tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78120583654087755142024-03-27T18:53:07.478-05:00Faces of the HindenburgUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-22469663549912284802009-10-25T21:11:00.057-05:002013-06-20T22:59:41.379-05:00Passengers aboard LZ 129 Hindenburg - May 3-6, 1937<span style="font-family: arial">The following is a list of the 36 passengers aboard the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> <span style="font-family: arial">on its last flight, with links to the biographic articles for each. <br><br>Those who died as a result of the crash are listed in <span style="font-style: italic">italics.</span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwmLzokj98vtdQjn5Sl-_zWBkYGGKu3Q_MJs_jQ1xyJapX6NoTi02qMLwhE3_OdodKihKv5G5Gp4gh4wFSo45rqLNfbo40cC-FRFfNOhGy0Ughzvl3MlAR1p12FM1-EFXJrRiaxunsVc/s1600/Leonhard+Adelt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576394707289201826" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 140px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwmLzokj98vtdQjn5Sl-_zWBkYGGKu3Q_MJs_jQ1xyJapX6NoTi02qMLwhE3_OdodKihKv5G5Gp4gh4wFSo45rqLNfbo40cC-FRFfNOhGy0Ughzvl3MlAR1p12FM1-EFXJrRiaxunsVc/s400/Leonhard+Adelt.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><span style="font-size: 100%"><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/leonhard-and-gertrud-adelt.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Leonhard Adelt</span> <br>Berlin, Germany <br>Journalist</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJRecLTSaim7vyfjxEJIr4U11Ya3RhvIJe8-FkvtvElx9Uhgd-uyly37bJl1aJTVw7R9tZACB9PcwKfJA34P6LDDcKoqr_FpXFBM67eg3VYwgr8L0vXUqGR_WbNtt9xubFnLGtGdlMyg/s1600/Gertrud+Adelt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576394864859510098" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 128px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJRecLTSaim7vyfjxEJIr4U11Ya3RhvIJe8-FkvtvElx9Uhgd-uyly37bJl1aJTVw7R9tZACB9PcwKfJA34P6LDDcKoqr_FpXFBM67eg3VYwgr8L0vXUqGR_WbNtt9xubFnLGtGdlMyg/s400/Gertrud+Adelt.jpg" border="0"></a><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/leonhard-and-gertrud-adelt.html"> <br></a><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/leonhard-and-gertrud-adelt.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Gertrud Adelt</span> <br>Berlin, Germany <br>Journalist</a> <br><br><br><br></span><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyZgYjLgZ9_cdkd2oPLGeqXsFPTQeN0YFS1m9cr7zk1kcs3LRN5UkaywodFCK4cuP87FAYDpypTD4oNyv-2C5cZmXg4i5VNVsoD0fNGYKgOXNy9RZpSmUiJrZxQ-ba6PcVcZxiqKNeMM/s1600/Rudolf+Anders2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660412774451456722" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 140px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyZgYjLgZ9_cdkd2oPLGeqXsFPTQeN0YFS1m9cr7zk1kcs3LRN5UkaywodFCK4cuP87FAYDpypTD4oNyv-2C5cZmXg4i5VNVsoD0fNGYKgOXNy9RZpSmUiJrZxQ-ba6PcVcZxiqKNeMM/s400/Rudolf+Anders2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><span style="font-size: 100%"><br></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/ernst-rudolf-anders.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Ernst Rudolf Anders</span> <br>Dresden, Germany <br>Co-owner - Teekanne Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEz2WZPVHdl53yrTLYRwinDUZX9jdEO7orQgCE8-yZE8AQMCfMhPvokenCM7eW8UQjSBOgERnTg1eA3fIuXp2FZEawl-Lxb2Er9exUyoLGMHSugUakQ7S_06f-3Sa8wmw1dV-kpG56-w/s1600/Peter+Belin7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454771440623404610" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 137px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEz2WZPVHdl53yrTLYRwinDUZX9jdEO7orQgCE8-yZE8AQMCfMhPvokenCM7eW8UQjSBOgERnTg1eA3fIuXp2FZEawl-Lxb2Er9exUyoLGMHSugUakQ7S_06f-3Sa8wmw1dV-kpG56-w/s400/Peter+Belin7.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/peter-belin.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Ferdinand Lammot "Peter" Belin</span> <br>Washington, D.C <br>Student</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMByqPxkLdIkYZqSj82XfD4y6xpSNiaySRAIW4hWMMzlPV6rNgwAxHZGEyybzBp44EO-OUNsZd75EjBrrKrlWjid5NRlGJc-UUS8kyhKE1APLngarqEvSFxpbypAKtBbod010ZeHzytg/s1600-h/Birger+Brinck3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396766313431169554" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 132px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMByqPxkLdIkYZqSj82XfD4y6xpSNiaySRAIW4hWMMzlPV6rNgwAxHZGEyybzBp44EO-OUNsZd75EjBrrKrlWjid5NRlGJc-UUS8kyhKE1APLngarqEvSFxpbypAKtBbod010ZeHzytg/s400/Birger+Brinck3.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%"><br></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/birger-brinck.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Birger Brinck</span> <br>Stockholm, Sweden <br>Journalist</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImLKZUGVrAxEXxYq3369Doa-_LOljOSjzktcnKMFJkQupg1PS2vjZV6MvCbNhNhOxTEtz9R687-6C1pgop-vOD0GYOkzetQh79DcYcJou-SGKhciDCVlLJmMX6UmIAmxQAZo94nmla-k/s1600-h/NoPhoto2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396763869057805618" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 106px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImLKZUGVrAxEXxYq3369Doa-_LOljOSjzktcnKMFJkQupg1PS2vjZV6MvCbNhNhOxTEtz9R687-6C1pgop-vOD0GYOkzetQh79DcYcJou-SGKhciDCVlLJmMX6UmIAmxQAZo94nmla-k/s400/NoPhoto2.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/karl-otto-clemens.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Karl Otto Clemens</span> <br>Bonn, Germany <br>Photographer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiT6bHgQX17bQnuUr5apPsnMg7gGV4uHu3BUlLIz9Gra4TAeADxstg8sDyK5aL7F_ArtFSGsC1wOLDhBQyRJrQERya3dnV_RDa6KyStt69cThvIENtn0gyEGskHmrugE5GfqxERwRERTA/s1600-h/HDoehner+B-W.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396766706807332738" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 120px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiT6bHgQX17bQnuUr5apPsnMg7gGV4uHu3BUlLIz9Gra4TAeADxstg8sDyK5aL7F_ArtFSGsC1wOLDhBQyRJrQERya3dnV_RDa6KyStt69cThvIENtn0gyEGskHmrugE5GfqxERwRERTA/s400/HDoehner+B-W.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Hermann Doehner</span> <br>Mexico City, Mexico <br>General Manager - Beick, Felix y Compania</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSVqq7DRns1aSD0CaurZEKfUPgNWH0_AUcCAc8j-qAvdi-dRo5dea25wS5z3Wtt3d4Dbe964oZPAV_1aSiuo7cQamRPdNaXHhs3uINK89ijV2QyLRp4rH3gvWRAcvlhgo3l-0dPWGDe4/s1600-h/MDoehner+B-W.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396766939402892946" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 125px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSVqq7DRns1aSD0CaurZEKfUPgNWH0_AUcCAc8j-qAvdi-dRo5dea25wS5z3Wtt3d4Dbe964oZPAV_1aSiuo7cQamRPdNaXHhs3uINK89ijV2QyLRp4rH3gvWRAcvlhgo3l-0dPWGDe4/s400/MDoehner+B-W.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Matilde Doehner</span> <br>Mexico City, Mexico</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQAtU5UcS3NToRS2NEWXD1ThJv8pTAGrXCYTB4eGQH0YhF-uUUp0IchndXmDEKLg58Ii_jCQx4isiCol-r3Nz9K0ynLUA_DzDlzNg6Qjl-2ccqT5A4WieNjPRYnrA3ZrdQWSIbDYEIZc/s1600-h/Irene+Doehner4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396767075580849970" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 128px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQAtU5UcS3NToRS2NEWXD1ThJv8pTAGrXCYTB4eGQH0YhF-uUUp0IchndXmDEKLg58Ii_jCQx4isiCol-r3Nz9K0ynLUA_DzDlzNg6Qjl-2ccqT5A4WieNjPRYnrA3ZrdQWSIbDYEIZc/s400/Irene+Doehner4.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Irene Doehner</span> <br>Mexico City, Mexico</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHQuh8PbxQtzAHyUixJra0L-g0h_h5IiFEyQNDQBzpTadYS51mbP7-TQ0byuFskfMOjyBcCbss_ml1bw7h0CwYlOfRwehNOEeEb_mJlfrDng7I2B4HD4Dm2QRf-HiaXMIEubJeMtQM4Y/s1600-h/Walter+Doehner.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396767253092288402" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 123px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHQuh8PbxQtzAHyUixJra0L-g0h_h5IiFEyQNDQBzpTadYS51mbP7-TQ0byuFskfMOjyBcCbss_ml1bw7h0CwYlOfRwehNOEeEb_mJlfrDng7I2B4HD4Dm2QRf-HiaXMIEubJeMtQM4Y/s400/Walter+Doehner.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Walter Doehner</span> <br>Mexico City, Mexico <br></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pOAUlfpQupCdN9x6GXWc-UzJbOdks4fqjmuCYqW_HSKrAXypvxPm4RAEuiXePvnwoy2wT0AScUEIh_BGN2WsFlPUBgeCx7V7RBNdTE0vWTLR6Wzp9S2J9BxH2rGcgss77siJqCMXzxc/s1600-h/Werner+Doehner5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396767405106380978" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 128px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pOAUlfpQupCdN9x6GXWc-UzJbOdks4fqjmuCYqW_HSKrAXypvxPm4RAEuiXePvnwoy2wT0AScUEIh_BGN2WsFlPUBgeCx7V7RBNdTE0vWTLR6Wzp9S2J9BxH2rGcgss77siJqCMXzxc/s400/Werner+Doehner5.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Werner Doehner</span> <br>Mexico City, Mexico</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55YbaEmELvJHLP4oOnQVE_XcywhgIST6v7EScQyuT3XOKXBOL778XMzwQg-xLgcNWVxNOyYhTf8n_917mxNxvCwm8ghAY5Jt-sFVKb2KOHACmYYgFzODDSwUKb5dYPbmAZCGEeq5WcZA/s1600-h/Burt+Dolan5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396768567551566498" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 140px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55YbaEmELvJHLP4oOnQVE_XcywhgIST6v7EScQyuT3XOKXBOL778XMzwQg-xLgcNWVxNOyYhTf8n_917mxNxvCwm8ghAY5Jt-sFVKb2KOHACmYYgFzODDSwUKb5dYPbmAZCGEeq5WcZA/s400/Burt+Dolan5.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/burtis-j-dolan.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Burtis J. Dolan</span> <br>Chicago, IL <br>Vice President - Lelong Importing Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvUKDgY0VZgDLUnm2ETMArT0cFWVkLv3U4gJNmDBaxwUlS2LOulxVZzx9hWuwy6y9SiRJ57qXv_WZi0tDIJOFysTDHDe6x4SZ0VYexnGlJDmSzzL_aGPBxVs-WaePfis4gFCH70lUhyQ/s1600-h/EDouglas2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396768749649485762" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 138px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvUKDgY0VZgDLUnm2ETMArT0cFWVkLv3U4gJNmDBaxwUlS2LOulxVZzx9hWuwy6y9SiRJ57qXv_WZi0tDIJOFysTDHDe6x4SZ0VYexnGlJDmSzzL_aGPBxVs-WaePfis4gFCH70lUhyQ/s400/EDouglas2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/edward-douglas.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Edward Douglas</span> <br>Newark, NJ <br>Director of European Operations - McCann/Erickson Corp.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnpP3Z86QcBK__mqUYPoY6JS9ZG3MkyhUr47M4dw9cz4E-SX1e8K_AHy2MCdghw_VEoWfwWZAmjPyxYqEOCGFkkgpdLb8-PI12fqprqZ_5VKk1KrdzN_AG2_zZTAs7v3A_chR4jnyWGk/s1600-h/Colonel+Erdmann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396768915067353170" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 99px; cursor: pointer; height: 124px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnpP3Z86QcBK__mqUYPoY6JS9ZG3MkyhUr47M4dw9cz4E-SX1e8K_AHy2MCdghw_VEoWfwWZAmjPyxYqEOCGFkkgpdLb8-PI12fqprqZ_5VKk1KrdzN_AG2_zZTAs7v3A_chR4jnyWGk/s400/Colonel+Erdmann.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><span style="font-size: 100%"><br></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/colonel-fritz-erdmann.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Colonel Fritz Erdmann</span> <br>Halle an der Saale, Germany <br>German Luftwaffe</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-g8oPg2VY9RxLlY3G_DUmzIApynTkvvbfMC6D7_Uh4Mey9fbjA4DhbKqLBjD_12Yv5VA9eH5h-YsLycPIs0YOZIR4hDO9GAlCR0P6CyHaDEJaURSw03dwcT457MRF4MlbXlx4GbOFZE/s1600/Otto+Ernst+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576395404543596482" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 136px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-g8oPg2VY9RxLlY3G_DUmzIApynTkvvbfMC6D7_Uh4Mey9fbjA4DhbKqLBjD_12Yv5VA9eH5h-YsLycPIs0YOZIR4hDO9GAlCR0P6CyHaDEJaURSw03dwcT457MRF4MlbXlx4GbOFZE/s400/Otto+Ernst+2.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><span style="font-size: 100%"><br></span></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/otto-and-elsa-ernst.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Otto Ernst</span> <br>Hamburg, Germany <br>Seed trader</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SrNZzsx1uIpH0Sku6K-jkLH1zK5uqNcsWPoW3vetULi5xslI4X_sIaqQJRU9LZLVCUv3eGQkpgVIyTu8sP2cpUGjAoJLV2UdxQxRFSS6srmSpivf4u-XxUyyezSLYyV4f9RdiK0wyJ8/s1600/Elsa+Ernst+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576395592882460482" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 126px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SrNZzsx1uIpH0Sku6K-jkLH1zK5uqNcsWPoW3vetULi5xslI4X_sIaqQJRU9LZLVCUv3eGQkpgVIyTu8sP2cpUGjAoJLV2UdxQxRFSS6srmSpivf4u-XxUyyezSLYyV4f9RdiK0wyJ8/s400/Elsa+Ernst+2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/otto-and-elsa-ernst.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Elsa Ernst</span> <br>Hamburg, Germany</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhrNXFS_IgXbIih8G53sz5hs4xVliNTHlP_KCS8ZEFecqv9ms1HsLn-gUn87E3A754suEXvw5Pnarw26J-LangSK98g4N9BxwPuszdn1Y93BPiofa13LV9A2I4oiW9U8ZhGTdGP2uMT4/s1600-h/Moritz+Feibusch4.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396769214366625394" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 117px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhrNXFS_IgXbIih8G53sz5hs4xVliNTHlP_KCS8ZEFecqv9ms1HsLn-gUn87E3A754suEXvw5Pnarw26J-LangSK98g4N9BxwPuszdn1Y93BPiofa13LV9A2I4oiW9U8ZhGTdGP2uMT4/s400/Moritz+Feibusch4.JPG" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/moritz-feibusch.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Moritz Feibusch</span> <br>San Francisco, CA <br>Food broker</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5GUDoTM3X_8SKSrVhPGwZaxyBZqt4s3vsJ1sU5eUzHA7i7KsEuKRSczoFyiNnujF9AnHfOYedgEuCPO5uUnqGA1I1xALAusxl7aUHtKpzEPEmlu4cwVNmLUjxBwM8pihK51BuRjd8q8/s1600-h/Grant3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396769828106275714" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 110px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5GUDoTM3X_8SKSrVhPGwZaxyBZqt4s3vsJ1sU5eUzHA7i7KsEuKRSczoFyiNnujF9AnHfOYedgEuCPO5uUnqGA1I1xALAusxl7aUHtKpzEPEmlu4cwVNmLUjxBwM8pihK51BuRjd8q8/s400/Grant3.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-grant.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">George Grant</span> <br>London, England <br>Assistant manager - Wm. H. Müller & Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3IzowHjlc8iy99lEDpLyDeurOQU99Xd4co9KpdG05E0xPLuofdel4dKLi2lHN1Xw8HNfP5HoJwk_0C4XlUURWEMCSG2gHaMx7YkYCv4EQlE4XXWH7oekHgrip3A_YYrxBUy5n45oLgo/s1600-h/Claus+Hinkelbein2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396770001650116178" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 142px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3IzowHjlc8iy99lEDpLyDeurOQU99Xd4co9KpdG05E0xPLuofdel4dKLi2lHN1Xw8HNfP5HoJwk_0C4XlUURWEMCSG2gHaMx7YkYCv4EQlE4XXWH7oekHgrip3A_YYrxBUy5n45oLgo/s400/Claus+Hinkelbein2.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-size: 100%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/lieutenant-claus-hinkelbein.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Lieutenant Claus Hinkelbein</span> <br>Schwäbisch Hall, Germany <br>German Luftwaffe <br></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEggcSptz8Pl24SUpGE9u_38y6-TALejYSncgDuHH6nlkcAe5Tu_CDjlWO_DjvVNgPtUd4D1DvjcYDQKP4OjuBWNHZQ-fbf94GFpm6jrMiiBGbv7XYhkKE4d9MBjq-gTr6MfqwY7H8lQw/s1600/George+W+Hirschfeld+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454767095147142514" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 135px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEggcSptz8Pl24SUpGE9u_38y6-TALejYSncgDuHH6nlkcAe5Tu_CDjlWO_DjvVNgPtUd4D1DvjcYDQKP4OjuBWNHZQ-fbf94GFpm6jrMiiBGbv7XYhkKE4d9MBjq-gTr6MfqwY7H8lQw/s400/George+W+Hirschfeld+4.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-hirschfeld.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">George Hirschfeld</span> <br>Bremen, Germany <br>Cotton broker</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSo0VjjS31TuJGbO2q9Q1XFjy3VndAHoWwEGqYbjojg6pZbsS2PEvIzX9sVRuCrrIRdZZrqyMZILb4cRmpvdpVjoUXVqa80PoF-UAJB7nUs5bLG0gg5piSOIormEF9um8VmetPc8IGaM/s1600/Marie+Kleemann+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576395055264396146" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 134px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSo0VjjS31TuJGbO2q9Q1XFjy3VndAHoWwEGqYbjojg6pZbsS2PEvIzX9sVRuCrrIRdZZrqyMZILb4cRmpvdpVjoUXVqa80PoF-UAJB7nUs5bLG0gg5piSOIormEF9um8VmetPc8IGaM/s400/Marie+Kleemann+2.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/marie-kleemann.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Marie Kleemann</span> <br>Bad Homburg, Germany</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2QRiSLF9HPCVB8vAXRGJIeUosFt_mgAHJW_VWj6Mq1DU9Dxc7ZzU8oq8_1jjLV3higdJd84uvjKr8q41VCoQtFjhvkegYqdqdk9fxW3Vew-Yva8joO5I2a65Wg5S7zPM431z7bfVmMI/s1600/Erich+Knoecher+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576395237010025106" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 130px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2QRiSLF9HPCVB8vAXRGJIeUosFt_mgAHJW_VWj6Mq1DU9Dxc7ZzU8oq8_1jjLV3higdJd84uvjKr8q41VCoQtFjhvkegYqdqdk9fxW3Vew-Yva8joO5I2a65Wg5S7zPM431z7bfVmMI/s400/Erich+Knoecher+2.JPG" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/passenger-age-38-hometown-zeulenroda.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Erich Knöcher</span> <br>Zeulenroda, Germany <br>Wire manufacturer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKUhpwqhHOpLT3FJfBJSu-j8hMgn9Z0GTZZTKaCD8TmLmtCbqrt_oO61nid2w-h3lBgMfdVdKBhJNv_M-PTsVYDGmiA_0omtsvC3t29ujcSX0H7MMygB8MIZ2eLP-U6K3EibDoqOI2_o/s1600-h/WLeuchtenberg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396770379971628770" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 116px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKUhpwqhHOpLT3FJfBJSu-j8hMgn9Z0GTZZTKaCD8TmLmtCbqrt_oO61nid2w-h3lBgMfdVdKBhJNv_M-PTsVYDGmiA_0omtsvC3t29ujcSX0H7MMygB8MIZ2eLP-U6K3EibDoqOI2_o/s400/WLeuchtenberg.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/william-leuchtenberg.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">William Leuchtenberg</span> <br>Larchmont, NY <br>President - Alpha-Lux Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCCPekLdy8s8HNMyF2sLV1e7oms4upOV-IzxQ_utMkrNLj-OFCAYdEeM3CpegA_zmOMwEZYOJbmUHHCc-K5olpF6ItIBQHR0c4uhSVS0HdPb-S5V_yF-udclO4yacqfAalMN7QCcP44I/s1600-h/P+Mangone.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396770566059931250" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 124px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCCPekLdy8s8HNMyF2sLV1e7oms4upOV-IzxQ_utMkrNLj-OFCAYdEeM3CpegA_zmOMwEZYOJbmUHHCc-K5olpF6ItIBQHR0c4uhSVS0HdPb-S5V_yF-udclO4yacqfAalMN7QCcP44I/s400/P+Mangone.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%"> <br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/philip-mangone.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%"><br>Philip Mangone</span> <br>New York, NY <br>Clothing designer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVPXdahNQtmCgAr77VDJKMv8Hl6co6V0E50xp5JbsLKG6ZW-OQp28nyw0V6-HViUB_Aw25rQnYBMg3M7jEG4Fy2zQ6layGcfSF9ZZ6Ggz6y6ju40jRXqUbfkgfKYSoNIui5OE_V340ug/s1600-h/Margaret+Mather.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396770745799229618" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 115px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVPXdahNQtmCgAr77VDJKMv8Hl6co6V0E50xp5JbsLKG6ZW-OQp28nyw0V6-HViUB_Aw25rQnYBMg3M7jEG4Fy2zQ6layGcfSF9ZZ6Ggz6y6ju40jRXqUbfkgfKYSoNIui5OE_V340ug/s400/Margaret+Mather.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/margaret-mather.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Margaret Mather</span> <br>Rome, Italy <br>Heiress</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQQnllay0LK4GphA72BQe6M7WQtZZKQ76IfVFO97_h_DrbSIOJoXkn2sAEI_l1MjHRCk7PLudxxnt9SRpZ8plbR41v8wzIyx6EJs4k45kuLKDg22L8t91EZoO_SII73SFwoqurkq6A7I/s1600-h/Morris2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396771933132171122" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 116px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQQnllay0LK4GphA72BQe6M7WQtZZKQ76IfVFO97_h_DrbSIOJoXkn2sAEI_l1MjHRCk7PLudxxnt9SRpZ8plbR41v8wzIyx6EJs4k45kuLKDg22L8t91EZoO_SII73SFwoqurkq6A7I/s400/Morris2.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/nelson-morris.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Nelson Morris</span> <br>Homewood, IL <br>Executive - Armour and Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj97NcqziW8ohkWyg3cyPzboHo5H-0MJVhP7WlmijAKOBR7WprNVD-V8Y7uGNQFBUJKvCd7xtk7z8dRjfRpcz5FzUwJjBVfCoZGbInXqeWHmUrMC38yc3SwOIm1vKfhjOpym__2Tujrsb4/s1600-h/O'Laughlin2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396774359738661730" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 126px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj97NcqziW8ohkWyg3cyPzboHo5H-0MJVhP7WlmijAKOBR7WprNVD-V8Y7uGNQFBUJKvCd7xtk7z8dRjfRpcz5FzUwJjBVfCoZGbInXqeWHmUrMC38yc3SwOIm1vKfhjOpym__2Tujrsb4/s400/O'Laughlin2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/herbert-j-olaughlin.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Herbert O'Laughlin</span> <br>Elgin, IL <br>President - Consumers Coal and Coke Co. of Elgin, IL</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6Pr_XOq6g5C_RqVz8vlT0-oR1PpGBNfhuE7_DbODDllwLBa1Fj5lcKrQG23-N8LyAK6TQvqsucwDC1dsn3-TUva_PK5g_qHndojmGQ-LNtgG6kB4gPVNThLnW4K3MtOPtExvciBerns/s1600-h/Clifford+Osbun4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396772366980123986" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 136px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6Pr_XOq6g5C_RqVz8vlT0-oR1PpGBNfhuE7_DbODDllwLBa1Fj5lcKrQG23-N8LyAK6TQvqsucwDC1dsn3-TUva_PK5g_qHndojmGQ-LNtgG6kB4gPVNThLnW4K3MtOPtExvciBerns/s400/Clifford+Osbun4.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/clifford-l-osbun.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Clifford Osbun</span> <br>Park Ridge, IL <br>Sales Manager - Oliver Farm Equipment Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVeNVH-dn3RD1y1-7MpuQHwiBEMnZbM5qSsVZT4FAVtshXgV3BJZKTa8uwdRGc1zy31sOp1coi-6v2_u-udLuHbKuDMnH10UuSKUnYYe-07uj8UiRZ4gmyAmUeHfPSGYivhtxQQicMSY/s1600/John+Pannes6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454773001949647634" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 129px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVeNVH-dn3RD1y1-7MpuQHwiBEMnZbM5qSsVZT4FAVtshXgV3BJZKTa8uwdRGc1zy31sOp1coi-6v2_u-udLuHbKuDMnH10UuSKUnYYe-07uj8UiRZ4gmyAmUeHfPSGYivhtxQQicMSY/s400/John+Pannes6.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><span style="font-size: 130%"><br></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/john-and-emma-pannes.html"><span style="font-size: 100%"><span style="font-weight: bold">John Pannes</span></span> <br>Plandome, NY <br>New York manager - Hamburg-America Line</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLuQyOSIbSS3TwFheuiTQOvf7mX21vNAC1Wi6K9GshVYHpLupfSzG_X_GcMt7d784dSGtzK20iHXd8F0MQxAUlA0MAY9ypu1kX_5QtTAzSOa0J0aXXvGtBBQ9dGJKRYbcD5jCieNdrwNM/s1600/Emma+Pannes5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454772771654499362" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 118px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLuQyOSIbSS3TwFheuiTQOvf7mX21vNAC1Wi6K9GshVYHpLupfSzG_X_GcMt7d784dSGtzK20iHXd8F0MQxAUlA0MAY9ypu1kX_5QtTAzSOa0J0aXXvGtBBQ9dGJKRYbcD5jCieNdrwNM/s400/Emma+Pannes5.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/john-and-emma-pannes.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Emma Pannes</span> <br>Plandome, NY</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0bdm62fJZY10-70RL-KzB6JAWeL3GElqGJ_9QZWStQS9KvxR6Ojpi4ArTbBqI8mwbFmwAWnI6bASyWxP6J38SueBX-5izPi899PMJUfDh0bWnW0VH9eQG81FQ3t6Kz0LMZknD1T4UZk/s1600/Otto-Reichhold+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467556862774300082" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 138px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0bdm62fJZY10-70RL-KzB6JAWeL3GElqGJ_9QZWStQS9KvxR6Ojpi4ArTbBqI8mwbFmwAWnI6bASyWxP6J38SueBX-5izPi899PMJUfDh0bWnW0VH9eQG81FQ3t6Kz0LMZknD1T4UZk/s400/Otto-Reichhold+2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br></span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/otto-reichhold.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Otto Reichhold</span> <br>Vienna, Austria <br>Manager - Beck, Koller & Co.</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mngqQBMgVrpwS3Nj2UDqgsep60eqs1dI-nT1y8697gJSc0T33KGxOKObAQuQz7rQyJXkhamE7WMd5Tv3h-8O1VL1ztzjhytdzcZfqav5Lnzn9rqikFuwpL2b5mua6LNhDQsX_nM-7RA/s1600/Joseph+Spah.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477824065617632098" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 121px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mngqQBMgVrpwS3Nj2UDqgsep60eqs1dI-nT1y8697gJSc0T33KGxOKObAQuQz7rQyJXkhamE7WMd5Tv3h-8O1VL1ztzjhytdzcZfqav5Lnzn9rqikFuwpL2b5mua6LNhDQsX_nM-7RA/s400/Joseph+Spah.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-size: 100%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/joseph-sph.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Joseph Spah</span> <br>Douglaston, Long Island, NY <br>Vaudeville acrobat/comedian</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImLKZUGVrAxEXxYq3369Doa-_LOljOSjzktcnKMFJkQupg1PS2vjZV6MvCbNhNhOxTEtz9R687-6C1pgop-vOD0GYOkzetQh79DcYcJou-SGKhciDCVlLJmMX6UmIAmxQAZo94nmla-k/s1600-h/NoPhoto2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396763869057805618" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 104px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImLKZUGVrAxEXxYq3369Doa-_LOljOSjzktcnKMFJkQupg1PS2vjZV6MvCbNhNhOxTEtz9R687-6C1pgop-vOD0GYOkzetQh79DcYcJou-SGKhciDCVlLJmMX6UmIAmxQAZo94nmla-k/s400/NoPhoto2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/08/emil-stockle.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Emil Stöckle</span> <br>Frankfurt, Germany <br>Mail Inspector - Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPeoqjI4bd0_mJS53T71h6QzXDHFWwV2g9sw_ojEr7H3_ZmAZmCNoIgfg89brpbo8Ob_4slWOEgm4K6gxpkjB9wu62l6hbcSWp4-xHrOVuVCh7R5YrnAL__obE1fHupAsYP5ZTe8W9s8/s1600-h/Hans+Vinholt2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396773123738172002" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 105px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPeoqjI4bd0_mJS53T71h6QzXDHFWwV2g9sw_ojEr7H3_ZmAZmCNoIgfg89brpbo8Ob_4slWOEgm4K6gxpkjB9wu62l6hbcSWp4-xHrOVuVCh7R5YrnAL__obE1fHupAsYP5ZTe8W9s8/s400/Hans+Vinholt2.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-size: 100%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/hans-vinholt.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Hans Vinholt</span> <br>Copenhagen, Denmark <br>Retired businessman</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoHHL6PgbXtARD2TX8kRn2-5vxz3fR8MEP4kgA06g8Td2aGp2DdL5stvxBQNWNcsC2WLYD4lEYd0Gw2yBdcTI_E94HdCSmwzZ7AeliGVwAy9-e5XFNtiAL9lisaJ2H9k8ixG0NXmUxZs/s1600-h/Rolf+von+Heidenstam4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396773573799270882" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 86px; cursor: pointer; height: 116px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoHHL6PgbXtARD2TX8kRn2-5vxz3fR8MEP4kgA06g8Td2aGp2DdL5stvxBQNWNcsC2WLYD4lEYd0Gw2yBdcTI_E94HdCSmwzZ7AeliGVwAy9-e5XFNtiAL9lisaJ2H9k8ixG0NXmUxZs/s400/Rolf+von+Heidenstam4.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-size: 100%"> <br><br></span><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rolf-von-heidenstam.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Rolf von Heidenstam</span> <br>Stockholm, Sweden <br>Executive, AGA Group</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImLKZUGVrAxEXxYq3369Doa-_LOljOSjzktcnKMFJkQupg1PS2vjZV6MvCbNhNhOxTEtz9R687-6C1pgop-vOD0GYOkzetQh79DcYcJou-SGKhciDCVlLJmMX6UmIAmxQAZo94nmla-k/s1600-h/NoPhoto2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396763869057805618" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 97px; cursor: pointer; height: 105px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImLKZUGVrAxEXxYq3369Doa-_LOljOSjzktcnKMFJkQupg1PS2vjZV6MvCbNhNhOxTEtz9R687-6C1pgop-vOD0GYOkzetQh79DcYcJou-SGKhciDCVlLJmMX6UmIAmxQAZo94nmla-k/s400/NoPhoto2.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/major-hans-hugo-witt.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%">Major Hans-Hugo Witt</span> <br>Barth-in-Pommern, Germany <br>German Luftwaffe,</a> <br><br><br></span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com82tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-82518061817720835992009-10-25T19:47:00.056-05:002017-02-24T14:01:34.317-06:00Crew of LZ 129 Hindenburg - May 3-6, 1937<br><span style="font-family: arial">The following is a list of the 61 crew members of the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> <span style="font-family: arial">on its last flight, with links to the biographic articles for each. <br><br>Those who died as a result of the crash are listed in <span style="font-style: italic">italics.</span> <br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>COMMANDING OFFICER</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGaVsFGpBV3g5y7XoBHw9wrPIMDrVvLS0K_rokRoTmuk6MQcbMjvpW3EpVCkmxGTsBfR3kZgyKIgzcQ0pn8M4i114JA_3qnFIheWnZ6Ur2k0Q8LUmx-9V0os7kzsVR4ewXmbVlZ1tl2Y/s1600-h/Captain+Pruss.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398840060537632338" style="cursor: pointer; height: 136px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGaVsFGpBV3g5y7XoBHw9wrPIMDrVvLS0K_rokRoTmuk6MQcbMjvpW3EpVCkmxGTsBfR3kZgyKIgzcQ0pn8M4i114JA_3qnFIheWnZ6Ur2k0Q8LUmx-9V0os7kzsVR4ewXmbVlZ1tl2Y/s400/Captain+Pruss.jpg"></a></span> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Captain Max Pruss</a> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><u>WATCH OFFICERS</u> <br></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWb9_DQEFjC3JodmQWIKq2AcDf1MN-cE4x0siHOFoyVE8FHe0hrcHfDfW6kLni2ChSk0zO3wX5xoHoHsaq_afhZWSYTg2H9glJ0u_i2uu1JyjZt8BYkfmg8ntHHC2s1XR7E8ZgMsiRu0/s1600-h/Captain+Sammt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398840235584481218" style="cursor: pointer; height: 120px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWb9_DQEFjC3JodmQWIKq2AcDf1MN-cE4x0siHOFoyVE8FHe0hrcHfDfW6kLni2ChSk0zO3wX5xoHoHsaq_afhZWSYTg2H9glJ0u_i2uu1JyjZt8BYkfmg8ntHHC2s1XR7E8ZgMsiRu0/s400/Captain+Sammt.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html">Captain Albert Sammt </a><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sHZNbgZxadebPdJRhDIsvjZnJvKmpfTcQZHr5zoGUx_BD2pPlWV9idN3tQYnPwpJMR05iJqZPTaJJWAFdNsQLYa3_LxfSunEYpWt2yEtRFLKIXrUVWq-_J0wd1_3avkW4QasPFuw5tQ/s1600-h/Captain+Bauer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398840389648117634" style="cursor: pointer; height: 126px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sHZNbgZxadebPdJRhDIsvjZnJvKmpfTcQZHr5zoGUx_BD2pPlWV9idN3tQYnPwpJMR05iJqZPTaJJWAFdNsQLYa3_LxfSunEYpWt2yEtRFLKIXrUVWq-_J0wd1_3avkW4QasPFuw5tQ/s400/Captain+Bauer.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5kx23ZVTQw2HFT-ZT3pdNr_3-jmQHiOK9F62RnFvubO32gNqW8Up9NoXsXGvRSpN9r6bfQzwE0O5OBRj1uehk5G474bi9TR5lR03G7EApo5jxJWjamhNYYjiP9lFoZUpq-uYO_HzNfU/s1600-h/Captain+Ziegler.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398840557841677810" style="cursor: pointer; height: 142px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5kx23ZVTQw2HFT-ZT3pdNr_3-jmQHiOK9F62RnFvubO32gNqW8Up9NoXsXGvRSpN9r6bfQzwE0O5OBRj1uehk5G474bi9TR5lR03G7EApo5jxJWjamhNYYjiP9lFoZUpq-uYO_HzNfU/s400/Captain+Ziegler.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html"><span style="font-weight: bold">Captain Walter Ziegler</span> </a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>OBSERVERS</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKi9-dh2s8l8025TLGR-RSZhv6PYUwowFHW5ZvLnTFGqURt1adfBs3ASNACWoKeNgiz9vsGa1Nevyj5EYjCBiZm73hRXasI8O0PNcWPwHoptZKP1MG9PUvbAhxguAscKTJvwsPGbHyEI/s1600-h/Captain+Lehmann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398840676646174498" style="cursor: pointer; height: 124px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKi9-dh2s8l8025TLGR-RSZhv6PYUwowFHW5ZvLnTFGqURt1adfBs3ASNACWoKeNgiz9vsGa1Nevyj5EYjCBiZm73hRXasI8O0PNcWPwHoptZKP1MG9PUvbAhxguAscKTJvwsPGbHyEI/s400/Captain+Lehmann.jpg"></a><a style="font-family: arial" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html"> </a><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html"><span style="font-style: italic">Captain Ernst Lehmann</span></a></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-style: italic"> </span> <br></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgieAz7ZMLZszgT8zvhUECYAY2kKmF5vKwlh1IsgDsM_8sVN4-RBg4lurOWxWm44rN6UcTWAceXhWadITJmmtMLJ0ItKhbKeli5iMsDmhSpHJZvWLRKWtBWbB0Puj6LPkUDo3fTGNM0A/s1600-h/Captain+Wittemann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398840795389945042" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgieAz7ZMLZszgT8zvhUECYAY2kKmF5vKwlh1IsgDsM_8sVN4-RBg4lurOWxWm44rN6UcTWAceXhWadITJmmtMLJ0ItKhbKeli5iMsDmhSpHJZvWLRKWtBWbB0Puj6LPkUDo3fTGNM0A/s400/Captain+Wittemann.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Captain Anton Wittemann</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>NAVIGATORS</u></span> <br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbK9f7xlCGg3YUjz0tTfuBqfzU4Ebyq4q_680QwNcfS2p0aWw9E4uhKD4kTFQGokw-rvHLWkDJBgkMnYIAqqvFfh6esRnZNacVCk1iuxYd8iQXJ-hPHrZQSE0cfDp2GFUBrLkP3OugEaw/s1600-h/Max%252520Zabel%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="Max Zabel" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Max Zabel" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Iz_735EST08/WLCRHWOlMFI/AAAAAAAAE2E/2MXAHnJNGSY/Max%252520Zabel_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="102" align="left" height="138"></a> <br><br><br><br> <a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/max-zabel.html">Max Zabel</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br></span><br> <div class="separator" style="text-align: center; clear: both"><span style="font-family: arial"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left; margin-right: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHiVlrT1o_u9Hv5Oj8FZdYvsEi7CucigwSUer9hO9rFWbbp66076-CLqk77vj7aR4rp_lY4LDIZyPRtXE67mZThviF0QYvFwXA3jrN9SfXWUTVyLwBHXKybRH5xamSMUZzJ4ALF621VI/s1600/Franz+Herzog.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHiVlrT1o_u9Hv5Oj8FZdYvsEi7CucigwSUer9hO9rFWbbp66076-CLqk77vj7aR4rp_lY4LDIZyPRtXE67mZThviF0QYvFwXA3jrN9SfXWUTVyLwBHXKybRH5xamSMUZzJ4ALF621VI/s1600/Franz+Herzog.jpg"></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br> </span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/franz-herzog.html">Franz Herzog </a></span><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial"> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9tYnwVJtWxuVHMCMUi825wAtc4-LzRnkeOPGxTMSTrLATDUEXpI-gHP66ueg4SfTa4vP_dXOUKHg_woeCCBs16EUmQI23gUFx1iK0Dfk4ILl5xYtWTIJ1xw5Nyb6yeEWb6RxpvZPtGo/s1600-h/Boetius.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398841780403978594" style="cursor: pointer; height: 144px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9tYnwVJtWxuVHMCMUi825wAtc4-LzRnkeOPGxTMSTrLATDUEXpI-gHP66ueg4SfTa4vP_dXOUKHg_woeCCBs16EUmQI23gUFx1iK0Dfk4ILl5xYtWTIJ1xw5Nyb6yeEWb6RxpvZPtGo/s400/Boetius.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html">Eduard Boetius</a> <br><br><br></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1FvTbrXMEjzFMP-ANJOa_LYib6LObua5i_T9XJlnuQe-sXK6JPND_USeapzsjSD0N-wK5Q9nf2q4MAvzYpzAPikpMct7mxabRRflk29qP0GAUoJwNNhtRHcLGqDSRBOVePqkGrPeYsM/s1600-h/Nielsen.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398841917370012818" style="cursor: pointer; height: 127px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1FvTbrXMEjzFMP-ANJOa_LYib6LObua5i_T9XJlnuQe-sXK6JPND_USeapzsjSD0N-wK5Q9nf2q4MAvzYpzAPikpMct7mxabRRflk29qP0GAUoJwNNhtRHcLGqDSRBOVePqkGrPeYsM/s400/Nielsen.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/christian-nielsen.html">Christian Nielsen </a><br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><u>ELEVATORMEN</u> </span></span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMo62Wq1VAMmAfu7upfRZjiIxoBIOzKIzuQQNRRvh5lOgoEeuN519l5vxEK8SLc4JTSX5Ob6SQ2VNo7B2O8dyU9DRuVQa6douL6JeGTRetwtYgYVwTHtepz-JQ1F8yqKFHzCsCDcvnu8/s1600-h/Huchel.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842079003910210" style="cursor: pointer; height: 126px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMo62Wq1VAMmAfu7upfRZjiIxoBIOzKIzuQQNRRvh5lOgoEeuN519l5vxEK8SLc4JTSX5Ob6SQ2VNo7B2O8dyU9DRuVQa6douL6JeGTRetwtYgYVwTHtepz-JQ1F8yqKFHzCsCDcvnu8/s400/Huchel.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/ernst-huchel.html">Ernst Huchel</a><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-style: italic"> </span>— (Senior Elevatorman)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihk8KLyPVXu_VDg71Vpn7TcbxUAiDnd2SrviWQTIrSO4Jvkw_zMJhqeVuEYmCGsjoeGyBkRfzZ-VLQjchST-aDEJF6HjPfRegGXOlNulU1gdLhDPtWT_VWuttWfhyGpbiuRi8SCyb7fjc/s1600-h/K+Bauer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842243436891106" style="cursor: pointer; height: 135px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihk8KLyPVXu_VDg71Vpn7TcbxUAiDnd2SrviWQTIrSO4Jvkw_zMJhqeVuEYmCGsjoeGyBkRfzZ-VLQjchST-aDEJF6HjPfRegGXOlNulU1gdLhDPtWT_VWuttWfhyGpbiuRi8SCyb7fjc/s400/K+Bauer.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/kurt-bauer.html">Kurt Bauer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5T_LgppINARJuWR7hAPqyagcAGUUF6x6izn275zH6xPPBOakhp4ExaJrmXsURduDCE-UfJ1rwl1aKO8XWbuOOurHILrM0qjm2fxGcsgH1Wz2NWL8h-BOHKDKaHZKJZIJuhPWjfUAhits/s1600-h/Felber.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842418293627826" style="cursor: pointer; height: 136px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5T_LgppINARJuWR7hAPqyagcAGUUF6x6izn275zH6xPPBOakhp4ExaJrmXsURduDCE-UfJ1rwl1aKO8XWbuOOurHILrM0qjm2fxGcsgH1Wz2NWL8h-BOHKDKaHZKJZIJuhPWjfUAhits/s400/Felber.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/ludwig-felber.html">Ludwig Felber</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>HELMSMEN</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrTgK8n4YS2bET2BALiIXulSHAJtzTTWwsS5AU0Rnakmilz0b4R9vrKgzljocunvUJqOjSed06KjupdQop9-EGtgB6PhWvvlc8Cn0c-epVuxiBNOGVdzlGJvMT19wFR82qaY-CmXzouc/s1600-h/Schoenherr.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842609608071586" style="cursor: pointer; height: 124px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrTgK8n4YS2bET2BALiIXulSHAJtzTTWwsS5AU0Rnakmilz0b4R9vrKgzljocunvUJqOjSed06KjupdQop9-EGtgB6PhWvvlc8Cn0c-epVuxiBNOGVdzlGJvMT19wFR82qaY-CmXzouc/s400/Schoenherr.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/kurt-schonherr.html">Kurt Schönherr</a><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-weight: bold"> </span>— (Senior Helmsman)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsNfvfQWJR_LKQy6I81tFGuamR4MDVT4vvjcAv1o_UvcqVML6g96tkmNtm2kYlI5N3320bORuA7OPHWma8v8ojRHNmGWoZbgTTf38Eq7im5FQYuC1Jz-3tJ9xFsV4gaSrXkOZVFFQv7E/s1600-h/Bernhardt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842765565610514" style="cursor: pointer; height: 135px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsNfvfQWJR_LKQy6I81tFGuamR4MDVT4vvjcAv1o_UvcqVML6g96tkmNtm2kYlI5N3320bORuA7OPHWma8v8ojRHNmGWoZbgTTf38Eq7im5FQYuC1Jz-3tJ9xFsV4gaSrXkOZVFFQv7E/s400/Bernhardt.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/alfred-bernhardt.html">Alfred Bernhardt</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStqTDC4Gtb3OEps-AE9q_JFYJY7qBDf7zyzAHmi0spCGDN3rV-epXiazwBXYgiQqupesxF7CS95MFAHdzLr6Q2_Obvxdc2DE81leUnOH7PHDoqqp5-pjUGCmVIXvTTFI7htaowoS9a_w/s1600-h/Lau.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842890110602642" style="cursor: pointer; height: 130px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStqTDC4Gtb3OEps-AE9q_JFYJY7qBDf7zyzAHmi0spCGDN3rV-epXiazwBXYgiQqupesxF7CS95MFAHdzLr6Q2_Obvxdc2DE81leUnOH7PHDoqqp5-pjUGCmVIXvTTFI7htaowoS9a_w/s400/Lau.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/helmut-lau.html">Helmut Lau </a><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><br></span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>RADIO OPERATORS</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtGAB26UROerySLi1m0xqVJqit-UQ7cZtVbjMXorVtP93L4dP9x0HC8Glk_FRuHsKSx_d5t0brA5Y0QCWIjnwB1S_T84LhTa37JYIAAx6kooyrQ_rF8y7OXQ0T7JDf_H6zzEMKO5Q0Z4/s1600-h/Speck.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398842997713355010" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtGAB26UROerySLi1m0xqVJqit-UQ7cZtVbjMXorVtP93L4dP9x0HC8Glk_FRuHsKSx_d5t0brA5Y0QCWIjnwB1S_T84LhTa37JYIAAx6kooyrQ_rF8y7OXQ0T7JDf_H6zzEMKO5Q0Z4/s400/Speck.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willy-speck.html">Willy Speck</a><span style="font-family: arial"> — (Chief Radio Operator)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CcztK00_7bBJroD5XJdOjoz6siGRznt_2R49FcY-iv4YkVrztPdH4bneRo45LU1cniqJfyLufqtExZk1B_mHs2oIfB21uXeVQi5MacOwvpxhQ3rw2rUmXFQLuZiQTepCdaUYu2FhiKg/s1600-h/Eichelmann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398843159959478034" style="cursor: pointer; height: 118px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CcztK00_7bBJroD5XJdOjoz6siGRznt_2R49FcY-iv4YkVrztPdH4bneRo45LU1cniqJfyLufqtExZk1B_mHs2oIfB21uXeVQi5MacOwvpxhQ3rw2rUmXFQLuZiQTepCdaUYu2FhiKg/s400/Eichelmann.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/franz-eichelmann.html">Franz Eichelmann</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWxEFMHNORfiY54DZuAMjsOazI3VVUBMDveHUS7YRrcbR579h7XW2D1zpW2_nU5dcdVZQM21ZT28I8Mq_TBjZEgpfxrwh6m-sdx_rntx_5MfsFWCFEqdbQTYWWdEKIZKGFQnzfLSRKEJE/s1600-h/Schweikard.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398843330718077602" style="cursor: pointer; height: 140px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWxEFMHNORfiY54DZuAMjsOazI3VVUBMDveHUS7YRrcbR579h7XW2D1zpW2_nU5dcdVZQM21ZT28I8Mq_TBjZEgpfxrwh6m-sdx_rntx_5MfsFWCFEqdbQTYWWdEKIZKGFQnzfLSRKEJE/s400/Schweikard.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/egon-schweikard.html">Egon Schweikard</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCXVsRbMkxUb9BoNSzOyJ2KXXusgVCwktzp7xXWbxx5Ppi3AigyIxKbR-u2i2vpX8jwgIGeJ642_dCJJjrXmy64n8ZHIv8e6a_3KdBiEldg07WECEYpAI0fBGCAzgziRMoqfwXuaBuWc/s1600/Herbert+Dowe+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563945991135032114" style="cursor: pointer; height: 123px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCXVsRbMkxUb9BoNSzOyJ2KXXusgVCwktzp7xXWbxx5Ppi3AigyIxKbR-u2i2vpX8jwgIGeJ642_dCJJjrXmy64n8ZHIv8e6a_3KdBiEldg07WECEYpAI0fBGCAzgziRMoqfwXuaBuWc/s400/Herbert+Dowe+2.