Luftschiffbau Zeppelin

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German company which, during the early 20th century, was a leader in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, specifically of the Zeppelin type. The company was founded by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. 'Luftschiffbau' is a German word meaning building of airships. Count von Zeppelin had been building various guidable rigid airship prototypes from as early as 1899. For the first few years, finance for the rese... more

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German company which, during the early 20th century, was a leader in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, specifically of the Zeppelin type. The company was founded by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. 'Luftschiffbau' is a German word meaning building of airships. Count von Zeppelin had been building various guidable rigid airship prototypes from as early as 1899. For the first few years, finance for the research was supplied by the count himself, by private donations, and even a lottery. With the growing success of each flight, public interest also grew. In 1908, the 'Zeppelin LZ 4' crashed during a high profile test flight. The failure was somewhat serendipitous, in that it caused a flood of public support. The ensuing donation campaign collected over 6 million German marks which was used to set up both 'Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH' and a Zeppelin foundation. Luftschiffbau Zeppelin manufactured many Zeppelin airships for both civilian and... less