Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin (German pronunciation: [ˈt͡sɛpəliːn] ⓘ) who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874[1] and developed in detail in 1893.[2] They were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899.[3] After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word zeppelin came to be commonly used to refer to all forms of rigid airships. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as bombers and as scouts. Numerous bombing raids on Britain resulted in over 500 deaths.[4]
For other uses, see Zeppelin (disambiguation).
The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed the airship business. Although DELAG established a scheduled daily service between Berlin, Munich, and Friedrichshafen in 1919, the airships built for that service eventually had to be surrendered under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which also prohibited Germany from building large airships. An exception was made to allow the construction of one airship for the United States Navy, the order for which saved the company from extinction.
In 1926, the restrictions on airship construction were lifted and, with the aid of donations from the public, work began on the construction of LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. That revived the company's fortunes and, during the 1930s, the airships Graf Zeppelin, and the even larger LZ 129 Hindenburg operated regular transatlantic flights from Germany to North America and Brazil. The spire of the Empire State Building was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins and other airships, although it was found that high winds made that impossible and the plan was abandoned.[5] The Hindenburg disaster in 1937, along with political and economic developments in Germany, hastened the demise of airships.
Cultural influences[edit]
Zeppelins have been an inspiration to music, cinematography and literature. The 1930 movie Hell's Angels, directed by Howard Hughes, features an unsuccessful Zeppelin raid on London during World War I. In 1934, the calypsonian Attila the Hun recorded "Graf Zeppelin", commemorating the airship's visit to Trinidad.[129][130]
Zeppelins are often featured in alternate history and parallel universe fiction. They feature prominently in the popular fantasy novels of the His Dark Materials trilogy and The Book of Dust series by Philip Pullman. In the American science fiction series, Fringe, Zeppelins are a notable historical idiosyncrasy that helps differentiate the series' two parallel universes, also used in Doctor Who in the episodes "The Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" when the TARDIS crashes in an alternate reality where Britain is a 'People's Republic' and Pete Tyler, Rose Tyler's father, is alive and is a wealthy inventor.[131] They are also seen in the alternate reality 1939 plot line in the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and have an iconic association with the steampunk subcultural movement in broader terms. In 1989, Japanese animator Miyazaki released Kiki's Delivery Service, which features a Zeppelin as a plot element. A Zeppelin was used in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Jones and his father try to escape from Germany.
In 1968, English rock band Led Zeppelin chose their name after Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, told guitarist Jimmy Page that his idea to create a band would "go down like a lead balloon."[N 3][132] Page's manager Peter Grant suggested changing the spelling of "Lead" to "Led" to avoid mispronunciation. "Balloon" was replaced with "Zeppelin" as Jimmy Page saw it as a symbol of "the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace." For the group's self-titled debut album, Page suggested the group use a picture of the Hindenburg crashing in New Jersey in 1937, much to Countess Eva von Zeppelin's disgust. Von Zeppelin tried to sue the group for using her family name, but the case was eventually dismissed.[133][132]