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/herbert-dowe.html">Herbert Dowe</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>ENGINEERS</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyHJpM5yhpCIdvPmg1H0epgWZQQ4Xuk6VNCjqhnCqKX-siSkEREud2EoX3zEwVSPWoiIiHM-TOMHDqVAMTc-jVBnb1upG8YEDajtA50Yk9QBjcNhdE4f0LQudL4wi3s6EcU2N3EVlj9Z0/s1600-h/Sauter.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398843674607053362" style="cursor: pointer; height: 122px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyHJpM5yhpCIdvPmg1H0epgWZQQ4Xuk6VNCjqhnCqKX-siSkEREud2EoX3zEwVSPWoiIiHM-TOMHDqVAMTc-jVBnb1upG8YEDajtA50Yk9QBjcNhdE4f0LQudL4wi3s6EcU2N3EVlj9Z0/s400/Sauter.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Rudolf Sauter</a><span style="font-family: arial"> — (Chief Engineer)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4MeBI3dVAqEhbvWL0MG8leMT9oAEkDAmNKynon4RSwW5JmgrmcHaCpYaBzMobmaey2gdhuiThd5wS2DLB9U2UE9GXDvlmZIqPKDeQopxnptRoOQ_cMGJtsnqhZu_1IEtKHK6n0GM7M4/s1600-h/Schaeuble.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398843860065285202" style="cursor: pointer; height: 135px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4MeBI3dVAqEhbvWL0MG8leMT9oAEkDAmNKynon4RSwW5JmgrmcHaCpYaBzMobmaey2gdhuiThd5wS2DLB9U2UE9GXDvlmZIqPKDeQopxnptRoOQ_cMGJtsnqhZu_1IEtKHK6n0GM7M4/s400/Schaeuble.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/eugen-schuble.html">Eugen Schäuble </a><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VptckoVGxbxf0GK77_m_Xl4f1zYDf-qOv5h1JG4c949zr1LUpovObvYi7mTXdk2x0npEuU-1FY2ZddNKLo9BwwykTtgg9dNjymo_8Ivu-jNcRBWjBItEX4OZAb186pwcNvHRZ5Hxbyw/s1600-h/Dimmler.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398844011114387362" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VptckoVGxbxf0GK77_m_Xl4f1zYDf-qOv5h1JG4c949zr1LUpovObvYi7mTXdk2x0npEuU-1FY2ZddNKLo9BwwykTtgg9dNjymo_8Ivu-jNcRBWjBItEX4OZAb186pwcNvHRZ5Hxbyw/s400/Dimmler.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/wilhelm-dimmler.html">Wilhelm Dimmler</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5usiCYC4zWaavztBwY5SI_4-iqvEJWhZr8zBjrri1ix8XSVSkO0QfAZ8siC9Lr4td6y3BRT2zmTgPp0u-hy5Bj4m5Ir3d1R5PixHl-4QdoLhbOg4fbQ1D2bmN03HxpyQKifeOPOSdoo/s1600/Schadler1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506986324583984418" style="cursor: pointer; height: 140px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5usiCYC4zWaavztBwY5SI_4-iqvEJWhZr8zBjrri1ix8XSVSkO0QfAZ8siC9Lr4td6y3BRT2zmTgPp0u-hy5Bj4m5Ir3d1R5PixHl-4QdoLhbOg4fbQ1D2bmN03HxpyQKifeOPOSdoo/s400/Schadler1.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/raphael-schdler.html">Raphael Schädler</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>ENGINE MECHANICS</u> <br></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold">-Engine #1 (starboard aft)-</span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJnlupyEuOA1z1z3M2PKeUSpeSTgW4wPseW3b2XRtd4nKAp2WT7njbEKEGE_mcb8TF0q4ZiCa4-f4zLnYZK_QgnLzv_mP3NEbrVgzN1jYY_p6FZMgPM2CCQLhyphenhyphen6U-FH8a390Xj-AR_7M/s1600-h/Banholzer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398844451426639522" style="cursor: pointer; height: 140px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJnlupyEuOA1z1z3M2PKeUSpeSTgW4wPseW3b2XRtd4nKAp2WT7njbEKEGE_mcb8TF0q4ZiCa4-f4zLnYZK_QgnLzv_mP3NEbrVgzN1jYY_p6FZMgPM2CCQLhyphenhyphen6U-FH8a390Xj-AR_7M/s400/Banholzer.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/walter-banholzer.html">Walter Banholzer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqTKr3MwQEja4K_vRnpzqWO0AvUiD66avJO6P1H1XGKgqzUOqUOdJir_6xO8z8Iu-H9GIS6rmvRMe5jC4HL7U_DfDdex63y0qH_ja1Gl_JZz2hw3qw6_HXYhLXrYjodFxIdZ0gRR8Dvw/s1600-h/Bialas.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398844593710958162" style="cursor: pointer; height: 136px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqTKr3MwQEja4K_vRnpzqWO0AvUiD66avJO6P1H1XGKgqzUOqUOdJir_6xO8z8Iu-H9GIS6rmvRMe5jC4HL7U_DfDdex63y0qH_ja1Gl_JZz2hw3qw6_HXYhLXrYjodFxIdZ0gRR8Dvw/s400/Bialas.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudi-bialas.html">Rudi Bialas</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa604nbgxFb_gsZSOSp0rmhEehcWpEU_h7KJIbuJlOOsVtCYTBIrrpXN08A7F6W6tIk-EZlGYrf3jJpBmkD43hK14AtdQ7tPq8bszvyCIAtX7JQM6n3_IcK6Iz1_3Su6IKtAymMDR4F4/s1600-h/Schreibmueller.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398844702295281378" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa604nbgxFb_gsZSOSp0rmhEehcWpEU_h7KJIbuJlOOsVtCYTBIrrpXN08A7F6W6tIk-EZlGYrf3jJpBmkD43hK14AtdQ7tPq8bszvyCIAtX7JQM6n3_IcK6Iz1_3Su6IKtAymMDR4F4/s400/Schreibmueller.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/josef-schreibmller.html">Josef Schreibmüller</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold">-Engine #2 (port aft)-</span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEOO6hX6CJ8DFR6V9nBUatqV6oQafTAfcgsU2pRB2Bwv5DJ-qyWURA3SrHwSaWcrsmCJZN5bU2niVXOuzrCeeET9y7IvVy22trCiojcBxhmXnFeqTBiJZp1pC_UBXwrb3fUVG42ofUmY/s1600-h/Deutschle.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398844893426445362" style="cursor: pointer; height: 121px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEOO6hX6CJ8DFR6V9nBUatqV6oQafTAfcgsU2pRB2Bwv5DJ-qyWURA3SrHwSaWcrsmCJZN5bU2niVXOuzrCeeET9y7IvVy22trCiojcBxhmXnFeqTBiJZp1pC_UBXwrb3fUVG42ofUmY/s400/Deutschle.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/august-deutschle.html">August Deutschle</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0sotrg9npRJA4J55EUz5tJzVC_eHEimfrcM-N2sYK3A5f97PlByYkIm627GJ-roVzlHhcCqwck1URukJkpGp9zmSpx_TdYjsjKfWh9-WZ9h8jQ27_vO5pSCpb9Yuhq_QmVPzNMMM55k/s1600-h/Fisher.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398888237715049938" style="cursor: pointer; height: 122px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0sotrg9npRJA4J55EUz5tJzVC_eHEimfrcM-N2sYK3A5f97PlByYkIm627GJ-roVzlHhcCqwck1URukJkpGp9zmSpx_TdYjsjKfWh9-WZ9h8jQ27_vO5pSCpb9Yuhq_QmVPzNMMM55k/s400/Fisher.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/adolf-fischer.html">Adolf Fischer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGLN3N6PEHjSlfyQcZ-OEDBJ8FbV0rmq77GC2LtUPxIjxw9xyTkgD0gM1wwrwvS42G0WJRzQ9VfApgRzfUnijIPmFS-9rgfhsJKl-Zeimagr-28kJdYkpyhDeRf13-Gymc4QWY2JXE-I/s1600-h/Stoeckle.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398845167291351634" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGLN3N6PEHjSlfyQcZ-OEDBJ8FbV0rmq77GC2LtUPxIjxw9xyTkgD0gM1wwrwvS42G0WJRzQ9VfApgRzfUnijIPmFS-9rgfhsJKl-Zeimagr-28kJdYkpyhDeRf13-Gymc4QWY2JXE-I/s400/Stoeckle.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/alfred-stockle.html">Alfred Stöckle</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold">-Engine #3 (starboard forward)-</span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAHSAMjY_kDaz9s6hOemZ7iueEZCu3tMWwx5BK7vUdfrzgIsMaIH8g7vk-At0ANT-OEVpvrczpTjf5WtT6OBIA_sILxpG7jYeX1DybVswoCZrLjJwlJyfCErKXzdOar1vixHY4_Ij964/s1600-h/Zettel.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398845337106743602" style="cursor: pointer; height: 115px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAHSAMjY_kDaz9s6hOemZ7iueEZCu3tMWwx5BK7vUdfrzgIsMaIH8g7vk-At0ANT-OEVpvrczpTjf5WtT6OBIA_sILxpG7jYeX1DybVswoCZrLjJwlJyfCErKXzdOar1vixHY4_Ij964/s400/Zettel.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/german-zettel.html">German Zettel</a><span style="font-family: arial"> — (Chief Mechanic)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXSpFEJrwiQglDf_OyTQ-YF0MtlfCZ_3tViIuvHLHrOR8i3VrTWIgj6YQwmlZx0MmEtDJ7-bSj3b_Q6FPZhYKN1p7l-dELkjRnDgadTEedMZXsKwSVAeZGzKYlhiZGWeQEyefbfx7A8o/s1600-h/Doerflein.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398845518642321298" style="cursor: pointer; height: 122px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXSpFEJrwiQglDf_OyTQ-YF0MtlfCZ_3tViIuvHLHrOR8i3VrTWIgj6YQwmlZx0MmEtDJ7-bSj3b_Q6FPZhYKN1p7l-dELkjRnDgadTEedMZXsKwSVAeZGzKYlhiZGWeQEyefbfx7A8o/s400/Doerflein.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/jonny-dorflein.html">Jonny Dörflein</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsqGzF4VU8HnTrULp12SvL5JYNC9pOBVU-lVrfBko83L32ZjwwNT89YIu1pLaMAqRpOxVxZSgrTSIRUXgknoUInpLYTK5NzAx3SbV7UVxc02GydAC3yGkT-EhBrn8bTvXwd9HPnFwP5M/s1600-h/Scheef.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398845722180922786" style="cursor: pointer; height: 142px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsqGzF4VU8HnTrULp12SvL5JYNC9pOBVU-lVrfBko83L32ZjwwNT89YIu1pLaMAqRpOxVxZSgrTSIRUXgknoUInpLYTK5NzAx3SbV7UVxc02GydAC3yGkT-EhBrn8bTvXwd9HPnFwP5M/s400/Scheef.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willi-scheef.html">Willi Scheef</a> <br><br><br><br><br></span><br><br> <div class="separator" style="text-align: center; clear: both"><span style="font-family: arial"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left; margin-right: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PFyAXMjTYYWam1bPxmSgzm7RqiS4WstOYPbCdjPK3lGTXKD2RFASP45vyr-WuU03fCJwnHmwY7iV8tRjU091mLojUdgY1Sj6im7hwRE-Jz-C5mm4T5p4Xry1IuN5Z7CQtJcHhMncox4/s1600/Wilhelm+Steeb+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PFyAXMjTYYWam1bPxmSgzm7RqiS4WstOYPbCdjPK3lGTXKD2RFASP45vyr-WuU03fCJwnHmwY7iV8tRjU091mLojUdgY1Sj6im7hwRE-Jz-C5mm4T5p4Xry1IuN5Z7CQtJcHhMncox4/s1600/Wilhelm+Steeb+2.jpg"></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/wilhelm-steeb.html">Wilhelm Steeb</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold">-Engine #3 (port forward)-</span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhC1tL5etUcqH4wkae4wQSmEXWuHyDRm0YuKQBZwp-mHgmiXIEasyag9xqIPJdy9FZCMO1ZG69fvJBNHb87OuRx4z2CnCW3MOtdl6zh0vo9pnUJOFTk0Nca5sh0R7VXfDFsoMyvYHPvtc/s1600-h/Bentele.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398846038774570578" style="cursor: pointer; height: 140px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhC1tL5etUcqH4wkae4wQSmEXWuHyDRm0YuKQBZwp-mHgmiXIEasyag9xqIPJdy9FZCMO1ZG69fvJBNHb87OuRx4z2CnCW3MOtdl6zh0vo9pnUJOFTk0Nca5sh0R7VXfDFsoMyvYHPvtc/s400/Bentele.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-bentele.html">Eugen Bentele</a><span style="font-family: arial"> — (Chief Mechanic) </span></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br></span></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizBDKv7Qp6RPDeLt7z052-FIAwCa2R1MAmOSg7ggpRDqNtXgcEZHnSTQ5j8M5UAJBmgsVvxMwhU-Z4fLMBGapVIBapYZGGlndH3KLAjPeZmhpiaF7iLBTjD-dCw8pJ1-e76HItX7e_eo/s1600-h/Kollmer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398846241526053570" style="cursor: pointer; height: 135px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizBDKv7Qp6RPDeLt7z052-FIAwCa2R1MAmOSg7ggpRDqNtXgcEZHnSTQ5j8M5UAJBmgsVvxMwhU-Z4fLMBGapVIBapYZGGlndH3KLAjPeZmhpiaF7iLBTjD-dCw8pJ1-e76HItX7e_eo/s400/Kollmer.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-kollmer.html">Richard Kollmer</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwqUTG2lOLp6whg-TPiI57IF92wcxj4f4oPBS5O6RgqksHTql_9hu49zg3RTjakyPa5U9eke6zV69u3qnGipeUuWKIOub3_jeD9sZVkl0ypgwoKLM562FL7HnSuc7tSNrn_UQac3dreXY/s1600-h/NoPhoto2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398841145460788162" style="cursor: pointer; height: 104px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwqUTG2lOLp6whg-TPiI57IF92wcxj4f4oPBS5O6RgqksHTql_9hu49zg3RTjakyPa5U9eke6zV69u3qnGipeUuWKIOub3_jeD9sZVkl0ypgwoKLM562FL7HnSuc7tSNrn_UQac3dreXY/s400/NoPhoto2.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/theodor-ritter.html">Theodor Ritter</a> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br>-Trim Watch-</span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6fPVFYesJju9pNMP_CSMkNWMpaB0yFr9z1nUamDL0D8-VzHY0n2TbgL5FEz4uUCYHCV2PhbBmoDRhcaXradvzCBgsM1D9shFMMr7ojHi9he5vKJ98uwchdzBabs93uop1rBYPKrEYlE/s1600-h/Holderried.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398846430960294370" style="cursor: pointer; height: 132px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6fPVFYesJju9pNMP_CSMkNWMpaB0yFr9z1nUamDL0D8-VzHY0n2TbgL5FEz4uUCYHCV2PhbBmoDRhcaXradvzCBgsM1D9shFMMr7ojHi9he5vKJ98uwchdzBabs93uop1rBYPKrEYlE/s400/Holderried.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/albert-holderried_08.html">Albert Holderried</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJbMBqr9cOY0qdnVyKqHguIb0N_ZFGjppGmL3xDXTGnpGH7trQCMJLXAIz2__rQGWmURPJu1NIu1woosJ2UimWaG8FKfA03V8aMq7jv8ioa6Axa8l-v9qKPAZmoRadH-2LANI2NvW6Ns/s1600-h/Moser.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398846573288394834" style="cursor: pointer; height: 136px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJbMBqr9cOY0qdnVyKqHguIb0N_ZFGjppGmL3xDXTGnpGH7trQCMJLXAIz2__rQGWmURPJu1NIu1woosJ2UimWaG8FKfA03V8aMq7jv8ioa6Axa8l-v9qKPAZmoRadH-2LANI2NvW6Ns/s400/Moser.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/robert-moser.html">Robert Moser</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_fORMsFTyGAROyQg-j0HsOsGPFpc5qMfmhy4GpNAEJ_o1MrI303iRCww-kE_UU93kEAqWBT8_crI0bEWcMMyeqq0DSQI7FzgiGGJhkQ_bLQg3e-NGQHNOMcUvhvZXeBFWSNJZ1aOGac/s1600-h/Reisacher.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398846799640836498" style="cursor: pointer; height: 120px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_fORMsFTyGAROyQg-j0HsOsGPFpc5qMfmhy4GpNAEJ_o1MrI303iRCww-kE_UU93kEAqWBT8_crI0bEWcMMyeqq0DSQI7FzgiGGJhkQ_bLQg3e-NGQHNOMcUvhvZXeBFWSNJZ1aOGac/s400/Reisacher.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/alois-reisacher.html">Alois Reisacher</a> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><u>ELECTRICIANS</u></span></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mMjvsJ2IgiqKeNGThtHX0YJrXDBDU3U0W_J_jR5_bPo344gMA09M2cyAAxsR3P6xdg6zcu8eFy0X_jYFZVVpIx2vvauDJ5KBg6txtlVuobVDV8yDdCk3g5JadXLDE2ETdj9jKH4InoU/s1600-h/Lenz.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398846931718577554" style="cursor: pointer; height: 127px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mMjvsJ2IgiqKeNGThtHX0YJrXDBDU3U0W_J_jR5_bPo344gMA09M2cyAAxsR3P6xdg6zcu8eFy0X_jYFZVVpIx2vvauDJ5KBg6txtlVuobVDV8yDdCk3g5JadXLDE2ETdj9jKH4InoU/s400/Lenz.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/crew-member-age-46-hometown.html">Philipp Lenz</a><span style="font-family: arial"> — (Chief Electrician)</span> <br><br><br><br><br></span><br> <div class="separator" style="text-align: center; clear: both"><span style="font-family: arial"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left; margin-right: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilawlYrr6gpOWk_NjA872_KhXuf7hSJ-DsiUW42s3YLG9XEwJF5oHfFK3O154bcznN4z1W9NQRiB5BWnvW-jZgq_dSLwQ0zuGld7dLW5BcLFq18XZ61pqJXxAKpH1v-mXJ-A67Z1kjcPw/s1600/Leibrecht+4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilawlYrr6gpOWk_NjA872_KhXuf7hSJ-DsiUW42s3YLG9XEwJF5oHfFK3O154bcznN4z1W9NQRiB5BWnvW-jZgq_dSLwQ0zuGld7dLW5BcLFq18XZ61pqJXxAKpH1v-mXJ-A67Z1kjcPw/s1600/Leibrecht+4.jpg"></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/josef-leibrecht.html">Josef Leibrecht</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndwYBnM_KDYUH3eCN5CXMfa0ZlD8uQwbC7qHtK0hJ_oUaCelRvD1kMy2t7XhEfTb-jZ4mAgnnZlXitNgz9v0o4pzW7mhHdOefYETocG2fKSHclaGbh-Fh1MHehVa1d3fT2H-LCMVeqrw/s1600-h/Schlapp.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398847286695830850" style="cursor: pointer; height: 128px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndwYBnM_KDYUH3eCN5CXMfa0ZlD8uQwbC7qHtK0hJ_oUaCelRvD1kMy2t7XhEfTb-jZ4mAgnnZlXitNgz9v0o4pzW7mhHdOefYETocG2fKSHclaGbh-Fh1MHehVa1d3fT2H-LCMVeqrw/s400/Schlapp.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/ernst-schlapp.html">Ernst Schlapp</a> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><u>RIGGERS</u></span></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfSWy48RcJITp-F2PK2YnkQRRnf_gDTkE3z9JDSaQ1NYxhQiYw6QlVBhBymvyds9GNmwMxKdlhIRTxFkBD4G-QCoH1tr28cu7IsYzV7Iy3o-KQ_wb8q-TShwICaTQBAClAiMYruueb1w/s1600-h/Knorr.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398847461931267778" style="cursor: pointer; height: 125px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfSWy48RcJITp-F2PK2YnkQRRnf_gDTkE3z9JDSaQ1NYxhQiYw6QlVBhBymvyds9GNmwMxKdlhIRTxFkBD4G-QCoH1tr28cu7IsYzV7Iy3o-KQ_wb8q-TShwICaTQBAClAiMYruueb1w/s400/Knorr.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/ludwig-knorr.html">Ludwig Knorr</a><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold"> </span></span>— (Chief Rigger)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQPzUtBf-t8r4VJCp-hUlk54KnUXgLZJsQqfl0GrQ6fz4sBwKRXyPef4kIWogD1Ix8OePTBAK2HpWKtVMV45WCBo76bBhhMJ2qilGnnQ1VVH1sgoY0lyCdUzGlGV1ibwNVYt_DZ3cKX8/s1600/Freund+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506985486353065778" style="cursor: pointer; height: 132px; width: 96px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQPzUtBf-t8r4VJCp-hUlk54KnUXgLZJsQqfl0GrQ6fz4sBwKRXyPef4kIWogD1Ix8OePTBAK2HpWKtVMV45WCBo76bBhhMJ2qilGnnQ1VVH1sgoY0lyCdUzGlGV1ibwNVYt_DZ3cKX8/s400/Freund+3.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/hans-freund.html">Hans Freund</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZ9fndSN1q2UC_yll9Ayl0OO5_h8iF8CAfaHNV937eKmtET99Gj-eiS0cEi9c_22fD4pv4R56pJhQHSmOnjhivqRCDN-9A7MVrMHovr0uC7FPtqH1bzMgtHcbgIbgRMQMqWU3apopgjE/s1600-h/Spehl.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398847911173721874" style="cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZ9fndSN1q2UC_yll9Ayl0OO5_h8iF8CAfaHNV937eKmtET99Gj-eiS0cEi9c_22fD4pv4R56pJhQHSmOnjhivqRCDN-9A7MVrMHovr0uC7FPtqH1bzMgtHcbgIbgRMQMqWU3apopgjE/s400/Spehl.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/erich-spehl.html">Erich Spehl</a> <br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><u>STEWARDS</u></span></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfsXrfPwB2r95EQfgMZ6_fiw7652mIDAc7y4hHOgrKuiFhx4qJOkHRt188JVreMGhW5j5uequc9IgthTT2uiOd7cD6IkhOy9jIAO3_giaPyG-N3KXE5FBLf-xyr-QCXi6VLVnEgo-ggc/s1600-h/Kubis.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398848104275119442" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfsXrfPwB2r95EQfgMZ6_fiw7652mIDAc7y4hHOgrKuiFhx4qJOkHRt188JVreMGhW5j5uequc9IgthTT2uiOd7cD6IkhOy9jIAO3_giaPyG-N3KXE5FBLf-xyr-QCXi6VLVnEgo-ggc/s400/Kubis.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Heinrich Kubis</a><span style="font-family: arial"> — (Chief Steward)</span></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"> </span> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieztUZdpKecDkrf-WBesbw6-vdzHdUULd1PwurFI5K7WWtWqDPeW65GVxYy7PCMCmZYFTGklxfiG8dkFY_YRWrcIDN9ZBI-9uVtPREvxHXBtB7_tusw_BpJL1F4GmgPfxvDbx37E7axfg/s1600-h/Balla.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398848252404308450" style="cursor: pointer; height: 124px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieztUZdpKecDkrf-WBesbw6-vdzHdUULd1PwurFI5K7WWtWqDPeW65GVxYy7PCMCmZYFTGklxfiG8dkFY_YRWrcIDN9ZBI-9uVtPREvxHXBtB7_tusw_BpJL1F4GmgPfxvDbx37E7axfg/s400/Balla.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/wilhelm-balla.html">Wilhelm Balla</a></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"> <br><br><br><br><br></span><br> <div class="separator" style="text-align: center; clear: both"><span style="font-family: arial"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left; margin-right: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qhQxdUXAU4KNDtrifif4w20mFXWBpicCU2L2eMriqCpeBC3HBdzdC2ClUgBJYy7XF_X9d4IF8B4Uie4yA1yFKgovh-S1QUCiJMAYiK_2D-cmfJT9AgayTtML96VNRkwqMLZpXD75c5g/s1600/Deeg2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qhQxdUXAU4KNDtrifif4w20mFXWBpicCU2L2eMriqCpeBC3HBdzdC2ClUgBJYy7XF_X9d4IF8B4Uie4yA1yFKgovh-S1QUCiJMAYiK_2D-cmfJT9AgayTtML96VNRkwqMLZpXD75c5g/s1600/Deeg2.jpg"></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/fritz-deeg.html">Fritz Deeg</a></span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial"> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFpqBO0fXqOCf3Ybt7aat4LBtdTNIkwseysj-E4Skc105q-FVDEgzYjyLNKyRFyHbHP5T2IIl7jrhU9tBzslUyA9CnIx1UujqIjAYdvNfQl1vsMfchFJ3Urt5emcifEVnebIqxJIOQOI/s1600-h/Henneberg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398848522617572770" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFpqBO0fXqOCf3Ybt7aat4LBtdTNIkwseysj-E4Skc105q-FVDEgzYjyLNKyRFyHbHP5T2IIl7jrhU9tBzslUyA9CnIx1UujqIjAYdvNfQl1vsMfchFJ3Urt5emcifEVnebIqxJIOQOI/s400/Henneberg.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/max-henneberg.html">Max Henneberg</a></span><br><span style="font-family: arial"> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qjv3PUR5VlIgYiBJVMtrL7YwX3_grS67dkGEBB44PYRkaFG-K6exb23vgYPORmOdcL3cfDycjprnws_3uF373byy-BL_LeA_qudsZbOnAG6IW4jh2IEyejVE-oo2p6NRSU3shB5e1Hc/s1600-h/Klein.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398848689456522930" style="cursor: pointer; height: 132px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qjv3PUR5VlIgYiBJVMtrL7YwX3_grS67dkGEBB44PYRkaFG-K6exb23vgYPORmOdcL3cfDycjprnws_3uF373byy-BL_LeA_qudsZbOnAG6IW4jh2IEyejVE-oo2p6NRSU3shB5e1Hc/s400/Klein.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/severin-klein.html">Severin Klein</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br></span><br> <div class="separator" style="text-align: center; clear: both"><span style="font-family: arial"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left; margin-right: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L1Rbi0dMF80x1aPRLzSdfLyK8SpAosC6Cjiuoki22wnVFLTl19BlYyCW8hYHxywYsIJW01zfaqUh1B6maCISeB-6uE2ReWNYVXtnzdUrae9YPVB26KMpMItIX3NMT3qoh4j5je1WFGM/s1600/Eugen+Nunnenmacher+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L1Rbi0dMF80x1aPRLzSdfLyK8SpAosC6Cjiuoki22wnVFLTl19BlYyCW8hYHxywYsIJW01zfaqUh1B6maCISeB-6uE2ReWNYVXtnzdUrae9YPVB26KMpMItIX3NMT3qoh4j5je1WFGM/s1600/Eugen+Nunnenmacher+2.jpg"></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnenmacher</a></span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial"> <br><br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBabvLGhJuO4nH_u0qXCWgcKrJKN1LUtxJsE9iJ2lvIpiN44MGQrOT1-4xRPSE5TfI6yl0TmydmFTZlVmNsK7xLgtfBkMR3LUFAH_GI4eaOv6u6rhB6idUKq0cnQ7VZgWuD8AGq6_DjI0/s1600-h/Schulze.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398849169237430962" style="cursor: pointer; height: 127px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBabvLGhJuO4nH_u0qXCWgcKrJKN1LUtxJsE9iJ2lvIpiN44MGQrOT1-4xRPSE5TfI6yl0TmydmFTZlVmNsK7xLgtfBkMR3LUFAH_GI4eaOv6u6rhB6idUKq0cnQ7VZgWuD8AGq6_DjI0/s400/Schulze.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/max-schulze.html">Max Schulze</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>STEWARDESS</u></span> <br><br><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bSbzBsroS24/Ud4rI_WgzRI/AAAAAAAACWA/h_82oXBqKTI/s1600-h/Emilie%252520Imhof%2525202%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="Emilie Imhof 2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Emilie Imhof 2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92-xapCsGsumZ1sHAB3rw8Qif5RuyX8Ig4-P6jvLtG3SQRZUTLJWMHYRd1hio9Sd-Zv_7-3BROOeHg2s_Q-hk5O2GChkPBOD0EuV8-f3VqnRmlHWF1sNSX97lEW9IH-b3Mh-ciAZ-zPw/?imgmax=800" width="101" align="left" height="133"></a> <br><br><br><br> <a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/emilie-imhof.html">Emilie Imhof</a> <br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"></span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>SHIP'S DOCTOR</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxl9672_h-3P2OnqT0Dn3go8Y1XrMBFGCNS5vG4POnLhV_LWehZJIKd2wdAD3uqYnDhUJBJw_OXJf-DgKr_s54UHAQPvrvuNfUfy9l9i85usGz7mZcyC5pGeQRQ4iF3W50qevQrD2g2H8/s1600/Ruediger.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506984424354829490" style="cursor: pointer; height: 136px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxl9672_h-3P2OnqT0Dn3go8Y1XrMBFGCNS5vG4POnLhV_LWehZJIKd2wdAD3uqYnDhUJBJw_OXJf-DgKr_s54UHAQPvrvuNfUfy9l9i85usGz7mZcyC5pGeQRQ4iF3W50qevQrD2g2H8/s400/Ruediger.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/dr-kurt-rdiger.html">Dr. Kurt Rüdiger</a> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><u>COOKS</u></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSnFZxDgp-M6tcfgvWDOsn-mPHvWJQPy6eGLh38YyDGReUp59xeQtM9GTRniKsH2EMmK-GzBLhREIvERIz1HERwSdlnZ31Y8vrIByxFKOrdruDZKuAlh4LEyHWbLujIsPFi09Pmeeeh0/s1600-h/Maier.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398849756830560322" style="cursor: pointer; height: 121px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSnFZxDgp-M6tcfgvWDOsn-mPHvWJQPy6eGLh38YyDGReUp59xeQtM9GTRniKsH2EMmK-GzBLhREIvERIz1HERwSdlnZ31Y8vrIByxFKOrdruDZKuAlh4LEyHWbLujIsPFi09Pmeeeh0/s400/Maier.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/xaver-maier.html">Xaver Maier</a><span style="font-family: arial"> (Head Chef)</span> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yo6qbs-E52Gn-vXYXApQAIpJVQGPm2XLp0eJ3B9Qd9c_nzcHD1YUmtWcXijUDIQZIGyyrwNdfw35r9jIFRxBX-Lue40MgcTPn95pZL2SmlaCpcUbfoUVu87EHhyphenhyphenCpZKDYhvXdeZZ_Vw/s1600-h/Flackus.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398849931502255858" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yo6qbs-E52Gn-vXYXApQAIpJVQGPm2XLp0eJ3B9Qd9c_nzcHD1YUmtWcXijUDIQZIGyyrwNdfw35r9jIFRxBX-Lue40MgcTPn95pZL2SmlaCpcUbfoUVu87EHhyphenhyphenCpZKDYhvXdeZZ_Vw/s400/Flackus.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/fritz-flackus.html">Fritz Flackus</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWNRyQVQRKzSHg-JSnePMcYWRZLoOs3UdyQ1IXNzJMPuVI19g7wFkZ59qxfT3tiVuGKysXan940zzIrfeQW1weQHm73_MM93VydoFhmdAqHHJbRuHNTjidBxwgwC_TkzAVJDdIqR-0mU/s1600-h/Groezinger.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398850182720300306" style="cursor: pointer; height: 120px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWNRyQVQRKzSHg-JSnePMcYWRZLoOs3UdyQ1IXNzJMPuVI19g7wFkZ59qxfT3tiVuGKysXan940zzIrfeQW1weQHm73_MM93VydoFhmdAqHHJbRuHNTjidBxwgwC_TkzAVJDdIqR-0mU/s400/Groezinger.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/alfred-grzinger.html">Alfred Grözinger</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71-D40f-aA2RrCV770ZelJi5cuqcyVNo-9EzWWJOl4Vw-4fcyV7Xj63W83AG2vVMgeMzHmm-AbRkDl9PieBmW6sOJqiWd3_rt49FVkyFmoHWxAC17y8oEc845JUmEkcXUdsSl5Q_u3U8/s1600-h/Mueller.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398850325637810946" style="cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71-D40f-aA2RrCV770ZelJi5cuqcyVNo-9EzWWJOl4Vw-4fcyV7Xj63W83AG2vVMgeMzHmm-AbRkDl9PieBmW6sOJqiWd3_rt49FVkyFmoHWxAC17y8oEc845JUmEkcXUdsSl5Q_u3U8/s400/Mueller.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-mller.html">Richard Müller</a> <br><br><br><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7FaHH_7DKtFOfPr398HbzwMJbbw8RBscz15-tlQRjRVwdoD1S299bcmPwjzFOYDOkPtzaWjLI-Rzl4Dr-jDNNZ_iCmjlJRiHJyuLzDPAQtzxgqI1inakQwZURqwTrwNxn5ypaWdJ7sc/s1600-h/Stoeffler.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398850509178827154" style="cursor: pointer; height: 138px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7FaHH_7DKtFOfPr398HbzwMJbbw8RBscz15-tlQRjRVwdoD1S299bcmPwjzFOYDOkPtzaWjLI-Rzl4Dr-jDNNZ_iCmjlJRiHJyuLzDPAQtzxgqI1inakQwZURqwTrwNxn5ypaWdJ7sc/s400/Stoeffler.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/albert-stffler.html">Albert Stöffler</a> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold"><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-size: 130%"><u>CABIN BOY</u></span></span> <br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRL9bXghFhKcWHj4nRWOpXyWFjI0BqffHUiIj4Wxjf3Meufi-QTUQO86VOuq8TCI8WeQxwAZ8XjTLATn6nsTLwo_kLMfSdupl0hxXc8JF-FrZGPAKVicYifLPhyNtjvbmv3r8Be8UmFw/s1600-h/Franz.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398855470062096114" style="cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 97px; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRL9bXghFhKcWHj4nRWOpXyWFjI0BqffHUiIj4Wxjf3Meufi-QTUQO86VOuq8TCI8WeQxwAZ8XjTLATn6nsTLwo_kLMfSdupl0hxXc8JF-FrZGPAKVicYifLPhyNtjvbmv3r8Be8UmFw/s400/Franz.jpg"></a> <br><br><br><br><a style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/werner-franz.html">Werner Franz</a> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-69748852375972247722009-10-06T03:47:00.024-05:002011-04-05T17:55:09.329-05:00Kurt Schönherr</span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnh7HoXawJn_h6GOVOVKAbXtDN9l23svCmm4awz0GyaoBN-IKNVTj8udE61qpEMn_U1cyUECXpwytq2tvZtYxckYtylOLuV4_WqXP6yyikZHmJmEapTjbp5SRY5HPUDPY_qlBBLBR6_98/s1600-h/Kurt+Schoenherr3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnh7HoXawJn_h6GOVOVKAbXtDN9l23svCmm4awz0GyaoBN-IKNVTj8udE61qpEMn_U1cyUECXpwytq2tvZtYxckYtylOLuV4_WqXP6yyikZHmJmEapTjbp5SRY5HPUDPY_qlBBLBR6_98/s400/Kurt+Schoenherr3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389406725549499618" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >
<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: Unknown </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Helmsman </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Control car, rudder wheel </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Kurt Schönherr was one of three helmsmen on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> final flight, the other two being <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/helmut-lau.html">Helmut Lau</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/alfred-bernhardt.html">Alfred Bernhardt</a>. Schönherr had been flying on airships as a helmsman since 1913 when he began his career at the rudder wheel of early DELAG ships <span style="font-style: italic;">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">and <span style="font-style: italic;">Hansa.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Schönherr joined the German Naval Airship Division during World War I, and served aboard the L3 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Fritz. The L3 held the honor of having been the first German Zeppelin over England on the evening of January 19th, 1915, when the ship, flying out of Fuhlsbüttel bei Hamburg along with the L4, crossed the British coast at Norfolk, and then turned south to bomb the port of Great Yarmouth.
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Less than a month later, on the morning of February 17th, 1915, L3 left Fuhlsbüttel along with the L4 with orders to scout for enemy ships off the Norwegian coast. Four hours later, with one of the L3's three engines having failed shortly after takeoff, Kapitänleutnant Fritz radioed that he was turning back and returning to base. But gale-force winds from the south made it virtually impossible for the L3 to make significant headway. By late afternoon, the ship had managed to cover only 30 miles and was still miles north of the German border when a second engine failed. Fritz was able to use the ship's one remaining engine to turn the ship inland and crash-land it heavily on the Danish island of Fanø. None of the crew were injured, and Kapitänleutnant Fritz was able to destroy the ship's documents and set fire to the ship itself before he and the crew were captured. Thus, Kurt Schönherr and his crewmates spent the next three years as internees.</span>
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<br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinp4JPYBZOLvVdy1xtf1JD4r2a7wN1w3XqoThO4arqMAVFC__qYkN5occNgaFQkGdnjUZ22EJW_X2aqufuGE69Z-43YWuUmlgioi-XUuAAEfHb8rcE7snzGKXx3w3OuLLX_Sz7pvSFtRg/s1600-h/L3+crew+as+POWs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinp4JPYBZOLvVdy1xtf1JD4r2a7wN1w3XqoThO4arqMAVFC__qYkN5occNgaFQkGdnjUZ22EJW_X2aqufuGE69Z-43YWuUmlgioi-XUuAAEfHb8rcE7snzGKXx3w3OuLLX_Sz7pvSFtRg/s400/L3+crew+as+POWs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389409219763482786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >The crew of the L3 during their internment in the Danish town of Odense. Kurt Schönherr may be the man standing at right.</span></span></span></span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size:78%;"><i style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></i></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After the war, Schönherr eventually returned to airships, joining DELAG again in 1927 as a helmsman and subsequently made every flight of the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ-127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"></a> until the LZ 129 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was commissioned in 1936. He transferred over to the new ship, still as a helmsman, and made every one of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flights.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWxEwBAxoNdUDWZQjyR4-bwiF8Idf5Xemrt7ZvmSqOhnaDD4AsJ6R9dVxHFEImYIhbZLfLZ_myTIGy2aFcTQO9vjPzXQ26osIZxm1VLkU83sFFVxxGO25-2v3zSQQH0BKoxFgoXvfayc/s1600-h/Schoenherr+on+Graf+lo-res.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWxEwBAxoNdUDWZQjyR4-bwiF8Idf5Xemrt7ZvmSqOhnaDD4AsJ6R9dVxHFEImYIhbZLfLZ_myTIGy2aFcTQO9vjPzXQ26osIZxm1VLkU83sFFVxxGO25-2v3zSQQH0BKoxFgoXvfayc/s400/Schoenherr+on+Graf+lo-res.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389410228971288418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Kurt Schönherr prepares a basket of champagne to be lowered from the Graf Zeppelin to a steamship carrying the President of Brazil.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ><span style="font-size:78%;">
<br />(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family: arial;">His career with the </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> got off to a rather rocky start, however, when on the morning of March 26th, 1936, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was walked out of her shed at Friedrichshafen for her 7th flight, which was to be a three-day propaganda flight over Germany at the behest of Dr. Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> commander, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst Lehmann</a>, was concerned that the ship's departure had already been delayed by two hours because of unfavorable winds over the airfield that made it impossible for the ship to take off into the wind, as was standard practice. Rather than further delay the flight, Lehmann chose to attempt a risky downwind takeoff, which involved letting the ship's stern rise into the air so that ship would then be lifted by the tailwind hitting the lower side of her tail fins. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Unfortunately, as the ship began its downwind takeoff, a sudden gust coming over the top of the hangar caught the tail of the ship from above and slammed it down to the ground, smashing the lower rudder against the ground. The force of the impact violently tore the rudder wheel from Schönherr's hands, and he was thrown to the floor of the control car. Once the ship was brought back in for landing, Schönherr was sent to a local hospital to be examined, and while he hadn't broken any bones in the accident, his hands were bruised and swollen. Schönherr seems to have returned to the ship in time to be aboard once it was repaired and ready to fly again some six hours later.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">During the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> 1936 season, starting with the ship's sixth flight on March 23rd, 1936, when for the first time the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> carried mail, Kurt Schönherr served as ship's postmaster. He oversaw the loading and unloading of mail at the beginning and end of every flight, and also handled onboard mail sent by passengers and crew during flights. Schönherr performed these duties throughout the 1936 season, until navigator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/max-zabel.html">Max Zabel</a> took over postmaster duties at the beginning of the 1937 season.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Kurt Schönherr was senior helmsman on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first North American flight of the 1937 season. As was the case with most every other member of the crew, Schönherr noticed nothing out of the ordinary during the flight. His rudder wheel and all its connections functioned smoothly the whole time, and by the time the ship reached Lakehurst on the afternoon of May 6th, Schönherr had no reason to believe that this was anything more than the most routine of flights.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He went on his final watch of the flight at 6:00, as the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> cruised along the Jersey shore waiting for the weather to clear over Lakehurst so that they could land. As the ship finally came in to land at Lakehurst shortly after 7:00, Schönherr was at the rudder wheel. He watched as the two manila yaw lines dropped from the bow at approximately 7:21. He even heard the big coils hit the ground below.
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3UY9R6D9cOm2IJiFwaZ2-8kdq0DNn92T2J0bF1iEWVS6U-gNH8DkOAW5JFUR-xxevHSiGrSq0j41fsvevNSg9zUPkHBJb_SNRjddAJVxuoGQHlJgONwRRn1sbjn0uORzz88sZNySaug/s1600-h/Schoenherr+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3UY9R6D9cOm2IJiFwaZ2-8kdq0DNn92T2J0bF1iEWVS6U-gNH8DkOAW5JFUR-xxevHSiGrSq0j41fsvevNSg9zUPkHBJb_SNRjddAJVxuoGQHlJgONwRRn1sbjn0uORzz88sZNySaug/s400/Schoenherr+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389412664397685874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Kurt Schönherr's location in the control car at the time of the fire.</span></span>
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<br />Four minutes later, as the ship hovered just beyond the mooring circle, the occupants of the control car suddenly felt a shove, and like most of the rest of them, Schönherr thought that a rope had broken… until he noticed that it was becoming very bright above them, and he felt the ship take a steep tilt aft. As his comrades ran about the control car, looking for a chance to jump, Schönherr just held on to his rudder wheel and moaned in horror. As the ship came down towards the ground and rebounded on its landing wheel, Schönherr made his way to a small window on the forward port side of the control car, and jumped just as the ship collapsed to the ground. He stumbled as he landed, and the ship's framework fell over him. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Schönherr had noticed the ship lean to starboard as it collapsed, and figured that his best bet was to look for a way out on the port side. He found an opening almost immediately and dove out through the port side of the ship, got up, and stumbled clear of the wreckage. Willy von Meister, vice president of the American Zeppelin Transport Company, rushed up and helped Schönherr a safe distance away from the wreck. A pair of sailors then led Schönherr across the mooring circle and put him in a car that took him to the air station's infirmary. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcA5ouPYjTQ61w9eQD3k4TPTun23mJr_U85HJ626hyphenhyphenhjgKTJ-QHrZ7HLCYOpZnGaOiOWSdEfieCnoPp3s1rTR0S-GWFpuYpuBQ-VtO5mGNsGXA02Fa5rewl2ESocAHrA-XtqRRZVuhUWY/s1600-h/Schoenherr+escape+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcA5ouPYjTQ61w9eQD3k4TPTun23mJr_U85HJ626hyphenhyphenhjgKTJ-QHrZ7HLCYOpZnGaOiOWSdEfieCnoPp3s1rTR0S-GWFpuYpuBQ-VtO5mGNsGXA02Fa5rewl2ESocAHrA-XtqRRZVuhUWY/s400/Schoenherr+escape+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389410585125693522" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >As members of the ground crew run back toward the ship to begin rescue efforts, Kurt Schönherr (arrow) hurls himself from the Hindenburg's wreckage, arms outstretched.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzxWW4lcJFNCqNVawefeWGVH96q753UJTBRtASHAoLX81zBQPUjD-MzLXTqdLSfwH2y00INfanFFkiZOE_VXr2ek4tGz_OD64sjSj-s7kgDDrDhiFrg9RQo8eq1cnZ5eYLPGV2orRxPM/s1600-h/Schoenherr+escape+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzxWW4lcJFNCqNVawefeWGVH96q753UJTBRtASHAoLX81zBQPUjD-MzLXTqdLSfwH2y00INfanFFkiZOE_VXr2ek4tGz_OD64sjSj-s7kgDDrDhiFrg9RQo8eq1cnZ5eYLPGV2orRxPM/s400/Schoenherr+escape+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389410763785586242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Schönherr falls to the ground...</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBUo_Z55HhT2t-dAEMUI_asSUtUU1VdE4PnWN6dAULNtraM0EKUnaZjeLJVsWXIFA22fOejLzAvB7nxtqHrTms0Hni3XZ8AP0oaIs39vlSXsmKSl3eySiA_aVA84oPPJ4kC4GhsKfPfg/s1600-h/Schoenherr+escape+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBUo_Z55HhT2t-dAEMUI_asSUtUU1VdE4PnWN6dAULNtraM0EKUnaZjeLJVsWXIFA22fOejLzAvB7nxtqHrTms0Hni3XZ8AP0oaIs39vlSXsmKSl3eySiA_aVA84oPPJ4kC4GhsKfPfg/s400/Schoenherr+escape+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389410905346696466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >...and then picks himself up and stumbles to safety.</span>
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<br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMh1Z8jWoq2K3feWiv761lVfpwhsS8gvJslIp5ro5rtZVyXQZ5YnTH5h76I4lbQ_EWze0vi3PFwrjkXdJc6AcIMe3AdmJA7Or834TaX3E_6OptiNnRE3yG6pTwADGvMDepfnO95X2_bM/s1600/Groezinger+and+Schoenherr.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 366px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMh1Z8jWoq2K3feWiv761lVfpwhsS8gvJslIp5ro5rtZVyXQZ5YnTH5h76I4lbQ_EWze0vi3PFwrjkXdJc6AcIMe3AdmJA7Or834TaX3E_6OptiNnRE3yG6pTwADGvMDepfnO95X2_bM/s400/Groezinger+and+Schoenherr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550592933081507538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Two US Navy sailors lead Kurt Schönherr to an ambulance shortly after his escape. Walking just ahead of them is <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/alfred-grzinger.html">Alfred Grözinger</a>, one of the ship's cooks.</span></span></span></span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Schönherr managed to escape the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> wreck with only minor injuries. He stayed in the United States for a little more than two weeks following the disaster, testifying before the Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 20th, and then returning home to Germany a day or two later aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bremen</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> along with a dozen or so of his fellow crewmen.
