Overview

• On July 2, 1900, Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 62, piloted the LZ1’s maiden ascent from a floating hangar at Manzell on Lake Constance in an 18-minute flight.
• The aluminum-ribbed airship measured 128 meters in length, held 11,300 cubic meters of gas, and was driven by two Daimler engines of 14.2 PS each.
• During its debut, the LZ1 pitched steeply but remained controllable and landed safely, demonstrating early advances in airship stability.
• The 1908 LZ4 disaster at Echterdingen triggered a wave of national sympathy that produced over six million marks in public donations.
• Zeppelins served in World War I and pioneered luxury passenger crossings in the 1930s before the Hindenburg’s tragic hydrogen-fire crash in Lakehurst in 1937.