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Hugo Eckener
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Dr. Hugo Eckener (10 August 1868–14 August 1954) was the head of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in the inter-war years, and was commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin on most of its record setting flights, including the first airship flight to the Arctic and the first airship flight around the world, making him by far the most successful airship commander in history. He was also responsible for the construction of the most successful line of airships of all time.
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Dr. Hugo Eckener (10 August 1868–14 August 1954) was the head of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in the inter-war years, and was commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin on most of its record setting flights, including the first airship flight to the Arctic and the first airship flight around the world, making him by far the most successful airship commander in history. He was also responsible for the construction of the most successful line of airships of all time. An ardent anti-Nazi who was invited to stand as a moderate in the German presidential elections, he was blacklisted by that regime and eventually sidelined.
Background
Eckener was born in Flensburg, and spent much of his youth truant from school in order to go sailing on the Baltic. These activities enabled him to develop the legendary meteorological skills which he drew upon as an airship captain. He took an undergraduate degree in philosophy, followed by a doctorate in psychology under Wilhelm Wundtat the University of Leipzig. It was whilst writing a book on the social effects of capitalism that he became the Friedrichshafen correspondent for the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1905 and 1906, providing occasional articles.
Pre-war airship activities
Asked to cover the first flights of the LZ1 and LZ2, Eckener was critical of both airships' lacklustre performances, but praised Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's dedication to his cause. Because several scientists and engineers had openly criticized his airship plans the Count sought his critic out and Eckener was so taken with him that in October 1908 he agreed to act as a part-time publicist for the Zeppelin Company. He became extremely interested in airships, and joined the company on a full-time basis.
His aptitude at flying was noticed early on in his career, and he became an airship captain. However, when Eckener attempted his first flight on 16 May 1911 in the LZ 8, christened Deutschland II, he decided to launch in a strong wind which pushed the craft into the hangar wall, seriously damaging it. Nonetheless, he became a very successful airshipman.
World War I
Eckener was responsible for training most of Germany's airship pilots both during and after World War I. Despite his protestations, he was not allowed on operational missions due to his hugely important value as an instructor.
Head of the Zeppelin Company
After the War, Eckener succeeded Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who had died on 8 March 1917. After considerable conflict with Zeppelin's business manager, Alfred Colesman, who wanted to move the company away from airship production, Eckener was able to keep the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen on Bodensee (Lake Constance) in Wurttemberg, southern Germany, from being retooled to produce other, and likely more profitable, products. Colesman left the company shortly afterwards.
The Treaty of Versailles had forbidden Germany to construct airships of the size needed to operate the profitable trans-Atlantic service that was Eckener's goal. However, after much skilful lobbying, at which Eckener was a natural, he then persuaded the US and German governments to allow the company to build LZ 126, later rechristened the USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), for the US Navy as part of Germany's war reparations. Eckener himself captained the airship on its delivery flight to Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Los Angeles went on to be the longest serving rigid airship ever operated by the US Navy.
The golden age of the rigid airship
Refused funds by the cash-strapped Weimar government, Eckener and his colleagues embarked on a nationwide fund-raising lecture tour in order to commence construction of Graf Zeppelin, which became the most successful rigid airship ever built.
The first flight to America was fraught with drama; on the outbound flight the airship was nearly lost after becoming caught in a severe storm. Fabric was ripped off the left fin. The ship was saved only by Eckener's skilled piloting and the courage of his son, Knut Eckener, and other crew members who climbed out onto the fin to repair the damage. Upon arrival in America, a country which Eckener grew to love, he and the crew were subject to the first of two New York ticker tape parades.
Eckener captained Graf Zeppelin on most of its record setting flights, including a flight to the Arctic and a flight around the world - the only such flight by an airship, and the second by an aircraft of any type.
A master of publicity as well as a master airship captain, Eckener used the Graf Zeppelin to establish the Zeppelin as a symbol of German pride and engineering.
The popularity of the Zeppelin airships led to Eckener's own popularity. During the early 1930s, Eckener was one of the most well-known and respected figures in Weimar Republic Germany. He was encouraged to run for the presidency to oppose the National Socialist German Workers Party. Eckener declined, focusing on what he knew best, airships.
Sidelined
Eckener and the Nazis had a deep and mutual loathing. Eckener made no secret of his hatred of their leader Adolf Hitler and the disastrous course he saw coming. He frequently criticised the regime, and refused to allow the Nazis to use the large hangars at Frankfurt for a rally. Eventually the Nazis declared Eckener to be persona non grata and his name was no longer allowed to appear in print.
During his many years as head of airship operations, Eckener always made safety his absolute priority. Under Eckener's leadership, the Zeppelin company had a perfect safety record with no passenger ever sustaining a serious injury on any of the more than 1 million air miles that the rigid airships flew, until the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.
With the rise of Nazi Germany came the nationalisation of the Zeppelin operation. The Nazis sidelined Eckener in favour of men who were somewhat more compliant with their wishes. In their haste to please the Nazi regime, these newly promoted airshipmen did not always follow Eckener's well-proven safety procedures. For example, the maiden voyage of the Hindenburg nearly resulted in disaster when Captain Ernst Lehman brought the ship out in high winds in order to undertake a Nazi propaganda flight. The ship was severely damaged, and there was a loud and bitter argument between Eckener and Lehman.
Hugo Eckener was in Graz, Austria when he heard news of the Hindenburg disaster of 6 May 1937. In the official inquiry he concluded that a static spark ignited leaking hydrogen in the aft section of the ship. The leak would have been caused by a sharp turn, which he believed caused a wire to break and rip a gas cell.
After the destruction of the Hindenburg, the nearly-completed LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin was redesigned as a helium-filled ship, although, owing to geo-political considerations, the American helium was not forthcoming. Thus the ship never entered commercial service. However, under the command of Captain Albert Sammt, the ship undertook a number of controversial espionage flights over Great Britain.
Eckener, however, had by this time little influence on the Zeppelin Company. He survived World War II despite his disagreements with the Nazis. Post war, he was involved in a plan by the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation to build large rigid airships. However this came to nothing and Eckener died in 1954 at the age of 86.
Legacy
Eckener was responsible for many groundbreaking aviation developments, notably the trans-Atlantic passenger services offered by the airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg. In this way, he laid the foundation for the modern airline industry. Together with his chief designer, Dr. Ludwig Dürr, he was responsible for developing the rigid airship to the point of near-perfection for the time.
Eckener was also a world figure, one of the great men of his age. He and his airships helped Germans regain some pride in themselves after the humiliation of Versailles. Eckener's love of America helped bring the two nations, for a time, closer together.
Since his death his achievements have been remembered only by a handful of airship enthusiasts and historians. However, the town of Friedrichshafen, scene of his many triumphant homecomings in Graf Zeppelin, has recognised his memory by naming a large new conference centre after him.
See also
External links
Further reading
- Summitmemory. photographed with Zeppelin mascot. Retrieved 2008-11-01
- Summitmemory. , portrait. Retrieved 2008-11-01
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