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Berlin festivities usher in CroisiEurope's Elbe Princesse

Berlin festivities usher in CroisiEurope's Elbe Princesse
CroisiEurope and the Schmitter family inaugurated Elbe Princesse, the company's second paddle riverboat, during festivities at Tegel Berlin on Thursday.

About 100 guests attended the christening by Father Matthias Brühe from the Katholische Pfarrei Herz Jesu.

To symbolize the friendship between France and Germany, the company chose godparents from each country: Anke Rehlinger, minister of economic affairs in Saarland, Germany, and Jean-Claude Tribolet, representing Philippe Etienne, the French ambassador.

Officials of the travel company Goetten, CroisiEurope’s representative in Germany, were joined by tour operators and journalists at the event.

Several second and third generation Schmitters led a tour of the boat, and the celebration finished with a cocktail hour.

Elbe Princesse will cruise between Berlin and Prague on the Elbe and Vltava rivers. The vessel's size lets it moor in the heart of city centers, providing easy access to important sites in Berlin, Potsdam and the gardens at the Sanssouci Palace; Lutherstadt Wittenberg, birthplace of the Reformation; Meissen and its porcelain factories; Dresden, the 'Florence of the Elbe'; the natural and architectural wonders of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains; historic Litomerice and Prague.

The special design of Elbe Princesse enables it to navigate the shallow waters of the Elbe all season long. Built by Neopolia at Saint-Nazaire, the 313-foot vessel has two decks and two stern paddlewheels. Its 40 cabins can accommodate up to 79 passengers.