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<br />After a number of years as the captain of a merchant marine frigate, Kurt Schönherr retired in the small southern German village of Unterreitenau, where he passed away in 1969 in his late 70s.</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-37560001695807144802009-10-06T03:11:00.034-05:002016-01-18T21:36:18.184-06:00Leonhard and Gertrud Adelt</span><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4leTpx_EZV_oot9p2lthiNLJFdOUAYTKJElPaUp3mnY4V3BZDTO0kYuxdJ1DDaUmtAlVQxYisQzffN7btiV59cbQpw55C5ZCydh5RIqxNom1Vy3TOsKLquJDI25G6wSEhvr9flDXIXrs/s1600/Leonhard+and+Gertrud+Adelt+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576387220856159122" style="cursor: pointer; height: 289px; width: 424px; text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4leTpx_EZV_oot9p2lthiNLJFdOUAYTKJElPaUp3mnY4V3BZDTO0kYuxdJ1DDaUmtAlVQxYisQzffN7btiV59cbQpw55C5ZCydh5RIqxNom1Vy3TOsKLquJDI25G6wSEhvr9flDXIXrs/s400/Leonhard+and+Gertrud+Adelt+2.jpg"></a><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Passengers</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Ages: Leonhard Adelt - 55</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Gertrud Adelt - 34</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Residence: Berlin, Germany</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Mr. Adelt's occupation: Journalist</span></span> <br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Mrs. Adelt's occupation: Journalist (press card suspended by Nazi government)</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Location at time of fire: Starboard lounge</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Survived</span></span> <br></div><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br>Leonhard Adelt was born on June 17th, 1881 in Boizenburg/Elbe, Germany, but spent most of his youth in Dortmund, Germany. He began writing early in life, and published his first novel at age 17. The novel, entitled "Werden", was considered quite racy at the time, as it contained passages dealing with teenage sexual experiences. This caused such a scandal that Adelt lost his apprenticeship as a bookseller in nearby Kleve, and his family ended up moving from Dortmund to Cologne. Here, he got another bookseller job, and began to write for newspapers in several cities including Eberswalde, Stettin, Vienna, and Hamburg. He also attended the University of Berlin.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">By 1912, Adelt had become interested in aviation – not only writing about it from the ground, but actually learning how to fly. It was through this that he became acquainted with<a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html"> Ernst Lehmann</a>, who was then commanding the new passenger Zeppelin </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Sachsen</span><span style="font-family: arial"> for the DELAG airship service. Adelt reportedly even worked with Lehmann's cousin on an experimental non-rigid airship being built in Düsseldorf, though that ship never made it past an initial test flight or two. Adelt also wrote a series of aviation novels during this time, and seems to have been something of a trendsetter in this regard.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">During World War I, Adelt was a war correspondent in Austria for the Berlin Tageblatt, and later as a correspondent and freelance journalist in Munich. From 1920 through 1926 he was an editorial representative for the Berlin Tageblatt and also for the Neue Freie Presse (Vienna) in Munich, where he wrote a number of articles that were very supportive of Stefan Zweig, a world-renowned Austrian writer who was also an outspoken pacifist and an advocate for a united Europe, and with whom Adelt had been a friend since childhood. (Zweig went into exile in England in 1936 to escape Nazi persecution). Since 1926 Adelt had been a travel correspondent.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Adelt, who had been married once before, met Gertrud Stolte in the mid 1930s They were married in 1935, and had a son, Christian, in 1936. Gertrud, born March 6, 1903, was from Dresden, and was a journalist in her own right. She held a Ph.D in art history from the University of Münster, and had spent many years writing for the movie magazine Film und Frau, which allowed her to travel a great deal, and to interview many film celebrities. However, by 1937 Gertrud Adelt had been deemed a troublemaker by the Ministry of Propaganda, and the Nazi government had lifted her press card. Leonhard was still allowed to work as a writer, but it's very likely that his friendship with Stefan Zweig was attracting unwanted attention from Berlin.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The Adelts were passengers aboard the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> first flight to the United States of the 1937 season. Leonhard had collaborated with Captain Ernst Lehmann, now Director of Flight Operations for the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei, on his autobiography the year before, and Lehmann had invited him and his wife to fly to the United States on the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> as guests of the DZR. Leonhard's brother Karl lived in May's Landing, NJ, and the two brothers had not seen one another in almost 30 years, and so Leonhard and Gertrud Adelt would be staying there. The English translation of Lehmann's autobiography, "Zeppelin," would be published in June, so it's likely that Leonhard Adelt planned to meet with the publisher while he was in the States.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On Monday, May 3rd, 1937, the Adelts boarded the bus that would take them and their fellow passengers from the Frankfurter Hof hotel to the Rhein-Main airfield where the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> <span style="font-family: arial">was waiting to cast off. Gertrud couldn't help but notice that one of the American passengers had obviously been "celebrating" his departure from Germany quite a bit while waiting for the bus, and was now loudly and comically singing sad songs as the bus made its way to the airport. <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was waiting for them outside the hangar at the airfield. Gertrud thought it rather odd that none of the well-wishers who accompanied the passengers were allowed to approach the airship. However, after they had all climbed aboard and were watching the crowd through the wide banks of observation windows on either side of the passenger decks, and indeed after the ground crew had already let go of the landing ropes, a loudspeaker suddenly called for the wife of one of the passengers to come forward. She appeared moments later in the foyer at the top of the gangway stairs. The passenger was a Luftwaffe officer named <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/colonel-fritz-erdmann.html">Fritz Erdmann</a>, and the Adelts watched as the Erdmanns embraced silently for a minute or so. Leonhard remarked to his wife how unusual it was for a guest to be brought aboard for a final goodbye this close to takeoff, and moreso since the public was being kept away from the ship this time. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The ship took off at about quarter past eight in the evening, and proceeded along its route up the Rhine river, then along the English Channel and out to sea. Leonhard would later write that it was the most uneventful journey that he had ever taken aboard an airship. Even his old friend Lehmann seemed quiet and withdrawn, and the weather was so bad for the first day and a half that there was nothing to see out the windows. It wasn't until the afternoon of May 5th that the weather cleared and the passengers got a close-up view of a group of giant icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">They did get to know some of their fellow passengers, however, and Gertrud would remember them years later when she wrote an article about the flight for the Hamburger Abendblatt: </span><br><br> <blockquote><span style="font-family: arial">"There was the old merchant from Hamburg [<a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/otto-and-elsa-ernst.html">Otto Ernst</a>] who was finally taking his wife on a trip to America. There was the good, motherly businesswoman from Homburg [<a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/marie-kleemann.html">Marie Kleemann</a>] anxiously counting the hours that separated her from her ailing daughter in Boston. The Swedish journalist with the rosy face [<a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/birger-brinck.html">Birger Brinck</a>] was on his way to Washington for an interview with Secretary of State Hull. The young artist with the gentle, deliberate way of walking [<a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/joseph-sph.html">Joseph Spah</a>] was going home to his wife and children on Long Island after a successful European tour. A family from Mexico [<a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">the Doehner family</a>] was enjoying a wonderful conclusion to a visit to their old homeland. American and German merchants traveling on business. Air Force officers [Col. Fritz Erdmann, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/major-hans-hugo-witt.html">Maj. Hans-Hugo Witt</a>, and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/lieutenant-claus-hinkelbein.html">Lt. Claus Hinkelbein</a>] enjoying the luxurious amenities of airship travel, having been sent on this trip in recognition of meritorious service."</span></blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The Adelts were seated at the dinner table next to Captain Lehmann, with ship's commander <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Captain Max Pruss</a> presiding over dinner. Gertrud would later remember an exchange between Captain Lehmann and one of the female passengers. It seemed that the woman had been part of a group that had been taken on a tour of the ship that afternoon, and as they walked along the catwalk they came to a spot where there was no handrail. Not wanting to let her guard down in front of the men by appearing afraid, she just strolled along straight and tall. The others cautiously hung back, and when she finally returned, she thought that she must have looked rather pale indeed. As she joked about this at dinner, "Ah," Captain Lehmann said gravely, "To have no fear and to do something courageous, that's nothing. But to be afraid and still take that risk… that's the real challenge." </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Finally, on the evening of May 6th, the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was coming in to land at Lakehurst. It had been scheduled to land that morning, but stormy weather and headwinds over the Atlantic Ocean had slowed the ship considerably, and then thunderstorms over the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst had delayed them even further. Leonhard and Gertrud Adelt stood at one of the observation windows in the starboard lounge, watching the ground crew taking up the ship's landing lines, and Leonhard looked to see if he could see his brother waiting for them. </span><br><br><br></span> <div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4Hk3t2WMCRu0cfTE1vL2Jqrf96VMGszKQxTfVHKfquOOQxISJZ2TNTAIZ2Dv2uJJHaEtn6vUfbekMnNx1pfeMW-IPQbktCxW3BDXn-6GCdvREXqlrGvwwFTKLzMKqgjBZbgBb9vZ9Dk/s1600/Adelts+location.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570124415883354962" style="cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 342px; text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4Hk3t2WMCRu0cfTE1vL2Jqrf96VMGszKQxTfVHKfquOOQxISJZ2TNTAIZ2Dv2uJJHaEtn6vUfbekMnNx1pfeMW-IPQbktCxW3BDXn-6GCdvREXqlrGvwwFTKLzMKqgjBZbgBb9vZ9Dk/s400/Adelts+location.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Leonhard and Gertrud Adelt's location in the starboard passenger lounge at the time of the fire.</span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Gertrud suddenly noticed that everything had grown strangely silent. She and her husband then heard a dull report from somewhere aft of them. It wasn't loud at all. Leonhard would later write that it was about as loud as a beer bottle being opened, and Gertrud would liken it to a paper bag being popped. Then the floor tilted out from underneath them and they were both hurled against the aft wall of the lounge along with a number of other passengers. Chairs, flower vases, fellow passengers - everything came sliding toward them. The Adelts both looked toward the window and saw a yellowish-red glow blossoming outside the ship, and they both realized that the ship was on fire. Somebody next to Gertrud began to pray, while Gertrud herself could think only, "Please, let it end quickly!"</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Then she heard Leonhard's voice yelling to everyone, "Through the windows!" The two of them shoved some chairs aside and made their way to the observation windows. They jumped from a height of about 15 feet, and Gertrud found herself lying face down on the damp ground, unable to move. Suddenly a hand grabbed her by the collar. Leonhard had begun to make his way through the tangle of wreckage that lay between them and safety, realized that Gertrud wasn't with him, and gone back after her. He hauled her to her feet and gave her a push and she began running, as she would later write, "like an automaton… nothing could stop me then." Meanwhile, Leonhard had fallen and, like Gertrud had, he lay there on the ground feeling utterly drained. He looked up and saw Gertrud still running to safety, and this snapped him back to his senses. He got back to his feet "as though electrified" and followed his wife out of the wreckage.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Suddenly, they were out. The wreckage was all behind them, and they both turned around to look at what was left of the the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg.</span> <span style="font-family: arial">The proud silver airship was now a smouldering black skeleton enveloped in thick black clouds of smoke, and they could hear the screams of those still trapped within. Leonhard would later write: <br><br> <blockquote>"Something drew me toward [the wreckage]; I cannot say whether it was the feeling that I must try to save others, or that demon-like urge of self-destruction which drives the moth into the flame. My wife called to me, called more urgently and ran back to me. She spoke persuasively; took me by the hand; led me away."</blockquote><br>The Adelts turned away from the horrible sight, walking hand in hand along the edge of the wreck and finally toward the hangars in the distance. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">A man came up to them (Gertrud would always remember how strange he looked in his white Panama hat with everything else around them scorched and smoke-stained) and led them to one of the large limousines that had been onhand to ferry the passengers away from the mooring area. Now they were being used as ambulances. As they approached the car, a harsh voice from deep in the back said, "There's no more room in here!" Gertrud looked into the car and recognized Mrs. Doehner. She was sitting there clutching her two badly-burned sons to her "like a lioness", as Gertrud would later recall. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZNB9LZusgdEVO6zwLXLtAWtXiq9-WrO0NpkhTJ1_cKP-m2xREZxyrSExCi5RrIUKf1-yTvc4l579Vh7Ft4Isix5kbdH5UwENSPOpE8i2eLju2QSfIexJzUwZYA-pNFpdUlE3b4udxm8/s1600-h/The+Adelts.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389401126021442690" style="cursor: pointer; height: 303px; width: 400px; text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZNB9LZusgdEVO6zwLXLtAWtXiq9-WrO0NpkhTJ1_cKP-m2xREZxyrSExCi5RrIUKf1-yTvc4l579Vh7Ft4Isix5kbdH5UwENSPOpE8i2eLju2QSfIexJzUwZYA-pNFpdUlE3b4udxm8/s400/The+Adelts.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Gertrud and Leonhard Adelt are led from the scene of the </span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold"> wreck.</span> <br></div> <p><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">They were taken to the air station's infirmary, which was in utter chaos, being far too small to handle the sudden influx of badly injured patients. Horrified nurses ran to and fro trying to ease everyone's pain as best they could, using whatever they had onhand, including bottles of whiskey and, according to Leonhard, "a morphine syringe the size of a bicycle pump."</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Gertrud found a wicker chair to sit in, and then noticed a horribly injured member of the crew laying at her feet, obviously dying. He said that his shoes were too tight, and she removed them and his heavy woolen socks for him. A priest appeared suddenly and heard the man's confession. Gertrud noticed that the injured man was speaking in German with a Schwäbisch dialect, and she was sure that the priest didn't understand a word of it. "Only God understood him," she later remarked.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Meanwhile, Leonhard had found Captain Lehmann sitting on a table. Lehmann was burned terribly, and was blotting at his wounds with a large piece of gauze soaked in picric acid. Leonhard was at a loss for words, and said the only thing that came to mind: "What happened?" Lehmann, in shock, could reply only, "Blitzschlag"… lightning. The two men looked silently at one another for a long moment and then Leonhard, overcome with emotion, had to leave the room and walk outside. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Gertrud had left the young crewman with the priest, and one of the medics came up and wanted to give her a shot of morphine. She refused, however, thinking, "Nobody's going to be able to find me if I'm laying here asleep."</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Finally, Leonhard's brother found them and got them into his car and through the cordon around the airfield. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Leonhard and Gertrud Adelt both survived the disaster with relatively minor injuries. Leonhard had some burns on his scalp and was suffering from smoke inhalation, so he was taken to State Colony Hospital in Pemberton, New Jersey, where he stayed for ten days before being released. Gertud only had minor burns, (including one on her right hand that forced her to write left-handed until it healed) and did not require hospitalization.</span> </p> <p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5OiYAM0fEbE/Vp2uVMDGExI/AAAAAAAAEnQ/j6RjhWfzKQw/s1600-h/Gertrud%252520recovering%252520with%252520family%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img title="Gertrud recovering with family" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Gertrud recovering with family" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqooc66aL-5859WrBubacraN1be8Gr8PEd3oBGYOAcGq38q9iRBrpwF60V1eSKIOlODuyQQ-wKCrqWPiDbke7F8n7Hhswp_RpmEHH_bBEoN9B-yF-iNO1hrvGgze_hvidj3_jkZogwpE/?imgmax=800" width="446" height="310"></a> <font face="Times New Roman"><strong> Gertrud Adelt (center) with family members during her recovery in May’s Landing, NJ.<br><span style="font-family: arial"></span></strong></font></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial"></span> </p> <p><span style="font-family: arial">The Adelts stayed the summer at Leonhard's brother Karl's home in May's Landing. Gertrud would later recall that the Gestapo in Germany continued to take an interest in them while they were out of the country. As she told author A.A. Hoehling some 25 years later, a woman from Philadelphia showed up and offered her services as a secretary. Leonhard naturally wanted to record his recollections about their flight on the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> and their escape from the fire. The woman was an excellent secretary, and asked for an unusually low amount of money. She would take her shorthand notes home every night to copy them, and given his and his wife's less than stellar reputation with the German government, Leonhard suspected that the woman was probably connected to the SD or the Gestapo. He was very careful about what he said around her, just to be on the safe side.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Gertrud, on the other hand, was definitely being investigated by the Gestapo. While she recouperated at Leonhard's brother's house, the Gestapo showed up at her mother's home back in Dresden. They insisted that Gertrud was spreading stories about the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> disaster that were not consistent with what the Propaganda Ministry had ordered German journalists to convey. The Gestapo agents demanded to read all of Gertrud's correspondence with her mother since she had been in the United States, found nothing in the letters that Gertrud's mother had received from her, and they let the matter drop.</span> </p> <p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rc_sJmwCWlo/Vp2t174hcEI/AAAAAAAAEm4/nISu9IFGqvE/s1600-h/Gertrud%25252C%252520Leonhard%252520and%252520Christian%252520Adelt%252520circa%2525201940%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Gertrud, Leonhard and Christian Adelt circa 1940" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Gertrud, Leonhard and Christian Adelt circa 1940" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nf7jnqp6-DI/Vp2t2p8BOBI/AAAAAAAAEnA/s7Qg1J63XpY/Gertrud%25252C%252520Leonhard%252520and%252520Christian%252520Adelt%252520circa%2525201940_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="349" height="590"></a><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Gertrud and Leonhard Adelt at the seaside with their son, Christian. Photo taken circa 1940.</strong></font><br><span style="font-family: arial"></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial"></span> </p> <p><span style="font-family: arial">The Adelts returned to Germany later that summer. They moved to Dresden, where they lived throughout the Second World War. Gertrud eventually got her press card back, and resumed her career as a journalist. On the night of February 13th, 1945, as the Allies firebombed Dresden, Leonhard and Gertrud and their son, Christian, escaped from their house as the flames began to consume it. Then Leonhard remembered an unfinished manuscript that he wanted to save, and ran back into the house after it. He was badly injured in the process, and was taken to a medical facility in Dippoldiswalde, about 11 miles south of Dresden. Leonhard Adelt died of his injuries a week later on February 21st, 1945.</span> Years later, Gertrud would tell her family of how she and nine year-old Christian fled through the blazing streets of Dresden, dodging bullets as low-flying airplanes strafed them.<br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Interestingly enough, given Gertrud’s having once had her press card lifted for not being supportive enough of the Nazi regime, she found herself in a similar bind after the war ended. Because she had continued on as a journalist throughout the war, she wound up on an Allied list of German citizens who had to undergo denazification. She was prevented from writing professionally for a year, after which she was allowed to continue with her career. Gertud and her son moved to Hamburg, where she wrote for a variety of different German newspapers, including Die Welt, which was established by British occupational forces in 1946. <br><br>In 1949, Gertrud wrote an account of her escape from the Hindenburg disaster for the Hamburger Abendblatt. Published in the Sunday edition on August 27th, 1949 and titled Mein Sturz aus dem brennenden Luftschiff (My Fall from the Burning Airship), Gertrud’s article presented her perspective not just on the disaster itself, but also on various moments from throughout the voyage. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial">Gertrud Adelt continued to live in Hamburg, and passed away following a sudden heart attack in 1985 at the age of 82. Her son, Christian, had passed away three years earlier in 1982.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial"></span><br> </p><img title="Gertrud Adelt - 1981" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Gertrud Adelt - 1981" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEwpne6VUOmyKdFWzkLH_yiqJGcox9yF-C-IBwDg6EcF1vA3_uzZYVCdXHIQyahoPCQKai6nDCn92GR0-nr-9BvSdjgdymTAhrhKgFGlibT5wpjdtkyACWyHfXbG-xHTxMgsNMvH44aXM/?imgmax=800" width="236" height="357"> <p align="center"> <font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Gertrud Adelt in 1981</strong></font><br><br></span></span><br><br></p></span> <p><em>Special thanks to Ulrich Adelt, Leonard and Gertrud’s grandson, for providing me with family photos and additional biographic information.</em></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-37870487761123583362009-10-05T17:47:00.043-05:002014-04-06T10:47:14.152-05:00Captain Ernst A. Lehmann</span><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGr6o_VWc0mhrEenpPclLQzI9E31t79HeR4Vl0P96h8SllR2UKqY7J3NKIzoSOdP3Q45IRkmJupBLn0FdFu-HzzsGbHacaVF06XmubmjHSakOLbvJNjM665Meyu9Hudrkmq9GzJbcTrE/s1600-h/EA+Lehmann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389251653987741170" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 203px; cursor: pointer; height: 287px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGr6o_VWc0mhrEenpPclLQzI9E31t79HeR4Vl0P96h8SllR2UKqY7J3NKIzoSOdP3Q45IRkmJupBLn0FdFu-HzzsGbHacaVF06XmubmjHSakOLbvJNjM665Meyu9Hudrkmq9GzJbcTrE/s400/EA+Lehmann.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Crew Member </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Age: 51 </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Hometown: Kressbronn, Germany </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Occupation: Director of Flight Operations - Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Location at time of fire: Control car - bridge </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Died in hospital </span></span><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst August Lehmann was born on March 12th, 1886 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. His father was a chemist and supervisor for the Badischen Anilinfabrik, and his mother was the daughter of the former Mayor Schäfer of Diez an der Lahn. <br><br><br></span> <div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBT7Dts3FsBh7Kwtfr2v_lbYjYpaVPPMppMUdkMbV26Gnn3wbiW2c1OqMuKekxhzQBmA8mZOAGS31mxjk-mFIAKX6uAngCrtQf8sAyqFcEZgj6Aav0vPTWikWOGsYfPYm9jy122J4I_Mo/s1600-h/BabyLehmann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389272855065561730" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 395px; cursor: pointer; height: 486px; text-align: center" height="502" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBT7Dts3FsBh7Kwtfr2v_lbYjYpaVPPMppMUdkMbV26Gnn3wbiW2c1OqMuKekxhzQBmA8mZOAGS31mxjk-mFIAKX6uAngCrtQf8sAyqFcEZgj6Aav0vPTWikWOGsYfPYm9jy122J4I_Mo/s400/BabyLehmann.jpg" width="408" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">A childhood photo of Ernst Lehmann.</span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br>Ernst Lehmann became a naval cadet in 1905, sailed aboard the training vessel <span style="font-style: italic">Stosch</span>, and later entered the Polytechnic Institute at Charlottenburg near Berlin where he earned an engineering degree in 1912. He specialized in ship construction from 1906 through 1912, serving in the imperial shipyards in Kiel, rising to the rank of naval reserve lieutenant. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJTQ95AfGXHag3v17kPQvHKJ-GU09WE9d-GWVtw_4LH1-CKX-BneyzuIPM4OJWYaTrrwCQu6oP9AS6YuK2C4Bv-3y6-3GzAcpnxIRRf6ljDig9QL8q1QW1Ow8q1FdVutxM_aoaDYEswY/s1600-h/YoungLehmann.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389274346374078354" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 451px; cursor: pointer; height: 619px; text-align: center" height="635" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJTQ95AfGXHag3v17kPQvHKJ-GU09WE9d-GWVtw_4LH1-CKX-BneyzuIPM4OJWYaTrrwCQu6oP9AS6YuK2C4Bv-3y6-3GzAcpnxIRRf6ljDig9QL8q1QW1Ow8q1FdVutxM_aoaDYEswY/s400/YoungLehmann.jpg" width="463" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Ernst Lehmann in his uniform as part of the crew of the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: times new roman">Stosch.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">However, Lehmann found a career in the peacetime German navy decidedly unexciting. He became associated with Dr. Hugo Eckener in early 1913, and shortly thereafter joined DELAG, the early Zeppelin transport company. He was given command of the passenger airship LZ-17 <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span><span style="font-family: arial"> in late 1913, and served as its captain for the next 14 months.</span> <br><br><br></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOf9hR3NSpMgM6KW5hhGS97RCOCr16eTDxEvKdEax4sAlTXkbZNqX1HwzSr-atnQWF2ia4GtccPusjT2pm_-gVkeHQQsJwGf35hDgAmZZykQM1xOcK4oAaSL7KbXwzgBfqzClDjWVOI4/s1600-h/sachsen_1913.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389280140250890290" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 596px; cursor: pointer; height: 415px; text-align: center" height="427" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOf9hR3NSpMgM6KW5hhGS97RCOCr16eTDxEvKdEax4sAlTXkbZNqX1HwzSr-atnQWF2ia4GtccPusjT2pm_-gVkeHQQsJwGf35hDgAmZZykQM1xOcK4oAaSL7KbXwzgBfqzClDjWVOI4/s400/sachsen_1913.jpg" width="612" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Ernst Lehmann's first command: LZ 17 Sachsen,circa 1913.</span></span></span> <br><span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Then, on July 31st, 1914, on landing the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family: arial">at Friedrichshafen, Lehmann received orders from the War Ministry not to fly the ship further than 50 miles from its home base. The political situation in Europe had radically deteriorated since the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand slightly more than a month before, and Germany was mobilizing for war. Within a week, with Germany now officially at war with Russia, France, Belgium, and Great Britain, Lehmann was further ordered to fly the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span><span style="font-family: arial"> to Potsdam, where it was to be refitted as a military airship, with Lehmann and his crew continuing to fly it.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">However, it was still unclear exactly how they were to be utilized, or what role airships would play in the coming hostilities. Lehmann would later write: </span><br> <blockquote style="font-family: arial"><br>“Well, I dug my naval lieutenant’s uniform from the trunk in the attic and wondered what the war had in store for us. We had no idea what would be done with us, for there were no provisions for Zeppelins in the General Staff’s plans. Although Zeppelins had already been used in maneuvers, their military value was considered trivial.”</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann was concerned that the existing Zeppelins, of which there were at that time only eleven in all of Germany, were ill-suited for war, and that German military leaders had no real idea of what to do with them in the first place:</span> <br><br> <blockquote face="arial">“Not one of these ships was equipped for warfare. In July, when the situation became critical, the commander of the army airship Z VIII, which lay deflated in Metz, a few miles from the French border, sought permission to inflate her for service against the French cavalry, which was being mobilized on the other side of the frontier. For if war was declared, there was danger that the enemy would advance upon Metz and destroy the helpless ship. But the War Ministry summarily rejected the petition.” <br><br>“That was significant. It revealed how unprepared we were for war, and it indicated, furthermore, that the authorities in Berlin had no idea what to do with such a ship in the event of war. Yet, to tell the truth, we were no better off. We had some training and experience in aeronautics and we were enthusiastic young officers in the new merchant marine of the air. Even Count Zeppelin himself, old in years, but more enthusiastic than many a youngster, at that time occupied himself not with the military potentialities of his invention, but with its peacetime development.” <br><br>“The army and navy airships were built for purely experimental purposes, in order to collect various data, and the government endeavored to support the new science with contracts. But if anyone had prophesied then that, during the war, we would build eighty-eight Zeppelins, each one larger and more efficient than its predecessor, I should have considered him a visionary. And yet, more important than the military results, were the tremendous technical and practical advances made in this hard, prodigal school.”</blockquote><br><br><br></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxaVyJye4Qlbo-pCpJVYtVn-wVZ9FgAFN4dnC51wJNF5cJMsrUP-w6kYJiq55vVQmeSWNMoGUKbOFmOzIsO__yTy5myMGW8nLUYfgP-UaSMxSE17jACg2Amdu7G7uQq8AeLigZ-gMYFo/s1600-h/Lehmann+and+crew.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389281524442485698" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 552px; cursor: pointer; height: 413px; text-align: center" height="425" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxaVyJye4Qlbo-pCpJVYtVn-wVZ9FgAFN4dnC51wJNF5cJMsrUP-w6kYJiq55vVQmeSWNMoGUKbOFmOzIsO__yTy5myMGW8nLUYfgP-UaSMxSE17jACg2Amdu7G7uQq8AeLigZ-gMYFo/s400/Lehmann+and+crew.jpg" width="568" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"><span style="font-style: italic">Leutnant zur See</span> Ernst Lehmann (front row center, black uniform) and his crew pose in front of the gondola of one of their early ships. Baron Max von Gemmingen sits to the right of Lehmann.</span></span></span></span> <br><span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">The <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen,</span> <span style="font-family: arial">now based in Cologne, was mainly used as a training ship, though it did make at least one bombing raid in September of 1914. The fortified city of Antwerp was under siege by German forces, and the only remaining avenue of retreat for the Belgians was a railroad line running along the Dutch border to the west of the city. Lehmann and his First Officer, Baron Max von Gemmingen, a nephew of Count von Zeppelin who himself had a great deal of experience with airships, suggested that they load up the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family: arial">with as many explosives as they could carry, and use them to destroy a key junction in the railroad some distance outside of Antwerp. However, the general in charge of the siege preferred to rely on his cavalry to do the job. The German cavalry failed to do so, and the Belgians ended up holding the junction and withdrawing a number of their troops from Antwerp via the railroad.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The German General Staff then decided to send the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span><span style="font-family: arial"> on a nighttime bombing run over Antwerp itself. While waiting for the final order to attack, Lehmann and his crew began taking the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family: arial">up multiple times per day to practice their bombing techniques. The bombs at that time were mainly just artillery shells with strips of horse blanket tied to one end in an attempt to make the shell hit the ground head-on. In preparation for the Antwerp raid, however, Lehmann and his crew designed several kinds of bombs (including incendiaries) specifically to be used in air raids and had a Cologne-area factory produce them for them. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Then, on September 25th, they were ordered to attack Antwerp, and the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family: arial">set out at approximately 11:00 in the evening. Lehmann cruised for an hour or so between Antwerp and the Dutch border, waiting for the moon to set just before daybreak, which would give him a short time during which he could bomb Antwerp under cover of relative darkness. When the moon had gone, Lehmann turned the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family: arial">toward Antwerp. Evading searchlights and artillery fire, he flew over the city and his crew tossed hand-thrown bombs out of the gondolas and released large incendiary bombs on the various forts that encircled the city, as well as the central railway station and other strategic targets. The accuracy of the primitive aerial bombs left much to be desired, however, and a number of residential buildings and houses were also hit, killing approximately ten civilians.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann looked at his watch after the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> <span style="font-family: arial">had been over Antwerp for about twenty minutes, saw the sun beginning to rise in the east, and decided that it was time to return to base. They arrived back at Cologne at 11:00 in the morning, their mission having lasted almost exactly 12 hours. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Early the following year, 1915, Lehmann and von Gemmingen were transferred from the <span style="font-style: italic">Sachsen</span> to a newly-built ship (and the only Zeppelin ever built in Frankfurt) designated Z XII. While Lehmann did not feel that the Z XII was an ideal ship for warfare, he did call it “a noticeable improvement over the pre-war types”. </span><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBSGrIuY4yn9V9ktuNeDVJ0t8DS30UJVNqNRndwJclNo2F2utzLfbXi-mk_-c-17c7xa9AXkgzbSIypOYeJ_E043pmNcdQOlX1ShOC_LHgRA4kNKFtywLWsua5TUWg1SyORR_Op5xrFs/s1600-h/Z+XII.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389284103390480914" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 567px; cursor: pointer; height: 397px; text-align: center" height="408" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBSGrIuY4yn9V9ktuNeDVJ0t8DS30UJVNqNRndwJclNo2F2utzLfbXi-mk_-c-17c7xa9AXkgzbSIypOYeJ_E043pmNcdQOlX1ShOC_LHgRA4kNKFtywLWsua5TUWg1SyORR_Op5xrFs/s400/Z+XII.jpg" width="583" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Z XII, Lehmann's second wartime Zeppelin command.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br><span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The two men also puzzled over a solution to the problem of the enemy’s ever-improving defenses. Their searchlights were becoming more powerful, their anti-aircraft guns were becoming more accurate, and their airplanes were climbing higher and flying faster. For hydrogen-filled Zeppelins, this obviously had the potential to be a deadly combination. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">What Lehmann and von Gemmingen came up with as a partial solution was the “Spähkorb”, or spy basket. The prototype was an old butter cask fitted with a tail piece designed to keep it facing more or less forward. It was attached to the end of a thousand-foot length of 1/8 inch steel cable, which was in turn attached to a hand winch installed in the ship’s bombing compartment. The idea was that an observer could sit in the spy basket and be lowered down to navigate and give bombing commands via a telephone line to the control car while the airship itself remained above the clouds, out of sight and out of the range of enemy defenses. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann himself tested the prototype. With the Z XII’s helmsman blindfolded, Lehmann crawled into the barrel and was lowered about 500 feet below the ship. The wind tossed the tub around, and Lehmann wondered if the cable and the winch would hold. He quickly made his course calculations and relayed them to the control car. The helmsman responded quickly and accurately, and Lehmann had himself pulled back aboard.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">With a few modifications, including a motorized winch, a ¼ inch cable with the telephone line enclosed within it, and a more substantial, aerodynamically designed observation car, the “Spähkorb” would become a common piece of equipment in wartime Zeppelins.</span> <br><br><br></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1N2znnVvjkd4LmN_vCKrPlPxjRizgDOd4gGVmYXqfS-8NDpoZnJAdQRvtE28n5Ghj_VANRQ0fdLqj5Ro4NwmvYqO2jDOi-bjeR4r2JVYKB1jj3qeN6gXU7zYuWAxKIhT3eM5tO6bV5A/s1600-h/sub+cloud+car.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389286855178971218" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 605px; cursor: pointer; height: 398px; text-align: center" height="409" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1N2znnVvjkd4LmN_vCKrPlPxjRizgDOd4gGVmYXqfS-8NDpoZnJAdQRvtE28n5Ghj_VANRQ0fdLqj5Ro4NwmvYqO2jDOi-bjeR4r2JVYKB1jj3qeN6gXU7zYuWAxKIhT3eM5tO6bV5A/s400/sub+cloud+car.jpg" width="621" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">The “Spähkorb” from the LZ 90, which fell over East Anglia during the Zeppelin raid of September 2-3, 1916. Ernst Lehmann was no longer in command of the LZ 90 at the time.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br><span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Meanwhile Germany, its people infuriated by the “hunger blockade” that Great Britain had laid across the North Sea, was beginning to strongly consider bombing London. Some of the more zealous supporters of this idea were calling for an attack fleet of twenty airships carrying 300 incendiary bombs each to firebomb the entire city of London. Lehmann saw it differently.</span> <br> <blockquote face="arial"><br>“When I was asked my technical opinion, I admitted that the plan, as such, was feasible. But the thought of subjecting a defenseless civilian population, outside the actual war zone, to all the horrors of aerial warfare, and destroying priceless cultural treasures, was reason enough for all of us to reject the plan.”</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Nonetheless, Lehmann and his crew participated in bombing raids over London, beginning in mid-March of 1915. By order of the Kaiser, the bombing was not as indiscriminate as some had been calling for, and the intention, at least early on, was to confine the strikes to strategic targets, while studiously avoiding cultural sites, Buckingham Palace, and so forth. Lehmann’s early attempts to bomb London, however, were thwarted by weather and navigational problems. He and his crew would always find an alternate target such as Calais or Dunkirk to bomb on the flight home, but London continued to elude them.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In June of 1915, Lehmann and his crew were transferred, along with the Z XII, to the eastern front under the command of Field Marshal von Hindenburg. For the next several months they bombed enemy defenses and railroad lines along the Russian front. By October, however, the weather was beginning to deteriorate as winter approached, and Lehmann and his crew were once again transferred, this time to Darmstadt. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Once in Darmstadt, Lehmann was given a new airship, the LZ 90, with which he attacked strategic targets in France. It was here that he first encountered incendiary rockets among the enemy defenses. Bombing raids against London introduced Lehmann and his comrades to the additional new threat of phosphorous shells.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In late April of 1916, Lehmann was given command of yet another new Zeppelin, the LZ 98, and as soon as it was completed and had finished its trial flights, Lehmann flew it from Friedrichshafen to its new base in Hannover.</span> <br><br> <blockquote face="arial">"Count Zeppelin was our guest on this 18-hour flight. In his honor, we detoured over the village of Zepelin, which is the ancestral seat of the family and lies on the Baltic near Bützow in Mecklenburg. Count Zeppelin had never been there before. "You see," he said to us, grinning, "all that land below once belonged to my ancestors. But they drank and gambled it away."</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Once again, Lehmann and his crew, flying on behalf of the German army, participated in joint bombing operations against London with the German navy.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On at least one of these raids, the LZ 98 flew into a heavy thunderstorm:</span> <br><br> <blockquote face="arial">"The heavens opened all their sluices at one time; the storm struck us from all directions. While we were moving the horizontal controls [elevators] in order to dive as steeply as possible, I remembered the man on the top of the ship. Just then, he called down through the speaking tube: 'A lightning bolt struck the nose of the ship, thirty feet from my post. It almost knocked me down just as I was going to report that there were electrical discharges around me. Tongues of fire are licking around the muzzles of my machine guns, and around my head too. And when I spread my hand, little flames spurt out of my fingertips.' "</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Nearby, Captain Hans von Schiller's L 11 was caught nearby in the same storm, and he reported a similar phenomenon:</span> <br><br> <blockquote face="arial">"Then a terrific bolt crashed by my ears, filling the inside of the ship with a blinding light.The man on the upper lookout post telephoned down that the muzzle of his machine gun was spitting sparks. I climbed through the gun shaft to see what it was all about. To my astonishment, I found the platform brightly illuminated. In the center of this luminous circle sat the lookout, wet through to the skin, but sporting a veritable halo around his head. \ <br><br>This extraordinary phenomenon is not unknown to mountain climbers as well as sailors; it is called Saint Elmo's fire. The duralumin frame of the hull was charged with electricity and sent forth sparks at all connecting points and corners. When we looked up out of the control car, we could see the sparks coming from all protruding objects. Wires and cables glowed with a bluish-violet light; a wonderful sight, except that we were not exactly in a position to appreciate it. Our men were staggering like drunken tightrope walkers on the narrow walkway. And with lightning flashing by every two minutes at arm's length, so to speak, our lives depended upon no hydrogen escaping from the gas cells."</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Both ships fought their way through the storm to their bases. Once back at Hannover, Lehmann inspected the spot on the bow of the LZ 98, where the lightning had struck. He found several small burn holes in the outer cover, the largest of which having "the dimensions of a small pea", and some slight melting of the metal framework beneath, but no other damage was apparent. Lehmann would later explain why, even during the storm, he had not been particularly concerned by the possibility of the lightning igniting his ship's hydrogen:</span> <br><br> <blockquote face="arial">"Lightning, too, obeys the laws of nature. It is distributed only on the enormous surface of the metallic airship frame which protectively encloses the gas cells like a Faraday cage. This, as long as the airship pilot himself – and it lies entirely within his power – takes care that no inflammable gas forms between the cells and the outer envelope, lightning is no danger at all for a Zeppelin."</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Not long after this, on September 2nd, 1916, Lehmann and the LZ 98 took part in a large-scale bombing raid on London, in which 13 Zeppelins took part. Despite the foggy conditions near the ground, Lehmann circled at the outskirts of the city waiting for some cloud cover he could use. He finally spotted some clouds at about 10,000 feet and ducked into them. When they reached the Thames, Lehmann's bomb officer dropped their explosives on the docks (or, at least, what they mistakenly took to be the docks), and the ship immediately climbed to 14,000 feet and prepared for the flight home.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As Lehmann was consulting his maps to set their course for the return trip, his first officer, von Gemmingen, suddenly shouted in horror. </span><br><br> <blockquote face="arial">"I looked back in the direction from which we had come and I saw, far behind us, a bright ball of fire. Despite the distance, which I estimated at thirty-eight miles, we knew that the blazing meteor on the further rim of the city could only be one of our airships. As we later learned, Fate had overtaken Commander Schramm's SL 11, a rigid ship of the Schütte-Lanz type. The flaming mass hung in the sky for more than a minute; then single parts detached themselves from it and preceded it to the earth. Poor fellows, they were lost the moment the ship took fire."</blockquote><br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PAvkHCUDbltlyCIQHG_E_tY90dkupIytaJlUcKAaFhS3l6RbGmCouZXb-nw1e03kOYVWeMGARwEbyx3em0IVpYSgW5Rc0EvYAJPI-bisc8Rv3G0wcVSukDoAdZunqYxRDXWXDrk6IWk/s1600-h/SL+11+crash.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389289273356565074" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 375px; cursor: pointer; height: 540px; text-align: center" height="556" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PAvkHCUDbltlyCIQHG_E_tY90dkupIytaJlUcKAaFhS3l6RbGmCouZXb-nw1e03kOYVWeMGARwEbyx3em0IVpYSgW5Rc0EvYAJPI-bisc8Rv3G0wcVSukDoAdZunqYxRDXWXDrk6IWk/s400/SL+11+crash.jpg" width="386" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">A photo purported to be of the SL 11 as it fell in flames near London early on the morning of September 3rd, 1916.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br><span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">The SL-11 had been shot down by a British airplane flown by Lt. William Leefe Robinson. Robinson's guns were loaded with incendiary bullets, and he this allowed him to set the airship on fire from within. In fact, a short while before encountering the SL 11, Robinson had been chasing Lehmann's LZ 98 as it ascended after its bombing run. He was unable to match the airship's rate of climb, however, and abandoned the pursuit looking for easier prey. Lehmann and his crew had narrowly escaped the fate of Commander Schramm and the men of the SL 11.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann his fellow army airship commanders met after their return from the September 2-3 bombing mission. They agreed among themselves that London, at least, was too heavily defended for continued raids to be worthwhile. The airships they had at the time would have either needed to fly about 5,000 feet higher (which meant halving their bomb loads to compensate) or else to operate with full bomb loads at altitudes that were well within range of London's defenses (which meant that more of them would inevitably be shot down.)</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The army airshipmen did continue to attack English targets, however. But until they were given newer airships that could operate efficiently and with full bomb loads at sufficiently high altitudes, they would continue to avoid London. For the next couple of months, Lehmann and the LZ 98 flew out of Wildeshausen, near Bremen, mostly hitting Allied targets in France. This continued until November, 1916, when Lehmann and the LZ 98 were transferred back to the eastern front, at Kovno, with orders to push toward St. Petersburg. However, the harsh Baltic winter created weather problems for them, and they were not able to advance as anticipated. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In February of 1917, Lehmann was ordered to turn over command of the LZ 98 to his first officer's nephew, Baron Joachim von Gemmingen. Lehmann's new command would be the brand new LZ 120, and plans were made once more for an attack on St. Petersburg. However, as the crew was in the process of loading bombs into their new ship for the raid, the Russian Revolution broke out and the attack was canceled.</span> <br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9rw4Ls3YwIKPQHEOQLGRh1vg5vsFU5AyGBbUoZ69I149oUR-9M1t1NHb681oiLkpiEGhewPJ5axgz7lvX2gHjRmUeCo48ueLEER9Yhpn20_HRu9EbB81YjmNmPpq3nw03CIR02L75N0/s1600-h/LZ+120+-+%28Ausonia%29.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389289803147191810" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 691px; cursor: pointer; height: 387px; text-align: center" height="396" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9rw4Ls3YwIKPQHEOQLGRh1vg5vsFU5AyGBbUoZ69I149oUR-9M1t1NHb681oiLkpiEGhewPJ5axgz7lvX2gHjRmUeCo48ueLEER9Yhpn20_HRu9EbB81YjmNmPpq3nw03CIR02L75N0/s400/LZ+120+-+%28Ausonia%29.jpg" width="707" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Lehmann's LZ 120, shown here renamed </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: times new roman">Ausonia</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> after having been turned over to Italy as war reparations.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">By this time, the army was in the process of ending its airship program and Lehmann and the LZ 120 were flying reconnaissance in the Baltic for the navy. The recon flights were uneventful, and Lehmann took advantage of this by experimenting with water landing techniques, practicing nautical astronomy, and improving the amenities aboard the ship. As the summer progressed, he and his officers also decided to test their new ship's ability to remain on patrol for long periods of time. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann, therefore, loaded the LZ 120 up with fuel, ballast, and provisions for a 100-hour endurance flight, which began late in the evening of July 26, 1917. One of the things that Lehmann wanted to experiment with was the crew's ability to hold up under the strains of a prolonged flight, and he made adjustments to the watch rotation to see which arrangements worked best. The mechanics he divided into four watches, and the rest of the crew he split into two watches. The first day he had the watches running eight hours at a stretch, the next day he tried four-hour watches, then six hour watches. As he later wrote, "All of these methods proved to be practical." </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The flight was largely uneventful, and by Lehmann's own account seems to have been almost as much a pleasure cruise for the crew as it was a military maneuver.</span> <br> <blockquote face="arial"><br>"By removing the large partitions, we had transformed the control car into one large room and furnished it as a mess hall for eight men, complete with table, chairs, and sofas. There were no radio concerts in those days, but I had a guitar, and others had harmonicas or music boxes. We played and sang whenever we were off duty; and the good-natured giant continued to carry us gently onward."</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">After cruising over the Baltic for 101 hours, Lehmann brought the LZ-120 in to land at its base at Seerappen during the early morning hours of July 31.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In December of 1917, Lehmann was transferred to Friedrichshafen to act as liason officer between the German Navy and Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. He commanded the delivery flights of four new Zeppelins for the Naval Acceptance Board in early 1918.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Shortly after World War I came to an end, in December, 1918, Lehmann and his former First Officer, Baron von Gemmingen (who had left military service in early 1917 to take over as Chairman of the Board of the Zeppelin Company), began to make plans to follow through on a dream of the late Count von Zeppelin's: to fly an airship across the Atlantic Ocean. The last airship intended for delivery to the German Navy, the L 72, was still in the possession of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, and the Navy had cancelled the contract for it following the Armistice. This meant that, technically speaking, the L 72 was available to them to make the transatlantic flight, and it was of a large enough capacity to carry sufficient fuel and provisions for not only the flight across the Atlantic, but for the return trip as well. Expanding upon lessons learned during the LZ-120’s endurance flight over the Baltic, Lehmann and von Gemmingen planned to fly the L 72 to New York, then turn around and fly back to Germany again without landing or refueling. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The Zeppelin Company considered Lehmann’s request to use the L 72 for his planned transatlantic flight, and finally agreed in early March of 1919. Preparations for the flight began immediately, as Lehmann wished to fly as soon as weather permitted. He realized, however, that he was going to have to inform the German government of his intentions. The response was hardly what Lehmann had hoped for. He could find no government agency that would assume the responsibility for approving the flight, and the overall opinion was that such a flight would anger the Allies, and that there was too great a risk that they would respond by occupying Friedrichshafen and destroying the Zeppelin works. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann, however, remained optimistic that the opportunity to reestablish Germany’s international reputation, as well as the possibility of restoring to Germany some of its national pride, would win out over the bureaucratic reservations that the government had expressed. He therefore continued with preparations for the flight, and by April of 1919 the L 72 was ready to fly. It was fully fueled, a workshop had been installed for the mechanics, a mess room had been added for the entire crew, and the engine gondolas had even been altered so that the sides could be opened in flight should major repairs be necessary while the ship was out over the ocean. All that remained was to inflate the airship’s gas cells with hydrogen just as soon as official permission for the flight arrived from Berlin.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Unfortunately, what arrived from Berlin turned out to be a telegram forbidding the L 72 to take off. No official reason was given at the time, but Lehmann later discovered that the Interallied Commission had been informed of the plan to fly the L 72 to New York. As he would later write, “Why the Allies opposed an undertaking which was intended to blaze the path for peaceful international transportation I only learned eight weeks later, when the English rigid airship R 34 was the first to fly the Atlantic.”</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst Lehmann rejoined the Zeppelin Company and began to work with Dr. Eckener to move the company back toward a peacetime airship service. Two new passenger airships were ordered and the first of the two, christened the Bodensee, made 103 flights in 98 days during fall of 1919, including flights to Stockholm. Sweden subsequently became interested in the possibility of a joint Swedish/German airship service from Stockholm to the Mediterranean via Friedrichshafen, and Lehmann was sent to Stockholm to try to negotiate a deal. It was a role that he was to play often over the next couple decades.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Unfortunately, the Interallied Commission issued new regulations while Lehmann was in Stockholm, and in addition to having to give up its remaining airships, including the Bodensee and her sister ship the Nordstern, Germany was forced to dismantle most of its airship hangars. This effectively ended the possibility of a joint airship line with Sweden or any other country, and furthermore it put the Zeppelin Company out of the airship business. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In an attempt to try to keep the Zeppelin Company involved at least peripherally in the construction of airships until the political climate improved, efforts were made to involve American business interests in airship operations whereby the Zeppelin Company could participate in the construction and operation of airships within the United States. Therefore, in 1921, Ernst Lehmann (who spoke excellent English) was sent, along with fellow Zeppelin commander Hans-Curt Flemming, to Chicago where they spent four months negotiating the establishment of a New York-to-Chicago airship line. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">While this idea did not come to fruition, other negotiations with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, which took place over the next two years, resulted in the founding of a joint endeavor between Goodyear and the Zeppelin Company. The Goodyear Zeppelin Company was founded in 1923, and Ernst Lehmann was named as one of the new company's vice presidents. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In the meantime, separate negotiations with the United States Navy had resulted in a deal, struck in mid-1922, for Luftschiffbau Zeppelin to design and build a new airship. The LZ 126 would be turned over to the U.S. Navy as part of the war reparations that Germany had been ordered to pay to each of the allied powers under the Treaty of Versailles. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">By the end of August of 1924, the LZ 126 was completed and beginning its test flights. The delivery flight to the United States began on the morning of October 12, 1924, with Dr. Eckener in command. Ernst Lehmann was one of Dr. Eckener's watch officers, and as such he assumed command when Dr. Eckener was off watch.</span> <br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUU5CYlR1dVNdTHw4yGvKbcXa20WjomgIcEXe5UGSrhfoJqLMSYFBrHqGE4AFhjDgM03_vIoP6MSbt2OitCbHZVLODhlEH9jLpiykfRojLNAewKvcZjfrJO4mfCJAgmbYP4oFetZ0sN1Y/s1600-h/Lehmann+with+LZ+126+delivery+crew+%28ID+numbers%29.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389293973170935634" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 623px; cursor: pointer; height: 418px; text-align: center" height="429" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUU5CYlR1dVNdTHw4yGvKbcXa20WjomgIcEXe5UGSrhfoJqLMSYFBrHqGE4AFhjDgM03_vIoP6MSbt2OitCbHZVLODhlEH9jLpiykfRojLNAewKvcZjfrJO4mfCJAgmbYP4oFetZ0sN1Y/s400/Lehmann+with+LZ+126+delivery+crew+%28ID+numbers%29.jpg" width="639" border="0"></a><span style="font-size: 100%"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Ernst Lehmann and the delivery crew of the LZ 126. 1.)unknown; 2.) Albert Thasler (engine mechanic); 3.) Wilhelm Siegle (chief engineer); 4.) Martin Christ (engine mechanic); 5.) Hans von Schiller (navigator); 6.) unknown; 7.) Captain Ernst Lehmann (watch officer); 8.) Dr. Hugo Eckener (commander); 9.) Captain Hans-Curt Flemming (watch officer); 10.) Walter Scherz (helmsman); 11.) </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willy-speck.html">Willy Speck</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> (radio operator); 12.) Hermann Pfaff (engine mechanic); 13.) Johannes Auer (engine mechanic); 14.) Albert Leichtle (engine mechanic); 15.) unknown; 16.) unknown; 17.) unknown; 18.) Ludwig Marx (helmsman); 19.) Hans Ladwig (radio operator); 20.) August Grözinger (flight engineer); 21.) unknown; 22.) </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Anton Wittemann</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> (navigator); 23.) </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/ludwig-knorr.html">Ludwig Knorr</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> (rigger); 24.) </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html">Albert Sammt</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> (elevatorman); 25.) Wilhelm Fischer (engine mechanic); 26.) </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Max Pruss</a><span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="font-family: times new roman">(elevatorman).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">The ship reached its new base, the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, NJ, on the morning of October 15th. The crew were feted as heroes by the Americans, and Lehmann, Eckener, and their colleagues took this wave of good will as an opportunity to begin work on the establishment of a regular transatlantic airship service. The day after the LZ 126 landed at Lakehurst, Captain Lehmann, along with Dr. Eckener, Captain Flemming, and navigator Hans von Schiller, were received by President Coolidge at the White House. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7uyEWxiMUJ-c0knYOGLWi2jjWnp6mVhcNvzgAn3G6JsSlhdKLH37zzynDy2PUE0m0BK_ouyckKpATi2Wg7RvKo-nNpuSCJ7H5LKfgPcmaV4B-Pa4A5QiKrT6XQmYo_8Otl3QeLSIRxU/s1600-h/1924-10-16+Lehmann-Eckener-Flemming-Coolidge-Wilbur.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389305430178257586" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 625px; cursor: pointer; height: 460px; text-align: center" height="472" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7uyEWxiMUJ-c0knYOGLWi2jjWnp6mVhcNvzgAn3G6JsSlhdKLH37zzynDy2PUE0m0BK_ouyckKpATi2Wg7RvKo-nNpuSCJ7H5LKfgPcmaV4B-Pa4A5QiKrT6XQmYo_8Otl3QeLSIRxU/s400/1924-10-16+Lehmann-Eckener-Flemming-Coolidge-Wilbur.jpg" width="641" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">President Coolidge receives the captains of the LZ 126 in Washington DC. From left: Captain Ernst Lehmann, Dr. Hugo Eckener, CaptainHans-Curt Flemming, President Calvin Coolidge, and Sec. of the Navy Curtis Wilbur.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Shortly after this, Lehmann went to Akron to set up his new office at Goodyear Zeppelin and to help with preparations for a group of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin engineers, let by Karl Arnstein, who would be arriving in late November. Lehmann's duties in Akron were punctuated by, as he would later put it, "an endless series of banquets and celebrations which were held in our honor and which we could not avoid." These functions were, however, a vital part of the effort to gain support and the necessary financial and political backing to make regular German-American transatlantic service a reality, however, and they also went a long way toward clearing the air of lingering international resentment toward Germany following the war. Lehmann sat at Dr. Eckener's side during these banquets and, along with fellow captains Hans von Schiller and Hans Flemming, would translate Eckener's remarks into English. Often, they would then go right back into meetings with the Goodyear executives until late into the night. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">There were also meetings with Henry Ford, who was also interested in branching out into the airship business. Lehmann and Eckener were taken on a tour of the Ford Motor Company factory, and Ford asked Lehmann to advise him on the purchase of a Zeppelin mooring mast that he intended to build in Detroit. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35RYKEnq6OPtLS6GOOlL-Z7mFyKaSw-rDEH7YVoSxRqm2AFOJUdHxRB_eiv2h2Hre0UrnLK0KHR_9UuTYgMVeJsOSK_o8HPhG5Gfoly7ZCCpciTwKd1SpsUalQtPGFqOcwR3RmqrY_AQ/s1600-h/Lehmann+Eckener+and+Ford.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389309815157216274" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 566px; cursor: pointer; height: 371px; text-align: center" height="382" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35RYKEnq6OPtLS6GOOlL-Z7mFyKaSw-rDEH7YVoSxRqm2AFOJUdHxRB_eiv2h2Hre0UrnLK0KHR_9UuTYgMVeJsOSK_o8HPhG5Gfoly7ZCCpciTwKd1SpsUalQtPGFqOcwR3RmqrY_AQ/s400/Lehmann+Eckener+and+Ford.jpg" width="582" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Meeting with Henry Ford. From left: Hans-Curt Flemming; Ernst Lehmann; Dr. Hugo Eckener; Hans von Schiller; Henry Ford; unknown; Paul W. Litchfield (president of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.)</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The banquets and the negotiations lasted through the first half of November, at which time Dr. Eckener returned to Germany. Ernst Lehmann would remain in the United States working in Akron for Goodyear Zeppelin for the next two years, finally returning to Friedrichshafen in December of 1926. By then he had become discouraged by the U.S. government's lack of financial support for the Goodyear Zeppelin enterprise and Goodyear Zeppelin's lack of progress overall and meanwhile, back in Germany, plans for the construction of a new passenger Zeppelin were moving forward. The Allied prohibition against Germany building large airships had been lifted by the Treaties of Lorcano, and Dr. Eckener and several of his captains had been traveling throughout Germany raising funds for a new airship.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The new ship, the LZ 127, christened <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin"></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span></a><span style="font-family: arial">, made its first flight on September 18, 1928. Ernst Lehmann served once again as one of Dr. Eckener's watch officers, and within a month of its first test flights, on October 11th, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was taken on its first transatlantic flight, carrying 20 passengers and a crew of 40.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">After a particularly rough crossing, which resulted in damage to the covering of the ship's lower fin, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> landed at Lakehurst on October 15th and was met by a massive, wildly ecstatic crowd of onlookers. The public response to the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> flight across the ocean was even bigger and more positive than that which had accompanied the arrival of the LZ 126 (now rechristened the ZR-3 </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Los Angeles</span><span style="font-family: arial">) four years prior. Once again Lehmann and the others were taken on a whirlwind tour of public appearances and banquets, and this time were received at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. Lehmann also participated in more talks with American financiers about the establishment of an international passenger airship service.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst Lehmann, along with Eckener, had by now become something of a media sensation. "The Little Captain", as the compact Lehmann was sometimes called, was not only a charming man who knew how to work a press conference as well as anyone connected with the Zeppelin Company, but he was also fluent in English. Journalists loved him, because he was always good for a choice quote or two. The fact that he was seen as one of the world's most capable airship pilots didn't hurt matters either, in a time when the world was infected with what the newspapermen had dubbed "Zeppelin Fever." Hugh Allen, publicist for the Goodyear Corporation, once referred to Ernst Lehmann as "five feet two inches of brains and guts."</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokt4Mom0zjW9gAvcxT8pavqBBccvgpeXLwofq7D1AhfG3sCmyvLQXHdpDjezxilMtMStxA4cUA1gqyohNq1IIQ9OrxY8rDLzSbd3E_iegsJJjTtHzeGh4FFHnIr4ACOupif2ZAxg_JBE/s1600-h/Lehmann+with+Vauen+Zeppelin.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389313931242190674" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 440px; cursor: pointer; height: 581px; text-align: center" height="597" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokt4Mom0zjW9gAvcxT8pavqBBccvgpeXLwofq7D1AhfG3sCmyvLQXHdpDjezxilMtMStxA4cUA1gqyohNq1IIQ9OrxY8rDLzSbd3E_iegsJJjTtHzeGh4FFHnIr4ACOupif2ZAxg_JBE/s400/Lehmann+with+Vauen+Zeppelin.jpg" width="452" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Lehmann photographed smoking what appears to be a Zeppelin style “sparkless” pipe, circa 1929.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The flight to America proved to be the beginning of an illustrious career for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin,</span> <span style="font-family: arial">which would subsequently make flights to Egypt, to the Arctic, and, most famously, around the globe. There were also numerous flights throughout Europe, as well as an increasing number of transatlantic flights to South America, which by 1933 had turned into regular service. Ernst Lehmann gradually began replacing Dr. Eckener as ship's commander, and by 1936 he had commanded 272 of the <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> flights. </span><br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbJPwsXKF_D537SqHQzaZp-xCC7JHGvbFR-0rGDL2VRk13DOvEhcQsQl7l4PDO10TANUC79-nIEI0xVAC0-gfLTsWc_aPFvYMCIz2FifCdthPDymsBR5mPmmAJctdBqJDI_dHj-Dm89c/s1600-h/Lehmann+on+Graf.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389315944272144690" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 436px; cursor: pointer; height: 579px; text-align: center" height="595" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbJPwsXKF_D537SqHQzaZp-xCC7JHGvbFR-0rGDL2VRk13DOvEhcQsQl7l4PDO10TANUC79-nIEI0xVAC0-gfLTsWc_aPFvYMCIz2FifCdthPDymsBR5mPmmAJctdBqJDI_dHj-Dm89c/s400/Lehmann+on+Graf.jpg" width="448" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann on the bridge of the Graf Zeppelin during a flight to South America.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">By March of 1932, work had begun at Friedrichshafen on a new passenger airship, larger and more advanced than the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin.</span><span style="font-family: arial"> The LZ 129 was to be the prototype for the airships that would eventually be used by the international passenger Zeppelin line that Eckener and Lehmann and their peers hoped would be forthcoming. However, funding was becoming a problem, and construction of the new ship was slowed.</span> <br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaS9WGqGLmoPL_d681sGIl7oxvhsZONDO39MK4NA56BsfSb9-P481q4Rvkbc-E690jLVI8nron6yuWwsF5g3e1ebrqGYeksMpW9qfhF9Wbf2ok7UDrOpe7k1BGXukARMXXD-n80HTQgk/s1600-h/Lehmann+with+Hindenburg+piano+during+construction.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389318727571522402" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 555px; cursor: pointer; height: 406px; text-align: center" height="417" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaS9WGqGLmoPL_d681sGIl7oxvhsZONDO39MK4NA56BsfSb9-P481q4Rvkbc-E690jLVI8nron6yuWwsF5g3e1ebrqGYeksMpW9qfhF9Wbf2ok7UDrOpe7k1BGXukARMXXD-n80HTQgk/s400/Lehmann+with+Hindenburg+piano+during+construction.jpg" width="571" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Ernst Lehmann (second from left) and others pose with the Hindenburg's aluminum baby grand piano. Photo taken while passenger decks were still under construction in 1935.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">After the Nazi Party took over the German government in 1933, it became obvious that if the LZ 129 were to be completed, some degree of government funding would be required. Dr. Eckener had made his disgust with the Nazis plain, and had previously refused to allow the Party to use one of the Friedrichshafen Zeppelin hangars for one of their rallies. However, Eckener was also a pragmatic businessman and he knew that one way or another he was going to have to come to some sort of a working agreement with the Nazi government. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst Lehmann, on the other hand, does not seem to have held the reservations about the Nazis that Eckener did. The Nazi government did eventually agree to lend its financial support to the Zeppelin Company, with the tradeoff being that flight operations would be handled via a government-controlled corporation. In 1935, the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (German Zeppelin Transport Company) was established, and while this was met with a great deal of reticence on Eckener's part, Lehmann, now a member of the new DZR's Board of Directors, simply viewed it as a means to an end. As a result, he was far more willing to accommodate the demands of the Nazis than was Eckener. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">This led to friction between the two old comrades, and this was perhaps never more apparent than during a situation that arose shortly after the LZ 129 had begun its trial flights. Christened the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> the new ship had been ordered by Dr. Josef Göbbels at the Propaganda Ministry to participate, along with the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> in a four-day propaganda flight over Germany, during which it would drop leaflets and broadcast party political messages in support of Hitler's remilitarization of the Rhineland, on which the German people would be casting a referendum vote. The flight was scheduled for March 26 through March 29, 1936.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> however, still had important engine tests to be run in anticipation of its first flight to South America, scheduled to depart on March 31, and Dr. Eckener strongly opposed the propaganda flight on the grounds that it would leave no time for these much-needed test flights. Captain Lehmann, however, saw no need to argue with the government edict. Given his position on the DZR's Board of Directors, he was more or less bound to do the Nazi government's bidding, but moreover he seems to have been rather anxious to prove himself to the Berlin government. Though he never officially joined the Nazi Party, Lehmann was seen by a number of his old comrades, including Dr. Eckener, as being entirely too eager and willing to please the Nazi government. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">And so, early on the morning of March 26, 1936, Lehmann ordered the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> walked out of its hangar at Löwenthal, just up the road from Friedrichshafen. Strong gusts were blowing across the airfield, and Lehmann had already been forced to delay departure by two hours, waiting for the wind to die down. There were government dignitaries present on the airfield to watch the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> departure, however, and one of Lehmann's chief concerns was to put on a good showing for them. The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was already circling the airfield above, waiting for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> to be sent aloft. With the wind gusting in roughly the same direction as the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was facing as it was walked out of the hangar, Lehmann chose to order a risky downwind takeoff, rather than either waiting for more favorable wind conditions or taking the time to have the ship walked further out onto the airfield and turned around so it could make a more standard takeoff into the wind.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The basic idea of a downwind takeoff was that the ship's tail would be pointed into the wind, the aft mooring ropes would be cast off to allow the stern to rise to a higher level than the bow (by about 30-40 feet), and then the ground crew would release the bow. With the stern raised, the wind coming from behind could hit the lower surfaces of the horizontal tail fins, generating lift. It was a tricky maneuver, and not the ideal way to send an airship aloft, but there is no reason to believe that Captain Lehmann hadn't successfully done it on multiple occasions in the past.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The takeoff was complicated somewhat by the fact that one of the stern landing lines broke loose as the ship's tail was being turned directly into the wind, but the landing crew got the ship into position and Captain Lehmann called for them to let go of the aft landing lines. The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span> <span style="font-family: arial">tail rose upward, and when it had reached the proper altitude Lehmann ordered the forward ground crew to push the control car into the air. <br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsZpEZZbITNxMXaI596ZyrkcbmHDa5cLr_mct8nTz_tLHm7P_Wa6uZIZcFshbBQDfPxsL061bDfrkj-fDrG9xmK2Zwp1crwEGpvcHY4wMiEyW-PNv5GQI4dP3rrx1G80kVVuFeg-12kM/s1600-h/Lehmann+leaning+out+Hindenburg+control+car+window.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389322292051152594" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 408px; cursor: pointer; height: 590px; text-align: center" height="606" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsZpEZZbITNxMXaI596ZyrkcbmHDa5cLr_mct8nTz_tLHm7P_Wa6uZIZcFshbBQDfPxsL061bDfrkj-fDrG9xmK2Zwp1crwEGpvcHY4wMiEyW-PNv5GQI4dP3rrx1G80kVVuFeg-12kM/s400/Lehmann+leaning+out+Hindenburg+control+car+window.jpg" width="420" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann leans out of the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: times new roman">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> control car while ground crew holds onto control car railing. (Photo probably not from March 26th, 1936 flight.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">At this point, Lehmann inexplicably ordered that water ballast be dropped from the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> bow. This had the effect of sending the bow up into the air, which not only negated the whole point of having raised the tail up so that the wind could catch underneath it, but which furthermore sent the stern down toward the ground. To make matters worse, the wind was also spilling down off of the roof of the hangar, and as the Hindenburg's tail seesawed downward the wind caught the top of the lateral fins and smashed the rear of the lower fin into the ground, damaging the rudder.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann managed to get the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> into the air in order to avoid more damage, and after cruising over Lake Constance for the next couple of hours while the damage to the fin was surveyed from within, he brought the ship back to its airfield and landed it safely.</span> <br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMUNam3k0uj08B0u2abAJ7R_2HBOeBkrScOjkKuOsKw5HJY6Z-ksS3IFRCfRmwMXkb5sD4uoLZyfCbzsUj_IHrvFFF5GPpoqs09OyIny1g8RZIDNo-JcF6v4VMtxA3G6shs9bxbXfG9o/s1600-h/Damaged+fin+3-26-36.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389324923335234786" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 586px; cursor: pointer; height: 466px; text-align: center" height="479" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMUNam3k0uj08B0u2abAJ7R_2HBOeBkrScOjkKuOsKw5HJY6Z-ksS3IFRCfRmwMXkb5sD4uoLZyfCbzsUj_IHrvFFF5GPpoqs09OyIny1g8RZIDNo-JcF6v4VMtxA3G6shs9bxbXfG9o/s400/Damaged+fin+3-26-36.jpg" width="602" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">The damage to the Hindenburg's lower fin shortly after the ship was brought back down to the airfield. Note the section of the rudder hanging down almost completely detached.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Eckener was furious. He stormed up to Lehmann on the airfield and bellowed "How could you risk the ship for this shit flight?! You had the best excuse in the world to postpone this idiotic flight! Instead, you risk the ship merely to avoid annoying Herr Göbbels! Do you call this showing a sense of responsibility toward our enterprise?!"</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Eckener looked at the damage to their brand-new airship. Turning again to Captain Lehmann, he asked, "What do you want to do with it?"</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann replied that he intended to have the damage patched up, and that he could have the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> back in the air in two or three hours and proceed with the flight.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">At this, an incredulous Eckener exploded again, "So this is your only concern?! To take off quickly on this mad flight and drop pamphlets for Dr. Göbbels?! The fact that we have to take off for Rio in four days and have made no flights to test the engines apparently means nothing to you!"</span> <br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5BehnHgkPYas4tCRjHBxJFwMovOtm9Gl__TD76uRFm8d6iCHJv9aypvq7bYgqnIC9bTYGBYT1uSXRPs6M86jh7G_a6ZVx4ee8-QVB0I1NhdNM-Wii7o3RxTwe3jEZu1XXaFrMEjeUqg/s1600-h/Hindenburg+lower+fin+under+repair+3-26-36.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389325793757981538" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 540px; cursor: pointer; height: 388px; text-align: center" height="400" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5BehnHgkPYas4tCRjHBxJFwMovOtm9Gl__TD76uRFm8d6iCHJv9aypvq7bYgqnIC9bTYGBYT1uSXRPs6M86jh7G_a6ZVx4ee8-QVB0I1NhdNM-Wii7o3RxTwe3jEZu1XXaFrMEjeUqg/s400/Hindenburg+lower+fin+under+repair+3-26-36.jpg" width="556" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">The Hindenburg's lower fin under repair, late morning, March 26th, 1936.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWLiY2uvSOp8hucoMmQdLB_fcuTi5C4S-ZOoLZRGN4tHQ48_bNNeUgReVioQjg5vtLNauQhmN4kqSx3KxQkZ1tpqEcRpun4omShnrN73ZLHy78F-IZuHzYll30qD0biUjZdGBNTOXnyA/s1600-h/Repaired+fin+3-26-36.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389326175248812514" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 580px; cursor: pointer; height: 459px; text-align: center" height="471" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWLiY2uvSOp8hucoMmQdLB_fcuTi5C4S-ZOoLZRGN4tHQ48_bNNeUgReVioQjg5vtLNauQhmN4kqSx3KxQkZ1tpqEcRpun4omShnrN73ZLHy78F-IZuHzYll30qD0biUjZdGBNTOXnyA/s400/Repaired+fin+3-26-36.jpg" width="596" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Temporary repair made to the Hindenburg's lower fin. The fin remained in this state until the Hindenburg returned from its first round-trip flight to Rio de Janeiro on April 10th.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann did as he'd told Dr. Eckener that he would, and had temporary repairs made to the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> lower fin and had the ship back on the field and ready to take off again by shortly after three in the afternoon. In fact, he tried the exact same downwind takeoff that he had attempted that morning. As Eckener watched, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> tail went up, and then Lehmann dropped ballast from the bow again and the tail began dropping. One of the men in the aft landing crew was heard to yell, "The tail's coming down again, just like this morning!" before he and another man leapt out of the way. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Fortunately, the wind was far less than what it had been in the morning, and Lehmann also ordered ballast dropped from the stern of the ship in time to check its descent. The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span> rose into the air, although it was now badly out of trim. Once the engines were started, the elevatorman was able to hold the ship level while the crew redistributed water and fuel along the keel to bring the ship back into balance. The <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> then joined the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> still circling overhead, and the two proceeded with the flight.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">While Lehmann piloted the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> over Germany the next day, Dr. Eckener drafted a letter that was subsequently given to each one of his captains, recounting the events of the previous day – both the accident that occurred in the morning, and the near miss that occurred in the afternoon – and outlining the precise takeoff procedures that were to be followed from that point on. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">However, Eckener's outburst about Lehmann's obsequiousness to Göbbels and the Nazi government – which took place within full earshot of Propaganda Ministry officials onhand to watch the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> cast off – was to have some rather far-reaching effects. Not only did it result in a Propaganda Ministry ban on any further mention of Eckener's name in the German press (a ban which was subsequently lifted), but it also led to Eckener being "kicked upstairs" and removed from any real control of the operational side of the airships, while Ernst Lehmann was made the DZR's Director of Flight Operations. Relations between the two men would be strained from that point on.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Eckener and Lehmann were in joint command of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> for its first trip to South America in late March/early April of 1936, and for its first trip to Lakehurst at the beginning of May of that year. Thereafter, Dr. Eckener commanded the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> on only a few more flights, including the season's tenth flight to Lakehurst, during which the so-called "Millionaire's Flight" (a 16-hour cruise over New York and New England for a select group of influential American financiers) took place. Captain Lehmann effectively took over command of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> at least through mid summer. </span><br><br><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-iYFfPY-WEKAtvJKeIZzgxtDKfBJJYJiJENCCSt1aDhitxL_r_UMXME72uHir4DpDdAEQixcpdURqPzziXn9X-dJZf4Lu-sV95sC9dayCXUUabmqEAHYqyUGbTFyxC3JlQsAcobb1a4M/s1600-h/Lehmann+and+Knut+Eckener.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389327498716375666" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 557px; cursor: pointer; height: 462px; text-align: center" height="475" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-iYFfPY-WEKAtvJKeIZzgxtDKfBJJYJiJENCCSt1aDhitxL_r_UMXME72uHir4DpDdAEQixcpdURqPzziXn9X-dJZf4Lu-sV95sC9dayCXUUabmqEAHYqyUGbTFyxC3JlQsAcobb1a4M/s400/Lehmann+and+Knut+Eckener.jpg" width="573" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann and Dr. Eckener's son Knut looking over charts in the Hindenburg's navigation room during a flight in 1936.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0cmdUcJxofIOgvaOJHLHIcdMmuHlFpHXfqP3rJeF1gJ5vqwPHkLI6xTHQFL3lSJ2K5Ar3joHukp13YaRaPBVilZ9kFUmNuc9H5flTUy8oundb6rxhUTrHECNXpKV5s0tqu4jyX2uK5s/s1600-h/lehmann-bauer-knut.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389328469666686754" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 599px; cursor: pointer; height: 422px; text-align: center" height="433" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0cmdUcJxofIOgvaOJHLHIcdMmuHlFpHXfqP3rJeF1gJ5vqwPHkLI6xTHQFL3lSJ2K5Ar3joHukp13YaRaPBVilZ9kFUmNuc9H5flTUy8oundb6rxhUTrHECNXpKV5s0tqu4jyX2uK5s/s400/lehmann-bauer-knut.jpg" width="615" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann (with binoculars) on the Hindenburg's bridge during a flight in 1936. Knut Eckener stands at right, and </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> stands just beyond Lehmann. During the Hindenburg's final landing approach at Lakehurst on May 6th, 1937, Lehmann was standing just to the right of where Bauer is standing here, and he probably escaped through one of the windows visible here between Bauer and Eckener.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div> <p></p><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">He would command the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> twice on round-trip flights to Rio de Janeiro, and on all ten round-trip flights to Lakehurst in 1936 (excluding the return leg of the ninth trip, which was commanded by <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Max Pruss</a>.) In addition to his command duties, he would also spend time mingling with the passengers, often entertaining them by playing songs either on his accordion or else on the aluminum baby grand piano in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> lounge. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">This may have occasionally been done for more practical reasons than mere entertainment, however. On one particular eastbound flight over the North Atlantic in July of 1936, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was flying through gale force winds. It was a tail wind, so the ship was being driven much faster than usual (approximately 155 knots, which the command crew reportedly believed to be the fastest they'd ever flown an airship) and U.S. Navy observer Walter Zimmerman would later write that the sea below was the roughest he'd ever seen, although the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg </span><span style="font-family: arial">was flying completely smoothly.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">During the period when the winds were highest, from 10:00 AM until 11:30 AM, Captain Lehmann gave an impromptu piano concert in the ship's lounge. Though further commentary on the reasons behind this has not come to light, it would seem likely that Lehmann may have been creating a pleasant distraction for the passengers so that they didn't pay close attention to the visibly rough weather outside. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As his duties as the DZR Director of Flight Operations began to take up more of his time, Ernst Lehmann turned command of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> over to Captain Max Pruss for flights to South America beginning in late July. By mid-October of 1936, Lehmann had relinquished command of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> entirely.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">One of Lehmann's duties for the DZR in the latter half of 1936 was to take a leading role in negotiations between the DZR and the American Zeppelin Transport Company, which was expected to begin handling North American arrangements for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> flights to Lakehurst beginning in 1937. Willy von Meister, one of the AZT's principles, would later relate this story about a meeting he had with Lehmann during that time:</span> <br><br> <blockquote face="arial">Late in the fall of 1936, I met with some officials and Capt. Ernst Lehmann at the Air Ministry in Berlin. At that time I was special representative of the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei in New York and vice president of the newly established American Zeppelin Transport, Inc. I was trying to arrange for training of American airshipmen in 1937 by placing two or three of them on each flight of the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> and her anticipated sister ship. <br><br>"What can you offer in compensation?" Lehmann asked me. <br><br>I replied that we would pay the regular passenger fare and in addition that we would make every effort (with the backing of the U.S. Navy, the National City Bank of New York, Goodyear in Akron, and others) to secure helium for the DZR ships. <br><br>Lehmann replied with a touch of arrogance: "That is really no inducement; we have been operating our commercial service with hydrogen very successfully for years." <br><br>I responded, "My dear Lehmann, I sincerely hope you will not have cause to regret your opinion."</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> 1937 flight season began, Ernst Lehmann was a deeply troubled man. For one thing, he had been informed of an increasing number of bomb threats against the Hindenburg, and at the beginning of May had been forwarded a letter from a woman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin specifying that the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> would be destroyed by a time bomb "during its flight to another country." Though he did not take it seriously enough to follow the author's advice to cancel the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> upcoming flights, he had this letter in the pocket of his flight jacket as he arrived at the Rhein-Main Airport in Frankfurt for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> first North American flight of the year, which was scheduled to begin on the evening of Monday, May 3rd. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">However, what weighed on Lehmann far more heavily, it must be assumed, was the fact that he and his wife Marie had just lost their baby son, Luv, a mere five weeks before. The boy had developed complications from an ear infection, and died over Easter Weekend.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwsjucg_dI4mel8mvoox83YLtI60o6TFE5IeWGdWD8gX2maTthAejZUJncApt-ZYTDCrx6cO6rpDvz3gBWSzQ1wUNHNnkdpl4hvANlCkxwsHLoiOrexieVzvG14y2t3ATO-5MvVNH5MQ/s1600-h/Luv.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389330633487718194" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 369px; cursor: pointer; height: 538px; text-align: center" height="554" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwsjucg_dI4mel8mvoox83YLtI60o6TFE5IeWGdWD8gX2maTthAejZUJncApt-ZYTDCrx6cO6rpDvz3gBWSzQ1wUNHNnkdpl4hvANlCkxwsHLoiOrexieVzvG14y2t3ATO-5MvVNH5MQ/s400/Luv.jpg" width="380" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann's son Luv.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Though Captain Pruss was still in command of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> Lehmann was aboard this flight as an observer. It has been suggested by at least one author over the years that this was a last-minute decision on his part after having received the bomb threat letter, however a number of things cast doubt on this. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">First and foremost, it was the DZR flagship's first flight to the United States that year, and Lehmann was the company's Director of Flight Operations. It would make perfect sense for him to have been aboard the Hindenburg even in light of that single fact. In addition, however, there were actual flight-operations concerns that would be addressed at the conclusion of this flight. For example, the DZR's request for a more suitable mooring mast than the one used the previous year had been fulfilled by the U.S. Navy. The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> would therefore be mooring to the new mast for the first time.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">It was also intended that, for the 1937 season, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> would land using the U.S. Navy's "flying moor" (or "high landing") technique, whereby the ship would approach the mast "light" and be winched down out of the sky directly to the mast. This was in contrast to the common German landing style where the ship would remain "heavy" and settle to the ground to be walked up to the mast by the ground crew. The flying moor would, it was hoped, allow for the ground crew to be reduced for future landings, thereby saving the DZR and the AZT a significant amount of money. As Director of Flight Operations and one of the DZR's most experienced airship pilots, it would have been natural for Lehmann to have been present to observe and assess the new landing arrangements.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">There was also a great deal of work for Lehmann to do with the AZT as they settled into the business of handling arrangements for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> landings and refuelings/reprovisionings in the United States. He would certainly have wanted to observe the operation first hand early on in the season so that any improvements or changes that had to be made could be taken care of quickly and smoothly.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Finally, Lehmann's biographer, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/leonhard-and-gertrud-adelt.html">Leonhard Adelt</a>, and his wife <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/leonhard-and-gertrud-adelt.html">Gertrud</a> were flying, at Lehmann's invitation, as guests of the DZR on this trip. The English translation of Lehmann's new autobiography, written in collaboration with Adelt, was due to be published by Longman's, Green and Co. in New York that summer, and it's very likely that there was at least one meeting scheduled with the publisher that Lehmann and Adelt would have attended. With this in mind, it certainly seems unlikely that Lehmann would have arranged for his biographer and his wife to fly on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> for free without considering going along himself.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">It has also been suggested that Lehmann was on his way to Washington to try to convince Congress to sell helium to the Zeppelin Company for use in their airships. Not only has no evidence of this ever come to light, but in view of Lehmann's statement to Willy von Meister at their meeting in Berlin some six months previously, it is highly unlikely that he was even idly thinking about asking Washington for helium, let alone actually intending to do so.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">However, as previously noted, Ernst Lehmann was not aboard in any official capacity other than as "the face of the corporation," so to speak. According to a book written some months later on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> new cabin boy, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/werner-franz.html">Werner Franz</a>, Lehmann even bunked in one of the passenger cabins rather than in the crew's quarters.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann, noticeably subdued compared to his usual gregarious self, divided his time between the control car and the passenger decks, eating meals with the passengers, and chatting with his friends the Adelts and others. The ship's piano had been removed over the winter, and Lehmann had not brought his accordion with him this trip either, so for once he did not entertain the passengers with songs from his extensive repertoire. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8PtNAMXMspOSWwFgbh7-eZwfpWTLKKuaMhCT-oyxDtlQjniYuhCVz_ozEOB7lSwvKI8vx8GbW8IJyHZM8dQwH5eQUpHIsNxzuL_Irj6C9WTxWwb1ZyCJxmz8Na1o9eIsp-mMFLXtTMl0/s1600-h/Lehmann+and+Spah.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389331484435421138" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 585px; cursor: pointer; height: 339px; text-align: center" height="348" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8PtNAMXMspOSWwFgbh7-eZwfpWTLKKuaMhCT-oyxDtlQjniYuhCVz_ozEOB7lSwvKI8vx8GbW8IJyHZM8dQwH5eQUpHIsNxzuL_Irj6C9WTxWwb1ZyCJxmz8Na1o9eIsp-mMFLXtTMl0/s400/Lehmann+and+Spah.jpg" width="601" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann and passenger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/joseph-sph.html">Joseph Spah</a> stand next to one of the Hindenburg's long rows of observation windows during the Hindenburg's last flight. Photo taken from film recovered from Spah's movie camera after the crash. One of the last existing images taken of Captain Lehmann before his death.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">He also discussed the recent bomb threats with Captain Pruss and also with <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Captain Anton Wittemann</a>. Wittemann was another old colleague who normally flew on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> but who was aboard this flight to observe operations on the new ship. Neither Lehmann nor the other two captains appear to have seen the warnings as anything about which to be particularly concerned, however, and the flight proceeded normally.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> approached Lakehurst at the end of the flight, on the evening of May 6th, Ernst Lehmann was on the ship's bridge in the control car. The flight had been delayed a full 12 hours behind its original schedule, first by persistent headwinds over the North Atlantic that had slowed the ship's progress, and then by strong thunderstorms over New Jersey that forced the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> to cruise up and down the Jersey shore waiting for the weather over Lakehurst to clear. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">It was hardly an auspicious beginning to the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> new flight season, especially with a full compliment of 72 passengers waiting at the Biltmore Hotel in New York for the return flight, which was scheduled to begin that evening. Many of the passengers for the return flight, Lehmann knew, were on their way to England for the Coronation of King George VI on May 12th, and that most of them were already cutting it close enough that the loss of half a day's travel time was likely to create some dissatisfied DZR customers. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">This was undoubtedly on Lehmann's mind as the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> approached the landing field at Lakehurst shortly after 7:00 PM. The weather had cleared over the air station while the ship had been cruising to the south, but now as the wind began shifting again, and the landing crew changed position to keep themselves lined up with the wind, a smaller, secondary thunderstorm was moving into the area.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Evidently unaware of this, Lehmann stood by at the very front of the bridge beside Captain Pruss as Pruss issued commands to <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/kurt-schonherr.html">Kurt Schönherr</a> at the rudder wheel and navigator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/franz-herzog.html">Franz Herzog</a> at the engine telegraphs. Pruss' first officer, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html">Captain Albert Sammt</a>, stood behind and slightly to port of them, giving orders to <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html">Eduard Boetius</a> at the elevator wheel, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a> at the ballast board, and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html">Captain Walter Ziegler</a> at the gas board. Captain Wittemann stood by next to Captain Sammt.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> approached the mooring mast and swung around to starboard to line up with the ground crew, and then dropped its bow landing ropes. Lehmann and the others now had little to do besides watch the ground crew as they began to haul the ship down to the mast.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzZvyVzXNDKkTdBwPkaGe0uq1E8tg36TWCngoKBmD-u-8IpJZPKjbXynJRtedFMhRHAGAwk9T9ZpVD8kP3-cYO7dFAjdQf6PtOaeQ5AYPfNtZc0ZIMb3JqbNdFe7Zex-bw8BNTUSoudE/s1600-h/Lehmann+location.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389333830806643810" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 528px; cursor: pointer; height: 300px; text-align: center" height="309" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzZvyVzXNDKkTdBwPkaGe0uq1E8tg36TWCngoKBmD-u-8IpJZPKjbXynJRtedFMhRHAGAwk9T9ZpVD8kP3-cYO7dFAjdQf6PtOaeQ5AYPfNtZc0ZIMb3JqbNdFe7Zex-bw8BNTUSoudE/s400/Lehmann+location.jpg" width="544" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann's location in the control car at the time of the fire.</span> <br></div><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Suddenly, Lehmann and the others felt a sharp push from behind. As Captain Wittemann asked Pruss if a rope had broken, the ship's chief radio operator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willy-speck.html">Willy Speck</a>, standing in the observation room at the aft end of the control car, called out that the ship was on fire. Everyone held on while the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> tilted aft at almost a 45 degree angle as it fell stern-first to the ground. After almost half a minute, the bow began dropping and the control car neared the ground. "Everybody to a window!" yelled Lehmann. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">He waited for the control car's landing wheel to touch the ground, and then began to climb through a small window on the front, starboard side of the car. He held back for a moment as the ship rebounded a short distance into the air on its landing wheel. Then, as the ship began to descend again, Lehmann leapt from the gondola and ran away to starboard just as the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> white hot frame crashed to the ground all around him. He managed to get free, but not before sustaining severe injuries, including third degree burns across his back from the nape of his neck almost to the base of his spine. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6AvezQiwSt9wz4HmJ1rK7ce1sbgfc9SZlsVXypDuTIvdekLS6C5Fu76LiaoeRm7wt2WYX8LAyxV7H7L6I5bBej2HtANE3bl5WN-6JD__of7lb2RLr5D6rYCaeJwqNoQPQ2x8iql7_UI/s1600-h/Command+crew+escape2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389334302708964898" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 606px; cursor: pointer; height: 317px; text-align: center" height="325" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6AvezQiwSt9wz4HmJ1rK7ce1sbgfc9SZlsVXypDuTIvdekLS6C5Fu76LiaoeRm7wt2WYX8LAyxV7H7L6I5bBej2HtANE3bl5WN-6JD__of7lb2RLr5D6rYCaeJwqNoQPQ2x8iql7_UI/s400/Command+crew+escape2.jpg" width="622" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Captain Lehmann and other members of the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span> command crew (arrow) stumble away from the control car as the hull collapses over them.</span> <br></div> <p><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As he staggered from the wreck, he was spotted by Harry Bruno, press representative for the American Zeppelin Transport Company. The two men had known one another for years, and Lehmann, clearly in shock, greeted Bruno with a friendly "Hello, again." He asked Bruno how many of the passengers and crew had been saved, and then as he was being led to a car to be taken for medical help, a stunned Lehmann repeated over and over simply, "Das verstehe ich nicht… Das verstehe ich nicht…" ("I don't understand it.")</span> <br><br><br></p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LQF0rbu-Bbw/UypdJ9i9KTI/AAAAAAAACok/PrPtKr91MBo/s1600-h/Lehmann%252520after%252520crash%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Lehmann after crash" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" height="414" alt="Lehmann after crash" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6-6MLbqAE7Tz6tTzG7q0Xr4zV5QHc0pwtt66Sb2Qc761HXVUf5US2QfiyRZwjGx3i1wC8MEoIJMxcWDJtGn63jxBQu0GNRytl41vXrO-tGM0bI-Fzq5fknxcUj0xLHPIUWOp8qoRRhU/?imgmax=800" width="231" border="0"><br></a> <p align="center"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>A rare shot of a visibly stunned Captain Lehmann leaving the scene of the Hindenburg wreck following his escape. <br>From the front, he appears almost completely uninjured, despite the critical burns that he has suffered across his <br>back. This image is cropped from a larger newswire photo of engine mechanic <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/walter-banholzer.html">Walter Banholzer</a> being led to safety.</strong></font> <br><font size="1"><em>(Special thanks to Kevin Pace of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society for spotting Lehmann in the background of this photo.)</em><br></font> </p> <p align="left"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann was taken, along with others, to the air station's infirmary. It was too small to handle the large number of badly injured people who were arriving, and Lehmann sat on a table with his shirt off, holding a wad of gauze in one hand and a bottle of picric acid in the other, blotting away at his extensive burns. One of the passengers, a middle-aged lady named <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/margaret-mather.html">Margaret Mather</a>, sat nearby. She would later record her impressions in an article for Harpers Magazine.</span> <br><br></p> <blockquote style="font-family: arial">During his infrequent appearances among the passengers he had worn a leather coat with fur lining, upturned collar, which partly hid his face. He always looked alert but genial, with keen blue eyes. Now his face was grave and calm, and not a groan escaped him as he sat there, wetting his burns. His mental anguish must have been as intense as his physical pains, but he gave no sign of either, and when my burns became intolerable and I would reach for the bottle he would hand it to me with grave courtesy, wait patiently while I wet my hands and receive it back with a murmured <span style="font-style: italic">“Danke schön.”</span> It was a strange, quiet interlude, almost as though we were having tea together. I was impressed by his stoic calm, but only when I learned of his death the next day did I realize his heroism.</blockquote><br><span style="font-family: arial">Lehmann's friend Leonhard Adelt and his wife were also among the survivors, and when they arrived at the infirmary they spotted Lehmann and walked over to where he was sitting. Adelt asked his friend Lehmann what had happened. Lehmann, still in shock, merely shrugged and said, "Blitzschlag," (lightning) in an almost questioning manner. The two exchanged a wordless glance, and the Adelts went to get treatment for their own injuries.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">After receiving first aid at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station's dispensary, Lehmann was taken to Paul Kimball Hospital in nearby Lakewood, where he was attended to by a local physician named Dr. Adolph Towbin.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Meanwhile back home, Lehmann's wife Marie, on learning of what had happened, immediately packed and departed for Cherbourg to catch the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Europa</span><span style="font-family: arial"> over to the United States so that she could be with her husband.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst Lehmann was badly burned, but his wounds did not seem as grave as those sustained by Pruss and a few others. Nonetheless, he began to fade the next day. Several people were able to visit him in his hospital room, including his old friend, Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, who was at that time in command of the Lakehurst Naval Air Station.</span> <br><br> <blockquote style="font-family: arial">As I visited him in the hospital only a few hours before his death, I found in Ernst Lehmann a great example of stoic fortitude; though painfully and fatally injured, his own condition caused him little concern, and he made no complaint. His mind remained crystal clear; indeed, it was Lehmann himself who suggested that he be given oxygen as he felt his strength ebbing. Our conversation was concerned for a time with personal matters; then his mind turned to airships, and I can now see that he probably realized that his life's work was nearing its end. <br><br>Just as one may experience the longest dream in but a few seconds, so, as he lay there for hours trying to puzzle out the almost unbelievable loss of the Hindenburg, there must have paraded through his mind the great panorama of airship history in which he himself had been such an outstanding figure. Together, we discussed the probable causes – but each one led only into a blind alley. Still determined upon the success of airships, he said to me in his usual manner, "But of course, regardless of the cause, the next ship must have helium." Surely, had he been able to throw light on anything that might have cleared up the perplexing cause of the catastrophe that was slowly sapping his very life, Ernst Lehmann would have passed it on for the benefit of the project that had been so near and dear to him these many years. But with an air of finality, as if to summarize his judgment of the case, not with rancor but as if sick at heart that humanity could be so cruel, he said to me soberly, "It must have been an infernal machine."</blockquote><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst Lehmann was scheduled to be moved that afternoon, May 7th, along with Captains Pruss and Sammt, to the burn center at the Harkness Pavilion at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York. Unfortunately he passed away before he could be prepped for the transfer.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Marie Lehmann, upon arriving in Cherbourg, learned of her husband's death. She continued with her voyage, however, so that she could accompany her husband's body home. Also aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Europa</span><span style="font-family: arial"> with her were Dr. Eckener and a group of experts being sent to investigate the cause of the disaster.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On Tuesday, May 11th, Lehmann's coffin, along with those of the other German fatalities, lay in state at Pier 86, at the foot of West 46th St. in New York City, where a memorial ceremony (with heavy Nazi overtones)was held for the public. Afterward, the coffins were loaded aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hamburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> aboard which Marie Lehmann accompanied her husband's body home to Germany.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAB_uUfWtxYSN7aW3EVaCtvyQmuwZwyjs47h7GLP7-PMrdQ9uk_lRu4g7-qqtNjZxpWdv76ArUDgp5FKWCzmnI9tPnBsI3Y-a-QxpJ2PQGHU1Vu1RN8I43CwwaCmK4jLBlqhceRIlcA0/s1600-h/Lehmann's+coffin.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389336496802196962" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 379px; text-align: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAB_uUfWtxYSN7aW3EVaCtvyQmuwZwyjs47h7GLP7-PMrdQ9uk_lRu4g7-qqtNjZxpWdv76ArUDgp5FKWCzmnI9tPnBsI3Y-a-QxpJ2PQGHU1Vu1RN8I43CwwaCmK4jLBlqhceRIlcA0/s400/Lehmann's+coffin.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">The captain of the steamship <span style="font-style: italic">Hamburg</span> (right) and others salute Ernst Lehmann's coffin during the memorial ceremony on May 11th.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Ernst Lehmann was laid to rest, along with six Frankfurt-area crew members, at Frankfurter Hauptfriedhof cemetery in Frankfurt. His name, along with those of the others, is inscribed on a monument over the grave site.</span> <br><br>However, a few years after his death, Lehmann's wife Marie had his body moved from the common grave in Frankfurt to a private plot in the cemetery in Grassau, Germany, where she had recently moved. Ernst Lehmann is buried there next to their son, Luv. <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibRisbSx_szBoJkP6UlGfceyAYegHyDJFCpOcxXPUeydXeLYq-HfvqAr-cBlo-E4bHBZ2qBXPrrs_JZbJGHN1Pl0-AbQKWl6LtGKcoIRVGIZoSEyJCAUQz5HIrbJ33jr0HiwD5WVn7jdg/s1600-h/north+side+inscriptions.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389340415868699122" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 266px; text-align: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibRisbSx_szBoJkP6UlGfceyAYegHyDJFCpOcxXPUeydXeLYq-HfvqAr-cBlo-E4bHBZ2qBXPrrs_JZbJGHN1Pl0-AbQKWl6LtGKcoIRVGIZoSEyJCAUQz5HIrbJ33jr0HiwD5WVn7jdg/s400/north+side+inscriptions.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Ernst Lehmann's name inscribed on the crew memorial in Frankfurter Hauptfriedhof cemetery.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The English translation of Lehmann's autobiography "Zeppelin", written in collaboration with Leonhard Adelt, was published in the United States that summer. Commander Rosendahl was given the unhappy task of writing the forward for the book as well as a final chapter in which he described the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> disaster. Rosendahl concluded his forward, dated June 7, 1937 (one month to the day following Lehmann's death) with the following epitaph:</span> <br><br> <blockquote style="font-family: arial">The name and memory of Lehmann are now inseparably linked with those of Zeppelin and his fellow pioneers who have given and are giving their lives unselfishly to the furtherance of the airship ideal. To all of us his book is a fitting monument to what he gave and did for civilization. The world is indebted to Ernst Lehmann; it owes and concedes him a place of honor.</blockquote><br><br></span><br><br></span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-35567226169168909052009-09-29T14:01:00.039-05:002014-08-28T20:54:48.899-05:00Werner Franz</span><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscv6qPBRomFtvq0KpVYRUvuvlSv-RkxW4DWPFssoRXbqmsOJXLIN2SfsBlFwJObnNEkOT-78Xw8DOtzSaXAjxkwoAKwQnOffr3aUlS0FT8hJU20k0F7egwcXLyZSSrt_ZXEWgsmaKENs/s1600-h/WFranz.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 187px; float: left; height: 300px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386968016222437474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscv6qPBRomFtvq0KpVYRUvuvlSv-RkxW4DWPFssoRXbqmsOJXLIN2SfsBlFwJObnNEkOT-78Xw8DOtzSaXAjxkwoAKwQnOffr3aUlS0FT8hJU20k0F7egwcXLyZSSrt_ZXEWgsmaKENs/s400/WFranz.jpg"></a> <br><span style="font-size: 130%"><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Crew Member </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Age: 14 </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Occupation: Cabin boy </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Location at time of fire: B-deck, Officers' mess </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Survived </span></span><br><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Werner Franz, born on May 22nd, 1922 in Frankfurt-Bonames, Germany, was a 14 year-old cabin boy on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> final voyage. His father was a switchboard operator in a Frankfurt hotel for many years, but he became ill in early 1936 and could no longer work. Werner's mother therefore had to take care of the household and also hold down a job. His 16-year-old brother, Günter, had been an apprentice waiter at the Frankfurter Hof since 1934, having gotten the job through his trade school. However, he didn't make nearly enough to support the family. Werner had left elementary school around Easter of 1936 to find work to help the family make ends meet. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Werner Franz spent months after leaving school looking for an apprenticeship. He was good with his hands, and eventually hoped to become an electrician or an engineer. Twice a week for three hours he'd go to trade school, but he was anxious to find work. He asked his brother to see if he could get him a position at the Frankfurter Hof, but Herr Wangemann, the hotel's director, though he thought very highly of the Franz boys, was unable to find him a position, as all apprenticeships were currently filled. The best he could do was to let them know if any apprenticeships opened up.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">By autumn of that year, Werner was very discouraged. He wanted nothing more than to find a way to make some money to help his family. But there just wasn't any work for him. At 14 years old, he already knew what it was to be unemployed. Then, one day in mid-October, Werner's brother came bursting into the house, and excitedly told his parents that he'd spoken with Herr Wangemann and that the hotel director had recommended Werner for a job. Werner, sitting in his room dejected and brooding, had only to hear the word "job" before his ears pricked up and he heard his brother continue " as cabin boy on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family: arial">"</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">His brother went on to say that Werner was to meet the next day with the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> Chief Steward, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Heinrich Kubis</a>, at his apartment in Frankfurt. Werner was thrilled. Not only would he now finally be able to help his mother out by earning money, but he'd get to fly on one of the big Zeppelins that he and his friends had watched so many times flying out of the nearby Rhein-Main Airport. He'd be making a monthly salary of 60 marks (about $150, which was a considerable sum for a 14 year-old German to bring home in the late 1930s.)</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Werner Franz and his father met with Heinrich Kubis the next day, and with the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> commander, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Captain Max Pruss</a>, the day after that. He got the cabin boy job, and would serve on a probationary basis through the end of the 1936 flight season. His first flight was to have been a short test flight over Germany on October 18th, 1936, which was only a few days after his interviews. The flight was cancelled, however, and Werner Franz's first <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> flight therefore ended up being a twelve-day round-trip voyage to South America beginning on October 21st.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As cabin boy, Franz served the ship's officers and crew. His duties would begin at 6:00 in the morning, when he would go to the kitchen to wash and put away any dishes that had been used by the night watch. Then he would set the table in the mess room for the first watch's breakfast, which began at 6:30. Since the mess areas were not large enough to accommodate the entire crew, meals were served in two sittings, and Franz had to clear and reset the mess tables in the very short time between each sitting. Lunch was served at 11:30and 12:30, there were half-hour afternoon coffee breaks at 3:30 and 4:00, and then dinner was served at 6:30 and 8:00. In between meals, Franz would make the beds in the officers' cabins, and then return to the mess area. At about 2:30 in the afternoon, he would have a short break, during which he would usually go to his bunk and rest for half an hour before returning to the mess area to prepare it for afternoon coffee. After dinner, Franz would telephone the control car to see if the evening watch needed coffee, and if so he would bring it to them in a coffee pot on a tray. His day's duties would be over by about 9:30 at night. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz spent his first flight to South America learning his duties and familiarizing himself with his new crewmates. During the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> three-day stay in Rio de Janeiro, Franz met and befriended two nine year-old German children named Emilio and Gisela, whose parents ran an inn near the airfield. On Franz's second day in Rio, they all went horseback riding together. The day after that, the children and several of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> crew members spent the day at the seaside swimming and hunting for mussels.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On the return flight from Rio, Franz was already becoming used to his new duties, and had begun to get to know his crewmates. This time, as the ship neared the equator, Franz was working in the kitchen when one of the cooks sent him to the control car with a bucket and mop to "wash off the equator line." When he got there, the watch officer on duty told him with mock seriousness, "We're not quite there yet. Go on back and I'll let you know when you need to come back down here." </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As Franz later wrote in his journal:</span> <br><br> <blockquote><span style="font-family: arial">"Unsuspecting, I walked back along the gangway. Just before I got to the kitchen, I suddenly got a cold shower of water over my head. Suppressing a smile, I looked up and saw a cook with a large can in his hand standing on a girder above me. Other crew members appeared and stood there laughing until tears came to their eyes, because I looked so drenched. I then hurried aft to my bunk so that I could change my clothes."</span></blockquote><br><span style="font-family: arial">Thus did Werner Franz receive the airshipman's version of the traditional sailor's equatorial baptism, as well as the acceptance of his crewmates. He was later given a special certificate in honor of his having "crossed the line."