Zeppelin

Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, the inven­tor of the airship that was later named after him, was born July 8, 1838, in Kon­stanz, Wurttemberg. He began his aca­demic education at the Polytechnikum in Stuttgart, entered the military academy at Ludwigsburg in 1855, and was made lieu­tenant in 1858.

Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, inventor of the Zeppelin airship. (Library of Congress)

fahrt (Stock Company for the Promotion of Airships). On July 2, 1900, the first flight of a Zeppelin at Manzell on the Bo­densee was reported to a stunned public. Zeppelin and his airship received much at­tention in the German and foreign press. The Sunday Examiner (San Francisco) re­ported on him under the headline “Count von Zeppelin, King of the Earth” (Claus- berg 1979, 135).

Although Zeppelin was laughed off as a lunatic initially, he slowly became one of the most admired Germans of his time. Like the Wright brothers, Zeppelin paved the way for air travel for his people.

The Zeppelin, considered to be a train in the air, was meant to open a new era of passenger and freight transportation for civilian, military, and colonial purposes. It did not depend on the existing infrastruc­ture. Furthermore, it extended warfare into the air and thus represented the beginning of a modern air force. The airship used the Archimedean Axiom—the higher the gas volume of the ship, the easier it is to lift it. The Zeppelin had to be extremely big and light at the same time. All Zeppelins had an aluminum skeleton that was to secure the aerodynamics. The Dornier Metall- bauten GmbH (Dornier Metal-Construc­tion Company) was founded in 1913 for the sole purpose of producing this alu­minum skeleton. The Maybach Motoren- werke GmbH (Maybach Motor Works Company) and the Zahnradfabrik (Cog­wheel Factory) were established to produce small, lightweight motors for the Zeppelin. The outer skin of the Zeppelin was made from cotton, which later was coated with Zellon, a paint with an aluminum powder base. This reflective finish prevented gas from heating up too quickly and leaking. The Zeppelin consisted of several hydro­gen-filled cells that were responsible for the lift. The gas density was achieved by the fabric of the balloon, which was lined with

the intestinal skin from cows.

The Zeppelin made Germany the only European power to possess a successfully tested means of air travel. This fact fired up German nationalism and assured the German military of its superiority over France and Great Britain in World War I. Redirecting money from navy construc­tion to the Zeppelin program allowed for the production of a large number of air­ships, which were used for aerial espionage and for bombing enemy ships and infra­structure. However, problems with naviga­tion and accuracy prevented the airships from having a large impact on the war. Furthermore, the expanses for the air­ships, the hangers, and the personnel far exceeded these of an air corps. By 1916 it became obvious that airplanes were much more effective than airships. Nevertheless, the High Command insisted on employ­ing airships until the end of the war. Zep­pelins were used for nightly air raids over England, to divert English troops from the front lines in northern France, and to de­moralize the civilian population. With the introduction of incendiary bombs, how­ever, these flights turned into suicide mis­sions. A single hit could mean the end for ship and crew. About 30 percent of all Zeppelins were destroyed by English anti­airship defense forces. About 40 percent were destroyed by inclement weather. De­spite the risk and high losses, the military clung to the Zeppelin program until the end of the war. In 1918, only fifteen Zep­pelins were still in service. The crews either destroyed them or surrendered them to the entente forces: L61 and LZ90 were handed over to Italy, L64 and L71 to En­gland, L72 (renamed “Dixmuide” by the new French possessors) and LZ83 to France, L30 to Belgium, and L37 to Japan.

After the emergency landing of the LZ 96 (L4) on October 20, 1917, at Bour- bonne-les-Bains, the Americans used this ship as a model for the construction of their first airship, the Starr Airship ZR 1 Shenandoah (Z=Zeppelin, R=Rigid). The Shenandoah crashed in a thunderstorm on September 2, 1925. Only after the condi­tions of the Versailles Treaty had been modified, did the business of Zeppelin construction take an upswing. These polit­ical changes were the precondition for the development of LZ 126 Los Angeles (ZR 3) by German engineers as part of the re­payment of the indemnity accorded to Germany under the Treaty of Versailles. The LZ 126 was to cross the Atlantic to show that the Zeppelin had a future as a means of international travel. The crew of LZ 126 was given a very warm reception in the White House by President Calvin Coolidge, who took the opportunity to call the Zeppelin “a messenger of peace.” His speech caused widespread interest in this technology. William Randolph Hearst was

the first to recognize the potential of the Zeppelin. His reporters were guests on nearly every airship journey and he contin­ued to financially support the Zeppelin business. At first, the top of the Empire State Building was considered as a landing site for the airships. After this plan was abandoned because of technical difficul­ties, Lakehurst, New Jersey, was chosen. The LZ 126 symbolized the German American technology transfer, and its suc­cessful crossing of the Atlantic led to the founding of Goodyear-Zeppelin in Akron, Ohio, in 1924. This new enterprise em­ployed thirteen German engineers, and began construction of American airships in 1928. Ten of these ships were to be em­ployed in the crossing of the Pacific.

The complete military failure of the Zeppelin in World War I did not dampen its popularity with German engineers or the public. To build an even larger Zep­pelin than before World War I, Hugo Eck- ener, the director of the Luftschiffbau Zep­pelin, appealed to the public for donations in 1928. Because of this fund, the Zep- pelin-Eckener-Spende, the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was constructed. It still counts as the largest airship built to date and was named after its inventor. It gained fame by crossing the Atlantic in 1928 and by cir­cumnavigating the world between August 15 and September 4, 1929. Finished in 1936, the LZ 129 Hindenburg was the first and last Zeppelin built for the sole purpose of international passenger transportation. It connected Friedrichshafen, Wurttem­berg, and Lakehurst, New Jersey, on its North Atlantic route. The Hindenburg dis­aster in 1937 marked the end of an era of airship transportation. In 1940 Hermann Goring ordered the last airship, LZ 130 Graf II, together with LZ 127 Graf Zep­pelin into retirement.

Erik Straub

See also Eckener, Hugo; Hindenburg Disaster;

Treaty of Versailles; World War I

References and Further Reading

Clausberg, Karl. Zeppelin: Die Geschichte eines unwahrscheinlichen Erfolges. Munich: Schirmer-Mosel, 1979.

Cord, Henry. Airshipmen, Businessmen and Politics, 1890-1940. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1991.

Robinson, Douglas H. The Zeppelin in Combat: A History of the German Naval Airship Division, 1912-1918. London: G. T Foulis, 1962.