About Lipno Line
More than six decades of passenger shipping on Lake Lipno
ROSENBERGER Lipno Line, spol. s.r.o. trades as LIPNO LINE and continues a tradition of passenger shipping that has been part of Lake Lipno since 1959.
A tradition still under way
Vltava, one of the two vessels that opened regular services in 1959, still sails on Lake Lipno today. Together with Adalbert Stifter and Smetana, she connects the lake’s history with modern tourism.
- Regular services since 1959
- Present company registered in 1992
- Three passenger boats
Services for Lake Lipno today
Scheduled and sightseeing cruises are complemented by evening and themed programmes, plus crewed boat hire for private and corporate groups.
- Scheduled and sightseeing cruises
- Event and evening cruises
- Groups, private charters and catering
Company history
From the first hydrobuses to today’s Lipno Line
The company’s story is closely connected with passenger shipping on Lake Lipno, which began soon after the reservoir was filled. Successive generations of boats have combined practical transport, day trips and a distinctive view of the landscape from the water.
1952–1959
Lake Lipno is created
Construction of the waterworks on the upper Vltava began in 1952. The valley began to be impounded in 1958, creating the largest reservoir by area in the Czech Republic. The new body of water fundamentally transformed the landscape and created the conditions for passenger shipping on Lake Lipno.
1959
Regular passenger services begin
On 1 May 1959, regular operation of the Vltava and Lipno was officially inaugurated on the newly created reservoir. Both type 301 motor vessels had been built in Vác, Hungary, and transported to the lake by road. In the early years, a ticket cost just one Czechoslovak koruna (1 Kčs). Vltava remains part of the fleet today.
1961–1963
An expanded fleet and a new harbour
From 1961, two smaller scheduled-service vessels connected Lipno with Horní Planá via Frymburk and Dolní Vltavice. A third large hydrobus, Rožmberk, joined the fleet in 1962. The new harbour in Lipno was officially opened on 1 July 1963, becoming the departure point for the three hydrobuses’ scheduled and sightseeing cruises.
1974–1980
Technical modernisation
The historic vessels’ original engines were gradually replaced with Škoda diesel engines. Lipno and Rožmberk received new propulsion systems in 1974, followed by Vltava in 1980. The modernisation helped keep the fleet operating reliably for the decades that followed.
1991–1995
Transition to the present company
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution in 1989 also ushered in a fundamental political and economic transformation in what was then Czechoslovakia. Against this background, operation of passenger shipping on Lake Lipno passed from the state transport company to Rosenberger Lipno Line in 1991. The present company was entered in the commercial register on 5 October 1992. Regular scheduled services ended during the 1990s, while sightseeing cruises continued. Rožmberk was sold in 1995; the two original vessels, Vltava and Lipno, remained on the lake.
2001
A new chapter under the Dorn-Fussenegger family
In 2001, Upper Austrian entrepreneur Dr. Lukas Dorn-Fussenegger took over the shipping operation. In a 2017 interview, he recalled how annual passenger numbers had grown from around 12,000 at the time of the takeover to approximately 50,000.
2012
Adalbert Stifter and the return of scheduled services
The 32.50-metre Marksburg travelled from Germany via the Rhine, Main, Danube and Linz to Lake Lipno. Renamed Adalbert Stifter, she was officially christened on 2 June 2012. Her arrival expanded fleet capacity and enabled scheduled services with intermediate stops to return after about twenty years. Lipno left the lake fleet in the same year.
2020
Smetana joins the fleet
A further passenger vessel arrived from Germany and was named after Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. Its combination of enclosed accommodation and an open upper deck broadened the options for regular cruises, groups and private charters.
2023
Handover to the next generation
On 25 January 2023, Dr. Lukas Dorn-Fussenegger handed over management of the company to his daughter, Anna Dorn-Fussenegger; the change was entered in the commercial register on 16 February 2023. Anna had already represented Lipno Line publicly, including during Smetana’s transfer in 2020. Today, she carries the family business forward into the next generation.
Today
Three boats, one Lake Lipno
Lipno Line now operates Adalbert Stifter, Smetana and Vltava. Services include scheduled and sightseeing cruises, themed and evening programmes, bicycle transport on selected routes, and cruises for private and corporate groups.