</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz made two more South America flights in 1936 (November 5th through the 16th, and November 25th through December 7th) before the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was laid up for its winter overhaul. On his second flight, Franz learned that the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> would be on its way to South America while her sister ship, the </span><a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin"><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin,</span></a><span style="font-family: arial"> would be flying along the same route on its return flight. It had been estimated that the two ships would approach one another at around midnight on the third night of the trip.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz's bunkmate, steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/wilhelm-balla.html">Wilhelm Balla</a>, woke him shortly before midnight, and Franz hurried aft to the emergency control stand in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> lower fin, where there were three round portholes on each side of the fin through which he could watch for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin.</span> <br><br> <blockquote><span style="font-family: arial">"At first, you could see a couple of lights in the distance that you might mistake for stars. Then you saw the powerful beam from the directional searchlight on the bottom [</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">of the Graf Zeppelin.</span><span style="font-family: arial">] Now you could recognize individual parts of the ship: the control car, the engine gondolas, and the lower tail fin. Hundreds of tiny lights shone in the darkness as the giant ship passed us and the passengers waved to us."</span></blockquote> <p><br><span style="font-family: arial">In Rio, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> had its usual three-day layover, and Franz once again spent time with his two young friends Emilio and Gisela. This time, they rescued a small dog who was being mistreated by one of the locals. Emilio and Gisela's family adopted the dog, and hereafter, when Franz would return to Rio on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> the dog would always remember him immediately and greet him like an old friend. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On his third flight to South America, and the last of the 1936 season, Franz was invited down to the control car to watch as the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> and the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> met in mid-ocean once again, this time during the day. </span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-family: arial"></span><br><span style="font-family: arial">"As the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> got fairly close to us, it made a slight turn and flew by us at a distance of about 300 meters with its motors at half throttle. Hereupon, the two airships flew a couple of circles around one another. After mutual wishes of "Have a good flight!" were exchanged, each ship continued along its course."</span></p></blockquote><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz knew that his two young friends Gisela and Emilio were on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> as it passed by, flying back to Germany for a visit. He therefore spent all of his free time in Rio this trip with his crew mates. One evening, Franz and several of his crewmates gathered outside of the window at Captain Pruss' quarters playing musical instruments (one of the stewards was using a saucepan as a drum, and Franz was wearing a sheet that one of the stewards had wrapped around him as a toga) as their way of inviting him out with them. Pruss joined them, and Franz would later recall it as having been a particularly fun evening.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">At the end of this trip, back in Germany, Werner Franz was informed that he had passed his probationary period and was permanently hired by the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei as an official member of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> crew.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On its return to Germany after this flight, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was laid up in its hangar in Frankfurt for the winter, where it would receive a complete overhaul. The ship had logged over 3,000 flight hours in its first year of operation, and its designers wanted to see how it had held up, and to perform any repairs or improvements that were deemed necessary. Werner Franz, with his natural mechanical skills, was asked to take part in the overhaul. He performed minor assistant jobs as needed, and in the process he learned the layout of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> in much greater detail than before. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In March of 1937, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> made a couple of test flights, including one in which the famous German flying ace, General Ernst Udet, attempted to hook his airplane onto a special trapeze that had been installed on the lower hull of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family: arial"> The US Navy had perfected this on their last two Zeppelins, with a special hook installed atop the airplane that the pilot would use to lock onto a trapeze extended below the airship, and the DZR planned to incorporate a similar hook-on airplane to their passenger airships to allow for in-flight pickup of mail and passengers. Udet's hook-on experiments would be the first step toward this.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Werner Franz was, of course, excited to see General Udet in person, and made note of the experience in his journal:</span> <br><br> <blockquote><span style="font-family: arial">"All of the crew, those who weren't on watch at the time, watched through the lower windows as the airplane flew about half a meter below the ship's hull at the same airspeed as the airship, and with a very short distance between the hook and the trapeze. Then, Udet gradually increased his speed and approached the trapeze. This was the pivotal moment. We were all on edge: Would it work or not? There – a jolt, and the airplane hung there with its engine shut down, swinging to and fro, supported by its arrester hook. Everyone gave a sigh of relief, and Udet waved to us, laughing. Then he pulled a lever, and the airplane went into a glide. General Udet repeated this several times."</span></blockquote><br><span style="font-family: arial">(In fact, General Udet had some difficulty in making his first hook-on attempt, bouncing the arrester hook off of the trapeze several times before successfully hooking onto it. This was most likely due to turbulence near the trapeze, and to the fact that the Focke-Wulfe </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Stieglitz</span><span style="font-family: arial"> that Udet was flying was simply too light an airplane for the job.)</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On March 16th, 1937, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> made its first round-trip South American flight of the year. The ship then spent several more weeks in its shed in Frankfurt, during which construction was completed on nine new passenger cabins that had been added to the ship. There followed a pair of test flights over the Rheinland on April 27th, and then preparations were made for the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> first North American flight of the year.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">It would be Werner Franz's first trip to the United States. Lakehurst, NJ, where the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span> would land, was a short distance from New York City, and Franz was hoping for the chance to go into New York for the afternoon while the ship was being refueled for its return flight. <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> left Frankfurt for Lakehurst on the evening of May 3rd, 1937. The flight to the United States was shorter than the flight to Rio de Janeiro by at least a day, and by the morning of May 6th the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was flying down the northeastern coast of North America. Franz's shipboard duties had become routine by now, and he had settled comfortably into his new job. He had gotten to know his shipmates, who now considered him one of their own, and he had enjoyed finally meeting <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst Lehmann</a>, the well-known airship captain who had worked with Count von Zeppelin in the early days before the war, and who had commanded both the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family: arial"> and the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> before taking the post of Director of Flight Operations for the DZR and turning over command of the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> to Captain Pruss shortly before Franz was hired the previous year. Lehmann was aboard as an observer on this flight, and had given Werner Franz a friendly nod that morning as Franz served him his coffee. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> reached New York City in mid-afternoon, and it made a wide circle around the city so that its passengers could get a good look at the world's largest city from the air. Franz was in the officers' mess as the ship reached New York, and watched the city below through the mess room's windows:</span> <br><br> <blockquote><span style="font-family: arial">"Since we had already passed over the steamship docks, we saw nothing but an ocean of buildings far and wide. Elevated trains, streetcars, and busses crisscrossed the wide streets, between which wound countless smaller automobiles. The sidewalks were swarming with people, like an anthill. Now and then you could see a subway train coming up from underground."</span></blockquote><br><span style="font-family: arial">Delayed by headwinds over the North Atlantic, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was running half a day behind schedule. They had been scheduled to land at dawn on May 6th, but instead would be landing closer to sundown. The ship had already flown over the landing field at Lakehurst at about 4:00 in the afternoon, but with thunderstorms approaching the air station, Captain Pruss had decided to cruise along the New Jersey coast until the weather had cleared. Franz still hoped that he would have the chance to go into New York with some of his crewmates before the return trip, but it was looking less likely. Still, he did his dishwashing as quickly as he could so that perhaps there would be time. As he put the dishes away in their cabinet, he looked out of the officers' mess windows and saw on the ground below a pair of boys who were pedaling furiously, trying to keep up with the airship.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Then, at about ten minutes past 7:00, he heard the signal for landing stations as it sounded throughout the ship. About ten minutes later, he heard one of the crew members (radio operator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/franz-eichelmann.html">Franz Eichelmann</a>) relay an order from the control car via the telephone in the kitchen foyer that six men were to go forward to the ship's bow in order to help bring the ship into trim. Young Franz had been hoping to join them, because the windows in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> bow provided such an excellent view, but he still had dishes to put away. Disappointed, he stayed behind in the officers' mess.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZqd0YtGqxtpJGmhhrzCqqUKrOjeL50i157FITG1gytLXrpYzSupgT83944-G-4V3_DXgW7rkcy0204wxxlhmrjm4SouovNAUlXh6XeTvim0jFzEmCHEpd1BVp7dbmoIfW9ttMOLXxMk/s1600-h/Franz+location.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 283px; display: block; height: 400px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387125803389719490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZqd0YtGqxtpJGmhhrzCqqUKrOjeL50i157FITG1gytLXrpYzSupgT83944-G-4V3_DXgW7rkcy0204wxxlhmrjm4SouovNAUlXh6XeTvim0jFzEmCHEpd1BVp7dbmoIfW9ttMOLXxMk/s400/Franz+location.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Werner Franz's location at the time of the fire.</span> <br></div><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Werner Franz had a coffee cup in his hand and was just reaching into the cupboard to put it away when he heard a dull thudding sound and felt the entire ship shake. He froze as the dishes he had put away were all jolted out of their cabinet and crashed to the floor. The ship began to tilt steeply aft, and Franz ran to the door to the keel walkway and looked out into the hallway. He glanced aft and saw, to his horror, a mammoth ball of flame rushing toward him. He instinctively began to back-pedal away from the fire and toward the bow. Franz looked around to see if any of his crewmates were there, but he could see no one. As the ship tilted even more steeply, he began to slide aft toward the flames, and grabbed at the ropes that lined both sides of the keel walkway. Dazed, he hung on as the fire roared through the hydrogen cells above him and the ship's hull jarred and shook as it slowly crashed to earth. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Suddenly, and with eerie similarity to his "crossing the line" initiation from his first flight to South America, Franz was doused with water pouring down on him along the inclined keel. A water ballast tank set alongside the walkway about 40 feet forward of Franz's position had slipped off its mountings and ruptured, sending its contents aft. The water soaked Franz's clothes, not only effectively shielding him from the heat, but also snapping the stunned boy back to his senses. He began to look for a way out of the ship.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As he held onto the ropes and felt the fire behind him growing hotter, Franz began looking for a way out of the burning Zeppelin. Just forward of him, on the starboard side of the keel walkway, there was a large hatch through which he and the kitchen crew provisioned the ship with food. He tried to make his way along the walkway toward the hatch, but the keel was still at too steep an angle, and he had to wait until the bow began to sink down so that he could climb those few last feet forward. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">When the ship finally began to drop down in the front, Franz pulled himself forward and sat on the catwalk next to the hatch. In the red glow of the fire, Franz kicked at the hatch with both feet and knocked it open. Through the hatchway he saw the ground coming quickly toward him. When the ground was only a couple of meters away, Franz jumped. Suddenly, the ship began to rise up above him again as it rebounded off the landing wheel beneath the control car. Franz was therefore given a few seconds in which to run out from under the ship. His first instinct as he jumped had been to run with the wind, but as he landed he saw the flames being blown ahead of him, and immediately turned around and ran into the wind instead. As the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> hull hung momentarily in the air above him, Franz ran as fast as he could toward the port side and just barely got out from underneath the wreck before it crashed to the ground behind him. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Amazingly, Werner Franz was almost completely uninjured – "Wet, but alive," as he would later say. </span><br><br><br></span></span> <div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmGkFrML-ynl4hNLUBw1mCsp7ka0u9hI1B2sUnYtWcdkUf7maPb-FdHDG1sqKkd9-vR_MJ1Wg74PuWSEPXGKjV0lyq6jGF6-69sSDbTJ7moV8xk4gs_yCMXROTzd85QUgj_-4B6kXOu0/s1600/Werner+Franz+Escape+Diagram+2.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 127px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623856567595656962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmGkFrML-ynl4hNLUBw1mCsp7ka0u9hI1B2sUnYtWcdkUf7maPb-FdHDG1sqKkd9-vR_MJ1Wg74PuWSEPXGKjV0lyq6jGF6-69sSDbTJ7moV8xk4gs_yCMXROTzd85QUgj_-4B6kXOu0/s400/Werner+Franz+Escape+Diagram+2.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Diagram of Werner Franz's miraculous escape from the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold"> <span style="font-size: 130%"><span style="color: rgb(204,0,0)">1.)</span> </span>Standing in the officers' mess on B-deck, Franz feels a sharp jolt run through the ship as the tail bursts into flame. <span style="color: rgb(204,0,0); font-size: 130%">2.)</span> Franz runs out into the hallway and, looking aft, sees the fire burning. <span style="color: rgb(204,0,0); font-size: 130%">3.)</span><span style="color: rgb(204,0,0)"> </span>Franz backpedals away from the fire and out into the open keel walkway. He holds on as the ship inclines sharply. Water from ballast storage tank (red star/</span></span></span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span>f<sub>1</sub></span></span><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">) flows aft and soaks Franz. <span style="color: rgb(204,0,0); font-size: 130%">4.) </span>As the ship begins to level out, Franz moves forward to hatch and jumps.</span></span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><br></span></span> <div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BrS32ShLZcniY64YOCRNtqF4roTwMdacIoR9ISRY36btcBL8Pbe2y1dgmQ_dQn80ZzX7OWYYtiTm8nkGn7pQ6h_1aHIrypP3hy6zaOuaXN5vIwK5ERIZ_eD3fOVdwGDG32da1j2ExDo/s1600/Forward+keel+provisioning+hatch.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 337px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622347605246055858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BrS32ShLZcniY64YOCRNtqF4roTwMdacIoR9ISRY36btcBL8Pbe2y1dgmQ_dQn80ZzX7OWYYtiTm8nkGn7pQ6h_1aHIrypP3hy6zaOuaXN5vIwK5ERIZ_eD3fOVdwGDG32da1j2ExDo/s400/Forward+keel+provisioning+hatch.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">The provisioning hatch through which Werner Franz escaped, seen here serving its normal function.</span> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: ';font-size:7.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 78%"><span style="font-family: times new roman">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: ';font-size:7.5pt;"> <br></span></i><br><br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NCdg9FhtFRTmh6XRRBtghQtFNd6oqeu48ngYn1_RPCuWWsjyN2-ghdC8mim7WxgL5AFWFQeWg41Xpo6oWvXLCWBXFWtfCMCtSu1hVOkppa7qJlng8e9NGA08q5c2gDffhEx79iNaXvw/s1600-h/Franz+escape+1.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386998044993945746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NCdg9FhtFRTmh6XRRBtghQtFNd6oqeu48ngYn1_RPCuWWsjyN2-ghdC8mim7WxgL5AFWFQeWg41Xpo6oWvXLCWBXFWtfCMCtSu1hVOkppa7qJlng8e9NGA08q5c2gDffhEx79iNaXvw/s400/Franz+escape+1.jpg"></a> <span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Water can be seen pouring out of the hatch that Werner Franz has just kicked open (arrow).</span> <br></div><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4EH5ysYemaG3r8mlZ57RbAykrbvsR0LMYyJ3J3aG6J8FVlGLWchXLHlXtWLvHcDZbnGFgEVRfM0LJaSS7zkD8V4wAVTyn7tdcwI0vopjHbz3CsjbNL4BsimK3-GGw9R2uFBTLMZeIOU/s1600-h/Franz+escape+2.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386998242101130418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4EH5ysYemaG3r8mlZ57RbAykrbvsR0LMYyJ3J3aG6J8FVlGLWchXLHlXtWLvHcDZbnGFgEVRfM0LJaSS7zkD8V4wAVTyn7tdcwI0vopjHbz3CsjbNL4BsimK3-GGw9R2uFBTLMZeIOU/s400/Franz+escape+2.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Water still runs from the hatch (arrow) as the ship's hull nears the ground.</span> <br></div><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQC7LKZlPTLFUwo5fHn6oTumupOEo7jObWkPzQe53yy8ETsV-pgyibU-FY8xFuXcObM-amHlarnnrHMb7rvJhbc6c6q8SmK09V7tB3NyRwVo_AhNQReKLr2gr5aegYbd-9VDgGLqgLkU/s1600-h/Franz+escape+3.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386998415446262050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQC7LKZlPTLFUwo5fHn6oTumupOEo7jObWkPzQe53yy8ETsV-pgyibU-FY8xFuXcObM-amHlarnnrHMb7rvJhbc6c6q8SmK09V7tB3NyRwVo_AhNQReKLr2gr5aegYbd-9VDgGLqgLkU/s400/Franz+escape+3.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Werner Franz (arrow) can just barely be seen dropping to the ground through the hatch. The ship's hull will rebound into the air momentarily, giving Franz just enough time to run to safety.</span> <br></div><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">After he ran out from under the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> hull, Franz kept running. Gradually, he slowed down and came to a stop when he was perhaps 40 meters from the wreck, and stood there in shock. Everything seemed unreal, and the men running toward the wreck to rescue survivors swam before Franz's eyes like ghosts. Chief Steward Kubis found him moments later. Kubis saw the confusion on the boy's face and said, "What are you standing here for? Go back to the ship and help!"</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">This snapped Franz out of his panic, and he turned around and returned to the wreck. As he got closer, he noticed the intense heat from the fire, and it finally occurred to him that he was soaking wet and freezing. But he continued on, looking for somebody to help. As he approached the wreckage, a sailor grabbed hold of him and tried to order him off the airfield. Franz could not immediately remember the correct words in English, so he pointed toward the burning airship and exclaimed, "Ich bin der cabin-boy vom </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg!</span><span style="font-family: arial"> Ich bin doch der cabin-boy vom </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg!</span><span style="font-family: arial">"</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Gradually the sailor realized what he was saying, clapped Franz on the shoulder and said to the other sailors nearby, "Hey, this is the airship's cabin boy!" The sailors crowded around him, amazed that the boy was not only alive, but barely scratched. Noticing that he was soaking wet, one of the men gave Franz his coat. But he was anxiously looking past the sailors toward the wreck to see if he could see any of his crewmates. Before long, two of the stewards came up and led him away by the arm. "Come on, son," they said, "There's nothing more we can do here." </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz turned back and gave the sailor his coat back, and then followed the stewards to a waiting auto that took them toward the air station's hangars. Other survivors among the crew were beginning to gather there. An older gentleman who worked at the air base took Franz back to his quarters so that his wife could give the boy some dry clothes, and then Franz joined several of his surviving crewmates at the air station's infirmary to check in on the crew survivors who were among the more seriously injured. Eventually, he made his way over to the barracks, where uninjured crew survivors were being housed, and slept until late the next morning.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Initially, Werner Franz's name was mistakenly placed on the official list of those believed to be missing in the wreckage. Therefore many of the earliest newspaper reports had him listed as either missing or dead. He found out about this the next day when he saw the newspapers, and realized that once this news got back to Germany his parents would be devastated. He therefore had a telegram sent to them immediately, telling them that he was alive and uninjured.</span> <br><br><br></span></span> <div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ3PBPFNrqvK_05FYX2DxedhFvPP9zyUhfhaF_5BAm2SkjOTpPmAb7Tk3DX_e6TE4rpCpzKSntdnhJAk6LrOou9QoVRUfpaLyU6fyVnOCnzLUGAgp30iFKD1dFcSfyfOJtJ0Kv3IdJdhc/s1600/Ballast+water+tank+location.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 289px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622401457668406930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ3PBPFNrqvK_05FYX2DxedhFvPP9zyUhfhaF_5BAm2SkjOTpPmAb7Tk3DX_e6TE4rpCpzKSntdnhJAk6LrOou9QoVRUfpaLyU6fyVnOCnzLUGAgp30iFKD1dFcSfyfOJtJ0Kv3IdJdhc/s400/Ballast+water+tank+location.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">The water ballast tank that soaked Werner Franz's clothes can be seen in this aerial photo of the wreckage. The tank's aft end has been knocked approximately 45 degrees in toward the keel walkway, where it dumped its load of water aft toward the spot where Werner Franz was located.</span></span></span> <br></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">He was given permission by the commander of the Lakehurst base, Commander Charles Rosendahl, to go out to the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> wreckage later that day in order to find a watch given to him by his grandfather that he'd had amongst his possessions aboard the ship. Accompanied by Lieutenant George F. Watson, the base public relations officer, Franz first looked for the officers' mess, thinking that he would perhaps find one of the dishes he had been putting away at the time of the fire. However, there was nothing left of the officers' mess – the crash and the fire had destroyed everything. He then went to the stern of the ship and picked through the rubble in roughly the area where his bunk had been (Lt. Watson later recalled that Franz walked almost directly to the correct spot the moment they entered the wreckage) and, amazingly, he found his watch. He took it, along with a scrap of the ship's framework as a souvenir.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">That evening, and for the rest of his time in the United States, Franz stayed with Anton Heinen and his family. Heinen was a former Zeppelin commander who had emigrated to the United States and now worked for the US Navy, and he and his family lived in a house on the Lakehurst air base. They took Franz into New York to Wanamaker's department store to buy him new clothes, and did their best to make him feel at home.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6U7AEHdTV86ScT7wpdLGLP4aIME7Mc8re7-5T-r-V-1CR8GoWJjsVh1aVJQGCRQWYuuy8RQBU9-II4AiK8kgZ-BYtjay4Z1rmSQLFkKtiCA5Fq5gHjLF7lZLAlMUYaTll1wkg_29-kfI/s1600-h/Crew+survivors+-+circa+5-9-37+%28ID+copy%29.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 292px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386993258517026082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6U7AEHdTV86ScT7wpdLGLP4aIME7Mc8re7-5T-r-V-1CR8GoWJjsVh1aVJQGCRQWYuuy8RQBU9-II4AiK8kgZ-BYtjay4Z1rmSQLFkKtiCA5Fq5gHjLF7lZLAlMUYaTll1wkg_29-kfI/s400/Crew+survivors+-+circa+5-9-37+%28ID+copy%29.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Werner Franz and a number of his shipmates pose for news cameras in front of the Officers' Mess at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, on or about May 9th, 1937. 1.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/max-henneberg.html">Max Henneberg</a> (steward); 2.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/fritz-deeg.html">Fritz Deeg</a> (steward); 3.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/jonny-dorflein.html">Jonny Dörflein</a> (engine mechanic) 4.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/max-zabel.html">Max Zabel</a> (navigator); 5.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/severin-klein.html">Severin Klein</a> (steward); 6.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html">Eduard Boetius</a> (navigator); 7.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/egon-schweikard.html">Egon Schweikard</a> (radio operator); 8.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/xaver-maier.html">Xaver Maier</a> (head chef); 9.) Werner Franz (cabin boy); 10.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Rudolf Sauter</a> (chief engineer); 11.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/wilhelm-balla.html">Wilhelm Balla</a> (steward); 12.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnenmacher</a> (steward); 13.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/albert-stffler.html">Albert Stöffler</a> (pastry chef); 14.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/wilhelm-steeb.html">Wilhelm Steeb</a> (engine mechanic trainee); 15.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Heinrich Kubis</a> (chief steward); 16.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a> (watch officer); 17.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/kurt-bauer.html">Kurt Bauer</a> (elevatorman); 18.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/eugen-schuble.html">Eugen Schäuble</a> (flight engineer); 19.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/helmut-lau.html">Helmut Lau</a> (helmsman); 20.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/alfred-grzinger.html">Alfred Grözinger</a> (chef); 21.) <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/german-zettel.html">German Zettel</a> (chief mechanic).</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The following Tuesday, May 11th, Franz visited New York again, this time with a number of his shipmates. The coffins of the German passengers and crew killed in the disaster were being shipped home aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hamburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> later in the week, and there was a dockside memorial service being held that evening. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz testified before the Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 13th, 1937 – exactly a week after the disaster. When Lt. Col. Joachim Breithaupt, the German Air Ministry's representative on the German commission sent to the United States to take part in the investigation, was introduced to young Werner Franz, he would later recall that the young man's first question to him was, "Herr Oberstleutnant, when the next Zeppelin is ready, may I fly again with her?" </span><br><br><br></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0sn4ErLzXsYPd6alAS-XyYHmY9Q04c6jKFUqi8vsmILyQf6wvtnQqb_pc6svghclzgefsM5x_CGhDVjp8Abk1hrYW3eaKL29yPVcMYO_B5GPoEeVbNhrrPfrSiHKfmLFWPW54EI20bg/s1600-h/Franz-Ziegler.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 271px; display: block; height: 400px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386999908001497202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0sn4ErLzXsYPd6alAS-XyYHmY9Q04c6jKFUqi8vsmILyQf6wvtnQqb_pc6svghclzgefsM5x_CGhDVjp8Abk1hrYW3eaKL29yPVcMYO_B5GPoEeVbNhrrPfrSiHKfmLFWPW54EI20bg/s400/Franz-Ziegler.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Werner Franz sits with </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html">Captain Walter Ziegler</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold"> on the day of Franz's official testimony to the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry.</span></span></span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: ';font-size:7.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 78%"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><br>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: ';font-size:7.5pt;"> <br><br></span></i></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Franz returned to Germany two days later with other surviving members of the crew (mostly stewards and kitchen staff) aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Europa.</span><span style="font-family: arial"> Before boarding the ocean liner at the docks in New York, Franz and several of his shipmates had time to see a movie at Radio City Music Hall. The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Europa</span><span style="font-family: arial"> arrived in Bremerhaven on May 22nd, Franz's 15th birthday – which he had completely forgotten about until somebody at the dock reminded him of it. </span><br><br><br></span></span> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UBugNd9btrz8jzUaaltuU4ctt989WO8JimtxXf7u8rfe1s4WEDW7ig4xWUQT9JqGQYbxUoHeAGZWsehpHhimHNN7Z2F6bl_1HnBUy52nO5WNXOHHl_sIjl2k2m8NwIV_4iwxrvFfWN8/s1600-h/FranzReturnHome.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 275px; display: block; height: 400px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386975779216035170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UBugNd9btrz8jzUaaltuU4ctt989WO8JimtxXf7u8rfe1s4WEDW7ig4xWUQT9JqGQYbxUoHeAGZWsehpHhimHNN7Z2F6bl_1HnBUy52nO5WNXOHHl_sIjl2k2m8NwIV_4iwxrvFfWN8/s400/FranzReturnHome.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Werner Franz (front and center) and his shipmates are met at the dock in Bermershaven by the Graf Zeppelin's commander, Captain Hans von Schiller (at right, in uniform). </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/albert-stffler.html">Albert Stöffler</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold"> is at left, </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Heinrich Kubis</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold"> (in hat and moustache) is just behind Franz, and </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/alfred-grzinger.html">Alfred Grözinger</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold"> is just to the left of Kubis.</span></span></span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 78%"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial"><span style="font-family: arial"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Werner Franz survived WWII, which he spent as a Luftwaffe radio operator, and went on to have a long career repairing precision instruments for the German Federal Post Office. He also turned his lifetime love of competitive skating into a side career as a professional roller- and ice-skating coach. Franz trained many title-winning students throughout the years, including Olympic silver medalist Marika Kilius and her pair-skating partner Franz Ningel.<br><br>Werner Franz gave numerous interviews over the years to journalists and documentary crews about his experiences as the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> cabin boy. He also made a few visits to the United States, the last of which was in 2004 when he was an honored guest at the opening of the new information center and museum at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station (by then renamed the Lakehurst Naval Engineering Station.) </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkqkwz9DTpSneXF0AsVKLsBFfrYq5GHVqwcjpD6-XH6Dpa93oisrjumTjQ8JdY0ko2QUPIplQAaTFMXKaKZKGL9DgVmTdCw4ED0f2gzEcUfD1ou_e78BTdTJZdnB7KDg_RJlDJ51egXE/s1600-h/Image6.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387000679070374738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkqkwz9DTpSneXF0AsVKLsBFfrYq5GHVqwcjpD6-XH6Dpa93oisrjumTjQ8JdY0ko2QUPIplQAaTFMXKaKZKGL9DgVmTdCw4ED0f2gzEcUfD1ou_e78BTdTJZdnB7KDg_RJlDJ51egXE/s400/Image6.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Werner Franz (second from right) during his 2004 visit to Lakehurst, NJ, examining a copy of the May 9th, 1937 crew survivor group photo (shown above) with (from left) Siegfried Geist, Patrick Russell, and Andreas Franz.</span> </div> <p><span style="font-family: arial"><br>Werner Franz passed away on August 13, 2014 at the age of 92. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>crew.</span> <br></p> <p><br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Note: Much of the information about Werner Franz's life and his earlier flights (as well as many of the events of the night of the Hindenburg disaster itself) comes from the book "Kabinenjunge Werner Franz" by W.E. von Medem (Franz Schneider Verlag, Berlin, 1938.) Please be aware that, between possible errors in my own translation of portions of the book from the original German, coupled with the fact that I have not had available to me a second source from which to triangulate much of the information I gleaned from the book, there may be some inaccuracies in this article. Should any such inaccuracies come to light, of course, I will gladly correct them. <br><br>In addition, I was also very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak briefly with Herr Franz and his son Andreas during their 2004 visit to Lakehurst. I gave Herr Franz a copy of a group photo of him and other crew survivors (which I have also included in this article) and he was kind enough to share with me some memories of his old shipmates and of his experiences aboard the Hindenburg. It was a unique experience for me, and I will always be grateful to Herr Franz for his patience and generosity with a random fellow like myself who came up to him out of the blue holding a 67 year-old photograph. It's my hope that this article tells his story in as accurate and respectful a way as possible, and that it in some small way repays the kindness that he showed me.</span> <br><br></span></span><br></p></span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-30986566733276916392009-09-15T18:38:00.006-05:002018-06-07T13:32:58.158-05:00Wilhelm Balla <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkD3JI7gYvmhxw2N2eDymkr655NYolh7Y5ScseEdJZeU8g85bFyUV7b1WukkOe3ESiITyNDL8ih57WGaXtUh-GnAxvgXGqv9Vl2TEkAHzC1wtudxn7u6jKSyplVCLgjjU6Qtx5ekpRbo/s1600-h/Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1937-lower-res%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="232" height="280" title="Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1937-lower-res" align="left" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1937-lower-res" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Q1pXhwWN-FI/VGENfaXWPbI/AAAAAAAADXc/wLhxUXeRbOQ/Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1937-lower-res_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><br><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><strong> Crew Member<br><br> Age: 25<br><br> Hometown: Munich, Germany <br><br> Occupation: Night steward <br><br> Location at time of fire: Passenger decks, portside <br> dining room <br><br> Survived<br></strong></font><br><br>Wilhelm Balla was born on March 28, 1912 in Castrop-Rauxel, near Dortmund in the Ruhr Valley. His parents, Gottlieb and Wilhelmine Balla, had moved there from East Prussia at the turn of the century, and his father worked as a coal miner. Willy Balla was the first of 12 siblings, with his youngest brother, Helmut, having been born in September of 1927 when Balla was 15 years old.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HGXmMbhsQrs/VGENf0ymdiI/AAAAAAAADXk/Ikpsovta3w8/s1600-h/Willy-Balla---age-3-in-1915-lower-re%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="417" height="336" title="Willy-Balla---age-3-in-1915-lower-re[1]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Willy-Balla---age-3-in-1915-lower-re[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi56gpcHACETDAMsBMMOyvxHVztsy7Qz8pqdkK_9ALnK71sKpnYqDyLIs37uNh8FiGDDM7LSxFygDfkP5md-WKIItL_l900-FF4lhy5zuwmC9PkbKttV-84_rpKhOp1ix8npUsb79d4sE/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Willy Balla and his siblings, 1915. From left: Fritz, age 2; Willy, age 3; <br>their mother, Wilhelmine, age 22; Hermann, age 1, stepsister Änni, age 6.</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><br>After finishing primary school, Balla began an apprenticeship as a waiter at the Hotel Lindenhof in Dortmund. However, within a few years the Great Depression had caused Germany’s economy to implode for the second time in as many decades. With rampant unemployment making jobs scarce, Balla and one of his good friends wandered throughout Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, where they earned their living for the next couple of years as itinerant laborers, picking up whatever odd jobs they could find at factories and farms. They were also both pretty fair mandolin players, which earned them a few extra pfennigs here and there.</p> <p align="center"><br><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-mAWGn0-Z5Rg/VGENhN40l4I/AAAAAAAADX0/_J-4bCunNEg/s1600-h/Willy-Balla-and-friend-with-mandolin%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="297" height="351" title="Willy-Balla-and-friend-with-mandolin" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Willy-Balla-and-friend-with-mandolin" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSdU4kjJmFcVBBWbB2hdZMLhlWiKXbBoM7CREyv1ZoU-NEcRp-sXU-5SrD7nUifCvbMIk3aSl0XxSYMF7KUmYYBEQ1i3bcl-ph52mtkvuN3RuDn8L8ukW7vAXl4AxAbZ3KerRYYVKTlY/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Willy Balla and friend playing their mandolins during their <em>Wanderschaft.</em></strong></font></p> <p align="left"><br>By 1932, Balla had returned to Germany, where he attended a servant’s school in Munich and worked for the next several years as a butler in aristocratic houses, and also as a restaurant waiter. It was during this time in Munich that he met a young lady named Albertina Brandl. Willy Balla and Tina Brandl were married in 1936, and they would remain together for the next 52 years.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fV9D-D7BjJE/VGENiCaImNI/AAAAAAAADYE/xdEGEKvz5BQ/s1600-h/Albertina-Balla---1930s-lower-res_th%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="271" height="396" title="Albertina-Balla---1930s-lower-res_th" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Albertina-Balla---1930s-lower-res_th" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4DoVOFpQeqJZhJveFRnmQ-ukkKHShTp35ELkNpz99kRYFIuL8IxnRAwHUVheMTriDjOidNOL3zlacRNMKk41wbB5wKjEGPaa7ThbNRtLL5UiY04O9f8kMrbjRJHeZ6m4K9hRkV52KwE/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Albertina Balla, mid-late 1930s</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><br>Though he had grown up in Westfalia, Wilhelm Balla came to view Munich as his second home. But as he would later write in his journals, he would periodically wrestle with his own wanderlust, and he dreamed of traveling not just throughout Germany and Europe as he had done, but of visiting other lands – Africa, South America, the United States. With the rapid advancements in aviation since the first world war, what Balla really wanted was to fly to these places via airplane or airship.</p> <p align="center"><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_dkojYmS_hU/VGENjR_WoeI/AAAAAAAADYU/VObJLrWhuoE/s1600-h/Willy-Balla-feeding-the-pigeons---ci%25255B2%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="292" height="456" title="Willy-Balla-feeding-the-pigeons---ci[2]" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Willy-Balla-feeding-the-pigeons---ci[2]" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dzEaeSsPZP8/VGENj1UH7DI/AAAAAAAADYc/w3nATkcPDMs/Willy-Balla-feeding-the-pigeons---ci%25255B2%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Wilhelm Balla feeding the pigeons in Odeonsplatz, Munich, circa 1936</strong></font><br></p> <p align="left">One day, Balla happened across a newspaper article about the LZ 129, Germany’s latest (and as-yet unnamed) Zeppelin, which had been under construction for several years. The article stated, <em>“</em><font face="Arial"><em>The new airship is nearing completion in the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen and is designed to carry passenger and mail traffic to South and North America.”</em> Balla, like so many of his countrymen, had followed the exploits of the LZ 127 <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> and had read with great interest of the airship’s flights across the ocean, wondering how (or if) he would ever be able to afford the 1,500 Reichsmark fare to South America – roughly a year’s wages for him at the time.<br><br>It occurred to Balla that with his experience as a waiter and a butler, he was easily qualified to be an airship steward, serving the wealthy passengers whom the Zeppelins flew to and fro across the ocean. The only problem was, there were hundreds of applicants vying for roughly half a dozen open steward positions aboard the new LZ 129. His chances at landing one of these coveted jobs seemed exceedingly remote.<br></font><font face="Arial"><br>Then, Balla hit upon a clever plan. By chance, he had heard that </font>Dr. Ludwig Lehmann, the father of the new airship’s commander, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst A. Lehmann</a>, also lived in Munich. Balla went to Dr. Lehmann’s house, introduced himself, and begged Lehmann to speak with his son on his behalf and ask if he would help him to secure one of the steward jobs. Dr. Lehmann was apparently impressed by the young man’s audacity, and a couple of weeks later Balla received a letter notifying him that he had indeed been hired by the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei as one of the LZ 129’s stewards.<br><br><br></p> <p align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ulQBVyQDZ2s/VGENknX_z5I/AAAAAAAADYk/NGRqA6La4UM/s1600-h/Willy%252520and%252520Tina%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201936%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img width="346" height="455" title="Willy and Tina Balla - circa 1936 (lower res)" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Willy and Tina Balla - circa 1936 (lower res)" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-yxjWKScdEHM/VGENlZRhizI/AAAAAAAADYs/6lgxxalsSPU/Willy%252520and%252520Tina%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201936%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Willy and Tina Balla, circa 1936 – Balla is wearing his new Zeppelin crew uniform.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font><br></p> <p><br>On January 20, 1936, Wilhelm Balla arrived at the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen, where the finishing touches were being put on the LZ 129 prior to her inaugural test flights. The new airship would not be ready to begin making these flights for at least another month or so, but in the meantime, Balla had been asked to report for duty immediately so that he could familiarize himself with the Zeppelins by working with the maintenance crew that was overhauling the <em>Graf Zeppelin.</em> One of a Zeppelin steward’s duties was to answer passengers’ questions about the airship, and assisting with the work being done on the Graf Zeppelin would serve as a good crash course in the construction and operation of these sky giants.<br><br>Balla would later recall that first day in his journal:</p> <blockquote><font face="Arial"><em>When I entered the hall, I could not believe my eyes . Before me lay the airship Graf Zeppelin, which had so often crossed the South Atlantic. The underside of the ship was being repaired, and the outer cover was partly removed and being replaced, because the ship would not be flying again until early March.</em></font></blockquote> <p>Herr Feucht of the Zeppelin works led Balla on a tour of the <em>Graf Zeppelin,</em> showing him the interior of the gondola that housed the ship’s bridge, her radio room and kitchen, and her well-appointed passenger lounge and cabins. Then Feucht led Balla through a small door and into the ship’s interior.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>We stepped inside the airship. I was never more surprised than by what I now saw, which was simply unbelievable to me. The entire ship’s interior above me was empty, 32 meters high and a length of about 200 meters, nothing but girders, struts and bracing wires. “Yes,” Mr. Feucht said, “the ship is empty now, but in a few days we’ll be installing the 16 gas cells. You will help with that.”</em></p> <p><em>We walked along the keel catwalk, which was only half a meter wide, and half a meter below that was the bottom of the ship – the envelope. Foreman Feucht said, “Don’t step off of the edge, or you’ll have your own private air voyage all the way to the ground.” So, at first I walked as carefully as possible, as I valued my life, however in time I became so experienced at it that I could have run along the catwalk blindfolded.</em></p></blockquote> <p>For the next month or so, Balla assisted with the work being done on the <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> to prepare her for the new flight season. He not only helped to install the refurbished gas cells, but he also used an electric riveting hammer as he and the construction crew replaced worn and damaged girders and latticework. Balla also accompanied <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Chief Steward Heinrich Kubis</a> on a tour of the almost-completed LZ 129 which, with more advanced design and extensive passenger accommodations than the LZ 127, astounded him almost as much as his initial tour of the <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> had. </p> <p>At last, on March 4th, 1936, Balla joined Chief Kubis and fellow stewards <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnenmacher</a> and R. Keuerleber aboard the new airship’s first test flight. Although the ship carried no passengers on this flight, only Zeppelin Company representatives and political officials who were aboard as observers, Kubis wanted to make sure that his team of stewards were thoroughly familiar with the passenger accommodations. It was a short flight. The LZ 129 spent three hours flying over Friedrichshafen and Lake Constance as the command crew tried out the controls and the mechanics made sure that the engines were in order. However, the flight made a deep and lasting impression on Balla, who had long dreamed of seeing the world from above. <br></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyZ0K6eFhXwThio5O_x4WF_wdigD7-gjR1Q_I3wHr5x8vR15TsOu-mPWZKCd2Fy3n0yIjY6QtEifabqIG5E22rTLBKf6evosMAlR0yUGtnq9en0sRMNBioAHmYotiHRkH6IA_s-YQ_WM/s1600-h/Hindenburg%252520-%252520first%252520test%252520flight%252520-%252520March%2525204%25252C%2525201936%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img width="493" height="329" title="Hindenburg - first test flight - March 4, 1936" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Hindenburg - first test flight - March 4, 1936" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4iofuZkTWUF3MFphzAPQEnODAdgNTD2DuOTNmZtcVRPJZtOoE_v3jeKYLqEGkzlo5tiZdRY-u0yvz0Hf8dxF5ERpBZumdIJcS1gd6kmM6dDWUUv8bH7d5xH6Rr1011H66qjy5Sjyklw/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>The <em>Hindenburg </em>– her outer cover still in obvious need of its last couple of <br>coats of doping compound – floats aloft on her first test flight, March 4th, 1936.</strong></font></p> <p><br>The next day they made another test flight, this one of 8 hours duration so that the ship could receive its official certificate of airworthiness. This time, Balla and the other stewards served a breakfast of beef soup and a lunch of Hungarian goulash. To Balla’s delight, the LZ 129 also flew over his adopted home town of Munich, where the citizens poured out into the streets to see the new airship, waving enthusiastically and sending loud cheers aloft.</p> <p>After about two weeks of trial flights, during which Balla and the rest of Chief Kubis’ stewards settled into their routine of duties serving full multi-course meals and attending to a variety of passenger needs, the LZ 129 finally received her name. Though there was no official christening ceremony, the new ship would now fly under the name <em>Hindenburg. </em></p> <p>The <em>Hindenburg’s</em> first flight after her name had been painted in two-meter tall red gothic letters alongside her bow was a <a href="http://projektlz129.blogspot.com/2014/07/boser-wind-am-bodensee.html">four-day cross-country flight</a>, along with the <em>Graf Zeppelin,</em> during which the airships would promote Hitler’s move to remilitarize the Rhineland. This flight is especially notable to historians not only for the fact that it was a blatant propaganda stunt on behalf of the Nazi government, but also because a botched downwind takeoff at the start of the flight damaged the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> lower tail fin and necessitated repairs and a second takeoff later in the day. <br><br>However, for Wilhelm Balla, the flight was even more noteworthy because they flew over the village of Castrop-Rauxel, where he had grown up and where his family still lived. Everyone in town turned out to see the new Zeppelin, of course. As Balla later learned, his youngest brother Helmut watched the airship with his schoolmates. When young Helmut excitedly informed them that his brother was one of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>crew members, his stock among his classmates rose tremendously and they all gathered around him, eager to hear more about the mighty Zeppelin floating above them.</p> <p>All of this was merely prelude, however, to the flights that followed. Balla had been fascinated by the sight of his homeland from above, but his true passion was for flying to the exotic foreign lands that he had long dreamed of visiting by air. The day after the <em>Hindenburg</em> landed at Friedrichshafen after her four-day propaganda cruise over Germany, Balla and the rest of the stewards joined <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/xaver-maier.html">Chef Xaver Maier</a> and his kitchen staff in provisioning the ship for its first four-day flight across the South Atlantic to the new airship port near Rio de Janeiro. Together, they loaded enough food, beverages and ice onto the <em>Hindenburg</em> to keep 91 passengers and crew fed for the duration of the four-day flight. As they stowed everything on broad food storage platforms alongside the keel walkway, Balla and his comrades took care to situate the perishable items so as to prevent them from spoiling as they flew through the hot equatorial climate.</p> <p><br></p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5HWxkm3Qy8I/VGENly7UzYI/AAAAAAAADY0/Z9v6jfxKk28/s1600-h/Balla-in-Hindenburg-kitchen_thumb2%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="469" height="291" title="Balla-in-Hindenburg-kitchen_thumb2" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Balla-in-Hindenburg-kitchen_thumb2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgivL_fsJvb6IPQhx73Q1ORz3yLSeZuyNPXZ248qHwIMEbAs7Q-c-8llfQyGj01e6vqNRrAhYVy4zeFSn182dimZwayFTkdzARJpL3-Q83cIO-VoZJHDHZk_JBETbViccEAbCUQbAuXg/?imgmax=800" border="0"> </a><p align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Wilhelm Balla poses in an early 1936 publicity photo highlighting <br>the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> innovative all-electric onboard kitchen.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font></p> <p><br>Then the stewards went through the passenger cabins, polishing the fixtures and putting new linen on all the beds, before seeing to the common areas and making sure that all was in perfect order for the arrival of the 37 passengers the next morning, March 31, 1936. Balla helped to show the guests to their cabins, and would later recall the unexpected difficulty of communicating with people who were from many different countries, who spoke a variety of different languages. </p> <p>When everyone was aboard and the last freight and mail had been stowed, the <em>Hindenburg </em>prepared to depart. Balla stood at one of the broad observation windows alongside the passenger decks, listening as a military band near the hangar played the old Swabian folk song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdoqJ4iFog"><em>Muß i' denn, zum Städtele hinaus</em></a><em>.” </em>He solemnly reflected on the gravity of the moment: at long last he was finally going to see Brazil – not merely from the air as he’d always imagined, but from the unique vantage point of the most advanced and comfortable mode of air travel that mankind had yet devised. <br><br>As Balla pondered his good fortune, the ground began to drop away, as if on cue. The ground crew having released the airship, it ascended silently and, to those aboard, almost imperceptibly – aside from the fact that the well-wishers on the ground below suddenly appeared to be growing smaller. When the Hindenburg was about 250 feet above the ground, the engines roared to life and the airship made a brief circle over the airfield before flying southeast toward Basel and the <font size="2">Rhône valley. By the next morning, they had already reached the Canary Islands. </font></p> <p>Wilhelm Balla’s official duty was as the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> night steward, and so a great deal of his regular duties would take place while most everyone else aboard was asleep. He would clean the now-empty dining room and the lounge as well as the rest of the common areas, and would respond when passengers pushed a button in their cabins to request assistance. As they would in a fine hotel, the passengers would leave their shoes outside their cabin doors at night to be shined, and Balla would make sure that they were all gleaming like new by the time the passengers awoke the following morning. <br><br></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-jnFTq63lnXI/VGENnHsGIpI/AAAAAAAADZE/_5Z76OLslvE/s1600-h/passenger-shoes_thumb2%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="336" height="409" title="passenger-shoes_thumb2" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="passenger-shoes_thumb2" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-oHtZgh4QU9I/VGENnl_gG0I/AAAAAAAADZM/ZVwW-dZh2-8/passenger-shoes_thumb2_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>One of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>passengers leaves his shoes <br>outside of his cabin for the night steward to shine.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font></p> <p><br>But when his duties were finished, instead of going straight to bed, Balla would often sit next to the large observation windows in the empty passenger lounge. He would later remember how eager he was to spend every free moment at the windows on that first flight over the ocean so that he wouldn’t miss anything, watching the sea sliding by in peaceful silence below at night and, during the day, marveling along with the passengers at the islands, schools of fish and occasional steamship that would appear below as they flew over the South Atlantic. <br><br>Balla’s night shift also gave his crewmates a perfect opportunity to indulge in an old mariner’s tradition. Balla would later recall:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>On the third day of the voyage, it was just about three o’clock in the morning when the phone near me rang. One of the mechanics on duty told me that he’d seen a passenger wandering along the keel walkway, and that I should go and check to make sure that everything was in order. Since this sort of thing wasn’t permitted, I headed straight for the walkway. So, I was innocently strolling along the catwalk when suddenly I got an massive amount of water poured over my head. I stood there, looking like a drowned rat when I heard loud laughter above me and looked up. I saw there up in the girders three men holding buckets, having just played a corker of a practical joke on me. So, this was the famous equatorial baptism! As proof, I was presented with a baptismal certificate. I was naturally very proud of this.</em></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gVCjYJE0Qxk/VGENobewWPI/AAAAAAAADZU/qJccE6a3kAc/s1600-h/Wilhelm-Balla---equatorial-baptism-c%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="324" height="540" title="Wilhelm-Balla---equatorial-baptism-c[1]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Wilhelm-Balla---equatorial-baptism-c[1]" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CBuMT3mENWE/VGENpBxA4YI/AAAAAAAADZc/TUzIDELpRaI/Wilhelm-Balla---equatorial-baptism-c%25255B1%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong> Wilhelm Balla’s Taufschein – his certificate of baptism commemorating his first crossing of the equator.<br> The certificate, one of which was presented to each passenger and crew member on their first flight to <br> South America, was drawn by Dr. Eckener’s brother Alexander, a professional painter and printmaker.<br></strong><em><font size="1"> (photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em><br></font></p> <p><br>Early on the morning of April 4th, after almost exactly 4 days in the air, <em>the Hindenburg</em> arrived over Rio de Janeiro just before dawn. The sight was not one that Balla would forget:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>It was still dark when Rio appeared, a sea of lights spread out before us. We had reached our destination! It was too beautiful, to see this magnificent city from above in all her blazing splendor. I had to keep asking myself, “Am I dreaming, or is this reality?”</em></p></blockquote> <p>The following month, Balla realized yet another one of his dreams as the <em>Hindenburg</em> made her <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/maiden-voyage">first flight to the United States</a>, where she would moor at the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, NJ, about 50 miles south of New York. This time the airship took off from Friedrichshafen in the evening, and by the time they reached the English Channel it was too dark to see much of anything.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>I was on night duty and could see the beacons and the coastal lights. Around 3 o’clock in the morning, Captain Lehmann came up to me in the passenger lounge. We sat down in the writing room and talked for about two hours about everything under the sun. He couldn’t sleep, and was happy to have somebody to talk to. I often wondered about the fact that he got so little sleep. He was simply very conscientious, and always wanted to make sure that he had everything under control.<br><br>Toward morning, the first passengers were already coming out of their cabins, so as not to miss the sunrise. I was relieved at 6:00, and looked forward to getting some sleep.</em></p></blockquote> <p>Two days later, in the wee hours of the morning, the <em>Hindenburg </em>reached the east coast of the United States, arriving over New York City at about 5:00 AM. The sun was just rising, and New Yorkers climbed on the roofs of buildings and craned their necks for their first look at the new Queen of the Skies. Wilhelm Balla was still on night duty, and was astounded by what he saw.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>When we reached the Statue of Liberty, a concert of sirens began that I never experienced again. Every ship in New York’s harbor joined in, stopping only when we flew on once again. Likewise, it was the first time the people of New York had been able to greet us. Then we flew over New York’s skyscrapers. I cannot describe in words the kind of impression that this made on me.</em></p></blockquote> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ZZFeITV1Apg/VGafoSGJOGI/AAAAAAAADdk/cRLPhlMNf_Q/s1600-h/Hindenburg%252520over%252520NYC%252520%252528with%252520searchlight%2525291%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img width="443" height="380" title="Hindenburg over NYC (with searchlight)1" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Hindenburg over NYC (with searchlight)1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8T7eav_3XpDlaRLfA5hAxSSL3uNpBOBd54LMpqmWc1Ej-RGm30neLUEKrJy0-CviBSLoRknWkOHJ5cqk6p8CDpPNEN3Qn4m3wdx-nF1VRdnkfm0gUSK4av7zS4-Lb77b-YK9jebyA-U/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>The <em>Hindenburg</em> flies over New York City in the early morning hours of May 9, 1936, on her first flight to the United States. The Zeppelin’s 5.7 million candle-power searchlight can be seen shining down from amidships.</strong></font></p> <p><br>After circling the city, a crowd-pleaser for the passengers which would become a tradition on subsequent flights to Lakehurst, the <em>Hindenburg </em>flew on to Lakehurst. The airfield was packed with throngs of people anxious for a close look at the new airship, and guards were stationed around the visitors’ area to keep spectators clear of the mooring area. Balla watched as the US Navy ground crew expertly connected the ship to her mooring mast and guided her into the vast airship hangar. </p> <blockquote> <p><em>Now as I climbed out of the ship and tried to leave the hangar, I was instantly surrounded by hundreds of enthusiastic Americans who blocked my way. Now I had achieved a bit of a celebrity status, because everyone around me demanded my autograph. It took me over an hour to make it a couple hundred yards to the hangar exit. As soon as I left the hangar, I suddenly found myself sitting in a car that was parked there and was pressured by its occupants into driving to New York with them. It was a sincere invitation, and they would fulfill all of my wishes if I would do them the honor of riding along with them. Owners of other cars made the same offer to my comrades. For these people we were, quite simply, a sensation.