Skibladner | Norway’s oldest paddle steamer still in service

Launched in 1856, PS Skibladner still sails in regular summer service on Norway’s largest lake, Mjøsa.

Skibladner on Mjøsa in the mid-1900s. | Normanns kunstforlag. Nasjonalbiblioteket nb.no. Public domain.

Mjøsa

It was on Mjøsa that Skibladner made her maiden voyage in 1856, serving as both a passenger and a freight vessel. Remarkably, she is still there.

Mjøsa was created by the glaciers of the ice ages. It is surrounded by rolling farmland and large forests, and lies just northeast of Norway’s capital, Oslo.