DELAG
Encyclopedia
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
rigid airship) in revenue service. It was founded on November 16, 1909 with government assistance, and operated airships manufactured by Zeppelin Corporation. Its headquarters were in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
Beginnings
Alfred Colsman served as the airlineAirline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
's first general director. Also involved in the early stages were Dr. Love and Dr. Franz Adickes, the mayor of Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. The founding capital amounted to three million Mark
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
s, of which the majority (Mk 2,600,000) came from the cities of Frankfurt and Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. The remaining Mk 400,000 came in the form of the airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s from the Zeppelin plant in Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen
This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
.
Passenger service aboard the airship LZ 7 began in 1910 with routes from Frankfurt to Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
and Düsseldorf. This vessel, known as the Deutschland, was destroyed on 28 June 1910 (nine days after its maiden voyage) when it crashed into the Teutoburger forest. One year later, a steward was introduced aboard the new airship LZ 10 Schwaben and was responsible for the well-being of the passengers.
By 1913, DELAG had established a route network between Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Baden-Oos, Berlin-Johannisthal
Johannisthal Air Field
The Johannisthal Air Field, located 15 km southeast of Berlin, between Johannisthal and Adlershof, was Germany's first airfield. It opened on 26 September 1909, a few weeks after the world's first airfield at Rheims, France .-Overview:...
, Gotha
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. The outbreak of World War I prevented the planned expansion to other European capitals.
By July 1914, one month before the start of World War I, DELAG's Zeppelins had transported 34,028 passengers on 1,588 commercial flights; the fleet had flown 172,535 kilometres in 3,176 hours. )
Impact of World War I
The airships LZ 11, LZ 13, and LZ 17 were pressed into service for the German ArmyGerman Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
. After the war, however, DELAG's LZ 120 "Bodensee" and LZ 121 "Nordstern" helped reconnect the cities of Europe. LZ 120 already flew between Friedrichshafen and Berlin-Staaken with a stopover in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, but both ships were surrendered as post-war reparation
World War I reparations
World War I reparations refers to the payments and transfers of property and equipment that Germany was forced to make under the Treaty of Versailles following its defeat during World War I...
s in 1921: LZ 120 went to Italy and was re-christened "Esperia", while LZ 121 became France's "Méditerranée" before it ever entered service for DELAG.
Transatlantic service
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
, which made regular, nonstop, transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
s possible before airplanes had flight ranges sufficient to cross the ocean in either direction without stopping. For DELAG's first transatlantic trip, Dr. Eckener commanded the Graf Zeppelin airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
leaving Friedrichshafen, Germany, at 07:54 on October 11, 1928, arriving at Lakehurst Field, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, on October 15. In 1931, the airship Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
began offering regular scheduled passenger service between Germany and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
which continued until 1937. Over its career Graf Zeppelin crossed the South Atlantic 136 times. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
entered passenger service and successfully crossed the Atlantic 36 times before crashing at Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937.
Evolution
The Graf Zeppelin was the final airship employed by DELAG. In 1935, the state-sponsored Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (DZR) was founded. Its fleet included the LZ 127 Graf ZeppelinLZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
, LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin
The Graf Zeppelin II was the last of the great German rigid airships built by the Zeppelin Luftschiffbau during the period between the World Wars, the second and final ship of the Hindenburg class named in honor of Paul von Hindenburg...
.
In 2001, a modern firm also by the name Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei was established as a subsidy of Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT). It operates the Zeppelin NT07 Baden Wurttemberg airship on sightseeing flights around Germany.
Airships
Prior to World War I:- LZ 6
- LZ 7 Deutschland
- LZ 8 Deutschland (replaced LZ 7)
- LZ 10 SchwabenLZ 10 SchwabenLZ 10 Schwaben was a German rigid airship built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in 1911 and operated by DELAG for passenger service. It is regarded as the first commercially successful passenger-carrying aircraft....
- LZ 11 Viktoria Luise
- LZ 13 Hansa
- LZ 17 Sachsen
Following World War I:
- LZ 120 Bodensee
- LZ 121 Nordstern (North Star)
- LZ 127 Graf ZeppelinLZ 127 Graf ZeppelinLZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
, the last airship used by DELAG
In March 1935 the LZ 127 was transferred to the newly founded Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei company, which also received as start capital the Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
which was at the time under construction.
External links
- The Early Years of German Commercial Aviation
- Airships: A Zeppelin History Site
- Information about DELAG successor Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei