The Idea

It began in winter 2007, when there was only an idea and a couple of drawings. Discussions with the shipyard about practicability and a first blueprint followed. An impressive illustration (Willner-Design) attracted interest of banks, sponsors and customers. After only four months of construction time the finished raft arrived in Stuttgart in August 2008.

How did it come to Stuttgart's first party raft? A short interview with Wolfgang Thie, the "Neckar Käpt'n", and his wife Susanne.

"Mr. Thie, how did you get the idea to build a raft for the Neckar?"

Wolfgang Thie: "To be honest, we always wanted a passenger ship with a capacity of more than 100 passengers on one level. Furthermore we wanted to have a ship which is able to stop in the middle of the river, without the need of a shipping pier."

"Why precisely a raft?"

Wolfgang Thie: "I grew up in a seafaring family. My parents and grandparents still experienced those times, when shipmen used to tow, to punt, or to sail ships on the river. Later on tugboats towed ships up a hill. The tradition of river navigation goes back even longer, back to the times of timber rafting. With our raft we wanted to set a monument to the traditions and the importance of the Neckar as a waterway."

"Have there ever been rafts on the Neckar before?"

"Oh yes, of course. Rafting as a method of transporting wood has been used here for ages. In the Middle Ages up to the 19^th century the paths and streets in Germany were so damaged, that transport ashore for longer distances wasn?t possible. Due to high density of population, high consumption of wood for fuel purposes, and due to an increase of wood used in shipbuilding, enormous quantities of wood had to be transported down from the mountains. In the 19^th century industrialisation caused even more consumption of wood. By the end of the 19^th century the railway took over the wood transports step by step.

While in 1869 there were 18 rafts with softwood and 46 rafts with hardwood passing by the river at Muehlhausen, there were 6 rafts during the year 1899. Finally, the last raft on the river Neckar was transporting its goods in 1899."

"Surely you don?t want to transport wood nowadays, do you? What do you want to offer your guests on the raft?"

Susanne Thie: "Nowadays we want to use the raft only for cruises and to show, even if it's just partially possible, the cultural possessions and great history of timber rafting in those days. So take a chance to jump through history to experience the joy and excitement between past and present on a raft tour."