</em></p></blockquote><em></em> <p>After nearly four days of being treated like royalty by their newfound American friends, Balla and his comrades welcomed a new group of passengers aboard for the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>return flight to Germany. This time, rather than landing at Friedrichshafen, they landed at what was to be their new home base – the Rhein-Main airfield at Frankfurt. Balla and his wife, Tina, moved to a house in Walldorf, a village just south of the airfield where most of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>crew would live while new homes were being built for them in the new town of Zeppelinheim, just to the northeast. </p> <p>After the second flight to South America at the end of May, the <em>Hindenburg</em> was put in the Zeppelin works hangar at Löwenthal for minor repairs and to have some additional features added. One of these new additions quickly became a favorite of Balla’s. <a href="http://projektlz129.blogspot.com/2013/10/sechs-manner-nach-vorne.html">In the extreme bow of the ship</a>, among the mooring platforms from which crewmen handled the forward landing lines during takeoffs and landings, a new observation area was installed. On either side of the keel, a small bench and table were bolted to the framework, with a long vertical window in front of each. </p> <blockquote> <p><em>I, myself, would often choose this place, as it had the most wonderful view, especially when there was something interesting to see. […] It is hardly possible to describe how beautiful the view was. […] If I had time off duty, I would often spend hours at the window in the bow watching the activity on the various islands that we would fly over. Sometimes I would even wish I could be dropped off on one of those islands and then be picked up again on the homeward voyage. Naturally, this was just wishful thinking. I was a crew member of the LZ 129 Hindenburg, and had duties to fulfill aboard her.</em></p></blockquote> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44mthWBu34KRALrY6X9jKcqSZ7TkMwsJQgRaPMrxzowlXFTNz5Ni1cQjNDk7k3JZHGLEKaHGDPc3q1ysniBNDeoUR2Ry50I65f28vieb08BbrnY0k0yuHWlEXhsO5oCPTgFnlR9_xkqo/s1600-h/Balla-in-Hindenburg-dining-room_thum%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="345" height="372" title="Balla-in-Hindenburg-dining-room_thum" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Balla-in-Hindenburg-dining-room_thum" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXaWhyphenhyphenH_d5GVpH8G3PzaSgaeVP6_wYDWRlcWbP3oPfj06f27dLcfoBbeHsHadXA1wvDaiM0HkbkexM8Lc-1lcpvJt9UM1jV5wu_U5KpIAf3qntKnZTGpumX1oKVpC7L7GRKVAfxvIEjg4/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Balla and another steward in the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> dining room.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font><br><br></p> <p>Wilhelm Balla made every one of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>subsequent flights, and would later write a journal of his experiences as a Zeppelin steward. In his journal, Balla captured many details about his day to day experiences aboard the Hindenburg. Many from the ship’s early flights have already been recounted here, but the remainder of the 1936 flight season was to prove as memorable to Balla as the beginning had been.</p> <p>When the <em>Hindenburg</em> was moored at Lakehurst, Captain Lehmann would grant visitor passes to various people, often VIPs, and Balla was often the crew member who was assigned to lead these special guests on tours of the ship. In this way, he got to know and become friends with a great many Americans, many of whom would take him into New York on day trips.<br><br>In addition to his night duties, Balla would also serve passengers during the day (when he wasn’t sleeping after his shift was over at 6:00 AM, of course.) He would make his way forward to the ship’s radio room where the radio operator would hand him the latest edition of the daily onboard newspaper, which would provide passengers with the latest news from around the world. Balla would pin the paper to the bulletin board at the head of the gangway stairs in the central cabin area, where there was also a map of the world on which the ship’s current position was marked in red pencil.<br></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2_1Q6zgNSYQ/VGbFZkpjCrI/AAAAAAAADeM/cskNufKLqUM/s1600-h/578254_4794162131646_1455967658_n%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img width="309" height="436" title="578254_4794162131646_1455967658_n" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="578254_4794162131646_1455967658_n" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7Gf1X7G1HUE/VGbFaUMJT5I/AAAAAAAADeU/TScQJ455fFA/578254_4794162131646_1455967658_n_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>The <em>Hindenburg </em>hovers low over the stadium during the <br>opening ceremonies of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.</strong></font></p> <p align="left">In August, the <em>Hindenburg </em>flew over the opening ceremonies for the 1936 Olympic Games. In addition to the spectacle of viewing Berlin’s massive new Olympic Stadium from the air, Balla would also remember one of the lighter moments of the flight. After circling over Berlin for an hour or so, the <em>Hindenburg </em>flew over Tempelhof airfield to drop off some sacks of mail, much sought-after by stamp collectors for the special onboard Olympic flight cancellation. The sacks were attached to parachutes and dropped from one of the hatches that lined the airship’s belly.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>In the course of this, there occurred a mishap in which one of the parachutes failed to open. The mail sack slammed into the ground and burst open. The wind then blew the letters and cards across the entire airport. There was a great deal of laughter as we saw how the airfield workers chased down the individual letters.</em></p></blockquote> <p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p>On the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> next-to-last flight back from South America during the 1936 season, Balla would recall another yet momentous event:</p> <blockquote> <p><font size="2"><em>On the evening of the second day, we were told that on our homeward flight we would meet up with the Graf Zeppelin over the ocean. Everyone now waited eagerly for this encounter. Suddenly we saw a tiny light appear off the port bow, which grew bigger and bigger. From the ship, we saw nothing yet because of the darkness. Soon, however, there were more and more lights, and now we flew past each other about 300 meters apart. I leapt for the light switches and turned them on and off several times to convey our greetings. Immediately, the people on the Graf Zeppelin went with the same tactic and blinked across at us. We flew a few circles around our sister ship, and they did likewise. This unique meeting so far from home lasted maybe 10 minutes, and then each ship resumed its original course, one toward Brazil, and the other toward Frankfurt.</em></font> </p></blockquote> <p><strong></strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVISKE-Mdm4CTV0B4yb-Mdk6p-OMqC5FxTxHMGwZkgRG_fH6pQWZ4GuFewKqGnabY9eU7Sbws8Rxs1Utc1Zp4i6UkHnBc9UAWsr6uqGA1JGynoxEPxeQEx8DD2Rf0kcWbUic_b4PzAjo/s1600-h/Hindenburg%252520and%252520Graf%252520Zeppelin%252520meet%252520over%252520South%252520Atlantic%252520-%252520Dec.%2525201936%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img width="459" height="336" title="Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin meet over South Atlantic - Dec. 1936" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin meet over South Atlantic - Dec. 1936" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-CSWz8_-e-u0iyrvunoDGOmMF6p2f59sWvbciGSwwXUJ1c9TeQAs8XW6PwjfQiVg56dACUmHOhjbr7HCkizX2kx_bbsPFhhTud_jWzS00XjJNt9LKP0ichuZwdMbfh7-T2gSLpDI_9Gw/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>The <em>Hindenburg</em> as seen from engine car #1 on the <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> as the two airships <br>meet over the South Atlantic. This is actually from the second time the two ships <br>crossed paths during a Rio flight, during the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> final 1936 flight to Rio <br>in late November of that year. The meeting described above by Balla occurred just <br>after midnight on November 7th, when it was far too dark to take any photos.</strong></font> <br></p> <p>As he recorded his experiences in his journal, Balla would also make note of many of the various celebrity passengers who flew with them, particularly along the North Atlantic route to and from the United States. Former world heavyweight boxing champion <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schmeling">Max Schmeling</a> flew twice with them. <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/max-schmeling">Schmeling first traveled aboard the Hindenburg</a> on his way back to Germany following his June, 1936 victory over Joe Louis as both boxers vied for a shot at the reigning world champion, James Braddock. Balla would later recall Schmeling as being very gracious, signing autographs for his fellow passengers and spending a lot of time enjoying the view from the observation windows.<br><br><br></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hp3NraX2F94/VGENqg2MIOI/AAAAAAAADZw/43kme-mfVCI/s1600-h/Douglas-and-Sylvia-Fairbanks-with-Ma%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="445" height="345" title="Douglas-and-Sylvia-Fairbanks-with-Ma[1]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Douglas-and-Sylvia-Fairbanks-with-Ma[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIGYGZcYM3gYrNQPF4mueVcvt6NApVGjj6A-TrScFa5qQBYOS69rmF3PrTH1RdQutcAVdUb6cz6InOOqeKCMseOxO19oyRoj2ziRLNEpb2XC3wUXXzprgjah-l-PVyFrsQE-zUMSWHKc/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Douglas and Sylvia Fairbanks pose with Max Schmeling in front of the control car <br>of the USS Los Angeles following their arrival at Lakehurst in August of 1936.<br></strong></font></p> <p><br>Schmeling returned to the States aboard the <em>Hindenburg</em> in August of that year, <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/hindenburg-flight-passenger-diary">on the same flight</a> as another celebrity – silent film legend, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Fairbanks">Douglas Fairbanks</a> and his new wife, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Ashley">Lady Sylvia Ashley</a>. Balla would remember the couple not so much for Fairbanks’ fame as a former Hollywood swashbuckler, but because of their six-month old Scottish terrier, Bobby. Bobby, rather than being kept in the ship’s kennel area, was allowed free run of the passenger area, much to the dismay of the stewards. Balla would later describe him, quite bluntly, as ”…a naughty little puppy who left his calling cards for us all over the ship.”<br><br><br></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nR2F8GutQG0/VGENsEKattI/AAAAAAAADaA/NoRdHpKFDM8/s1600-h/Sylvia-Fairbanks-and-Bobby_thumb2%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="434" height="349" title="Sylvia-Fairbanks-and-Bobby_thumb2" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Sylvia-Fairbanks-and-Bobby_thumb2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGk8V1aB9pb2wSXoyady0d5rO6bxhhSjc9L-QwlFp2_5HkZII4TccF_WXqBgO64873hboE8C44F4NYF7zyQVfYSGQRbOqBZr7ZoOb2hwP9_BHdbKCEd8y7dhfmQz-1V38XdqfYO1A1eQ/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Sylvia Fairbanks and her terrier, Bobby, aboard the <em>Hindenburg.</em></strong></font></p> <p><br>Balla would also remember the special VIP flights that the <em>Hindenburg</em> would occasionally make. In June of 1936 <font size="2" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Krupp_von_Bohlen_und_Halbach">Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach</a>, who ran the German industrial giant, Friedrich Krupp, AG, chartered the Hindenburg to carry himself and 50 others, including family members and Krupp AG officials on a sightseeing flight over Switzerland. At the end of the flight, which afforded an unparalleled aerial view of the Alps and the Swiss countryside, Herr Krupp presented each member of the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> crew with a pair of cufflinks made of genuine Krupp steel, which Balla later described as being “more valuable to me than if they had been made of gold.”</font></p> <p><font size="2" style="font-weight: normal;">During the Hindenburg’s last visit to the United States in October of 1936, a VIP flight was arranged as a way of courting financiers and influential business and political leaders for a planned German/American international airship service. The day cruise over the colorful autumn New England countryside came to be known as the <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/millionaire-flight">“Millionaires’ Flight”</a>, and it was later said that the combined worth of the passengers exceeded a billion dollars. Balla served such luminaries as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Rockefeller">Nelson Rockefeller</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker">Eddie Rickenbacker</a> a sumptuous lunch that featured swallow’s nest soup, Rhein salmon, tenderloin steak in goose liver sauce and fine wines and champagne. Over the course of the flight, Balla added quite a few new signatures to his autograph book – which ended up being lost with the rest of his personal effects in the disaster at Lakehurst the following spring.<br><br>As the flight season drew to a close, Wilhelm Balla’s love of airship travel had grown to the point where he began to think about the future and consider whether there might be roles for him beyond that of a steward. </font></p> <blockquote> <p><font size="2"><em>On one of the last flights of 1936, I asked Captain Lehmann if I might eventually have the possibility of becoming an airship helmsman. He conceded me an opportunity if I were to undertake the necessary studies to gain requisite skills, which would include attending the navigation school in Hamburg. I was overjoyed by this proposition.</em></font></p></blockquote> <p>Wilhelm Balla was, of course, aboard the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>first North American flight of 1937 when it left Frankfurt on the evening of May 3rd. It was a fairly unremarkable flight, except for the head winds and cloudy skies that persisted throughout the voyage. Three days later, on the evening of May 6th, the <em>Hindenburg</em> arrived over the airfield at Lakehurst, NJ, approximately 12 hours behind schedule. <br><br>Balla was downstairs on B-deck, and made his way up to the dining room to watch the landing maneuver. He stopped by the bar and asked bar steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/max-schulze.html">Max Schulze</a> if he wanted to come along. Schulze, however, was busy cleaning the bar and opted to stay behind. As he began climbing the stairs to A-deck, Balla encountered the ship’s new stewardess, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/emilie-imhof.html">Emilie Imhof</a>, who had just been hired the previous November. He asked if she wanted to come on up to the dining room with him, since it was her first flight to North America. She also opted to stay downstairs, as she had to get the linens changed in the new bank of passenger cabins that had been installed on B-deck the previous fall. Balla continued on up to the dining room, not realizing that he would see neither of them alive again.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDRaHFARTNexgRxPw8a_Sq4p0LuhJzHVQHe0OUkiyACDJTjEbV84PYF9PfSNmGdw2lQ7O3X2V32eq5RH9-bNRgeoCbKx5RlBG8-s3c4qdRDacK8XwK3ppMTQlAZrJtQAJNDJlOHievpg/s1600-h/Hindenburg%252520moments%252520before%252520fire%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img width="484" height="358" title="Hindenburg moments before fire" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Hindenburg moments before fire" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--33d0Km8ctE/VGbFdnFjfqI/AAAAAAAADe0/MjwEFkhCf4c/Hindenburg%252520moments%252520before%252520fire_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>The <em>Hindenburg </em>hovers about 800 feet beyond her mooring mast, moments before the fire .</strong></font> </p> <p>He made his way to the observation windows that ran alongside the dining room, and found a spot near the forward-most window, through which he watched the airship’s landing ropes drop and the ground crew pick them up. As he politely stood aside to allow some of the passengers to get a better look, he suddenly heard a muffled explosion and felt the ship give a sharp jerk. <br><br>The floor tilted as the stern of the ship dropped to the ground, and Balla fell to the floor, pulled by two nearby passengers who had also lost their footing. He heard another explosion closer to the passenger compartment, and thought to himself that he'd rather break his neck jumping out a window than to burn alive. He stopped his slide aft by grabbing hold of the handrail, pulled himself toward a nearby window, and noticed passengers beginning to jump out of the windows as the ship grounded itself. He looked aft and saw one of the passengers, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">Mrs. Matilde Doehner,</a> toss her two young sons out of the ship. Balla himself leaped out a window from a height of about 20 feet, landed in the sand and got up to try and help the passengers still trapped in the ship. When he went to get up, however, he realized that he'd twisted his right ankle and was having trouble standing up on it.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrUAHjCFgKKH2Y8el5JKjUl1SV4MgfJc31gNOhBIYHtOldKnavm14SMI1D1Wby7FWEWJFyC0DBKwfnrSfHBSHn7TyxlEpo0VtmKycIyFy1cHcmQ0CdyLn0GehPoZkhc8dWJ_vKJHCLlo/s1600-h/hindenburg-smolders%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img width="416" height="443" title="hindenburg-smolders" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="hindenburg-smolders" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgQxmlsNx6ll-b5gFIsvhxQ1T629zXUMdul5zu20puH8pKWUYVVFU9NdCuWA28mNyVcHLGhm0R1e6vK2ugHgL1-g-geKCO1YKeV29CbRdAvB4USaYm13uJjvVziS8dzbo39cTJoAj0X4/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Barely more than half a minute after the fire first appeared, the <em>Hindenburg</em> <br>lay smoldering on the Lakehurst airfield, with ground crew and spectators <br>beginning to run toward the wreck to assist survivors.</strong></font> <br></p> <p align="left">Balla saw 14 year-old <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">Irene Doehner</a> leap from one of the other windows and limped over to help fellow steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnemacher</a> put out the fire on her clothes and in her hair. The two young Doehner boys, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">Walter and Werner</a>, were standing nearby crying, and Balla accompanied them to a nearby ambulance. Rescuers tried to get Balla to get into the ambulance with them, but he refused to go, believing that he should instead stay and try to help. But by then, anyone who could be pulled alive from the wreckage was already being taken to the infirmary. Other than his sore ankle, Balla was virtually unharmed. He was eventually taken to the air station’s infirmary where his foot was examined and taped up, and then he went over to the airship hangar where he sent a telegram home to his wife: <em>“Bin gesund”</em> – “I’m well.”<br><br><br></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD125n0Ou14yNpam8NQx_-FiT_7ZA8SCmtrdHgArUb4HezPdGjAOyW-6fmCyK_zMJQzgJzac44XWT9d0iQKGWw_GfK8xRIcuVoXImDFyeNh8DhMr0CLsd55MkHC4xdCaZJfWY7j7kASao/s1600-h/Sauter-Deeg-Balla_thumb4%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="444" height="489" title="Sauter-Deeg-Balla_thumb4" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Sauter-Deeg-Balla_thumb4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK81yx5ECbgr__3A1Mw-f-rg98PMMhWpBXu_DsO9EGxhYRLScUqxnjcAUGlP6wi5-k8Hgn6UEBfR6s4GBXlkwNTxM7Tkv38fS2kIvgTdntnNVTUaPKFrcmVNZ-_UcnbvMa31FnmvNpMz4/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Wilhelm Balla (right) along with fellow steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/fritz-deeg.html">Fritz Deeg</a> (white jacket, center) <br>and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Chief Engineer Rudolf Sauter</a> (dark jacket and bandaged head, left) leave Hangar <br>One at Lakehurst after identifying the bodies of fire victims, on May 7th, 1937.</strong></font></p> <p><br>Wilhelm Balla stayed in the United States for nine days following the disaster. The day after the crash, he returned with other crew survivors to the Lakehurst air base in order to help identify the bodies of the fire victims. He testified before the Board of Inquiry on May 14th, and the following day he returned to Germany with a group of fellow crew survivors (mostly stewards and kitchen staff) aboard the steamship Europa. </p> <p>Following his return to Germany, Balla and his wife moved from their home in Walldorf and returned to Munich, where Wilhelm continued to work in restaurants until Europe once more descended into war. He was drafted into the Wehrmacht (regular army) in 1940 and, possibly due to his service aboard the Hindenburg, ended up being assigned to a Luftwaffe unit and stationed in Norway for most of the war. <br></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZI5B8fYeOWPLtA0LG3Kmf3mcPnxQFtDzlV0hz036hENNJVhWs74R97inPoI0MDcWRExnKPvXG-bdBRr5LDoJFwYWpKsWkqhUOvZ4jFBhyphenhyphenVga5gpreiuN1O23PWsSNoyqj-jt_9NuzYvY/s1600-h/Wilhelm-Balla---1941-Deutsche-Wehrma%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="262" height="350" title="Wilhelm-Balla---1941-Deutsche-Wehrma[1]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Wilhelm-Balla---1941-Deutsche-Wehrma[1]" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Y8hzRZsgggo/VGENvk83xyI/AAAAAAAADas/kh5wsFGI5RM/Wilhelm-Balla---1941-Deutsche-Wehrma%25255B1%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Wilhelm Balla in his Luftwaffe uniform, 1941</strong></font><br></p> <p><br>In 1941, while Balla was home in Munich on leave, he invited his youngest brother, Helmut, for a visit. Since Helmut was 15 years old and almost finished with school, Wilhelm asked him what he intended to do after graduation. Helmut replied that he’d probably look for an apprenticeship as a metal worker, so that if nothing else he could find work at the coal mines where their father worked. Wilhelm suggested that he might be able to use his connections in the restaurant business to help Helmut to get a waiter’s apprenticeship in one of Munich’s finer hotels. Helmut gladly accepted, and once he had graduated school the following year he found an apprenticeship at the Regina Palast Hotel. During this time, he lived with Wilhelm and his wife, Tina – though Wilhelm was only home from the war occasionally when he could get a furlough.</p> <p align="center"><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pAog3JD6z6w/VGENwAR7bII/AAAAAAAADa0/1dtQGk4El_Q/s1600-h/Willy-and-Helmut-Balla---Munich-1941%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="462" height="346" title="Willy-and-Helmut-Balla---Munich-1941" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Willy-and-Helmut-Balla---Munich-1941" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nJNjKCAqIiA/VGENw7jPDHI/AAAAAAAADa8/1HoXIWH56t4/Willy-and-Helmut-Balla---Munich-1941_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Helmut and Willy Balla in Odeonsplatz in Munich in 1941<br><br></strong></font></p> <p><br>Meanwhile, the war took its toll on the Balla family. Wilhelm’s brother, Heinz, was drafted into military service in December of 1940. The following summer, following Russia’s declaration of war on Germany, Heinz Balla was sent to the Eastern Front. Here, he was badly wounded in combat and died in a field hospital on August 10, 1941, at the age of 21. <br><br>In late 1942, Wilhelm’s 19 year-old brother Alfred was also drafted into service, and was immediately sent to the Eastern Front, without being given even a short leave to visit his family before his transfer. Two weeks later, Alfred Balla, like his older brother Heinz before him, met his “Heldentod für Führer, Volk und Vaterland” (a phrase that all too many Germans were becoming familiar with, an impressive-sounding yet rather hollow official government condolence on the loss of their sons and brothers) when he, too, was killed in battle.</p> <p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFif0yMgzQnYar9wYSfWQ7zIqZQCuwjSPxFcPw9hakG4tDkCpBy55FfYocBwROZGYX-poxfB3V4Snbdx26avFj-7WPXyvQ6ThPVr7b_RshDRjFBSVXD8Bcpnyt3hZ8an1T26jPQUYhLg/s1600-h/Heinz-Balla-1_thumb1%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="185" height="244" title="Heinz-Balla-1_thumb1" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Heinz-Balla-1_thumb1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-z5n159MUgHo/VGENx-M4P8I/AAAAAAAADbM/a-jintyEqiw/Heinz-Balla-1_thumb1_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GoHkQYYQ77c/VGENyYpJXOI/AAAAAAAADbU/lCNu1Xl_9g0/s1600-h/Alfred-Balla_thumb1%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="192" height="244" title="Alfred-Balla_thumb1" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Alfred-Balla_thumb1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8xaFLMtJQYcOfB2A4KHL_JgvbQflm72DPEXU5OL0scOV_qU10qbZtqkFUH0DLEz2thYSTI6w49eZODksBpUvWCC-hvU5cAC8VxkjlQOV7WN2CfuCzev2q1wIvA41k4ZDcf7UIWuB_rw/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong> Heinz Balla Alfred Balla<br> 1920-1941 1923-1942</strong></font><br></p> <p>Meanwhile, the Balla family could take some genuine consolation in the fact that Wilhelm was still stationed up north in Norway, far from the worst of the fighting and unlikely to meet his “heroic death for Führer, countrymen and Fatherland.” And yet, the war was not yet done with their family. Castrop-Rauxel was in the heart of the Ruhr Valley, a key industrial area with numerous coke plants, steelworks and oil refineries, as well as the coal mines in which Wilhelm’s father, Gottlieb Balla, had spent his life working. This made the Ruhr a prime target for strategic bombing by the Allies throughout the war. On the night of August 6-7, 1944, as sirens announced the approach of yet another formation of Allied bombers, Gottlieb’s wife, Wilhelmine, had taken their three daughters to the local air raid shelter, while Gottlieb and his youngest son, 15 year-old Günter, hid in the basement of the family home. <br></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEroyvfpCwWHoNtvuYq3DRvYU8aQeiDopxZZ0HzRmlhCYjmDhGZ_KrEkgBzHUF39FKPr4i4NCtUlSySDIE0EgAd0xfMDjKCCwP3HL7fgr-ZC_OZcWrqOon4BGQB8XdcTBoL5l9aeuJl00/s1600-h/Gottlieb-Balla_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="193" height="244" title="Gottlieb-Balla_thumb" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Gottlieb-Balla_thumb" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_9HW_8kMIV81Q8KTYxBetggV64NYSlyeuLjfNaYD7HlAO0WfKn3lntt8AlhXxq0khR_d9x-zYwpJDY72AFx3w5Vr1uOgqNbrGkMbRWv-F1EU8gNw0evu0woK1hyphenhyphenQMV067SBSkn1oGoc/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Gottlieb Balla<br></strong></font></p> <p>On this particular night, although the Balla family did not know this at the time, the bombers were targeting the Krupp Oilworks and the rail yards in Wanne-Eickel, about five miles away. When the drone of the bombers had faded away into the distance and the sound of flak had subsided, Gottlieb decided to take a look upstairs to make sure that nothing was on fire, since the Allies were known to drop incendiaries along with their regular explosive bombs. Just as Gottlieb emerged from the basement, a single stray bomb – apparently the only bomb to fall on Castrop-Rauxel that night – exploded directly in front of the Balla home, destroying most of the house and killing Gottlieb Balla instantly. <br><br><br></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-9Y7CxUmwB3s/VGEN1oGlwJI/AAAAAAAADb0/YFMoffr_1jI/s1600-h/Balla-brothers-at-Fathers-funeral---%25255B2%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="485" height="343" title="Balla-brothers-at-Fathers-funeral---[2]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="Balla-brothers-at-Fathers-funeral---[2]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOgrlQ0oqicJx-_XImQXkMbK3Qsvnauvel-HjNwSt0W_MfmHdVRgDRuPvnZuii5AQDzQUiV2GSw2O4zJFS3oJqlkN_yKYBA9S0AqAVTShw0R35lH7FqKYdSXPd6VJHabOV5TXEmxhiT0/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla and four of his brothers at their father’s funeral in August of 1944. <br>From left: Günter, Wilhelm, Hermann, Helmut and Fritz.</strong></font></p> <p><br>Fortunately, Wilhelm Balla’s Luftwaffe unit saw no combat during his time in Norway, and it was during this time that he began to write down his memoirs of his year and a half as a Zeppelin steward. However, fate seemed determined to take just one more shot at the Balla family. Just before the end of the war, with Vienna besieged by Russian troops, Balla was transferred to Austria where he ended up being captured by the Russians. With the end of the war virtually days away, instead of preparing to return home to Tina and the rest of his family, Balla was instead sent to a labor camp in Siberia, where he would spend the next five years.</p> <p align="center"><br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcN22pSKbiyd86ldPa0eGhsOALIZqEfPA_HcnpTfdxV8yXg0EQ8VMmGGSnUQq-YMNLQOVZpVckokkXaklgjMOGAKO5yOVbgBFxM3NtJ0dRQWa7cXyLR5B1pGcsnc99B8ERK513hz2rRw/s1600-h/November-17-1949---Return-after-5-ye%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="497" height="358" title="November-17-1949---Return-after-5-ye[1]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="November-17-1949---Return-after-5-ye[1]" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Ve4VswMfNPU/VGEPaTNVYoI/AAAAAAAADco/4rAFkvIYgD8/November-17-1949---Return-after-5-ye%25255B1%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Wilhelm Balla (indicated by X) and his comrades on the day they were <br>released from their captivity in a Siberian labor camp, November 17, 1949.</strong></font></p> <p><br>Wilhelm Balla was finally released from Russian captivity and returned to Germany in November of 1949, where he spent some time at a rest home for returning POWs in Abtsee bei Laufen, in southeastern Bavaria. Once he had taken some time to recuperate from his long and grueling imprisonment, Balla returned to the restaurant business as a sales representative. He continued to make a good living for himself and his wife, and eventually retired in 1977 at the age of 65.<br><br></p>Until the end of his life, Wilhelm Balla remained convinced that an airship filled with helium rather than inflammable hydrogen would prove to be the safest, most comfortable mode of transportation in the world.<br><br><br> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWE922esML9WoyslyrXIUMycI7YM63FVYS4P9wwU0LlGcrLhWzJa6xkVnzUHsggZgGRP3bOib9-BEcFYFlTFPUznaGX254c76Gn_R_mECaYFEhxl3lv2WkU3pTqdr0_BV1pCpTzobpwic/s1600-h/Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1950s-lower-re%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="197" height="259" title="Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1950s-lower-re[1]" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1950s-lower-re[1]" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9KNxTDx4F_A/VGEPbXNf5_I/AAAAAAAADc4/SGFC28cMgVM/Wilhelm-Balla---circa-1950s-lower-re%25255B1%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xq9T544zDj4/VGEPcBNDAvI/AAAAAAAADdA/Te9OYaeZhUQ/s1600-h/Willy-and-Tina---1961-lower-res_thum%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img width="354" height="256" title="Willy-and-Tina---1961-lower-res_thum" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="Willy-and-Tina---1961-lower-res_thum" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGanPTrXImZxRA_qYkDXFqVgUrVtMumGV9f_XRt7tfSpKuP5h7FOXAWsPGR1KZlPTKrAfJ0OPgE-RDWSF_Pmws-uqBq4m7d7IQjHdooYzITquSSZtEY5NaJzBqM4sIIwHdzketQa5BiMY/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><br><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong> Wilhelm Balla, circa 1950s Willy and Tina Balla, 1961<br><br></strong><font face="Arial"><br>On May 7th, 1988, 51 years almost to the day following his narrow escape from the <em>Hindenburg </em>disaster, Wilhelm Balla passed away in Munich from a liver ailment at the age of 76. He and his wife Tina had been together for more than half a century. </font></font> <p><br></p> <p><em>My deepest thanks to Helmut Balla, Wilhelm Balla’s youngest brother, for providing me with a wealth of information and photos that allowed me to greatly expand upon what had been a comparatively brief article. Helmut was kind enough to send me copies of family photos and a recent Zeppelin Museum publication (available </em><a href="http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/buecher0.html?&tx_commerce_pi1[showUid]=224&tx_commerce_pi1[catUid]=8&cHash=604b493d86"><strong><em>HERE</em></strong></a><em>) that included an edited version of Wilhelm Balla’s journal, translated excerpts of which I’ve included here. Helmut also sent me a copy of his own autobiography, “Biografie eines 84-Jährigen” (available <strong><a href="http://www.wagner-verlag.de/Helmut_Balla/BIOGRAFIE_eines_84-J%C3%A4hrigen">HERE</a></strong>), a fascinating look at his own life and a source of valuable information about Wilhelm and the rest of the family. In addition to the photos and books, Helmut has also been very generous in corresponding with me via email to clear up various questions that have come up as I’ve assembled the information presented here. Ein herzliches Dankeschön, Helmut!</em></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-61641592077078897272009-09-15T18:16:00.007-05:002012-09-06T21:37:58.259-05:00Franz Herzog<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3p07hdtbddKWE_Drae0FNsTvwORoJtKLivgzve3BRvHpd7tFVBbKSYwrSA35k-w8QI70vjFSVG5ZhoRfk2avUevKVYbKwQ33Oe1hLh4ujUdeMn7z2FuKtd_9QUNmlfgh7Cw2W_rjsd_8/s1600/Franz+Herzog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3p07hdtbddKWE_Drae0FNsTvwORoJtKLivgzve3BRvHpd7tFVBbKSYwrSA35k-w8QI70vjFSVG5ZhoRfk2avUevKVYbKwQ33Oe1hLh4ujUdeMn7z2FuKtd_9QUNmlfgh7Cw2W_rjsd_8/s1600/Franz+Herzog.jpg" /></a>
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<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Age: 29 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Hometown: Munich, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Occupation: Navigator </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Control car </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Survived </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Franz Herzog was one of the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> navigators. He had flown the previous year as a navigator on the ship’s maiden flight on March 4, 1936. On the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> first North American flight of the 1937 season, Herzog was one of four navigators aboard, the others being </span><a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/max-zabel.html" style="font-family: arial;">Max Zabel</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, </span><a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html" style="font-family: arial;">Eduard Boetius</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, and </span><a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/christian-nielsen.html" style="font-family: arial;">Christian Nielsen</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">As the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> approached the mooring area at Lakehurst at the end of its last flight Herzog was off watch, up in the mail room above the control car canceling some souvenir letters. When the signal for landing stations was sounded, he climbed down into the control car and took his landing station at the the engine telegraphs on the starboard side of the forward area of the control car, where he would relay commands from </span><a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html" style="font-family: arial;">Captain Max Pruss</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> to the mechanics in the engine gondolas. When the ship caught fire a short time later, Herzog jumped out one of the control car windows along with the rest of the command crew. He escaped the fire, but was hurt seriously enough to be hospitalized for weeks afterwards at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. His injuries were such that his doctors advised that he not be interviewed by the Board of Inquiry when they visited Lenox Hill Hospital three weeks after the disaster.</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIikHeoG1G_j5EbfXVOAkBZ1BTLx2Z6t9ytkfKsZyzgaEsYijGw3rHoru5gpGIYtb5v5wio8z1Q5P4viL6z58sHMBFvnyl2xwl3uQc3ryPXv8RoE67va_ZH-IqssvSGOOmnAHqD9MLIk/s1600/Herzog+and+Leibrecht+outside+hospital.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIikHeoG1G_j5EbfXVOAkBZ1BTLx2Z6t9ytkfKsZyzgaEsYijGw3rHoru5gpGIYtb5v5wio8z1Q5P4viL6z58sHMBFvnyl2xwl3uQc3ryPXv8RoE67va_ZH-IqssvSGOOmnAHqD9MLIk/s640/Herzog+and+Leibrecht+outside+hospital.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Franz Herzog and fellow crew survivor <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/josef-leibrecht.html">Josef Leibrecht</a> (w/ bandaged hands) outside of Lenox Hill Hospital.</span>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Though he did recover from his injuries and return to Germany that summer, Herzog bore scars long afterwards. This did not stop him, however, from joining the crew of the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg’s</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> sister ship, the LZ-130 </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin,</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">on its maiden flight on September 14th, 1938. Along with <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html" style="font-family: arial;">Captain Albert Sammt</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, another </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> survivor, Herzog flew as a watch officer. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It has been variously reported that Franz Herzog later died in a Russian prisoner of war camp during World War II, and that he was killed during the Russian assault on Vienna during the last weeks of the war.</span></span><br />
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<i>Thanks to John Tabert for the photos of Franz Herzog, and for the information about Herzog having been in the mail room prior to taking his landing station. John's father was a patient in the same room as Herzog at Lenox Hill Hospital and the two men struck up a friendship and continued to keep in touch even after they had left the hospital.</i><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-77780738401608569372009-08-17T16:08:00.000-05:002014-11-10T12:27:31.789-06:00Wilhelm Balla<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-as_V2CkHa0o/VGEDBpfg6qI/AAAAAAAADRs/fq4lGwNGeJg/s1600-h/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201937%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Wilhelm Balla - circa 1937 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Wilhelm Balla - circa 1937 (lower res)" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5a-rndeS8Mg/VGEDCHv9ErI/AAAAAAAADR0/GAqVbRnbc3A/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201937%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="232" height="280"></a><br><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Crew Member<br><br>Age: 25<br><br>Hometown: Munich, Germany <br><br>Occupation: Night steward <br><br>Location at time of fire: Passenger decks, portside dining room <br><br>Survived<br></strong></font><br><br>Wilhelm Balla was born on March 28, 1912 in Castrop-Rauxel, near Dortmund in the Ruhr Valley. His parents, Gottlieb and Wilhelmine Balla, had moved there from East Prussia at the turn of the century, and his father worked as a coal miner. Willy Balla was the first of 12 siblings, with his youngest brother, Helmut, having been born in September of 1927 when Balla was 15 years old.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTn4Sulnv5Z3FSBG57VDMqGFy1_5RjCnbTDl6SPMbAaELASR_l9TiNxb78a53qJC7hS1IqvI0DvG96RK57pWTx7F9Jpngdus4zJ4cRtlr0XurnlyGMrIR0m2KmG2Mf_qqA3WHUSMI_abM/s1600-h/Willy%252520Balla%252520-%252520age%2525203%252520in%2525201915%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Willy Balla - age 3 in 1915 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Willy Balla - age 3 in 1915 (lower res)" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2gQSgxR5fqc/VGEDEdvokSI/AAAAAAAADSE/tykIWGYgI74/Willy%252520Balla%252520-%252520age%2525203%252520in%2525201915%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="417" height="336"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Willy Balla and his siblings, 1915. From left: Fritz, age 2; Willy, age 3; <br>their mother, Wilhelmine, age 22; Hermann, age 1, stepsister Änni, age 6.</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><br>After finishing primary school, Balla began an apprenticeship as a waiter at the Hotel Lindenhof in Dortmund. However, within a few years the Great Depression had caused Germany’s economy to implode for the second time in as many decades. With rampant unemployment making jobs scarce, Balla and one of his good friends wandered throughout Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, where they earned their living for the next couple of years as itinerant laborers, picking up whatever odd jobs they could find at factories and farms. They were also both pretty fair mandolin players, which earned them a few extra pfennigs here and there.</p> <p align="center"><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mDsCjxo8CK0/VGEDFP4l6hI/AAAAAAAADSM/R49WPW4x7fA/s1600-h/Willy%252520Balla%252520and%252520friend%252520with%252520mandolins%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Willy Balla and friend with mandolins (lower res)" border="0" alt="Willy Balla and friend with mandolins (lower res)" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUgvgulyMUJJBAKNx8eMeFrC9pkzEoWMKEqGolD1mlOFCHYzEHtImWalKR0d-DWk7ZxEoK3H7b6QSDoMV3F1Aq8dIr_e7Ji03-Cb7bPgGvMWdkqFDv0RgCtzRXx980q2qaF0lJ9qeI04/?imgmax=800" width="297" height="351"></a> <br><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Willy Balla and friend playing their mandolins during their <em>Wanderschaft.</em></strong></font></p> <p align="left"><br>By 1932, Balla had returned to Germany, where he attended a servant’s school in Munich and worked for the next several years as a butler in aristocratic houses, and also as a restaurant waiter. It was during this time in Munich that he met a young lady named Albertina Brandl. Willy Balla and Tina Brandl were married in 1936, and they would remain together for the next 52 years.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBw6YPApEQt9H9hZe5Y9DrkZw0TCDhUo-w8EaTxwhGea0KVzmbOtP3ELKAruQSK9yR_CEj-P9yuKKQXbI9B53f32mmLcLP238y0ohdcBA5mTFCaYv8LiJFd95YNvECHkmHEcK1JffEoH0/s1600-h/Albertina%252520Balla%252520-%2525201930s%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Albertina Balla - 1930s (lower res)" border="0" alt="Albertina Balla - 1930s (lower res)" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hjpfa0LA-rM/VGEDHHX-xKI/AAAAAAAADSk/QMwBcBgQFOk/Albertina%252520Balla%252520-%2525201930s%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="271" height="396"></a> <br><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Albertina Balla, mid-late 1930s</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><br>Though he had grown up in Westfalia, Wilhelm Balla came to view Munich as his second home. But as he would later write in his journals, he would periodically wrestle with his own wanderlust, and he dreamed of traveling not just throughout Germany and Europe as he had done, but of visiting other lands – Africa, South America, the United States. With the rapid advancements in aviation since the first world war, what Balla really wanted was to fly to these places via airplane or airship.</p> <p align="center"><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_t3rRf20SgI/VGEDIECSJwI/AAAAAAAADSs/3kGtisfXNJw/s1600-h/Willy%252520Balla%252520feeding%252520the%252520pigeons%252520-%252520circa%2525201936%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Willy Balla feeding the pigeons - circa 1936 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Willy Balla feeding the pigeons - circa 1936 (lower res)" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-b67EQjn_47s/VGEDInNQfUI/AAAAAAAADS0/R-JNTDgQRh8/Willy%252520Balla%252520feeding%252520the%252520pigeons%252520-%252520circa%2525201936%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="292" height="456"></a> <br><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla feeding the pigeons in Odeonsplatz, Munich, circa 1936</strong></font><br></p> <p align="left">One day, Balla happened across a newspaper article about the LZ 129, Germany’s latest (and as-yet unnamed) Zeppelin, which had been under construction for several years. The article stated, <em>“</em><font face="Arial"><em>The new airship is nearing completion in the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen and is designed to carry passenger and mail traffic to South and North America.”</em> Balla, like so many of his countrymen, had followed the exploits of the LZ 127 <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> and had read with great interest of the airship’s flights across the ocean, wondering how (or if) he would ever be able to afford the 1,500 Reichsmark fare to South America – roughly a year’s wages for him at the time.<br><br>It occurred to Balla that with his experience as a waiter and a butler, he was easily qualified to be an airship steward, serving the wealthy passengers whom the Zeppelins flew to and fro across the ocean. The only problem was, there were hundreds of applicants vying for roughly half a dozen open steward positions aboard the new LZ 129. His chances at landing one of these coveted jobs seemed exceedingly remote.<br></font><font face="Arial"><br>Then, Balla hit upon a clever plan. By chance, he had heard that </font>Dr. Ludwig Lehmann, the father of the new airship’s commander, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst A. Lehmann</a>, also lived in Munich. Balla went Dr. Lehmann’s house, introduced himself, and begged Lehmann to speak with his son on his behalf and ask if he would help him to secure one of the steward jobs. Dr. Lehmann was apparently impressed by the young man’s audacity, and a couple of weeks later Balla received a letter notifying him that he had indeed been hired by the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei as one of the LZ 129’s stewards.<br></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TCEjQp8nwi0/VGEDJvBKCII/AAAAAAAADS8/HMqcu4jt5O8/s1600-h/Willy%252520and%252520Tina%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201936%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Willy and Tina Balla - circa 1936 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Willy and Tina Balla - circa 1936 (lower res)" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcySh95wBqRlrZ00P-9aDkx9YKkIeyvw7bOPzoIUI1KZiyTxCswjJPs12DHlIIDG_QOUDs17wwD4xGTfD8EspXpTUzNuP7lEA0diI7OLmJCvnL6WH2s5f47lzoEkzGZohub8Y0PNVwj38/?imgmax=800" width="334" height="418"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Willy and Tina Balla, circa 1936 – Balla is wearing his new Zeppelin crew uniform.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font><br></p> <p><br>On January 20, 1936, Wilhelm Balla arrived at the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen, where the finishing touches were being put on the LZ 129 prior to her inaugural test flights. The new airship would not be ready to begin making these flights for at least another month or so, but in the meantime, Balla had been asked to report for duty immediately so that he could familiarize himself with the Zeppelins by working with the maintenance crew that was overhauling the <em>Graf Zeppelin.</em> One of a Zeppelin steward’s duties was to answer passengers’ questions about the airship, and assisting with the work being done on the Graf Zeppelin would serve as a good crash course in the construction and operation of these sky giants.<br><br>Balla would later recall that first day in his journal:</p> <blockquote><pre><font face="Arial"><em>When I entered the hall, I could not believe my eyes . Before me lay the airship Graf Zeppelin, which had so often crossed the South Atlantic. The underside of the ship was being repaired, and the outer cover was partly removed and being replaced, because the ship would not be flying again until early March.</em> </font><font face="Arial"></pre></font></blockquote><br /><p>Herr Feucht of the Zeppelin works led Balla on a tour of the <em>Graf Zeppelin,</em> showing him the interior of the gondola that housed the ship’s bridge, her radio room and kitchen, and her well-appointed passenger lounge and cabins. Then Feucht led Balla through a small door and into the ship’s interior.</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>We stepped inside the airship. I was never more surprised than by what I now saw, which was simply unbelievable to me. The entire ship’s interior above me was empty, 32 meters high and a length of about 200 meters, nothing but girders, struts and bracing wires. “Yes,” Mr. Feucht said, “the ship is empty now, but in a few days we’ll be installing the 16 gas cells. You will help with that.”</em></p><br /><p><em>We walked along the keel catwalk, which was only half a meter wide, and half a meter below that was the bottom of the ship – the envelope. Foreman Feucht said, “Don’t step off of the edge, or you’ll have your own private air voyage all the way to the ground.” So, at first I walked as carefully as possible, as I valued my life, however in time I became so experienced at it that I could have run along the catwalk blindfolded.</em></p></blockquote><br /><p>For the next month or so, Balla assisted with the work being done on the <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> to prepare her for the new flight season. He not only helped to install the refurbished gas cells, but he also used an electric riveting hammer as he and the construction crew replaced worn and damaged girders and latticework. Balla also accompanied <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Chief Steward Heinrich Kubis</a> on a tour of the almost-completed LZ 129 which, with more advanced design and extensive passenger accommodations than the LZ 127, astounded him almost as much as his initial tour of the <em>Graf Zeppelin</em> had. </p><br /><p>At last, on March 4th, 1936, Balla joined Chief Kubis and fellow stewards <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnenmacher</a> and R. Keuerleber aboard the new airship’s first test flight. Although the ship carried no passengers on this flight, only Zeppelin Company representatives and political officials who were aboard as observers, Kubis wanted to make sure that his team of stewards were thoroughly familiar with the passenger accommodations. It was a short flight. The LZ 129 spent three hours flying over Friedrichshafen and Lake Constance as the command crew tried out the controls and the mechanics made sure that the engines were in order. However, the flight made a deep and lasting impression on Balla, who had long dreamed of seeing the world from above. <br><br>The next day they made another test flight, this one of 8 hours duration so that the ship could receive its official certificate of airworthiness. This time, Balla and the other stewards served a breakfast of beef soup and a lunch of Hungarian goulash. To Balla’s delight, the LZ 129 also flew over his adopted home town of Munich, where the citizens poured out into the streets to see the new airship, waving enthusiastically and sending loud cheers aloft.</p><br /><p>After about two weeks of trial flights, during which Balla and the rest of Chief Kubis’ stewards settled into their routine of duties serving full multi-course meals and attending to a variety of passenger needs, the LZ 129 finally received her name. Though there was no official christening ceremony, the new ship would now fly under the name <em>Hindenburg. </em></p><br /><p>The <em>Hindenburg’s</em> first flight after her name had been painted in two-meter tall red gothic letters alongside her bow was a <a href="http://projektlz129.blogspot.com/2014/07/boser-wind-am-bodensee.html">four-day cross-country flight</a>, along with the <em>Graf Zeppelin,</em> during which the airships would promote Hitler’s move to remilitarize the Rhineland. This flight is especially notable to historians not only for the fact that it was a blatant propaganda stunt on behalf of the Nazi government, but also because a botched downwind takeoff at the start of the flight damaged the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> lower tail fin and necessitated repairs and a second takeoff later in the day. <br><br>However, for Wilhelm Balla, the flight was even more noteworthy because they flew over the village of Castrop-Rauxel, where he had grown up and where his family still lived. Everyone in town turned out to see the new Zeppelin, of course. As Balla later learned, his youngest brother Helmut watched the airship with his schoolmates. When young Helmut excitedly informed them that his brother was one of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>crew members, his stock among his classmates rose tremendously and they all gathered around him, eager to hear more about the mighty Zeppelin floating above them.</p><br /><p>All of this was merely prelude, however, to the flights that followed. Balla had been fascinated by the sight of his homeland from above, but his true passion was for flying to the exotic foreign lands that he had long dreamed of visiting by air. The day after the <em>Hindenburg</em> landed at Friedrichshafen after her four-day propaganda cruise over Germany, Balla and the rest of the stewards joined <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/xaver-maier.html">Chef Xaver Maier</a> and his kitchen staff in provisioning the ship for its first four-day flight across the South Atlantic to the new airship port near Rio de Janeiro. Together, they loaded enough food, beverages and ice onto the <em>Hindenburg</em> to keep 91 passengers and crew fed for the duration of the four-day flight. As they stowed everything on broad food storage platforms alongside the keel walkway, Balla and his comrades took care to situate the perishable items so as to prevent them from spoiling as they flew through the hot equatorial climate.</p><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Oovtf6RtGpM/VGEDLTg6LPI/AAAAAAAADTM/8t1pw6H_mPI/s1600-h/Balla%252520in%252520Hindenburg%252520kitchen%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Balla in Hindenburg kitchen" border="0" alt="Balla in Hindenburg kitchen" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4XEEud94bns/VGEDL8_vwaI/AAAAAAAADTU/wtw3VzW2Dl0/Balla%252520in%252520Hindenburg%252520kitchen_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="469" height="291"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla poses in an early 1936 publicity photo highlighting <br>the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> innovative all-electric onboard kitchen.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font></p><br /><p>Then the stewards went through the passenger cabins, polishing the fixtures and putting new linen on all the beds, before seeing to the common areas and making sure that all was in perfect order for the arrival of the 37 passengers the next morning, March 31, 1936. Balla helped to show the guests to their cabins, and would later recall the unexpected difficulty of communicating with people who were from many different countries, who spoke a variety of different languages. </p><br /><p>When everyone was aboard and the last freight and mail had been stowed, the <em>Hindenburg </em>prepared to depart. Balla stood at one of the broad observation windows alongside the passenger decks, listening as a military band near the hangar played the old Swabian folk song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdoqJ4iFog"><em>Muß i' denn, zum Städtele hinaus</em></a><em>.” </em>He solemnly reflected on the gravity of the moment: at long last he was finally going to see Brazil – not merely from the air as he’d always imagined, but from the unique vantage point of the most advanced and comfortable mode of air travel that mankind had yet devised. As Balla pondered his good fortune, the ground began to drop away, as if on cue. The ground crew having released the airship, it ascended silently and, to those aboard, almost imperceptibly – aside from the fact that the well-wishers on the ground below suddenly appeared to be growing smaller. </p><br /><p>Wilhelm Balla was the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> night steward, and so a great deal of his regular duties would take place while most everyone else aboard was asleep. He would clean the now-empty dining room and the lounge as well as the rest of the common areas, and would respond when passengers pushed a button in their cabins to request assistance. As they would in a fine hotel, the passengers would leave their shoes outside their cabin doors at night to be shined, and Balla would make sure that they were all gleaming like new by the time the passengers awoke the following morning. But when his duties were finished, instead of going straight to bed, Balla would often sit next to the large observation windows in the empty passenger lounge. He would later remember how eager he was to spend every free moment at the windows on that first flight over the ocean so that he wouldn’t miss anything, watching the sea sliding by in peaceful silence below at night and, during the day, marveling along with the passengers at the islands, schools of fish and occasional steamship that would appear below as they flew over the South Atlantic. <br></p><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lZewKiCT0Ss/VGEDM6OURSI/AAAAAAAADTc/Ub6UA5U8j4U/s1600-h/passenger%252520shoes%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="passenger shoes" border="0" alt="passenger shoes" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3BkulSLpUQc/VGEDNQBB6-I/AAAAAAAADTk/iEL9Frzd9S0/passenger%252520shoes_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="336" height="409"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>One of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>passengers leaves his shoes <br>outside of his cabin for the night steward to shine.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font></p><br /><p><br>Balla’s night shift also gave his crewmates a perfect opportunity to indulge in an old mariner’s tradition. Balla would later recall:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>On the third day of the voyage, it was just about three o’clock in the morning when the phone near me rang. One of the mechanics on duty told me that he’d seen a passenger wandering along the keel walkway, and that I should go and check to make sure that everything was in order. Since this sort of thing wasn’t permitted, I headed straight for the walkway. So, I was innocently strolling along the catwalk when suddenly I got an massive amount of water poured over my head. I stood there, looking like a drowned rat when I heard loud laughter above me and looked up. I saw there up in the girders three men holding buckets, having just played a corker of a practical joke on me. So, this was the famous equatorial baptism! As proof, I was presented with a baptismal certificate. I was naturally very proud of this.</em></p></blockquote><br /><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jPTvtIM-DlMJQBEUkBCX5OD6Tjq0qrDoLRH_CGSGN_jp1PSyC9d1kXo8ZchmbCcioeIEqRUFJyIxtbaq8fdRfK3Phe8HAh9mjUgW1u0SxiC4Dnqwc5MlLuKNx7VoXXS1_BkdLbFzey4/s1600-h/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%252520equatorial%252520baptism%252520certificate%25255B15%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Wilhelm Balla - equatorial baptism certificate" border="0" alt="Wilhelm Balla - equatorial baptism certificate" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-aVNvUeJR_U4/VGEDPVeAICI/AAAAAAAADT0/ZWg-f__9sq0/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%252520equatorial%252520baptism%252520certificate_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="324" height="540"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong> Wilhelm Balla’s Taufschein – his certificate of baptism commemorating his first crossing of the equator.<br> The certificate, one of which was presented to each passenger and crew member on their first flight to <br> South America, was drawn by Dr. Eckener’s brother Alexander, a professional painter and printmaker.<br></strong><em><font size="1"> (photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em><br></font></p><br /><p><br>Early on the morning of April 4th, after almost exactly 4 days in the air, <em>the Hindenburg</em> arrived over Rio de Janeiro just before dawn. The sight was not one that Balla would forget:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>It was still dark when Rio appeared, a sea of lights spread out before us. We had reached our destination! It was too beautiful, to see this magnificent city from above in all her blazing splendor. I had to keep asking myself, “Am I dreaming, or is this reality?”</em></p></blockquote><br /><p>The following month, Balla realized yet another one of his dreams as the <em>Hindenburg</em> made her <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/maiden-voyage">first flight to the United States</a>, where she would moor at the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, NJ, about 50 miles south of New York. This time the airship took off from Friedrichshafen in the evening, and by the time they reached the English Channel it was too dark to see much of anything.</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>I was on night duty and could see the beacons and the coastal lights. Around 3 o’clock in the morning, Captain Lehmann came up to me in the passenger lounge. We sat down in the writing room and talked for about two hours about everything under the sun. He couldn’t sleep, and was happy to have somebody to talk to. I often wondered about the fact that he got so little sleep. He was simply very conscientious, and always wanted to make sure that he had everything under control.<br><br>Toward morning, the first passengers were already coming out of their cabins, so as not to miss the sunrise. I was relieved at 6:00, and looked forward to getting some sleep.</em></p></blockquote><br /><p>Two days later, in the wee hours of the morning, the <em>Hindenburg </em>reached the east coast of the United States, arriving over New York City at about 5:00 AM. The sun was just rising, and New Yorkers climbed on the roofs of buildings and craned their necks for their first look at the new Queen of the Skies. Wilhelm Balla was still on night duty, and was astounded by what he saw.</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>When we reached the Statue of Liberty, a concert of sirens began that I never experienced again. Every ship in New York’s harbor joined in, stopping only when we flew on once again. Likewise, it was the first time the people of New York had been able to greet us. Then we flew over New York’s skyscrapers. I cannot describe in words the kind of impression that this made on me.