Steam navigation for passenger transport on the River Elbe can look back over a history of more than 170 years. It was on 8 July 1836, that twelve Dresden citizens received a royal privilege for steam navigation within the borders of Saxony. Shortly afterwards, the "Elbdampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft" was founded.

The company's name has changed several times over of decades. In 1910, the fleet moved to its present moorings on the Dresden Terrassenufer quayside below the famous Brühlsche Terrasse, and in 1911 the company already owned 33 steamers. After 1945, sadly, their number was reduced to eight. During the GDR years, the fleet operated under the name "Weisse Flotte Dresden". German unification, however, heralded a new period of uncertainty.

In 1993 and 1994, the new owner of the fleet, Sachsische Dampfschiffahrts GmbH & Co. Conti Elbschiffahrts KG, initiated the restoration of the eight remaining paddle-steamers, devoting careful attention to original historical details. The Dresden fleet was thus preserved as the oldest and largest paddle-steamer fleet in the world.
In December 1999, Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt repurchased the passenger steamer "Krippen", which was subsequently reconstructed in the Laubegast shipyard in the summer of 2000 before joining the fleet once more as the ninth historical paddle-steamer.