Sailing the skies once again

Germans are rarely proud of their greatest feats of engineering

Germans are rarely proud of their greatest feats of engineering. The Volkswagen Beetle has always been more popular abroad than at home, where it is overshadowed by its Nazi-era origins. In the same way, the Zeppelin airship has been pushed away into a dark corner of the German mind since the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg burst into flames in New Jersey in 1937, killing 36 of the 97 people on board.

Now the Zeppelin has returned to the skies above Lake Constance, on the border between Germany and Switzerland, where Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin launched the first airship in 1900.

But yesterday's wonder of the skies has been rethought by Zeppelin Airship Technology, which hopes Zeppelin travel will reach new levels of popularity.

By 1937, the Hindenburg was the world's most famous Zeppelin and had carried thousands of passengers between Europe and the United States.

READ MORE

A $400 ticket bought complete luxury and a famously smooth ride, "as though you were carried in the arms of angels", remarked one passenger. There are countless stories of passengers waking up after several hours in the air, asking stewards when the ship was to take off.

The popularity of the Hindenburg was assured, as commercial transatlantic airplane flights would not begin until 1939.

Even though passengers were being turned away, the first flight of the 1937 season, on May 3rd, was only partially full. Just 36 of the 72 passenger seats were occupied as the ship left Frankfurt for the transatlantic trip.

Three days later, the Hindenburg began its final manoeuvres before landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Witnesses saw flames at the tail section and there was a loud bang; newsreels show how, within 30 seconds, flames spread over the outer shell. Passengers and crew had only seconds to react.

Many jumped out of the windows but did not survive the 300-foot fall. Others jumped out nearer to the ground, and the last were dragged from the burning ship after it hit the ground.

Herbert Morrison, a radio presenter on the scene, captured the surprise and shock of the disaster in his emotion-filled broadcast, famously uttering: "oh! the humanity!"

Investigators concluded that the fire was caused by a hydrogen leak that was then ignited by a spark of static electricity, but the cause of the disaster remains controversial. The tragedy brought to an end the Zeppelin era for commercial flights - until now.

Last week, with the traditional cry of "Schiff hoch" - "ship up" - Zeppelin NT (for new technology) took 19 passengers from the southern German town of Friedrichshafen over Lake Constance.

The firm received final approval only days before the first flight, after convincing aviation authorities of the safety of the Zeppelin, which the company says is an entirely new design.

Zeppelin Airship Technology has invested DM70 million (more than £28 million) over more than a decade to develop the new ships, flying the first prototype in 1997. The Zeppelin that made its debut last week is filled with helium rather than the highly flammable hydrogen used in the Hindenburg. At 75 metres, the ship is smaller than the original Zeppelins and is intended only for short trips.

The company is planning up to six flights a day, five days a week. Despite costing DM600 (more than £240) for a one-hour flight, the company says it has already taken more than 3,500 bookings for this year and 500 for next year.

It looks as though, after the recent rebirth of the Beetle, Germany has decided the time is right for the return of the Zeppelin, a perfect example of Vorsprung durch Technik: ahead through engineering.