</em></p></blockquote><br /><p>After circling the city, a crowd-pleaser for the passengers which would become a tradition on subsequent flights to Lakehurst, the <em>Hindenburg </em>flew on to Lakehurst. The airfield was packed with throngs of people anxious for a close look at the new airship, and guards were stationed around the visitors’ area to keep spectators clear of the mooring area. Balla watched as the US Navy ground crew expertly connected the ship to her mooring mast and guided her into the vast airship hangar. </p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>Now as I climbed out of the ship and tried to leave the hangar, I was instantly surrounded by hundreds of enthusiastic Americans who blocked my way. Now I had achieved a bit of a celebrity status, because everyone around me demanded my autograph. It took me over an hour to make it a couple hundred yards to the hangar exit. As soon as I left the hangar, I suddenly found myself sitting in a car that was parked there and was pressured by its occupants into driving to New York with them. It was a sincere invitation, and they would fulfill all of my wishes if I would do them the honor of riding along with them. Owners of other cars made the same offer to my comrades. For these people we were, quite simply, a sensation.</em></p></blockquote><em></em><br /><p>After nearly four days of being treated like royalty by their newfound American friends, Balla and his comrades welcomed a new group of passengers aboard for the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>return flight to Germany. This time, rather than landing at Friedrichshafen, they landed at what was to be their new home base – the Rhein-Main airfield at Frankfurt. Balla and his wife, Tina, moved to a house in Walldorf, a village just south of the airfield where most of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>crew would live while new homes were being built for them in the new town of Zeppelinheim, just to the northeast. </p><br /><p>After the second flight to South America at the end of May, the <em>Hindenburg</em> was put in the Zeppelin works hangar at Löwenthal for minor repairs and to have some additional features added. One of these new additions quickly became a favorite of Balla’s. <a href="http://projektlz129.blogspot.com/2013/10/sechs-manner-nach-vorne.html">In the extreme bow of the ship</a>, among the mooring platforms from which crewmen handled the forward landing lines during takeoffs and landings, a new observation area was installed. On either side of the keel, a small bench and table were bolted to the framework, with a long vertical window in front of each. </p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>I, myself, would often choose this place, as it had the most wonderful view, especially when there was something interesting to see. […] It is hardly possible to describe how beautiful the view was. […] If I had time off duty, I would often spend hours at the window in the bow watching the activity on the various islands that we would fly over. Sometimes I would even wish I could be dropped off on one of those islands and then be picked up again on the homeward voyage. Naturally, this was just wishful thinking. I was a crew member of the LZ 129 Hindenburg, and had duties to fulfill aboard her.</em></p><br /><p> </p></blockquote><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-QJt8Dwi5hfg/VGEDPyPfOgI/AAAAAAAADT8/DJrvfuvRwQ4/s1600-h/Balla%252520in%252520Hindenburg%252520dining%252520room%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Balla in Hindenburg dining room" border="0" alt="Balla in Hindenburg dining room" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RxqcV8M3-WI/VGEDQY61-MI/AAAAAAAADUE/WKk_e63Qjkc/Balla%252520in%252520Hindenburg%252520dining%252520room_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="345" height="372"></a> <font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Balla and another steward in the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> dining room.<br></strong><em><font size="1">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</font></em></font><br><br></p><br /><p>Wilhelm Balla made every one of the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>subsequent flights, and would later write a journal of his experiences. In the journal that he later wrote recounting his experiences as a Zeppelin steward, Balla captured many details about his day to day experiences aboard the Hindenburg. Many from the ship’s early flights have already been recounted here, but the remainder of the 1936 flight season was to prove as memorable to Balla as the beginning had been.</p><br /><p>When the <em>Hindenburg</em> was moored at Lakehurst, Captain Lehmann would grant visitor passes to various people, often VIPs, and Balla was often the crew member who was assigned to lead these special guests on tours of the ship. In this way, he got to know and become friends with a great many Americans, many of whom would take him into New York on day trips.<br><br>In addition to his night duties, Balla would also serve passengers during the day (when he wasn’t sleeping after his shift was over at 6:00 AM, of course.) He would make his way forward to the ship’s radio room where the radio operator would hand him the latest edition of the daily onboard newspaper, which would provide passengers with the latest news from around the world. Balla would pin the paper to the bulletin board at the head of the gangway stairs in the central cabin area, where there was also a map of the world on which the ship’s current position was marked in red pencil.<br><br>In August, the <em>Hindenburg </em>flew over the opening ceremonies for the 1936 Olympic Games. In addition to the spectacle of viewing Berlin’s massive new Olympic Stadium from the air, Balla would also remember one of the lighter moments of the flight. After circling over Berlin for an hour or so, the <em>Hindenburg </em>flew over Tempelhof airfield to drop off some sacks of mail, much sought-after by stamp collectors for the special onboard Olympic flight cancellation. The sacks were attached to parachutes and dropped from one of the hatches that lined the airship’s belly.</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><em>In the course of this, there occurred a mishap in which one of the parachutes failed to open. The mail sack slammed into the ground and burst open. The wind then blew the letters and cards across the entire airport. There was a great deal of laughter as we saw how the airfield workers chased down the individual letters.</em></p></blockquote><br /><p><strong></strong></p><br /><p><strong></strong></p><br /><p><strong></strong></p><br /><p>On one of the season’s final flights back from South America, Balla would recall another yet momentous event:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><font size="2"><em>On the evening of the second day, we were told that on our homeward flight we would meet up with the Graf Zeppelin over the ocean. Everyone now waited eagerly for this encounter. Suddenly we saw a tiny light appear off the port bow, which grew bigger and bigger. From the ship, we saw nothing yet because of the darkness. Soon, however, there were more and more lights, and now we flew past each other about 300 meters apart. I leapt for the light switches and turned them on and off several times to convey our greetings. Immediately, the people on the Graf Zeppelin went with the same tactic and blinked across at us. We flew a few circles around our sister ship, and they did likewise. This unique meeting so far from home lasted maybe 10 minutes, and then each ship resumed its original course, one toward Brazil, and the other toward Frankfurt.</em></font> </p></blockquote><br /><p><strong></strong></p><br /><p><br>As he recorded his experiences in his journal, Balla would also make note of many of the various celebrity passengers who flew with them, particularly along the North Atlantic route to and from the United States. Former world heavyweight boxing champion Max Schmeling flew twice with them. <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/max-schmeling">Schmeling first traveled aboard the Hindenburg</a> on his way back to Germany following his June, 1936 victory over Joe Louis as both boxers vied for a shot at the reigning world champion, James Braddock. Balla would later recall Schmeling as being very gracious, signing autographs for his fellow passengers and spending a lot of time enjoying the view from the observation windows.<br></p><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ILeM50VB4i4/VGEDRCufT-I/AAAAAAAADUM/iPuDhacfKJQ/s1600-h/Douglas-and-Sylvia-Fairbanks-with-Ma%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Douglas and Sylvia Fairbanks with Max Schmeling" border="0" alt="Douglas and Sylvia Fairbanks with Max Schmeling" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_RnNC1NhKpWrF7BLnrntFNFPQCDxtOTetSOZrtuvgHSrTywaUbECd93hLZw4G-G1ePzTLvaE6cQfNgUe2XPu2wMaimiv4Dk_hQezv6QyJCYh1u8GXLw74MqqTrsLo2A0Y5k5offmZdM/?imgmax=800" width="445" height="345"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Douglas and Sylvia Fairbanks pose with Max Schmeling in front of the control car <br>of the USS Los Angeles following their arrival at Lakehurst in August of 1936.<br></strong></font></p><br /><p>Schmeling returned to the States aboard the <em>Hindenburg</em> in August of that year, <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/hindenburg-flight-passenger-diary">on the same flight</a> as another celebrity – silent film legend, Douglas Fairbanks and his new wife, Lady Sylvia Ashley. Balla would remember the couple not so much for Fairbanks’ fame as a former Hollywood swashbuckler, but because of their six-month old Scottish terrier, Bobby. Bobby, rather than being kept in the ship’s kennel area, was allowed free run of the passenger area, much to the dismay of the stewards. Balla would later describe him, quite bluntly, as ”…a naughty little puppy who left his calling cards for us all over the ship.”<br></p><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1KewP2PGBEokib2a2KAC4K4vgM8G1XBQmJFpVQcuZAcckW7IgrU2X09tjFE4Oi5su9aVIchvfxRAoAcNan3REiCNxHFfB2ctGn2bkNUiVfBeGOYLa899B53Oguo4MLjzFSi-uvhfAUo/s1600-h/Sylvia-Fairbanks-and-Bobby5.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Sylvia Fairbanks and Bobby" border="0" alt="Sylvia Fairbanks and Bobby" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-z2VMuXCbTW4/VGEDT2RyU3I/AAAAAAAADUk/5IBpnx_0-m0/Sylvia-Fairbanks-and-Bobby_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="434" height="349"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Sylvia Fairbanks and her terrier, Bobby, aboard the <em>Hindenburg.</em></strong></font></p><br /><p><br>Balla would also remember the special VIP flights that the <em>Hindenburg</em> would occasionally make. In June of 1936 <font style="font-weight: normal" size="2">Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, who ran the German industrial giant, Friedrich Krupp, AG, chartered the Hindenburg to carry himself and 50 others, including family members and Krupp AG officials on a sightseeing flight over Switzerland. At the end of the flight, which afforded an unparalleled aerial view of the Alps and the Swiss countryside, Herr Krupp presented each member of the <em>Hindenburg’s</em> crew with a pair of cufflinks made of genuine Krupp steel, which Balla later described as being “more valuable to me than if they had been made of gold.”</font></p><br /><p><font style="font-weight: normal" size="2">During the Hindenburg’s last visit to the United States in October of 1936, a VIP flight was arranged as a way of courting financiers and influential business and political leaders for a planned German/American international airship service. The day cruise over the colorful autumn New England countryside came to be known as the <a href="http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/millionaire-flight">“Millionaires’ Flight”</a>, and it was later said that the combined worth of the passengers exceeded a billion dollars. Balla served such luminaries as Nelson Rockefeller and Eddie Rickenbacker a sumptuous lunch that featured swallow’s nest soup, Rhein salmon, tenderloin steak in goose liver sauce and fine wines and champagne. Over the course of the flight, Balla added quite a few new signatures to his autograph book – which ended up being lost with the rest of his personal effects in the disaster at Lakehurst the following spring.<br><br>As the flight season drew to a close, Wilhelm Balla’s love of airship travel had grown to the point where he began to think about the future and consider whether there might be roles for him beyond that of a steward. </font></p><br /><blockquote><br /><p><font size="2"><em>On one of the last flights of 1936, I asked Captain Lehmann if I might eventually have the possibility of becoming an airship helmsman. He conceded me an opportunity if I were to undertake the necessary studies to gain requisite skills, which would include attending the navigation school in Hamburg. I was overjoyed by this proposition.</em></font></p></blockquote><br /><p><br>Wilhelm Balla was, of course, aboard the <em>Hindenburg’s </em>first North American flight of 1937 when it left Frankfurt on the evening of May 3rd. It was a fairly unremarkable flight, except for the head winds and cloudy skies that persisted throughout the voyage. Three days later, on the evening of May 6th, the <em>Hindenburg</em> arrived over the airfield at Lakehurst, NJ, approximately 12 hours behind schedule. <br><br>Balla was downstairs on B-deck, and made his way up to the dining room to watch the landing maneuver. He stopped by the bar and asked bar steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/max-schulze.html">Max Schulze</a> if he wanted to come along. Schulze, however, was busy cleaning the bar and opted to stay behind. As he began climbing the stairs to A-deck, Balla encountered the ship’s new stewardess, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/emilie-imhof.html">Emilie Imhof</a>, who had just been hired the previous November. He asked if she wanted to come on up to the dining room with him, since it was her first flight to North America. She also opted to stay downstairs, as she had to get the linens changed in the new bank of passenger cabins that had been installed on B-deck the previous fall. Balla continued on up to the dining room, not realizing that he would see neither of them alive again.</p><br /><p>He made his way to the observation windows that ran alongside the dining room, and found a spot near the forward-most window, through which he watched the airship’s landing ropes drop and the ground crew pick them up. As he politely stood aside to allow some of the passengers to get a better look, he suddenly heard a muffled explosion and felt the ship give a sharp jerk. <br><br>The floor tilted as the stern of the ship dropped to the ground, and Balla fell to the floor, pulled by two nearby passengers who had also lost their footing. He heard another explosion closer to the passenger compartment, and thought to himself that he'd rather break his neck jumping out a window than to burn alive. He stopped his slide aft by grabbing hold of the handrail, pulled himself toward a nearby window, and noticed passengers beginning to jump out of the windows as the ship grounded itself. He looked aft and saw one of the passengers, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">Mrs. Matilde Doehner,</a> toss her two young sons out of the ship. Balla himself leaped out a window from a height of about 20 feet, landed in the sand and got up to try and help the passengers still trapped in the ship. When he went to get up, however, he realized that he'd twisted his right ankle and was having trouble standing up on it.<br><br>Balla saw 14 year-old <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">Irene Doehner</a> leap from one of the other windows and limped over to help fellow steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnemacher</a> put out the fire on her clothes and in her hair. The two young Doehner boys, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/doehner-family.html">Walter and Werner</a>, were standing nearby crying, and Balla accompanied them to a nearby ambulance. Rescuers tried to get Balla to get into the ambulance with them, but he refused to go, believing that he should instead stay and try to help. But by then, anyone who could be pulled alive from the wreckage was already being taken to the infirmary. Other than his sore ankle, Balla was virtually unharmed. He was eventually taken to the air station’s infirmary where his foot was examined and taped up, and then he went over to the airship hangar where he sent a telegram home to his wife: <em>“Bin gesund”</em> – “I’m well.”<br></p><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79UGZtyhUP6mKSZ8IkAxIN2Hg2P6JB8iSqy4XqbQJrBvw7IZps56RXdFft09DigBw1Lxw9seGAUIDouKSjEEPJNIW_43cf5oMMecPNT3VzzI5yRuxBtBgi2DN9UhM1-kPsK2hOu5f_f8/s1600-h/Sauter%25252C%252520Deeg%25252C%252520Balla%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Sauter, Deeg, Balla" border="0" alt="Sauter, Deeg, Balla" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-p-2Esm6DNCU/VGEDVKeQsnI/AAAAAAAADU0/Ejeev4lotrY/Sauter%25252C%252520Deeg%25252C%252520Balla_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="444" height="489"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla (right) along with fellow steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/fritz-deeg.html">Fritz Deeg</a> (white jacket, center) and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Chief Engineer Rudolf Sauter</a> (dark jacket and bandaged head, left) leave Hangar One at Lakehurst after identifying the bodies of fire victims, on May 7th, 1937.</strong></font></p><br /><p><br>Wilhelm Balla stayed in the United States for nine days following the disaster. The day after the crash, he returned with other crew survivors to the Lakehurst air base in order to help identify the bodies of the fire victims. He testified before the Board of Inquiry on May 14th, and the following day he returned to Germany with a group of fellow crew survivors (mostly stewards and kitchen staff) aboard the steamship Europa. Throughout the rest of his life, Wilhelm Balla was convinced that an airship filled with helium rather than inflammable hydrogen would prove to be the safest, most comfortable mode of transportation in the world.<br><br>Following his return to Germany, Balla and his wife moved from their home in Walldorf and returned to Munich, where Wilhelm continued to work in restaurants until Europe once more descended into war. He was drafted into the Wermacht (regular army) in 1940 and, possibly due to his service aboard the Hindenburg, was assigned to a Luftwaffe unit and stationed in Norway for most of the war. </p><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C7c0jgJk5rb39isdAYmCcj01mVoCv9i04_I5Ro3QpDYul0UvGrAeYt9G_EwFvCZVsTL17RS6s_gso6F74w_4SySw5EE_yMdlUvfDcqytptsLveQ7RilYxxwBK3F_OYQqDE6VcCPQkLQ/s1600-h/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%2525201941%252520Deutsche%252520Wehrmacht%252520%252528Luftwaffedienst%252529%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Wilhelm Balla - 1941 Deutsche Wehrmacht (Luftwaffedienst) (lower res)" border="0" alt="Wilhelm Balla - 1941 Deutsche Wehrmacht (Luftwaffedienst) (lower res)" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDpI0716RhsKfqsijuyBItZ2OKlZfeBST_0j_sssJ5edXcVCkPdNWUvQ_U3Wo4z1PKkOSEq3D4M9TKeAUlXlIHfQF9oqEWT06a08wgUzI2mKElWpSesN3LMcoS4FR6xObwOosmzi9bjA/?imgmax=800" width="262" height="350"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla in his Luftwaffe uniform, 1941</strong></font><br></p><br /><p>In 1941, while Balla was home in Munich on leave, he invited his youngest brother, Helmut, for a visit. Since Helmut was 15 years old and almost finished with school, Wilhelm asked him what he intended to do after graduation. Helmut replied that he’d probably look for an apprenticeship as a metal worker, so that if nothing else he could find work at the coal mines where their father worked. Wilhelm suggested that he might be able to use his connections in the restaurant business to help Helmut to get a waiter’s apprenticeship in one of Munich’s finer hotels. Helmut gladly accepted, and once he had graduated school the following year he found an apprenticeship at the Regina Palast Hotel. During this time, he lived with Wilhelm and his wife, Tina – though Wilhelm was only home from the war occasionally when he could get a furlough.</p><br /><p align="center"><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-S-PM7zcc-6I/VGEDXxYCO9I/AAAAAAAADVM/zTZyqq2mHBs/s1600-h/Willy%252520and%252520Helmut%252520Balla%252520-%252520Munich%2525201941%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Willy and Helmut Balla - Munich 1941 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Willy and Helmut Balla - Munich 1941 (lower res)" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kReU247pL-w/VGEDYoBxZZI/AAAAAAAADVU/q5eSuhWbHCY/Willy%252520and%252520Helmut%252520Balla%252520-%252520Munich%2525201941%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="462" height="346"></a> <br><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Helmut and Willy Balla in Odeonsplatz in Munich in 1941<br><br></strong></font></p><br /><p>Meanwhile, the war took its toll on the Balla family. Wilhelm’s brother, Heinz, was drafted into military service in December of 1940. The following summer, following Russia’s declaration of war on Germany, Heinz Balla was sent to the Eastern Front. Here, he was badly wounded in combat and died in a field hospital on August 10, 1941, at the age of 21. <br><br>In late 1942, Wilhelm’s 19 year-old brother Alfred was also drafted into service, and was immediately sent to the Eastern Front, without being given even a short leave to visit his family before his transfer. Two weeks later, Alfred Balla, like his older brother Heinz before him, met his “Heldentod für Führer, Volk und Vaterland” (a phrase that all too many Germans were becoming familiar with, an impressive-sounding yet rather hollow official government condolence on the loss of their sons and brothers) when he, too, was killed in battle.</p><br /><p> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-YRDpPGE9OO8/VGEDZJDKUtI/AAAAAAAADVc/jZYJw4YXVus/s1600-h/Heinz%252520Balla%2525201%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Heinz Balla 1" border="0" alt="Heinz Balla 1" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NlAmNWe8tTY/VGEDZvDyieI/AAAAAAAADVk/iYsciCCB7fE/Heinz%252520Balla%2525201_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="185" height="244"></a> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-j3jXDHg4rNw/VGEDauC4nAI/AAAAAAAADVs/ibAiiRZ8JtA/s1600-h/Alfred%252520Balla%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Alfred Balla" border="0" alt="Alfred Balla" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNQpUJJgNRC91qSIrKmM8PLbSElPNZo-XsKhUWn34KtTkxw16pEcMDc0upWQDvhO_pxGrsr2zINsmUENxsXv7_PGxxwC-hLQLl7wHBpOxahp5Vbl_qnHPgOg5L0sMolqKQxlCMtn8B-OE/?imgmax=800" width="192" height="244"></a> <br> <font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong> Heinz Balla Alfred Balla<br> 1920-1941 1923-1942</strong></font><br></p><br /><p>Meanwhile, the Balla family could take some genuine consolation in the fact that Wilhelm was still stationed up north in Norway, far from the worst of the fighting and unlikely to meet his “heroic death for Führer, countrymen and Fatherland.” And yet, the war was not yet done with their family. Castrop-Rauxel was in the heart of the Ruhr Valley, a key industrial area with numerous coke plants, steelworks and oil refineries, as well as the coal mines in which Wilhelm’s father, Gottlieb Balla, had spent his life working. This made the Ruhr a prime target for strategic bombing by the Allies throughout the war. On the night of August 6-7, 1944, as sirens announced the approach of yet another formation of Allied bombers, Gottlieb’s wife, Wilhelmine, had taken their three daughters to the local air raid shelter, while Gottlieb and his youngest son, 15 year-old Günter, hid in the basement of the family home. <br></p><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ej4SwijtE-A/VGEDcW0QoBI/AAAAAAAADV8/LKpHNyUqLxs/s1600-h/Gottlieb%252520Balla%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Gottlieb Balla" border="0" alt="Gottlieb Balla" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-j3eMGN5xA3Mhh4DX-UYS32O8SgQ6l4ITTJ7XCtIMtDmm8Z6ryq9nCwA1w0-6yxiLOuz2nHdIYlWbdlmCSh5sq8KVpWo8hJY8ioHQh8KnduIiqP1gRnmsd2PdVgxoTNZek_pqbJrxvk/?imgmax=800" width="193" height="244"></a><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Gottlieb Balla<br></strong></font></p><br /><p>On this particular night, although the Balla family did not know this at the time, the bombers were targeting the Krupp Oilworks and the rail yards in Wanne-Eickel, about five miles away. When the drone of the bombers had faded away into the distance and the sound of flak had subsided, Gottlieb decided to take a look upstairs to make sure that nothing was on fire, since the Allies were known to drop incendiaries along with their regular explosive bombs. Just as Gottlieb emerged from the basement, a single stray bomb – apparently the only bomb to fall on Castrop-Rauxel that night – exploded directly in front of the Balla home, destroying most of the house and killing Gottlieb Balla instantly. <br></p><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhGxqUAA9-9Fsr4-YgUGiy877r73MrY3gOIcwEGxgVwJoRpBYu96MtI8DoKIIWFRGEx68riLXsdY4uHCLjSbsuCvFt2VHRk-TwZzQttIVnJr6iy2XXCYh7nc7E7LBSMuysqHPiTj0ye8/s1600-h/Balla%252520brothers%252520at%252520Father%252527s%252520funeral%252520-%252520August%2525201944%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Balla brothers at Father's funeral - August 1944 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Balla brothers at Father's funeral - August 1944 (lower res)" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9enfkWH2cVA/VGEDfDx-PDI/AAAAAAAADWU/1dZChPBekR0/Balla%252520brothers%252520at%252520Father%252527s%252520funeral%252520-%252520August%2525201944%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="485" height="343"></a><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla and four of his brothers at their father’s funeral in August of 1944. <br>From left: Günter, Wilhelm, Hermann, Helmut and Fritz.</strong></font></p><br /><p><br>Fortunately, Wilhelm Balla’s Luftwaffe unit saw no combat during his time in Norway, and it was during this time that he began to write down his memoirs of his year and a half as a Zeppelin steward. However, fate seemed determined to take just one more shot at the Balla family. Just before the end of the war, with Vienna besieged by Russian troops, Balla was transferred to Austria where he ended up being captured by the Russians. With the end of the war virtually days away, instead of preparing to return home to Tina and the rest of his family, Balla was instead sent to a labor camp in Siberia, where he would spend the next five years.</p><br /><p align="center"><br><br> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZWNo3B7AIHeGXdcAkNemqMQ8h1uSyUMHNYpwb7EufPUXcawomPEvv5kfnx-BUIN43DpiUpHOfdZckMPWHTEkUJ-_PhmvGF1axLgKjwrzL3XBuqVpFJ0i72KBUwKaBnhaRER50PSk2Ro/s1600-h/November%25252017%25252C%2525201949%252520-%252520Return%252520after%2525205%252520years%252520in%252520Russian%252520POW%252520camp%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="November 17, 1949 - Return after 5 years in Russian POW camp (lower res)" border="0" alt="November 17, 1949 - Return after 5 years in Russian POW camp (lower res)" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-N1imLcvDZX4/VGEDgzrHTsI/AAAAAAAADWk/z7zPA1le-18/November%25252017%25252C%2525201949%252520-%252520Return%252520after%2525205%252520years%252520in%252520Russian%252520POW%252520camp%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="497" height="358"></a> <br><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Wilhelm Balla (indicated by X) and his comrades on the day they were <br>released from their captivity in a Siberian labor camp, November 17, 1946.</strong></font></p><br /><p><br>Wilhelm Balla was finally released from Russian captivity and returned to Germany in November of 1947, where he spent some time at a rest home for returning POWs in Abtsee bei Laufen, in southeastern Bavaria. Once he had taken some time to recuperate from his long and grueling imprisonment, Balla returned to the restaurant business as a sales representative. He continued to make a good living for himself and his wife, and eventually retired in 1977 at the age of 65.<br><br><br> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3729-jV9M6M_MZ6kuW94Z9KQpTZ8ZxzDKQzdIBb7Zu9TXBpaGbR_ozg720dXLm_WP34rQOqkJdXsAMAQ2T_LahoNlfMBX_SE0mc_ZcnDgRafzUnN9FiZmILB8zdOVmP7pJWJ0W_ZECIg/s1600-h/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201950s%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Wilhelm Balla - circa 1950s (lower res)" border="0" alt="Wilhelm Balla - circa 1950s (lower res)" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8E0lyGmz_5I/VGEDiFGRUdI/AAAAAAAADW0/XvuRkfhe2lE/Wilhelm%252520Balla%252520-%252520circa%2525201950s%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="197" height="259"></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-o81BQcdyLBU/VGEDjpt3D7I/AAAAAAAADW8/lle-dqXylOA/s1600-h/Willy%252520and%252520Tina%252520-%2525201961%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; padding-bottom: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Willy and Tina - 1961 (lower res)" border="0" alt="Willy and Tina - 1961 (lower res)" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-K4Di3y1t6Ls/VGEDkCZciwI/AAAAAAAADXE/c07p1N3gNBQ/Willy%252520and%252520Tina%252520-%2525201961%252520%252528lower%252520res%252529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="354" height="256"></a><br> <font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><strong> Wilhelm Balla, circa 1950s Willy and Tina Balla, 1961<br><br></strong><font face="Arial">On May 7th, 1988, 51 years almost to the day following his narrow escape from the <em>Hindenburg </em>disaster, Wilhelm Balla passed away in Munich from a liver ailment at the age of 76. He and Tina had been together for more than half a century.</font></font></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><em>My deepest thanks to Helmut Balla, Wilhelm Balla’s youngest brother, for providing me with a wealth of information and photos that allowed me to greatly expand upon what had been a comparatively brief article. Helmut was kind enough to send me copies of family photos and a recent Zeppelin Museum publication (available </em><a href="http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/buecher0.html?&tx_commerce_pi1[showUid]=224&tx_commerce_pi1[catUid]=8&cHash=604b493d86"><strong><em>HERE</em></strong></a><em>) that included an edited version of Wilhelm Balla’s journal, translated excerpts of which I’ve included here. Helmut also sent me a copy of his own autobiography, “Biografie eines 84-Jährigen” (available <strong><a href="http://www.wagner-verlag.de/Helmut_Balla/BIOGRAFIE_eines_84-J%C3%A4hrigen">HERE</a></strong>), a fascinating look at his own life and a source of valuable information about Wilhelm and the rest of the family. In addition to the photos and books, Helmut has also been very generous in corresponding with me via email to clear up various questions that have come up as I’ve assembled the information presented here. Ein herzliches Dankeschön, Helmut!</em></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-3514156882505317742009-08-17T14:26:00.017-05:002011-02-05T11:34:24.351-06:00Emil Stöckle</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis00E6wTBB6to9cpkeYuzedaj1bEH9N1kvv3BQIm2O22Rrhe_L4szJhnOWWfoOE_890qp7ETtIJKimu6fzDC8AzWVDh-wbdDw6hF_fib9ESEBJbDUlp4OfXZnopd17MHwYr4eqAMyJEFg/s1600-h/NoPhoto3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 177px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis00E6wTBB6to9cpkeYuzedaj1bEH9N1kvv3BQIm2O22Rrhe_L4szJhnOWWfoOE_890qp7ETtIJKimu6fzDC8AzWVDh-wbdDw6hF_fib9ESEBJbDUlp4OfXZnopd17MHwYr4eqAMyJEFg/s400/NoPhoto3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371023059676055714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Passenger </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">
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<br />Age: Unknown </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">
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<br />Residence: Frankfurt, Germany </span> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">
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<br />Occupation: Mail Inspector, Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Portside hallway to passenger cabins
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Emil Stöckle worked for the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei, and was in charge of the freight and mail department in the DZR's Frankfurt office. During the first week of May, 1937, he was on his way to the United States via the </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> to take a position as a DZR sales agent. It was </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Stöckle's second time flying on an airship, with his only previous flight having been a 14-hour trip over Germany (possibly the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">flight over the Olympics in Berlin on August 1, 1936.)
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<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">On the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">flight to America, Stöckle had no official DZR duties, although once the ship had landed and the freight and the mail had been offloaded, he was to have supervised the DZR freight and mail department at Lakehurst for this trip. On the second day of the flight, around 11 o'clock in the morning, Stöckle accompanied elevatorman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/ernst-huchel.html">Ernst Huchel</a> back to the kennel basket near the stern of the ship to look after the two dogs who were stored there.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> prepared to land at Lakehurst on the evening of May 6th, Stöckle was standing with other passengers on the starboard observation deck watching the ground crew take up the landing lines. Estimating that the ship was perhaps 80 to 100 meters in the air, he watched as the sailors took up the starboard line and began to carry it off towards the starboard yaw car. Stöckle then went to his cabin to get a coat out of his suitcase, which the stewards had left just outside his cabin door.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ2HTUn_EJU3nwOUdU11a4Mqq3M1f1y-ZnP8sWaYIPfdqEkffmMnTFig6-CZB9lPBwfIR2ZevAEtI3J-OnyN9NJvgEAcLib57YcXgpRP5yaaX5DGhCM_eJ5aUBpR7k2yiWuZkIMAIUiY/s1600/St%25C3%25B6ckle+location.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ2HTUn_EJU3nwOUdU11a4Mqq3M1f1y-ZnP8sWaYIPfdqEkffmMnTFig6-CZB9lPBwfIR2ZevAEtI3J-OnyN9NJvgEAcLib57YcXgpRP5yaaX5DGhCM_eJ5aUBpR7k2yiWuZkIMAIUiY/s400/St%25C3%25B6ckle+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570259621673928530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Emil Stöckle's location in the A-deck passenger cabin area at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br />Stöckle had just reached the door of his cabin, which was located about halfway up the portside corridor on A-deck, just forward of the dining room pantry, when he heard a muffled detonation and felt the floor underneath him suddenly tilt, throwing him against a wall. As the ship tilted even more steeply, he slid aft along the floor of the corridor until he reached the portside stairs leading down to B-deck, and began to make his way downstairs. When he was about halfway down the stairway he could see the reflection of the fire on the wet ground through the windows at the base of the stairs. He could tell that the ship was still too high for him to jump, so he stayed where he was and waited.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">
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<br />As the ship hit the ground, the shock knocked one of the windows down on B-deck loose from its frame, and Stöckle finally noticed the sound of the passengers upstairs running back and forth. He then climbed toward the broken window and jumped through it to the ground. As he was getting up to run away, he looked over his shoulder and saw that the entire ship was afire behind him and that girders were still falling to the ground. He ran clear of the wreck, and shortly afterward he met up with <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Chief Steward Heinrich Kubis</a> and cabin boy <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/werner-franz.html">Werner Franz</a>, and then returned to the ship to see if he could help any of the other survivors. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Emil Stöckle testified before the U.S. Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry into the </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> disaster on May 14th. Then, sailing on the steamship Europa on May 16th, Stöckle returned to Germany. He served as an officer in the Luftwaffe during WWII, and later retired in Friedrichshafen.</span></span>
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<br /></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIncAVHbNyCSo1QT9wzC5nOTHt9DOF5vGhCO-WQj7RUsGk9HyCjQffTbZg0OLlKcPtdIZEjvyQ5ZJOgikazgdXbPwIVBoJ5BMiVeUVl3q-idFFX1uIsKh7g62AdRTc5SX8jLdSUTCi2iU/s1600-h/Emil+St%C3%B6ckle+1985.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 363px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIncAVHbNyCSo1QT9wzC5nOTHt9DOF5vGhCO-WQj7RUsGk9HyCjQffTbZg0OLlKcPtdIZEjvyQ5ZJOgikazgdXbPwIVBoJ5BMiVeUVl3q-idFFX1uIsKh7g62AdRTc5SX8jLdSUTCi2iU/s400/Emil+St%C3%B6ckle+1985.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371032949889831170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Emil Stöckle circa 1985</span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Many thanks to Mr. Herman De Wulf for providing various details, as well as the photo of Herr Stöckle, which was taken onboard a Lufthansa 747 flight to the United States in 1985. Mr. De Wulf had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Herr Stöckle, and later interviewed him for Belgian television station BRT.)</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-62791521416081864512009-06-28T14:46:00.046-05:002011-04-05T16:23:01.258-05:00Captain Albert Sammt</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpr4bFkRgXJ4xlNf6jOGsf5nDgEbhal_F_KVa_RDFEjg8L5b2I1yw8KrJcQ5aDKrV05cRFWAU-QLnkB-E6PksBtmUep_xdhePeCElsMgRJNmQzA0R-rsVpE-E3bxNbIAy11v_Q5y1_Hb0/s1600-h/Albert+Sammt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpr4bFkRgXJ4xlNf6jOGsf5nDgEbhal_F_KVa_RDFEjg8L5b2I1yw8KrJcQ5aDKrV05cRFWAU-QLnkB-E6PksBtmUep_xdhePeCElsMgRJNmQzA0R-rsVpE-E3bxNbIAy11v_Q5y1_Hb0/s400/Albert+Sammt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352471663142703634" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 48</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Niederstetten, Germany</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: First Officer</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Control car</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Albert Sammt was born on 24 April 1889 in Niederstetten, in Württemberg. His father, Eduard Sammt, was from Saalburg an der Saale, in Thüringen, and his mother Luise, born Luise Schönemann, was from the Murrhardt Forest. The Sammts had eight other children besides Albert, and the family operated both a rope-making company and a colonial goods business in Niederstetten.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When Albert Sammt was six years old, in 1895, he went to Niederstetten's tiny village school. His teacher, Friedrich Nöer, soon recognized that Sammt was an unusually bright child, and did his best to encourage him. In addition to his regular studies, young Sammt also took violin and art lessons.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As a boy, Sammt was fascinated by the highwire artist Charles Blondin, who became world famous for such stunts as having walked on a tightrope across Niagara Falls, and who had his winter quarters in Niederstetten. Inspired by Blondin's ability to ride a bicycle on the highwire, Sammt joined the local cycling club where he participated in slow-riding competitions. Looking back years later, he believed that the sense of balance he developed through this style of riding had been of significant benefit to him later in life when operating the elevator wheel of an airship.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After he had finished school, Sammt joined the family business and learned to be a rope maker. He later attended the business school in Calw in Württemberg. In 1909, Sammt volunteered for military service, and was assigned to the 122nd Infantry Regiment in Bad Mergentheim. Once his military obligation had been fulfilled, he left the service as a private first class and returned to the family business. His mother, who had been quite popular in Niederstetten, passed away in 1911.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Soon thereafter, in January 1912, Albert Sammt, through his brother Fritz, who at the time worked as a rigging chief at the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Berlin, went to Frankfurt am Main. There, he trained to be both a rigger and a rudderman on the passenger airship LZ-11 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Viktoria Luise.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> He served in this capacity over the next few years for DELAG (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - the Zeppelin Company's new passenger airship service.)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When the First World War broke out, Sammt was joined in Frankfurt by a number of his comrades from the Luftschiffbau in Friedrichshafen, and together they built a new airship for the German Army, the LZ 26 (designated Z XII by the Army.) It would be the only Zeppelin ever built in Frankfurt. Once that ship had been delivered, Sammt returned once again to Friedrichshafen, where he supervised the fabrication, installation, and inflation of gas cells, as well as the outer covering for the airships that the Luftschiffbau was now building for both the Army and the Navy.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Within a month of his return, however, Sammt was approached by Wilhelm Dörr, a former DELAG pilot who was now director of the airship works in Potsdam, which was also building Army airships. Dörr needed Sammt to come to work for him in Potsdam, particularly on test flights of the new ships, as most of the crewmen that Dörr was able to get at that time were on loan from the Navy and the Army, and didn't tend to be experienced airshipmen.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt, therefore, was transferred to the airship works in Potsdam in 1915. As before, he was in charge of the development and installation of the gas cells and the outer covering for the new ships. All told, he worked on the construction of roughly a dozen airships during his time at Potsdam. Then, in early 1917, Sammt was once again transferred, this time to the brand new airship works at Berlin-Staaken. Count von Zeppelin had also ordered a construction facility built at Staaken for fixed-wing airplanes. Over the next year, Sammt worked on the construction and test flights of yet another dozen airships, mostly for the Navy this time, until Staaken ceased airship production in March of 1918, as the war entered its final year.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">With no more airships being built at Staaken, Sammt worked on the giant four-engine Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI bombers being produced by the airplane factory. His main project was the R.30/11, an experimental version of the R.VI that added a fifth engine in the main fuselage that was connected up to a Brown-Boveri compressor. This would pump air into the four main engines, with the intention that the plane would then be able to climb to approximately 15,000 feet (5,000 meters) for high-level bombing.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7d0ZeMtLKDcWsBDmdZKhjAgHrBAcq3J5T9F2jqR_xJK05WeYm6M20dmAsPuNTVpBZEMW5PRJY9tzuSr764HZqBbM2CRT5q0vQm-JDN0myZOs-QbyLz-PlC67gNaoeAIvbALz_cLzBl-8/s1600-h/R30-11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7d0ZeMtLKDcWsBDmdZKhjAgHrBAcq3J5T9F2jqR_xJK05WeYm6M20dmAsPuNTVpBZEMW5PRJY9tzuSr764HZqBbM2CRT5q0vQm-JDN0myZOs-QbyLz-PlC67gNaoeAIvbALz_cLzBl-8/s400/R30-11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352593890321876242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >The experimental Zeppelin-Staaken bomber R.30/11, for which Albert Sammt helped to develop the high-altitude compressor engine.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The R.30/11's first test flight took place on August 15th, 1918. Sammt manned the new compressor engine, along with a Staaken engineer named Käfer, and an engineer named Noak from the Luftschiffbau in Friedrichshafen who had also helped to design the compressor system. The engine was so loud that the three men had to converse by writing messages in chalk on small slate boards. "Because of all of the new equipment, the airplane was heavy as a lump of lead," Sammt later wrote. In fact, the main engines couldn't get the airplane off the ground at first. Sammt had to switch on the compressor engine just to rev the main engines up enough to get the plane airborne.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"The motors howled – and finally, halfway to Dallgow, we got off the ground right at the edge of the airfield. Then we pushed that hunk of lead up to 2,000 meters. It hung very heavily in the air, and due to the strong angle of incline, the two spark plugs at the aft end of the engine block were fouled by engine oil – and the engine suddenly stopped. The copilot up front noticed this immediately, but by the time he made his way aft from the cockpit, I'd already removed the spark plugs – and burned my hand in the process, the whole thing was so hot – and screwed in two new ones. With its juice back again, thank God, the motor started back up. We could start climbing again – we had dropped from 2,000 meters to about 200 – saved in the nick of time!"</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"The two engineers opened up the compressor a bit more, and how the motors howled! The propellers were adjusted some more, and we went higher and higher still. Now and then we exchanged messages with our chalk and slate boards. So, we climbed to 3,000, 3,500, 4,000 meters, and then we were slowly climbing higher. 'We've got to make it to 5,000 today,' insisted Noak. I said, 'Oh well, hopefully…' We reached 4,500 and kept climbing. The compressor was running like crazy. I noticed that the cooling water for the compressor engine was getting dangerously hot. So, I surreptitiously eased the compressor back a little bit. That didn't do much good, though. Suddenly the coolant water started boiling – and we had a fountain of steam inside the airplane's fuselage! Just then, we made it to 5,000 meters! We'd actually gotten this thing to 5,000 meters! Finally! We turned off the compressor and descended in a glide. I should also note that I only needed to use my oxygen bottle briefly at the apex of our climb. Beyond that, I didn't need it at all.</span>"
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"After we landed, we congratulated one another. However, we decided that we weren't going to fly this thing again. Fortunately, the war ended not long after that – otherwise we would certainly have ended up as casualties of this project."</span></blockquote>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The year after the war ended, in August of 1919, the Zeppelin Company (via the resurrected pre-war passenger flight operations company DELAG) launched its first post-war passenger airship, the LZ-120 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bodensee.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Albert Sammt was assigned as one of the elevatormen under Captain Hans-Curt Flemming and Flemming's first officer, Peter Ingwardsen. From late August until the first week of December in 1919 the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bodensee</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made 103 flights, carrying 2,450 passengers on daily flights from Friedrichshafen to Berlin (often by way of Munich.) In his autobiography, Sammt later recalled some of the more humorous moments from his time with the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bodensee.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"These flights in September, October, November, and December of 1919, a year marked by unrest and strikes, were so successful and so necessary because in those days rail, post, and street traffic were often intermittent and chaotically organized. Our passengers were naturally very happy indeed that they – despite the fare of 400 marks for a routine flight – would always give Chief Steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">[Heinrich] Kubis</a> a handsome tip. These tips went – at least they were supposed to – into a special ship's cash box. By year's end, at our company inn in Friedrichshafen, we had 'liquidated' this cash box. Our helmsman L. Marx, who was learning to be a photographer, wanted to mark the occasion with a photograph of the whole crew. We gladly cleaned up, posed, and then sat waiting for him to take the picture. He was having difficulty, however, with the magnesium flashbulb that he'd set up and was trying to ignite. The fuse wouldn't burn. Then he got too close to the flash powder with the match, and the thing exploded and singed his whole hand. The picture turned out great, because we were all laughing mightily. It was later captioned, 'What's got the men so happy? Is it the empty cash box, or is it the burned hand?' "</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"The food supply was lousy in those days. Everything was rationed, and the black market was strictly forbidden. One day, two customs agents came to me and said that they'd gotten a tip that a pig was going to be smuggled to Berlin aboard our airship. I told them that I hadn't heard anything about it and that I thought the entire thing sounded unlikely, but that they were free to take a look for themselves. I invited them to come with me and search the ship. To be honest, I was rather uneasy about it. But I figured that if the crew had actually planned something like this, they would already have hidden the pig suitably well. The customs men went through the ship, and I explained what everything was, but their search didn't turn up anything. When I was then invited to a butcher's fest in Berlin, however, it became clear to me that they weren't going to be cooking a Berlin pig. After a rather lighthearted inspection of the ship, I found out where the corpus delicti had been stashed. They had sewn one half into the space between the passenger gondola and the gas cells, and stowed the other half in the lower tail fin."</span></blockquote>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">However popular the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bodensee's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flights may have been with its passengers and crew, DELAG was, on December 5th, 1919, forced to cease operations under the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade the construction or use by Germany of any but the smallest airships. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bodensee</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and her sister ship, the LZ-121 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Nordstern,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> were turned over to the Allies as part of the war reparations stipulated by the Versailles Treaty. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Meanwhile, Albert Sammt had gotten married. When he and his comrades spent time in Baden-Oos, they would stay at the Hotel Schwert, which was owned by the Glasstetter family. It was here that he met Johanna Glasstetter, daughter of the hotel's owners. The two were married in early 1917 in Baden-Baden, where the Glasstetters lived. Albert and Johanna Sammt then moved to Berlin, as Sammt had just been transferred to Berlin-Staaken for the first time. Their daughter Ingeborg was born in 1919, and their son Rolf followed in 1924.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In 1920, with DELAG operations having ended the previous December, Albert Sammt returned to the airship works at Berlin-Staaken where he oversaw the dismantling of one of the facility's two large airship hangars (which was also handed over to the Allies as war reparations.) The other airship hangar at Staaken, and several of the smaller ones, were rented as studios by the German film industry. The Zeppelin Company, now unable to continue building airships, welcomed the income that its Staaken hangars were generating. It also allowed the company to keep many of its people, including airship crewmen, employed as stagehands, special effects technicians, and so forth.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Albert Sammt worked in this capacity on several films, most notably Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," which had a number of scenes shot at Staaken in 1925. The gigantic super-machine featured in the movie was constructed and filmed at Staaken, and Lang assigned Sammt the task of generating the huge blasts of steam emitted by the machine. Sammt solved the problem by using a boiler and a locomotive to shoot steam out of numerous valves and nozzles on the massive machine set. He also oversaw the effects for the scene in which the huge machine overheats and explodes, during which he and a number of his fellow Luftschiffbau comrades cranked out enough steam to fill the entire hangar, and stood up in the rafters out of camera range throwing life-sized dummies down in front of the machine set as actors leapt and stumbled through the steam.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvP0LDcuhTKZpllMSFhQmRB7zjYC-jKuN94-u5DnFQaEQNW3HojXrxrM90hR3hlNQ6xiwIK13c2fejBZuOblmy44gkFZgj2H3W5P_4iJM4nWJ9VQ5FixOYaLbZ35SFj8wSSVzaylRgjQ/s1600-h/Metropolis+supermachine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvP0LDcuhTKZpllMSFhQmRB7zjYC-jKuN94-u5DnFQaEQNW3HojXrxrM90hR3hlNQ6xiwIK13c2fejBZuOblmy44gkFZgj2H3W5P_4iJM4nWJ9VQ5FixOYaLbZ35SFj8wSSVzaylRgjQ/s400/Metropolis+supermachine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352584266343109746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >The massive machine set from Fritz Lang's film "Metropolis," with steam effects courtesy of Albert Sammt and his Luftschiffbau Zeppelin comrades.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt's stint in the movie business lasted from 1920 until 1927, except for a year or so between 1924 and early 1925. As part of Germany's war reparations, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin had arranged to construct a new, state-of-the-art airship for the United States Navy. Sammt was asked to resume his previous role overseeing the production and installation of the gas cells and the outer cover for the new ship, designated LZ-126 (which the US Navy would later christen </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Los Angeles</span><span style="font-family:arial;">). It was finished in late August of 1924 and, after about a month and a half of test flights, was flown across the North Atlantic to be delivered to the US Navy at Lakehurst, NJ. Albert Sammt stood watch once more as an elevatorman and, along with a number of his fellow crewmembers, remained in the United States for several months in order to train U.S.Navy crews in Lakehurst, after which he returned to Germany and to his work at the film studios at Staaken.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLz_LuvZBwylXj7b7dHM45X97OnKqD7iGLJ2oa9TB0ZPKqr-JUKoYvvVPyGxHB7ODQBUfqlhe3NZnWMYfilowlae4e8Rb_A5Ia1l9ucByJzAvI-AM3xG75EI6usqUkKLbRvarwFBv0IHs/s1600-h/Sammt+at+elevator+wheel+of+LZ-126.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLz_LuvZBwylXj7b7dHM45X97OnKqD7iGLJ2oa9TB0ZPKqr-JUKoYvvVPyGxHB7ODQBUfqlhe3NZnWMYfilowlae4e8Rb_A5Ia1l9ucByJzAvI-AM3xG75EI6usqUkKLbRvarwFBv0IHs/s400/Sammt+at+elevator+wheel+of+LZ-126.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352594952877518674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Albert Sammt at the elevator wheel of the LZ-126 as fellow elevatorman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Max Pruss</a> looks on.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnfG9atCsus4rEyy63wSCS2rKqTTSKnb89T-W1tzZGZN0FqiufP8tI7nSjMp_eNk9Wdg2u5GKuEhiqxxzY64jnXwNBM5gG8I0nKTrxbdYCCGB4Qi1yNJfLlHZfMXKoekKWysf3M_7M38/s1600-h/Flemming+Sammt+Pruss+Wittemann3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnfG9atCsus4rEyy63wSCS2rKqTTSKnb89T-W1tzZGZN0FqiufP8tI7nSjMp_eNk9Wdg2u5GKuEhiqxxzY64jnXwNBM5gG8I0nKTrxbdYCCGB4Qi1yNJfLlHZfMXKoekKWysf3M_7M38/s400/Flemming+Sammt+Pruss+Wittemann3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276569915176880690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Sammt and several of his comrades during their stay in the United States to train American airshipmen to fly the LZ-126. From left: Hans-Curt Flemming, Albert Sammt, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Max Pruss</a>, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Anton Wittemann</a>.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;">In 1927, however, Albert Sammt was transferred once more to Friedrichshafen to assist in the construction of the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ 127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin.</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> The restrictions of the Versailles Treaty had been eased, and Germany was once again able to build and fly Zeppelins. As usual, Sammt was in charge of the gas cells and the outer covering. Construction of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> lasted about a year, and the ship made its maiden flight on September 18th, 1928. Once again, Sammt served as an elevatorman. Sammt's skills as a rigger were also occasionally needed, as was the case less than a month after the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first flight.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On October 11th, 1928, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> set out on its first transatlantic flight, with Lakehurst, NJ as its destination. On the third day of the flight, October 14th, Sammt was at the elevator wheel, just preparing to go off watch, when a massive cloud bank appeared in the ship's westward path. One of the newer men came to relieve Sammt, who went aft to change clothes and shave. Sammt had no sooner reached his quarters when the ship entered the cloud bank and, with the man at the elevator wheel not yet having the experience to compensate properly, the bow shot steeply upward, and then just as steeply downward seconds later. Sammt thought to himself that, despite the rough entry into the storm front, they should have smooth sailing after that.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He was almost immediately called back to the control car. He found Dr. Eckener at the elevator wheel, having taken over for the trainee who had previously taken over for Sammt. Eckener quickly handed the wheel back over to Sammt. The weather was rougher than Sammt had estimated, but he was able to hold the ship at more or less an even keel despite the turbulence.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Just as they had finished passing through the worst of the storm, and the sky began to lighten, the ship's chief engineer, August Grözinger, came forward into the control car. He reported that a large section of the outer covering on the underside of the portside tail fin had been torn away by the strong gusts the ship that had buffeted the ship as it passed through the storm.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt went aft to inspect the damage, along with Dr. Eckener's son Knut (one of the ship's elevatormen), navigator Hans Ladwig, and ship's rigger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/ludwig-knorr.html">Ludwig Knorr</a>. Indeed, fully 2/3 of the fabric on the underside of the fin had carried away, with loose strips 10 to 15 meters long and a meter or two wide flapping beneath the elevator, threatening to foul it. The men would have to climb out into the fin and repair the damage.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Dr. Eckener, meanwhile, had ordered the engines stopped to prevent the men from being blown off the fin by the slipstream. The ship, weighed down by rain picked up in the storm, began to sink slowly down toward the sea, and Eckener was eventually forced to order the engines started up again. The men out inside the fin saw the engines start up and climbed back into the ship, the ship gained altitude again, and the engines were once again stopped so that the repairs could continue. This was repeated for several hours until the remaining fin covering had been secured.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The traditional version of this story has all four men volunteering to climb out into the fin, tied together like mountain climbers, to cut away the loose fabric and reinforce what remained of the fin's lower covering. In his autobiography, however, Sammt tells it a little differently.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"First and foremost, the shreds of fabric had to be cut away so that the elevator could work properly. Easily said, but who was going to climb out there to do it? Nobody volunteered. So I pulled on a coverall and rigger's shoes, held Ballonmeister Knorr's knife between my teeth, and crawled out under the girder that the elevator was attached to. The ocean seethed far below me. I hung clamped to that girder like a sloth on a tree branch. At any time I could have fallen, and that would have been it for me. Meter by meter I crawled, and meter by meter I cut off the loose pieces of fabric, which flew aft and down to the sea. Finally, I'd made it the entire 30 feet across the fin, the tattered fabric had been completely cut away, and the elevator was free. The five of us together then reinforced the remaining tears with adhesive tape and quick-drying Cellon glue. After several minutes the glue dried, and we could then lash the remaining covering to the girders with rope. In this way, with about five hours' work, we were able to save the forward third of the fin's covering.</span>"</blockquote>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Whatever the actual sequence of events was, in the end Sammt and the others were able to prevent more serious damage to the ship, and the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flew on to Lakehurst. A tumultuous reception awaited its passengers and crew, the American newspaper headlines having been filled with dire news of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> "fighting for her life" over the North Atlantic.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvrKy6hFpgVtTTutVB85uSbCo1osu4LJFf4lcDOHn6gsgG7hj2XHag-BuMyJL-Mc1SQwQfPdVeP-LFk8JJrJtmIWTBb1tV7xcIzSXGKTyX051TwVLg4wRPme8BL4mCbqWd_CMJIBv6sw/s1600-h/Fin+repair+on+Graf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvrKy6hFpgVtTTutVB85uSbCo1osu4LJFf4lcDOHn6gsgG7hj2XHag-BuMyJL-Mc1SQwQfPdVeP-LFk8JJrJtmIWTBb1tV7xcIzSXGKTyX051TwVLg4wRPme8BL4mCbqWd_CMJIBv6sw/s400/Fin+repair+on+Graf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352590267755103986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >A rare photo of the final stages of the in-flight repair to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin's</span> damaged fin.
