About

Manfred Mueller was born in Fulda, Germany in 1937. He grew up in Bad Brückenau. His father was a soldier in World War II and because of that he lost him in the age of five years.
After visiting the school he made a vocational education as an industrial management assistant.

According to different jobs he came back to Bad Brückenau and worked as parmedic at the German Red Cross. In the 60th of the last century he started his career in the former „Metallwerk Unterfranken“ as the head of procurement.

Already as a young man he was crazy about model making. He made his first steps with the buliding of flying models. As he told later it was very frustrating to see this models completeley damaged after the planes crashed down. So in consequence he decided to switch over to build shipmodels.

In 1968 he get married with his wife Almut. In 1972 their son Andreas was born.

On a summer evening in 1973 Mueller had been sitting at the small lake at the camping ground in Kothen, near Bad Brückenau.
He talked to a friend and mentioned, that when he is looking around there are always the same shipmodels. Some harbor tugs, rescue cruisers, sailing yachts and cutters. Battleships had been frowned upon.

That was the birth an the beginning of the legend
„DER STEAMBOAT MUELLER“ in 1974.

As Mueller mentioned „DER STEAMBOAT MUELLER“ was a hobby which got too big.

This website should give all intersted people an overview about the work and the models of ORIGINAL MISSISSPPI RIVERBOATS which had been done by Manfred Mueller.

Also it should show the enthusiasm and love Mueller gave to his boats.

I also want to remember to all the friends in America, Alan L. Bates, Bill Tippitt, John L. Fryant, Capt. Frederick Way, Jr., John Breynaert , Ralph C. Hitchcock and a lot of other people.

Special thanks go to Manfred Kohlhepp a friend and colleague of Manfred Mueller. Without him it wouldn’t have been possible to do all that detailed plans for the Valley Belle, Bryant’s Showboat the Idlewild and so on.

Last but not least I want to refer to Christian Schepers who tried to contact my mother in the beginning of 2021.
This was the startingpoint for me to think about what to do with the heritage of „DER STEAMBOAT MUELLER“.

Christian I just have to say „THANK YOU“ for the motivation and the last kick to build this page.

More details of the history of „DER STEAMBOAT MUELLER“ you can find in the catalogs. This original documents will come in a digtial version to this website in the next month (only in german language). Further information like the plans of the Valley Belle, Bryants Showboat, etc. will follow.

Maybe, this website is only the first step to revive „DER STEAMBOAT MUELLER“.

Oerlenbach in January 2022
Andreas Mueller

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