Plate 46. The city of Düsseldorf

Color engraving of the city of Düsseldorf on the Rhine. The traveling orchestra likely caught a cargo ship to travel from Bonn to Cologne, and then transferred to another boat that would take them to Düsseldorf. At that time there was no "express" ship for passengers, and the cargo ships were very slow, often stopping at numerous ports. At the end of the 18th century, depending on the wind and weather, a cargo ship was expected to travel six to eight days from Cologne to Rotterdam. Even if the market ships had cabins for passengers, they generally only sailed during the day, and in winter (depending on the weather from November to February) often not at all. The timetables were designed so that in the evening the travelers arrived in a city where they could spend the night. The market ships were slow because they were sometimes held for hours at various customs offices (there were seven between Bonn and Emmerich on the Dutch border alone). For example, the mariners and travelers from Cologne to Düsseldorf (who stopped in Mühlheim, Zons, Neuss etc.) complained that they were being held in Neuss for too long and, as a result of their arrival after sundown, the city gates of Düsseldorf were closed and they had to pay extra money for admission. It would probably have been a bit quicker if the group had rented a yacht—a small covered sailing ship—in Cologne. Although it would have stopped at the customs offices, it would certainly have been dispatched faster. In the evening, however, they would also have had to moor at a city, because the comfortable yachts that offered overnight accommodation, were just beginning to become available at that time.