving as restaurant ship for the community center z rich wollishofen st fa a town on the banks of lake z rich operations edit z rich b rkliplatz landing gate the zsg operates regular round trips from its main z rich landing point at b rklipatz . in summer trips taking 4 hours operate every hour and stop on both shores of the lower lake at z richhorn wollishofen kilchberg bendlikon k snacht heslibach k snacht zollikon meilen herrliberg r schlikon thalwil erlenbach oberrieden horgen au peninsula w denswil richterswil st fa m nnedorf ufenau island and rapperswil . a few trips continue through the hurden ship canal to the upper lake or obersee calling at altendorf lachen and schmerikon and take 7 hours . there also are shorter round trips from z rich b rkliplatz with 2.5 hour trips as far as richterswil or st fa and 1.5 hour trips to erlenbach and thalwil . the company also operates services on the limmat through the centre of z rich . these services operate upriver from the landesmuseum via limmatquai and storchen to lake z rich stopping at b rkliplatz enge and z richhorn 12 before returning downriver to the landesmuseum . because of the low bridges over the limmat in central zurich these services use low profile motor boats . a view of the stadt z rich on the ship lift at the wollishofen ship yard . the zsg employs approximatively 80 permanent members of staff and in the main summer season april december five additional nautical seasonal workers as well as seven staff in the ticket office at z rich b rkliplatz . in its own ship yard at z rich wollishofen work qualified carpenters painters mechanics electricians plumbers and locksmiths . 13 see also edit companies portal z richsee f hre horgen meilen the main car ferry operator on lake z rich references edit a b zsg geschichte archived july 7 2011 at the wayback machine . zsg gesch ftsberichte archived july 7 2011 at the wayback machine . a b c d e f g h i j geschichte der z richsee schifffahrtsgesellschaft history of lake z rich shipping company in german . zsg . retrieved 2011 09 26 . bausch nzli in german . gesundheits und umweltdepartement stadt z rich . retrieved 2015 01 05 . der lteste konkurrent der panta rhei the oldest competitor to the panta rhei . tages anzeiger april 15 2009 in german . retrieved 2011 09 26 . die flotte the fleet in german . zsg . retrieved 2011 09 26 . modified in 2006 2007 a b c technische daten in german . ms etzel . retrieved 2012 03 24 . a b c d e f g h i j k l in amsterdam den anker geworfen in german . ms etzel . retrieved 2012 03 24 . a b davidoff schiff das schiff in zahlen davidoff ship the ship in figures in german . schifffahrtsbetriebe hensa ag . retrieved 2011 09 27 . davidoff schiff davidoff ship in german . schifffahrtsbetriebe hensa ag . retrieved 2011 09 26 . limmat river cruises . zsg . retrieved 2015 09 18 . die crew the crew in german . zsg . retrieved 2011 09 26 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to z richsee schifffahrt . z richsee schifffahrtsgesellschaft web site english language subset z richsee schifffahrtsgesellschaft web site full german language version v t e lake zurich z richsee switzerland canton of z rich horgen meilen z rich canton of st. gallen see gaster canton of schwyz h fe march settlements altendorf au b ch bollingen erlenbach feldbach feldmeilen freienbach herrliberg horgen hurden jona kehlhof kempraten kilchberg k snacht lachen m nnedorf meilen nuolen oberrieden pf ffikon rapperswil richterswil r schlikon schmerikon st fa thalwil uerikon uetikon