Lake Lucerne paddle steamer Captain Hans-Peter Mosiman made his last trip aboard his beloved Unterwalden on Sunday 11th October after forty five years with the company and has now gone into retirement.

Unterwalden A/S Luzern dressed overall for Captain Mosimann’s retirement 11th October 2020.|Markus Frohlich

He was the last of the group of captains to retire, including Alois Kaufmann, Kurt Streit, Jorg Andrist, Beat Kallenbach, Leo Schneble, Peter Husler, and Kuno Stein, who gained promotion to paddle steamer master on the lake in the period between 1984 and 1990 quite early in their careers and stayed for the next twenty five to thirty years.

All eight Lucerne paddle steamer captains 1993. L to R Kuno Stein, Leo Schneble, Peter Husler, Beat Kallenbaqh, Hans-Peter Mosiman, Jorg Andrist, Kurt Strteit, Alois Kaufmann.

Like all the Lucerne captains Hans-Peter Mosimann has always had a welcoming and friendly attitude to his passengers. Like them all he is a superb seaman. All who have watched them handling these quite large ships on and off tiny piers often close to rocky shores sometimes in difficult corners in all weather conditions including the notorious Fohn wind with minimal engine movements can only marvel at their ship handling skills. Indeed looking back I learnt so much from them about the less obvious subtleties of paddle steamer handling on and off piers which I put to good use on KC.

Hans-Peter Mosimann’s interest in paddle steamers and other shipping extended well beyond the lake. He had travelled extensively, including on Waverley, and he has also visited KC with Captain Kuno Stein back in the Medway years. I recall that one visit coincided with a performance of Mozart’s Requiem put on in Rochester Cathedral which nicely filled up the Saturday night between their two trips on KC.

A younger Hans-Peter Mosimann on the bridge of the large motorship Schwyz.|zVg

I am sure that all in PSPS will wish to join with me in thanking Captain Mosimann for all the happy times he has given us all on the steamers on Lake Lucerne and his great contribution to both renovating and operating paddle steamers over the last half a century. And we wish him and his family all the very best for a long and happy retirement.

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