Helmut Diller is captain of the white and blue fleet of paddle steamers on Lake Ammersee. The 62-year-old is also a machinist and controls everything related to the machines.
In 1990 he took 'driving lessons' and passed the exam to become a shipmaster. “I’d rather drive a Beetle than a Porsche. I got stuck here. But there are certainly worse jobs,” says Diller. Diller also has a favorite ship: the “old lady’s” Diessen, which he calls his ‘dream job’ and ‘my dream ship’ The paddle steamer Herrsching became Germany's youngest steamer in three years after its new hull was installed in 2002. The new hull replaced the old one, which was almost rusted through through its rammed through its hull in Holzhausen, Bavaria, three years earlier. The captain has already experienced many a mishap, once it was a piston eater.