At Bratislava the River Danube creates a natural barrier which has been overcome in various ways since ancient times. The medieval fords were later replaced by bridges and ferry crossings. In 1891 when the old pontoon bridge, dating from 1825, was replaced by the first steel bridge in Bratislava, the Franz Joseph I Bridge, an entrepreneur, Heinrich Hörnes, asked the city leaders for permission to operate a steam ferry crossing. In 1893, he opened a line between, what is today, Ľudovít Štúr Square and Janko Kráľ Park, operating two steamboats, FRIGYES and IZABELLA. As a result of a great degree of public interest they were later joined by a third, larger-capacity boat, the POZSONY. The name “Propeller Enterprise – Propeller Unternehmung – Csavargözös Vállalat” was coined to refer to the propeller-driven ships that provided transport from riverbank to riverbank. From 1931, the propeller ferries were operated by the municipal waterworks. Later, after their operation was further interrupted by the annexation of Petržalka by Nazi Germany during World War II, they were operated by the municipal transport company and then by Czechoslovak Danube Cruise (Československá plavba dunajská) from 1952. Although during this period the operation of the ferry was mainly provided by a side-wheel steamer, the DUNAJ (later DEVÍN), rather than a propeller steamer, the popular name the “Propeller
The postage stamp depicts the last passenger ferry, the KAMZÍK. Its construction began at the old shipyard in Bratislava’s Winter Harbour in 1975 and was completed in the new shipyard in Vlčie hrdlo in 1978. It had a welded steel construction with the two hulls connected by a main deck giving a capacity of 200 passenger. It was 24.5 meters long and about 9 meters wide and was driven by two ŠKODA type ML 634 diesel water-cooled engines that had been proven through use in Czechoslovak road and train cars. The vessel was centrally controlled from the wheelhouse located in the upper part of the superstructure. The operation of the ship, which ended in 2003, was a popular attraction especially during spring and summer weekends, taking many visitors to the amusement park on the Petržalka embankment. For many inhabitants of Bratislava, it was their first unforgettable experience of a “cruise” on the Danube.
Michal Jajcaj
