The company built its first steamship building factory the so-called "Óbuda Shipyard" on the Hajógyári Island in Kingdom of Hungary in 1835, which was the first industrial scale steamship building company in the Habsburg Empire.

The DDSG was also involved in taking large amounts of money and property from Jews in order to transport them.

The SS worked with the DDSG in making the exit permits for Jews easier to obtain, since, at this point, the Nazis apparently just wanted them to leave the country.

The name of the company is well known in German-speaking countries as a starter to humorously construct even longer compound words.

Another common example is Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft which means "Association for Subordinate Officials of the Main Maintenance Building of the DDSG".