<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdpNg3opl2jTM0ZyInOgIhlBPKlPZNaLMh5a8kPlyzH6idppVM4wXAOatZjWLFP-r54J1KuZRywfqvaQn1zKacTLsORDT4mvDTHm5MJ27xNdmKEzvlqEzXi4Wh2RhWi5BJ0CAZQLHKIE/s1600-h/Graf+Zeppelin+-+damaged+fin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdpNg3opl2jTM0ZyInOgIhlBPKlPZNaLMh5a8kPlyzH6idppVM4wXAOatZjWLFP-r54J1KuZRywfqvaQn1zKacTLsORDT4mvDTHm5MJ27xNdmKEzvlqEzXi4Wh2RhWi5BJ0CAZQLHKIE/s400/Graf+Zeppelin+-+damaged+fin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352590628074674866" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >The damage to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin's</span> fin, as seen in the hangar at Lakehurst after landing.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By the following year, when the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made its famous 1929 flight around the globe, Albert Sammt was serving as a navigator, and also as gas cell maintenance supervisor, with Ludwig Knorr reporting directly to him. He continued in this capacity as the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made flights throughout Germany over the next two years, also making notable trips to Moscow, Egypt, and, in July of 1931, north of the Arctic Circle.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In late August of 1932, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> began regular passenger service between Friedrichshafen and Rio de Janeiro, via Recife in Pernambuco. Again the flights were made through DELAG, though in March of 1935 the service would be taken over by the new government Zeppelin transport company, Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (DZR). Albert Sammt would later fondly remember his flights to South America.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"Approximately halfway between Recife and Rio de Janeiro lay two magnificent islands, 'Dos Ilios', in the South Atlantic. I took a liking to these little islands, because they lay there so picturesque and virtually untouched. There were only seven palm trees, two stone huts, and a couple of goats on these islands. They were lined by wonderful beaches. Because I was always so thrilled by them, our helmsman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/kurt-schonherr.html">Schönherr</a>, who was always ready with a suitable name for anything, christened them the 'Sammt Islands.' Once, when Dr. Eckener was aboard once more and we were approaching the islands, Schönherr announced loudly, "Here come the Sammt Islands!" Whereupon Dr. Eckener immediately came up and asked, 'Which islands are yours, Mr. Sammt?' "
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzkmm86XYEpJbIc8nmAV91O7IE7FNx68b64UzUal6H0w-YSrRifxOQ1VhPBThT3XRCe0w8ximiRAEwmZrHkJqNbX4Ue1sZ2vviW0ibtifcDYnXNuwDGcqyUPp0yiWWJLFpg1KRKG4fK8/s1600-h/Sammt,+K+Eckener,+Pruss,+von+Schiller.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzkmm86XYEpJbIc8nmAV91O7IE7FNx68b64UzUal6H0w-YSrRifxOQ1VhPBThT3XRCe0w8ximiRAEwmZrHkJqNbX4Ue1sZ2vviW0ibtifcDYnXNuwDGcqyUPp0yiWWJLFpg1KRKG4fK8/s400/Sammt,+K+Eckener,+Pruss,+von+Schiller.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352596174639311154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Albert Sammt and several crewmates during one of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin's</span> layovers in South America. From left (in white shirts with black ties) Albert Sammt, Knut Eckener, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Max Pruss</a>, and Hans von Schiller.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkvADa8gzeQYErRQZxUUV4ySjMFTUsjI4Wfnp0-eDu6Dn8SQ6e054sTIkjXB1gWhQxZpb6x20bZD4DBY5bSbRIty55dV_fvt_3gm8el0MnIf-nLhZQTsD-hSomN1UZ5RgKc-UfgYJpLk/s1600-h/hull+repair+on+Graf2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkvADa8gzeQYErRQZxUUV4ySjMFTUsjI4Wfnp0-eDu6Dn8SQ6e054sTIkjXB1gWhQxZpb6x20bZD4DBY5bSbRIty55dV_fvt_3gm8el0MnIf-nLhZQTsD-hSomN1UZ5RgKc-UfgYJpLk/s400/hull+repair+on+Graf2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352591571026156754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Albert Sammt (standing) assists in an in-flight repair to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin's</span> outer cover over the South Atlantic, circa 1933.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In early 1935, following the death of one the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> commanders, Captain Hans-Curt Flemming, Albert Sammt was promoted to watch officer. A year later, in March 1936, Captain Sammt was transferred to the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> brand new sister ship, the LZ 129 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Thus, he and his family moved once again, this time to Frankfurt, where the Rhein-Main International Airport had constructed two new airship hangars. Sammt made every one of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flights thereafter, including 10 round trips to the United States by the end of 1936.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbZAhJA7DNOAGFwuft6Snd59HCSuGp_2D_mj2TlGofays-QIbHytR7gBeNk5FXRoJjL13teiEmmRGiKLkUKaK9GeMBeL-LbiWbM8FyAGZawNJjmTKyPWPmR6TrPhfThPpgWXivcX39Hc/s1600-h/Sammt+in+Hindenburg%27s+chart+room.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbZAhJA7DNOAGFwuft6Snd59HCSuGp_2D_mj2TlGofays-QIbHytR7gBeNk5FXRoJjL13teiEmmRGiKLkUKaK9GeMBeL-LbiWbM8FyAGZawNJjmTKyPWPmR6TrPhfThPpgWXivcX39Hc/s400/Sammt+in+Hindenburg%27s+chart+room.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352589737118529138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Sammt in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > chart room.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtD41bu3QlyJ9TjEit5mcNlm9UZkBmokY_e0GposaR4XOvJ2lb_JW20riOBybB8ERwvQpJ4gZ5X30pD1ltQg-tLrfjIR98O_P3m8hi7hJx0bI-5sFASq4uWUSTWILXKqudVefS7sCR9Q/s1600-h/Sammt+at+dinner+on+Hindenburg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtD41bu3QlyJ9TjEit5mcNlm9UZkBmokY_e0GposaR4XOvJ2lb_JW20riOBybB8ERwvQpJ4gZ5X30pD1ltQg-tLrfjIR98O_P3m8hi7hJx0bI-5sFASq4uWUSTWILXKqudVefS7sCR9Q/s400/Sammt+at+dinner+on+Hindenburg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352592431091066914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Sammt (third from left, laughing) at dinner with several of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> passengers during a 1936 flight to South America.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first North American flight of 1937, Sammt was aboard as first officer, command of the ship having shifted over to his old comrade <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Captain Max Pruss</a> the previous October. The ship took off from Frankfurt on the evening of Monday, May 3rd, bound for the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, NJ. Though the flight was uneventful by most standards, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> fought strong headwinds over the North Atlantic for most of her way across. By the final day of the trip, Thursday, May 6th, the ship was roughly 12 hours behind schedule, with a full load of 72 passengers (many of whom were on their way to the Coronation of George VI, which was to take place in England the following week on May 12) booked for the return flight and waiting at hotels in New York.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Sammt took the final watch of the flight at 4:00 PM. Shortly before that, he had made a routine bow-to-stern inspection of the ship, as he usually did prior to going on watch. With notebook in hand, he paid special attention to the ship's supply of water ballast, both the overall amount as well as its distribution throughout the ship. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> would almost certainly be landing within the next hour or so, in all likelihood during his watch, and he needed to know first hand that the ship was in trim, with fuel and water distributed evenly along the keel.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He noticed, as he reached the aft end of the keel gangway, that between 8 and 10 tons of water had been shifted to Ring 47. Sammt asked Chief Rigger Knorr, "What's going on? Who ordered this?" Knorr responded, "The command came from forward to pump the water aft." Sammt immediately countermanded that order. "Pump one ton of this water forward of Ring 62, and also make sure that the forward ballast bags are filled." As he later wrote, "I'm positive that this was carried out, because the Chief Rigger was absolutely reliable."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt then made his way forward to the control car, where he stood his command watch for the remainder of the flight. He discovered the reason for the previous order for Knorr to pump so much ballast water aft: because of the amount of fuel the ship had burned throughout the flight, the ship had been noticeably light – that is, she was riding down by the bow, with her tail slightly up. <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html">Captain Walter Ziegler</a>, who had been on watch from noon until 4:00, had given the order to pump water aft to counteract this.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The landing, originally to have taken place at 6:00 that morning but now scheduled for approximately 6:00 PM EDT, ended up being delayed even further by strong thunderstorms over much of New Jersey. Shortly after Sammt went on watch at 4:00 PM, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flew over the air field at Lakehurst, although the ground crew wouldn't be summoned for another hour, and would not be fully assembled and in position to land the ship for the better part of an hour after that. With the storm front approaching from the west, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flew south, and then spent the next couple hours cruising up and down along the Jersey shore. When the front got close enough, the ship flew south of Atlantic City, and then circled around behind the storm.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Shortly after this, at approximately 6:10 PM, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> received word from Lakehurst that conditions were suitable for the ship to make its landing approach. The storm was just passing over the air station, and it was estimated that by the time the ship made its way back north to Lakehurst the storm would be a safe distance to the east. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> headed north along the western edge of the thunderstorm front, occasionally turning west to avoid rain squalls trailing behind the main storm.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By about 7:00, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> finally reached Lakehurst. Sammt noted, as the ship flew northeast over the field, that the ground crew was lined up for an eastward landing approach. Captain Pruss, who was overseeing the ship's speed and direction while Sammt oversaw the altitude and trim, ordered the ship to make a long, wide turn north and then to the west to bring the ship around to the ground crew's position. At approximately 7:10, as the signal for landing stations was sounded throughout the ship, Sammt decided that he wanted a more experienced man at the elevator wheel, as the man on watch, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/ludwig-felber.html">Ludwig Felber</a>, had only recently been promoted from helmsman. Sammt therefore called navigator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html">Eduard Boetius</a> over to the elevator wheel and sent Felber forward to the bow to assist in the lowering of the forward landing lines. He then ordered Captain Ziegler, who was manning the gas board, to open the large valve wheel on the gas board for 15 seconds, which released hydrogen from cells 3-11, 13, and 14.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It quickly became obvious in the control car, however, that the ship was now tail heavy, with the ship out of trim aft by several degrees. Sammt ordered Ziegler to valve gas from the forward six cells, 11 through 16, for fifteen seconds at 7:13, and then for fifteen more seconds about two minutes later at 7:15. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> then appeared to be in trim.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Meanwhile, the wind had shifted again, and the ground crew were now lining up for a landing approach from the north. Pruss, rather than delaying the landing further by having the ship abort the landing approach and circle the field again to come in from the north, ordered the helmsman to turn hard to starboard. At about this same time, Sammt and Boetius noticed that the ship was tail heavy again. Sammt ordered <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a>, who was manning the ballast board, to drop water from the stern of the ship twice in fairly quick succession as the ship passed over the air station's officers' quarters, for a total of approximately 600 kilograms.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As he leaned out one of the control car windows and watched one of the 60-meter long streams of water dropping from the ship's tail, it suddenly occurred to Captain Sammt that, with thunderstorms having just recently passed over the area, the stream of water between the ship and the ground might trigger some sort of electrical discharge. But nothing happened, and he pulled his head back into the control car.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The ship, however, was still not completely in trim. As Pruss was ordering the mechanics to reverse the engines so as to bring the ship to a stop just outside the mooring circle, Sammt ordered Bauer to drop another 500 kilograms of ballast from the stern, now bringing the total to 1100 kilos. He also ordered Ziegler to give one more quick, five-second burst of gas from forward cells 11 through 16.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This still didn't completely bring the ship to an even keel. Finally, with the ship at almost a dead stop in the air and preparing to drop her forward landing ropes, Sammt sent word back to the crew's mess by telephone that six men were to move forward to the bow to help trim the ship using their own body weight. This seemed to do the trick, and Sammt and the others now stood by and watched as the two yaw lines were dropped from the bow, with the ground crew quickly taking them up and hauling them toward the mooring tackle near the mast.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCI99F1x4q_3UdOmqKOeH6Jcvv7OiBViW2VmwIkNa394JsXMpEKDbejKz79AkTqWpt7SlamwgeubeiRpD7h8EL4FEpAvCtYWaSPXCseqj2cDIzgONKwswkk5WB1yqbUHnkGtMtW91mBCU/s1600-h/Sammt+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCI99F1x4q_3UdOmqKOeH6Jcvv7OiBViW2VmwIkNa394JsXMpEKDbejKz79AkTqWpt7SlamwgeubeiRpD7h8EL4FEpAvCtYWaSPXCseqj2cDIzgONKwswkk5WB1yqbUHnkGtMtW91mBCU/s400/Sammt+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352604935807198786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Sammt's location in the control car at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Suddenly, Sammt felt the ship lurch. Puzzled, he looked to see if one of the landing ropes had broken, but they were both still hanging down from the bow. Then he noticed a fiery reflection on the windows of the air station's huge Zeppelin hangar, just as somebody else in the control car yelled out that the ship was burning. Sammt and the others hung on as best they could as the stern began to drop and the ship tilted, bow up, to an almost 45-degree angle. Sammt was concerned that the bow might rise even more steeply and the control car would simply end up falling into the glowing wreckage aft. He was relieved when the stern hit the ground and the bow finally began to descend.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the control car neared the ground, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst Lehmann</a>, former Hindenburg commander who was aboard this flight as an observer, called out for everyone to get to a window so that they could jump when they were low enough. It occurred to Sammt that if he jumped too late, the burning hull would collapse over him and he'd be trapped – and if he jumped too soon, he'd break his feet and not be able to run out from underneath the ship, and the framework would still end up falling on top of him.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt and Pruss jumped at just about the same moment, from a height of about 15 feet. Sammt landed on all fours, and as he got up to run he noticed that Pruss had gotten himself all turned around and disoriented and Sammt saw him run backwards and disappear into a wall of flame. Sammt tried to run off to starboard, but suddenly realized, as the ship's burning frame collapsed over him, that he had indeed waited a bit too long to jump.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpvQh8uwsaEEej2nsDYRx5ADuqyHIFeDFo9eD12ath7len_sGpqeEHc1Ne4oYBhzQgB0CUzPWAdBcqVJG521FWyknVyGDUv369BnoNw_GnfRkZtu5XzIH0ZG1yUEnhbCOqJJjlc1DzXI/s1600-h/Command+crew+escape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpvQh8uwsaEEej2nsDYRx5ADuqyHIFeDFo9eD12ath7len_sGpqeEHc1Ne4oYBhzQgB0CUzPWAdBcqVJG521FWyknVyGDUv369BnoNw_GnfRkZtu5XzIH0ZG1yUEnhbCOqJJjlc1DzXI/s400/Command+crew+escape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352587828493878946" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Sammt, along with Captains <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Pruss</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Lehmann</a> (arrow) stumble away from the front of the control car as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> framework collapses over them.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He hurled himself to the ground and instinctively yanked his hat down as tightly onto his head as he could, while the wreckage burned all around him and above him. However, he could also feel cool air being drawn in from outside the wreck to feed the fire as he waited for an escape route to open up.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Suddenly, the flames began to die down and Sammt could see a tangle of glowing girders and wires in front of him. He thought to himself, "Okay, you've got to get through there without getting stuck." He stood up and pried his way through the wreck with his bare hands, giving no thought to the fact that the metal was still glowing hot and that he was burning his hands and forearms. He managed to get himself to the edge of the wreckage and then ran about fifty feet from the ship before he threw himself to the ground again and put out his blazing uniform by rolling around in the wet grass and sand.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"Once I'd gotten the last of the flames put out, I opened first one eye, and then the other: I could see! Then I reached for my ears: they were still there too. Fortunately, my hat was still sitting on my head, although the insignia on the front had been torn off at some point during my escape. I had pulled my hat down tightly over my ears, which protected my eyes and ears - otherwise I would have been far more badly burned."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"To make a long story short, I looked around me and saw another crew member standing about fifty feet away. He was wearing a coat, but no hat, and his head and hair were completely burned and he was moaning. I called, "Pruss? Is that you?" He groaned, "Yes." Then I said, "Donnerwetter! Look at you!" He answered, "Yeah, you're looking almost as good yourself…" I couldn't see myself, of course, but apparently I was a pretty awful sight too."</span></blockquote>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBUBBs4qVg5qmpZDAsDFrRozOlYmFrUeqzPbXxDqEpLHmKcHDmEMC7J-XOpVQ157JyS_a0HFgBJ5u_EsMvFfMRuZA9tpGcaxSuIICXz_PBDCk5MoCNfMaEsBxnkGNallo5GCotpxL21o/s1600-h/Survivor2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBUBBs4qVg5qmpZDAsDFrRozOlYmFrUeqzPbXxDqEpLHmKcHDmEMC7J-XOpVQ157JyS_a0HFgBJ5u_EsMvFfMRuZA9tpGcaxSuIICXz_PBDCk5MoCNfMaEsBxnkGNallo5GCotpxL21o/s400/Survivor2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352614718924583810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Sammt (in uniform) and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/passenger-age-38-hometown-zeulenroda.html">Erich Knöcher</a>, one of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> passengers (left), are led from the crash site by rescuers.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By then, rescuers had come and were leading Sammt and a passenger named <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/passenger-age-38-hometown-zeulenroda.html">Erich Knöcher</a> away from the wreck. As they walked across the airfield, they encountered Lakehurst base commander Charles E. Rosendahl, who was an old friend of Sammt's. They had met in 1924 when Sammt spent several months at Lakehurst helping to train the American crews to fly the LZ-126, and Rosendahl had since made many flights on German airships, including the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin's</span> flight around the world in 1929. Rosendahl led Sammt to an ambulance near the mooring mast, and Sammt looked around and noticed that the air station's fire department was already on the scene, doing what they could to put out the fire. The ambulance dropped off Sammt and several others at the base infirmary. He was shown to a bed, from which he watched more survivors being brought in. Commander Rosendahl and DZR representative Willy von Meister came in with Captain Lehmann who seemed, from what Sammt could see, to be completely unaware of how horribly he was burned. He sat on a table near Sammt's bed, and puzzled over what might have caused the disaster.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt and a number of the other injured survivors were taken to Paul Kimball Hospital in nearby Lakewood. Sammt was placed in a bed in the main common ward, separated from everyone else by a large curtain.
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>"The next morning at about 4:00, Rosendahl came to see me again and said 'Sammtchen,' - he always called me that - 'Sammtchen, you're being moved to a private room.' I then received individual care and was finally given my first bandages. That was rather difficult, since my burns were so extensive."</blockquote></span>
<br />Several hours later, at about 7:00 AM, Rosendahl came back and told Sammt that he, Pruss, and Captain Lehmann were to be transferred to the Harkness Pavilion at New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, where there was a first-rate burn center.
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>"I asked, 'Why are we being moved again? We're in good hands here.' Rosendahl responded, 'No, no. William Leeds sent us a telegram that Lehmann, Pruss and you are going to be taken to the Harkness Pavilion at his expense.' I said, 'Fine. If the others are going, naturally I'll go along with them.' "</blockquote></span>
<br />William Leeds was a wealthy American who was also an old friend of the Zeppelin crew. He had been a passenger on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Graf Zeppelin's</span> round-the-world flight in 1929, as well as several Zeppelin voyages since then. When he heard what had happened at Lakehurst that evening, Leeds had immediately made arrangements for Sammt and the others to receive the best care available, and he paid for all of it himself. Rosendahl would later recommend him for a special citation for his efforts in helping to take care of the injured members of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> command crew.
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<br />By the time the men were transported to New York later that day, Captain Lehmann had died from his burns. In his place, Radio Chief <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willy-speck.html">Willy Speck</a> was to be taken along. In preparation for the transfer Sammt, whose face was already covered in, as he would later write, "half a centimeter of burn cream," was further bandaged with gauze. "Before we left, they put masks on our heads, with openings for the nose, eyes, and ears. We looked like we were from the Ku Klux Klan!"</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuSMij3FrXK86aUIg_lP4y_5MU2Ex2BRhEAXzq65ZCHSdEr8SDY6dOd24xFUEqsZ89qtnW8cjWWzes_g3jkqeSf7rQGqQlcZSj5rU0JlxwvVUPliLLVRlfQ3VB7H43kczZYGjtMIRQkw/s1600-h/Sammt-ambulance.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuSMij3FrXK86aUIg_lP4y_5MU2Ex2BRhEAXzq65ZCHSdEr8SDY6dOd24xFUEqsZ89qtnW8cjWWzes_g3jkqeSf7rQGqQlcZSj5rU0JlxwvVUPliLLVRlfQ3VB7H43kczZYGjtMIRQkw/s400/Sammt-ambulance.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352597165544952418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Albert Sammt being transferred to Harkness Pavilion at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, May 7th, 1937.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the men were wheeled out to the waiting ambulances, members of the press were outside waiting for them.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"I saw, to my horror, a man on the roof of a nearby building, cranking away at a newsreel camera. 'For God's sake, get that thing out of here! Our families and friends back home in Germany will see us like this!' Willi von Meister [American representative for the DZR] said, "Consider it taken care of. It will all be confiscated, and nobody will see it.'"</span></blockquote>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Obviously, if von Meister said this then it must have been primarily to ease Sammt's mind for the ride to New York– there were numerous photographers and newsreel cameramen outside of the hospital taking pictures that day, and it would have been next to impossible to confiscate every camera there even if there had been a legal way to do it – which, of course, there was not.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When Sammt finally arrived at the hospital in New York, his face was so swollen that he could only see out of one eye - barely.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:arial;">"I was being rolled down a long corridor, when suddenly I heard a lovely female voice say, "You're Captain Sammt, right?" I said, "Yeah, that's how they scold me.” Then we went into a spacious room with a large canopy bed. I could mostly just see a lot of white skirts and coats, so I knew there were nurses and doctors around me. Then they asked me the question that was foremost on my mind: "Would you like something to drink?"</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"I said, "Yes, I would love a glass of champagne!" Almost immediately after I said that, there was a bottle of champagne there. They helped me to drink it through a glass tube, since my mouth was completely swollen. Nevertheless, I got a whole glass of it down, then poured and drank another one. Apparently they put a sedative into my third or fourth glass – I didn't notice, though, because I had such a colossal thirst. After that, I didn't even realize that they took a blood sample from me and gave me several injections, whereupon I slept for several hours."</span></blockquote>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A week or two later Dr. Hugo Eckener, who had sailed over from Germany to take part in the official investigation into the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> disaster, visited Sammt and Pruss in the hospital. Sammt later recalled that Eckener seemed deeply affected by how badly he and Pruss were injured. "Heal up quickly, Mr. Sammt," Eckener told him. "Tomorrow I'm meeting with the President, and we're going to get helium." Sammt responded, "Herr Doktor, that's great to hear, but I'll believe it when I see it." Several days later, Eckener came to visit Sammt again, and proudly announced, "So, the President has spoken with me personally, wishes you a speedy recovery, and we're going ahead with helium." Sammt, as before, responded doubtfully, "I can't believe it just yet."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On May 28th, three weeks after the disaster, Sammt was visited in the hospital by members of the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry, where he was interviewed at length through an interpreter, Mr. William Ulrich.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In his official testimony, Sammt maintained that the tail heaviness of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> during its landing approach was negligible and that it was likely due in a large part to the fact that several crewmen took their landing stations in the aft part of the airship. He also didn't tend to offer much in the way of opinions as to how the fire might have started, which is perhaps somewhat understandable since the investigation was being led by the Americans rather than by the Germans.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In later years, however, he wrote that there was probably a rather large rip in gas cell #4, near the tail of the ship, and that this was what had caused the ship to continue to be tail heavy even after gas was valved and ballast dropped to bring the ship back into trim.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He didn't know, however, how the damage to the gas cell had occurred. Initially, he had thought that perhaps one of the chicken farmers who lived in the woods near the air station at Lakehurst might have gotten angry at the fact that the giant airship was disturbing his chickens, and perhaps taken a shot at the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> with his rifle. This was, he had been told, a not uncommon occurrence. The US Navy's airships had often been shot at by these same farmers in the past.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ultimately, however, Sammt dismissed this possibility since a bullet shot into a gas cell wouldn't have made a hole that was large enough for the cell to lose nearly enough hydrogen to account for the tail heaviness that they had spent most of the landing approach attempting to correct.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As for what might have set the leaking hydrogen on fire, Sammt seems not to have settled on a specific theory. In his autobiography, he laid out several of the possibilities cited by the Board of Inquiry (dismissing, as the Board had, the idea that sparks from an engine backfire could have started the fire.) He favored the idea that static discharge may have been the culprit, but didn't feel that the ship would have necessarily been grounded sufficiently to create enough of a potential difference between the framework and the outer cover to generate static sparks. Sammt adamantly opposed the sabotage theories, however, saying that they were far more about sensationalism than they were about an honest examination of the facts.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Albert Sammt spent six weeks in the hospital, in the room across the hall from Captain Pruss. He counted himself fortunate that his burns, while extensive, were largely superficial and, unlike Pruss, he didn't require many skin grafts. The skin on one side of his face healed on its own, but Sammt did need some grafts on the other side. For the rest of his life he would have small scars behind one of his ears which continued around to his forehead. He also wrote in his autobiography that he had a few burn scars on his right arm, although surviving relatives who knew him don't recall this to have been the case. However, for the rest of his life his face always looked sunburned.
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcw7-oX3IYh8WRp1AEqKPJi6jCtYyIkMwIMf-oaD8XoqkOz03-qHfA7AaXDiuvShFOR_rSXWx_AxLbVAIk-HWOgfwYdAC4Z8oOg2Ds5qBLrULNjHF1c8OzsinKqSbgz0kpY5_xfJDiEU/s1600-h/Sammt+with+nurse.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcw7-oX3IYh8WRp1AEqKPJi6jCtYyIkMwIMf-oaD8XoqkOz03-qHfA7AaXDiuvShFOR_rSXWx_AxLbVAIk-HWOgfwYdAC4Z8oOg2Ds5qBLrULNjHF1c8OzsinKqSbgz0kpY5_xfJDiEU/s400/Sammt+with+nurse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352599583545511442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Albert Sammt with one of the nurses at Harkness Pavilion during Sammt's convalescence.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Albert Sammt sailed home to Germany on the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Europa</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> in mid-June.</span> Slightly more than a year later, in September of 1938, the Zeppelin Company's newest airship, the LZ-130 <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made its first test flights. As Sammt had suspected, the United States government had not agreed to sell helium to Germany, and the new Graf Zeppelin's gas cells would have to be inflated with hydrogen. Despite his recent injuries Sammt, like the rest of his comrades, readily agreed to fly on the new ship. Serving as before as a watch officer, Captain Sammt made three test flights under the command of Dr. Hugo Eckener and one under Captain Hans von Schiller.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Sammt had gotten his Aviator's License #7 on 15 September 1937, and was therefore qualified to serve as commanding officer of an airship. On September 27th, 1938, he commanded the new Graf Zeppelin for the first time, and continued to do so for the last two test flights, and for the ship's transfer flight from Friedrichshafen to its new base in Frankfurt. On November 5th, he was officially named commander of the LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin. He commanded every subsequent flight but one (when <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Captain Anton Wittemann</a> commanded a round-trip flight to Kassel at the end of July of 1939) before the new ship was grounded due to the outbreak of World War II in September of 1939.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4Nr3VziHHCplAfOANSVvMtVYT9WcfE0c75Q9NNJUsiki3lGz7gShBEK91KVWsz2l4lxFb-no6sfMrVbTtTB2GRRje5X4xYytYjo6ERUZLxLUvug_79jXjcOpGDKACRUAb9h62mljf_g/s1600-h/Captain+Sammt+with+LZ-130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4Nr3VziHHCplAfOANSVvMtVYT9WcfE0c75Q9NNJUsiki3lGz7gShBEK91KVWsz2l4lxFb-no6sfMrVbTtTB2GRRje5X4xYytYjo6ERUZLxLUvug_79jXjcOpGDKACRUAb9h62mljf_g/s400/Captain+Sammt+with+LZ-130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352584975498425922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Albert Sammt, commanding officer of the LZ-130 </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Graf Zeppelin.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;">During the war Albert Sammt worked for the DZR at Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen, where he helped build and maintain barrage balloons. Sammt did not approve of the Nazi government in the least, and in fact never joined the NSDAP. Dr. Eckener, who had been vocally critical of the Nazi regime in the past and enjoyed a strong degree of immunity from government persecution due to his considerable national and worldwide popularity, was still in a position of authority at the Zeppelin Company. Eckener saw to it that Sammt continued to have employment at Luftschiffbau Zeppelin throughout the war, and that he wasn't bothered by the Nazis for his political views.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In 1945, following the end of the war, the DZR was dissolved. Albert Sammt began yet another new career – at the age of 56 – with the Kohlenunion, a subsidiary of Raab Karcher. The petroleum company, as with most German companies, was trying to re-establish international business ties following the war. Albert Sammt, always a friendly, charismatic man, had an excellent reputation, both in Germany and abroad. Since he had good friends in the United States, had never supported the Nazi party in even the most nominal sense, and was well known as one of the last Zeppelin captains, the CEO of Raab Karcher created a position especially for Sammt. He acted as a sort of "business ambassador", meeting with key executives of various foreign companies to convince them to do business with Raab Karcher and its subsidiaries, despite the fact that the war had severely eroded trust between Germany and other industrialized nations. Sammt had special business cards printed up, with the familiar Zeppelin company emblem on the front, and then Sammt's name and his business address at Raab Karcher on the inside. Thus, over the next decade, Albert Sammt helped Raab Karcher to rebuild itself as an international purveyor of coal and oil. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On 3 November 1965 Sammt's wife Johanna passed away. In 1966, at the age of 77, he finally retired, and from 1967 through 1982 he lived in Überlingen am Bodensee. He spent his time gardening, strolling along the Bodensee, visiting with old comrades in nearby Friedrichshafen, and working on his memoirs. In 1969, on a hot July day with most of his family down by the seaside, Albert Sammt and his six year old great grand-niece Caroline sat in front of the TV and watched the first moon landing. Forty years later, she would still fondly and vividly remember how thrilled her Uncle Albert had been to see a man walk on the moon for the first time. "He was jumping up and down in front of the TV and was shouting with excitement and laughing with joy for hours!"</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFUQ0vL71EG4QqV2TMrtoqKsqbXA1z_9myDXnMLFkY3Sl4LG4PDk8v1ENugPXrwclvZEaGe5MbG5S-NpDHmqpE_VRClGd0CpdIIWyayzRhotUeirDu9BggjliIqt4-o_ejZTyEFpnLZk/s1600-h/Sammt+-+older.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFUQ0vL71EG4QqV2TMrtoqKsqbXA1z_9myDXnMLFkY3Sl4LG4PDk8v1ENugPXrwclvZEaGe5MbG5S-NpDHmqpE_VRClGd0CpdIIWyayzRhotUeirDu9BggjliIqt4-o_ejZTyEFpnLZk/s400/Sammt+-+older.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352592099280675810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Albert Sammt in his later years.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;">In early 1982, Sammt's daughter moved him to Bad Soden in Taunus, where he celebrated his 93rd birthday. Several months later, on June 21st, 1982, Albert Sammt passed away. He was buried in his hometown of Niederstetten, where he had been an honored citizen since June of 1937. In July of 1982, the Albert Sammt Zeppelin Museum was established there in his memory.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Very special thanks to Dr. Caroline Cornelius, Albert Sammt's great-great grandniece, and to her father Dr. Carl-Detlef Cornelius for reading over this article and suggesting additions and corrections based on their own memories of Captain Sammt. Their assistance has ensured that a number of portions of the article, particularly those covering Sammt's post-Zeppelin life, are far richer and more detailed than they otherwise would have been.
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<br />One further note: Much of the information in this article (including the extended quotations) comes from Albert Sammt's excellent (albeit ghost-written) autobiography, "Mein Leben für den Zeppelin". Unfortunately, this book has never been translated into English, so the quotations here are my own translation.</span></div></div></div>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-16033846405966372672009-05-06T14:26:00.017-05:002014-06-11T00:20:26.230-05:00Max Henneberg</span> <p align="left"><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqS-CYHl3jDESAU3Mr-EbO2xzvJYU-Yg_5183Z2BWGGaSNXUJt_V7sDoipGfgVsFpIBntZmROWiTmMf8c_NyIIJZU2lnp-Fsu1YKM8EFhUENcd2lJpFC8ageQ3KLbvm7SExsCz_h67-Oo/s1600-h/Max+Henneberg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332799831293738978" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 181px; cursor: pointer; height: 278px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqS-CYHl3jDESAU3Mr-EbO2xzvJYU-Yg_5183Z2BWGGaSNXUJt_V7sDoipGfgVsFpIBntZmROWiTmMf8c_NyIIJZU2lnp-Fsu1YKM8EFhUENcd2lJpFC8ageQ3KLbvm7SExsCz_h67-Oo/s400/Max+Henneberg.jpg" border="0"></a> <br><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Crew Member </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Age: 43 </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Hometown: Hamburg </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Occupation: Room steward </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Location at time of fire: Passenger decks, portside dining salon </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman">Survived </span></span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial"><br>Max Henneberg, born in Hamburg in 1893, was a descendent of the House of Henneberg (itself a branch of the Babenbergs,) which existed from the 1100s through the 1500s. At its height, the House of Henneberg was quite powerful in the duchies of Thuringia and Franconia. Max Henneberg's branch of the family had moved north and settled in Hamburg in the 1800s. His mother died during childbirth, and his father remarried shortly thereafter, and then passed away himself about five years later. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Henneberg went to the naval academy in Hamburg, and graduated as a naval cadet at age 16. He joined the German Navy after graduation, and during WWI he was aboard a destroyer that was sunk during the Battle of Jutland. Henneberg survived for four hours in the icy waters of the North Sea before being rescued by a British ship, and he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">After the war, Max Henneberg and several of his friends worked as air mail pilots, flying mail all over Germany. However, the early airplanes were not particularly reliable, and Henneberg survived several crashes and forced landings before deciding that the life of a pilot wasn't for him. Through a friend of his family, Henneberg found work with the Hamburg-America steamship line. For 13 years, from 1922 through 1935, he sailed on various ocean liners, starting off as a dishwasher on his earliest trips, quickly becoming a steward, and then by 1929 rising to the level of Chief Steward. During these years he sailed around the globe several times.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On one of these voyages, Henneberg and three other members of the crew were playing a game of bridge. As the ship made its way through the Panama Canal, one of the men had to go on watch, so Henneberg invited one of the passengers, a young lady named Marta Balve, to join them and take over the empty spot in the game. Miss Balve was a practical nurse who specialized in the treatment of severe leg injuries. She worked with doctors in New York and Los Angeles, though she was from Germany. When she met Max Henneberg, Miss Balve was on her way back from Los Angeles to visit her home town of Düsseldorf. The two ended up dating for several years, although Marta spent most of her time living and working in the United States, and Henneberg was at sea a great deal of the time.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In late 1935, the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei began advertising for stewards for their new transatlantic airship, the LZ-129 </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> which was scheduled to make its first flights in early 1936. Thousands of applicants, including Max Henneberg, turned out for less than half a dozen open steward positions on the DZR's new airship. Henneberg was ultimately one of those who were hired, and he made his first flight in early May of 1936, a couple of months after the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was commissioned. He made all of the rest of the flights during that first year, as well as all of the flights at the beginning of 1937.</span> <br><br><br></p> <div style="text-align: left" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2vSxDgMZ-JR9ZxAJLMt8nVwevDtr779MUTOgjEPkA5SDQT4l2hl2JZ91LbpMMp44vc7vh4yPa-lcAJ8ZbhpZ7UyS8xiZufbLWbKnthh4x4J8uweXZI3htmteAdTXt-S2EmFT2Idwx2Q/s1600-h/Henneberg+serving+guests+during+Olympic+flight.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332800033254347570" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 595px; cursor: pointer; height: 415px; text-align: center" height="426" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2vSxDgMZ-JR9ZxAJLMt8nVwevDtr779MUTOgjEPkA5SDQT4l2hl2JZ91LbpMMp44vc7vh4yPa-lcAJ8ZbhpZ7UyS8xiZufbLWbKnthh4x4J8uweXZI3htmteAdTXt-S2EmFT2Idwx2Q/s400/Henneberg+serving+guests+during+Olympic+flight.jpg" width="611" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Max Henneberg (in white jacket at left) serves Prince Rangsit and Princess Valaya of Siam during the Hindenburg's flight over the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, on August 1st, 1936.</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 78%; font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: times new roman"><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div> <p align="center"><br><br><br> </p> <div style="text-align: center" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PfEEcf6Sn2AWnS-fwPmVg3z1pVdolE_IJlGNfM3ZFARCtL-Wy2GEwk1OOXo_UOsvLvygQS6lcpnxGAYR0HVaU7QIu6pzeeax5pbeZOsnT1nUoeDfq-BNicc0iU2qagJeY_0Wri-U3pA/s1600/Henneberg+with+Nunnenmacher+and+Deeg+-+1936.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550298087322362146" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 592px; cursor: pointer; height: 468px; text-align: center" height="481" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PfEEcf6Sn2AWnS-fwPmVg3z1pVdolE_IJlGNfM3ZFARCtL-Wy2GEwk1OOXo_UOsvLvygQS6lcpnxGAYR0HVaU7QIu6pzeeax5pbeZOsnT1nUoeDfq-BNicc0iU2qagJeY_0Wri-U3pA/s400/Henneberg+with+Nunnenmacher+and+Deeg+-+1936.JPG" width="608" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Max Henneberg (center, in doorway) in the small serving pantry in the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: times new roman">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> dining salon, circa 1936. Also visible in this photo are stewards </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/fritz-deeg.html">Fritz Deeg</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> (in pantry, to left of Henneberg) and </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-nunnenmacher.html">Eugen Nunnenmacher</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> (right).</span> <br></div> <p align="left"><br><span style="font-family: arial">Max Henneberg was, therefore on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> first North American flight of the 1937 season. As the ship came in to land at Lakehurst at the end of the flight on May 6th, Henneberg had just finished straightening up the new cabins on B-deck along with one of the other stewards, and then went upstairs to the lounge on the starboard side of the passenger decks. Since so many of the passengers were already gathered there to watch the landing, however, Henneberg walked over to the dining room on the port side of the passenger decks where there was more room at the observation windows. He found a spot near one of the forward-most windows, and was watching the landing operations on the ground from there when he looked aft towards the engines and suddenly noticed a fiery glow coming from back toward the stern of the ship. </span><br><br><br></p> <div style="text-align: center" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDNe1ied2crKlw5FDQaI9WA6_q8rZQK-IycFZIGmWUfpayhS7kV1Sav1YPDANXcO-2DARmm3_B5swHH-3FBHDrGIB00zdRklsZuW_yZpvhjeYMcBPvdyBNm3gtLPhssmmHF3ODjtSYZs/s1600/Henneberg+location.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597538081807986242" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 586px; cursor: pointer; height: 613px; text-align: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDNe1ied2crKlw5FDQaI9WA6_q8rZQK-IycFZIGmWUfpayhS7kV1Sav1YPDANXcO-2DARmm3_B5swHH-3FBHDrGIB00zdRklsZuW_yZpvhjeYMcBPvdyBNm3gtLPhssmmHF3ODjtSYZs/s400/Henneberg+location.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Max Henneberg's location on the portside passenger deck at the time of the fire.</span> <br></div> <p align="left"><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Henneberg heard a sharp detonation moments after this that, based on his experiences in World War I, he later likened to the sound of a heavy artillery piece being fired. The shock of the detonation and the subsequent tilting of the ship aft threw Henneberg headlong to the floor along with two passengers (probably <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/otto-and-elsa-ernst.html">Otto and Elsa Ernst</a>) who had been sitting on a bench to his left, and as he tried to rise he was thrown down a second time. He pulled himself up once more and made his way to the forward window again. Climbing up on the windowsill, Henneberg lowered himself through the window and hung there, waiting for the ship to drop closer to the ground before he finally let go from a height of about 15-20 feet. Henneberg ran to safety, and then returned with others to rescue passengers still trapped inside the ship. </span><br><br><br></p> <div style="text-align: center" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaH-WhcuQEfRz3YkRYPMXHSFoFpKRQVasOGBMgj-2CbeiTMMDuj7T_Uy8izO8iyj5ooWiAQ_xH57XQdIOGqmhDlxbRDHSkhNJ-c5uC-BTLKXW7jSPuMYc1wC7dGLHiIoN5rN6a3WfMg0/s1600-h/Henneberg+escape+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332902372716352370" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 556px; cursor: pointer; height: 329px; text-align: center" height="338" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaH-WhcuQEfRz3YkRYPMXHSFoFpKRQVasOGBMgj-2CbeiTMMDuj7T_Uy8izO8iyj5ooWiAQ_xH57XQdIOGqmhDlxbRDHSkhNJ-c5uC-BTLKXW7jSPuMYc1wC7dGLHiIoN5rN6a3WfMg0/s400/Henneberg+escape+1.jpg" width="572" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Max Henneberg (arrow) lowers himself through one of the forward-most observation windows on the port side of the passenger deck.</span> <br></div> <p align="center"><br><br> </p> <div style="text-align: center" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnYLwunL-QRPFOG5xj6qlsE0y2IXmePnUlBuhuw1QML4IKJROBJh_TFpH1uBPdrUDANFnAzKj41O_GitohRL5zfOC8f5hY6UOH3Khn5XC-yeXY3PhdYMVP_60lBrCbk5DkI4iJPn0ck4E/s1600-h/Henneberg+escape+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332902795416117186" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 550px; cursor: pointer; height: 325px; text-align: center" height="335" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnYLwunL-QRPFOG5xj6qlsE0y2IXmePnUlBuhuw1QML4IKJROBJh_TFpH1uBPdrUDANFnAzKj41O_GitohRL5zfOC8f5hY6UOH3Khn5XC-yeXY3PhdYMVP_60lBrCbk5DkI4iJPn0ck4E/s400/Henneberg+escape+2.jpg" width="566" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman"> He hangs momentarily, waiting until the ground is a bit closer...</span> <br></div> <p align="center"><br><br> </p> <div style="text-align: center" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl2zr3MoIzOg9Fp3okdigUc7zh0PUHi2CozpqbQVU9Y0SS_f7xlEVltcUQrhgTkfjKaYCLvQ8f5jsrwiB6AdvFP6zpAzrGY5zMiGyDz9Wt6uQmU6isU0JFLIymQ9GQn1Rg2poMozygIU/s1600-h/Henneberg+escape+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332903020640083362" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 550px; cursor: pointer; height: 325px; text-align: center" height="335" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl2zr3MoIzOg9Fp3okdigUc7zh0PUHi2CozpqbQVU9Y0SS_f7xlEVltcUQrhgTkfjKaYCLvQ8f5jsrwiB6AdvFP6zpAzrGY5zMiGyDz9Wt6uQmU6isU0JFLIymQ9GQn1Rg2poMozygIU/s400/Henneberg+escape+3.jpg" width="566" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">...then lets go and drops into the sand about 15-20 feet below.</span> <br></div> <p align="left"><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">He subsequently went over to the DZR office in one of the airplane hangars where the crew survivors were gathering. Radio announcer Herb Morrison, who was set up in the same airplane hangar cutting a recording of his description of the landing and then the fire, spoke off-microphone with Henneberg and later mentioned this in his recording:</span> <br><br></p><span style="font-family: arial"></span> <blockquote style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial"> <p align="left">And now ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just walked back here into the office after checking up with a member of the crew. It happened to be… Henneberg. Henneberg. He was a member of the crew, was wearing a white coat. I don’t know what he was, maybe one of the stewards. He looked like he was one of the stewards, and, uh, another man here, and what was, [to man off-mic] did you know the other man’s name? Did you… [man off-mic: “ Clemens?”] uh, did you know the… oh no, uh, yes I announced, uh, Mr. Clemens. All right, and there’s another man just walked up. [man off-mic: (unintelligible)] Mr. Henneberg too, I wanted to tell you, is uninjured and he walked in here with several bundles under his arm, now what, what, uh, the man had in his arms when he fell out of the, uh, dirigible I don’t know, but he has two paper bundles and there’s not a bit of scorching on either bundle. Now, how it happened (chuckles) I couldn’t begin to tell you, because, uh, he landed in… it’s fortunate that it was over where there’s deep sand, and when he jumped down out of the dirigible, out of the cabin, they lit into the sand, and they didn’t receive any broken bones, the ones who I have talked to.</p></blockquote> <p align="left"><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Max Henneberg was not seriously injured at Lakehurst, having merely twisted his ankle slightly when he dropped to the ground. Marta Balve, who was living and working in New York at the time, had been on her way down to Lakehurst to see Henneberg during the brief stopover before the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> was to have sailed back to Germany later that evening. Henneberg ended up staying with Marta in New York until it was time for him to return to Germany. <br><br>He remained in the States long enough to testify before the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 13th, exactly a week after the disaster. Henneberg was, in fact, the first of the crew survivors to testify, and spoke partly in English, and partly through an interpreter, Benjamin J. Schnitzer of Akron, Ohio. Henneberg then sailed for Germany on Saturday, May 15th, along with the surviving steward and kitchen staff, onboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Europa.</span><span style="font-family: arial"> They docked in Bremerhaven a week later on May 22nd.</span> <br><br><br></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tcLdzFG_Wt-51b6cfPuGPGIGi8dH4GbSuke7TYc1lVfM5zH4S0dEV8BStQKse0lPN9HcK8WXZRVqY4qzSif-NKawhG3Q-Ec28iTEgDcergmr8PylnkxaFXZGFT4n77v_GME0k1C8YSM/s1600/ice+hammer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550279168500172002" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 605px; cursor: pointer; height: 379px; text-align: center" height="389" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tcLdzFG_Wt-51b6cfPuGPGIGi8dH4GbSuke7TYc1lVfM5zH4S0dEV8BStQKse0lPN9HcK8WXZRVqY4qzSif-NKawhG3Q-Ec28iTEgDcergmr8PylnkxaFXZGFT4n77v_GME0k1C8YSM/s400/ice+hammer.jpg" width="621" border="0"></a> <br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsikayPA_WppT7TNB356AMjqI1xqIBxd8v0iK7628krjoebytkir2TF2Us5wFYQZYKAusCQ6ieivq-UK4hSG8j_p67sjn8qEBcC1Ju8krScJF0EYq5skWg6WOYBLC_UDLHZUVDEzQp7I/s1600/ice+hammer+%2528detail%2529.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550282110715722098" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 587px; cursor: pointer; height: 450px; text-align: center" height="463" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsikayPA_WppT7TNB356AMjqI1xqIBxd8v0iK7628krjoebytkir2TF2Us5wFYQZYKAusCQ6ieivq-UK4hSG8j_p67sjn8qEBcC1Ju8krScJF0EYq5skWg6WOYBLC_UDLHZUVDEzQp7I/s400/ice+hammer+%2528detail%2529.jpg" width="603" border="0"></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman">Two photos of a small cocktail ice hammer that Max Henneberg picked up from the Hindenburg's wreckage as a memento. The ice hammer was most likely found in the vicinity of the ship's smoking room/bar, but could also have come from the ship's galley. Note the etched DZR logo visible in the second photo.</span> <br></div> <p><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">With no more passenger airships to serve aboard, Henneberg made a few more ocean voyages, then later in 1937 he landed a job as </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial">Inhaber</span><span style="font-family: arial"> (proprietor) of Schümann's Austernkeller, an inn and oyster bar in Hamburg's Inner Sea district. Established in the summer of 1884 by August Wilhelm Daniel Schümann, the upscale restaurant consisted of eleven individual dining rooms – tiny intimate rooms for two guests, all the way up to large dining areas with seating for two dozen. The restaurant was quite popular with celebrities and national figures, and each room had its own unique design as well as its own dedicated waiter. Max Henneberg would continue to run the inn throughout World War II, and it would remain a fixture on the Jungfernstieg until it finally closed in late 2000.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">In 1939, Max Henneberg and Marta Balve were married and moved into a house in Hamburg, not far from the inn. Their first daughter, Elisabeth, was born the following year. As the war intensified, Hamburg, a major port as well as an industrial center, became a prime target for Allied bombing raids. In 1942, the Henneberg house was heavily damaged during one of these raids, and the family moved to a farm house in Rellingen, which was about 20 miles northwest of Hamburg, where they lived for the rest of the war. Max Henneberg continued to make the journey into Hamburg every day, however, to run the inn.</span> </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-S2awQLaYoc8/U5fmVD0NHMI/AAAAAAAADA8/5JtjRWJLuQA/s1600-h/Rellingen%252520house%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Rellingen house" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" height="420" alt="Rellingen house" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qafj3ZPUB8U/U5fmWArFTaI/AAAAAAAADBE/oYnCoEQhu_E/Rellingen%252520house_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="568" border="0"></a> <font size="2"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>The house in Rellingen – the Henneberg family occupied the house’s upper floors.</strong> <font size="1"><em>(photo courtesy of Elisabeth Henneberg.)</em></font></font></font><br><br></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial">After the war, British occupation forces set up headquarters in an old manor house across the road from where the Hennebergs were living. The British were pleased to learn that they had English-speaking Germans living so close to them, and a cordial relationship developed between the Hennebergs and the British commander. Max Henneberg wanted Marta and the girls (they now had three) to go to the United States as soon as possible, and arranged with the British commander to find passage for them. In early 1946, Marta Henneberg and her daughters sailed from Bremerhaven on a troop ship. After docking in New York, they went cross country to Los Angeles, where Marta's sister lived. <br><br><br></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbe2of-GbQi5OM7siBHI3qD9d03p9dl5FXWf8-eSbdwDVo-OOfC5T0EXoUzGiOx75J8zyUwRJItQglbmAIsvMzO5RhSjSeQad-LhMoRlMORDI3Bb4QeZLQ9gsOSiAqJDSCknNPYNcvUU/s1600-h/Max%252520and%252520Elisabeth%252520Henneberg%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Max and Elisabeth Henneberg" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" height="388" alt="Max and Elisabeth Henneberg" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LMCQU9zR5aA/U5fmXlh6BRI/AAAAAAAADBU/F1G6CfWysGI/Max%252520and%252520Elisabeth%252520Henneberg_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="556" border="0"></a> <font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><strong>Max Henneberg with his eldest daughter, Elisabeth, in the mid-1940s. <font size="1"><em>(photo courtesy of Elisabeth Henneberg.)</em></font></strong></font></p></span> <p><br><span style="font-family: arial">Max Henneberg was to follow as soon as could be arranged, and had plans to turn his lifelong talent at drawing and painting into a new career in architecture once he got to the United States. Unfortunately, this was not to be. He developed cancer and died in Hamburg in 1949.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Marta Henneberg eventually moved to San Francisco where she lived for many years until she passed away at the age of 93, leaving three daughters, nine grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.</span> <br><br><span style="font-style: italic"><br>I'd like to express my gratitude to Elisabeth Henneberg, Max's daughter, who generously shared with me a great many biographical details about her father and mother, and also provided the photos of herself with her father and of their house in Rellingen, as well as the portrait photo for me to use at the beginning of this article – and the ice hammer that her father kept from the Hindenburg's wreckage. Without Elisabeth's help, this article on her father would have been quite brief and would have primarily focused on his experiences as a Hindenburg steward. It's my very great pleasure to have the opportunity to tell Max Henneberg's story in far more detail than has previously been published. </span><br><br></p></span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-62753240615754476652009-05-06T14:03:00.019-05:002012-03-08T06:29:01.106-06:00Major Hans-Hugo Witt</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GMc6-pwS7G6opkqBc0QbKJ4zIH3n2RBtbFdJX67zTZIHta9GUTXpYE5BqLV2MSyoNXscCfY8XrjllEd-GJcGvt-c-K_QKm3Jd2PZ_4Xmm3Vv4Xa622puwxm7OFZYkGrbVgxK9tX2-JY/s1600-h/NoPhoto3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 177px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GMc6-pwS7G6opkqBc0QbKJ4zIH3n2RBtbFdJX67zTZIHta9GUTXpYE5BqLV2MSyoNXscCfY8XrjllEd-GJcGvt-c-K_QKm3Jd2PZ_4Xmm3Vv4Xa622puwxm7OFZYkGrbVgxK9tX2-JY/s400/NoPhoto3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332791702177752050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Passenger</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 36 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Residence: Barth-in-Pommern, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Luftwaffe Major </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Passenger decks, starboard observation lounge </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Major Hans-Hugo Witt, born in Rostock in Mecklenburg, near the edge of the Baltic Sea, in about 1901. Witt was an officer in the Luftwaffe, and had been with the Luftwaffe since its inception in 1935, though he had been a pilot since 1925. In October of 1935, Witt had been named commander of Sturzkampfgeschwader 162, Group 1, a dive bomber squadron based out of Schwerin. However, in April of 1937, Witt's squadron was reassigned as Group IV of a training squadron, Lehrgeschwader Greifswald.
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<br />The following month, Witt was given an assignment, along with two other Luftwaffe officers, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/colonel-fritz-erdmann.html">Colonel Fritz Erdmann</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/lieutenant-claus-hinkelbein.html">First Lieutenant Claus Hinkelbein</a>, to make a transatlantic flight aboard the airship <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> on its first North American flight of 1937. The three men were in fact military observers, traveling in civilian clothing, who were aboard the ship to learn about the cutting-edge long-range navigational and weather-forecasting techniques employed by the ship's command crew, as well as to observe the overall operation of the ship.
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It has been alleged, primarily by author Michael M. Mooney in his 1972 book "The Hindenburg", that the three Luftwaffe officers were in fact aboard the last flight as security officers, charged with the task of identifying and stopping a potential saboteur. No credible evidence has ever surfaced to support this allegation, and all references to this claim seem to be based solely on the unsupported assertions that Mooney made in his book. As a point of fact, both German and American military observers had been aboard virtually every flight of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> during its 1936 season, observing the operation and design of the ship. It was even common practice in 1936 for these military observers to travel in civilian clothes, as did Witt, Erdmann, and Hinkelbein on the first North American flight of the 1937 season.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Prior to the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flight, when Witt and the others were in Frankfurt waiting to board the ship, Witt noticed that the passenger baggage was being searched rather more thoroughly than he would have expected. Witt was talking with his brother and another man who was a Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei representative and he mentioned the baggage search. It didn't affect Witt himself because he had a military passport and was therefore exempt from having his baggage searched, but he was curious nonetheless. The DZR representative told him that an anonymous warning had been received about a possible sabotage threat, and that this was the reason for the increased diligence in searching the passengers' baggage. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This is probably the nugget of truth that Mooney used in order to concoct his tale about the three Luftwaffe men being aboard the ship to look for bombs. However, when Witt mentioned this exchange in his testimony to the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry following the disaster, he specifically said that he heard nothing more about the sabotage warning after that exchange with the DZR representative, and that he'd heard nothing about it before the day of departure. Witt's feeling seemed to be that had he not asked about the baggage search, the subject might not have come up at all. Coupled with the fact that there had reportedly been numerous sabotage threats to the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> throughout 1936, there is no reason to assume that Witt's having heard about a sabotage warning before the last flight was connected in any way with any secret in-flight security duty assigned to him, Hinkelbein or Erdmann.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">During the flight, Witt and the other two Luftwaffe officers made frequent trips to the ship's control car to observe the navigators at their duties, and also were freely escorted throughout the rest of the ship, notably places such as the engine gondolas and the electrical center, as had been customary with military observers in 1936. It being the first time the three men had flown on a Zeppelin, it was all relatively new to them.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> approached the landing field at Lakehurst at the end of the flight, Maj. Witt was in the starboard passenger lounge, standing with Col. Erdmann, Lt. Hinkelbein and fellow passenger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-hirschfeld.html">George Hirschfeld</a> watching the ground crew from one of the observation windows. The ship made a turn to starboard as it approached the mooring mast, obscuring Witt's view of the ground operations, and after watching the ship's bow lines drop, Witt decided to go across to the port side windows to get a better look. </span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF80_0morD742jQscA0DBlXGjwRABtCiJTuh8RxKvokyQvkFMIhEkPJwPt2mIhxySlBbk-10UKE55vUdnTAqm6sivp7NHFvBi54urXki6RwxXgAyjh0soSInJCcQXtV6F_A0xDiq3GkdQ/s1600/Witt+location.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF80_0morD742jQscA0DBlXGjwRABtCiJTuh8RxKvokyQvkFMIhEkPJwPt2mIhxySlBbk-10UKE55vUdnTAqm6sivp7NHFvBi54urXki6RwxXgAyjh0soSInJCcQXtV6F_A0xDiq3GkdQ/s400/Witt+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570262057921583362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Major Witt's location in the starboard lounge at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Suddenly, Witt heard somebody cry out that the ship was on fire. At the same moment, he heard a dull detonation and felt the ship shake and begin to tilt aft. He lost his footing and slid along the floor, coming to rest along with a pile of chairs against the rear wall of the lounge, near the door to the hallway leading to the cabin area and the portside dining room. The door was closed and one of the American passengers tried unsuccessfully to pull the jammed door open. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By now Witt could see the glow of the fire through the ceiling above him, and he felt the floor leveling out again as the bow of the ship dropped. Witt climbed to his feet and ran to one of the observation windows, jumping from a height of approximately 20 feet. He remembered nothing from the moment he jumped until he realized that Lt. Hinkelbein and another man were untangling a length of burning cable from around Witt's neck and carrying him to safety. He had apparently been caught by collapsing wreckage once he landed, as were many of the passengers on the starboard side, and had Hinkelbein and the other man not found him when they did, Witt may well have not made it out alive.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZYRCFp3OttA1KImoeFY0qpNiR3nwNt8ZlzGqt5Y9VRR1WaualApcKcD-KAUDkxTL6AxB6Viv4Yuqi-UgxtFPShQDCj45F0cWXHBZGfF_VweJUBw4lRyso0IoxiZSkYT0Wi0ngApJEXs/s1600-h/Witt1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 323px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZYRCFp3OttA1KImoeFY0qpNiR3nwNt8ZlzGqt5Y9VRR1WaualApcKcD-KAUDkxTL6AxB6Viv4Yuqi-UgxtFPShQDCj45F0cWXHBZGfF_VweJUBw4lRyso0IoxiZSkYT0Wi0ngApJEXs/s400/Witt1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332792577763494322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hans-Hugo Witt in an ambulance shortly after the fire.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RNNAMO7qLdGmcKcZfnZPsIdletCkD2b4aFcrL1NYetR9QG6oP32wsHyRA_RfKqt4jVKOQmIBSs46ObQ1NSweyFON6a4tgEzrYvUydHDdMOPySlflYcBSCcbxPE88qs2JOWkn_9IUrM0/s1600-h/Witt+on+stretcher+%28contrast+corrected%29.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RNNAMO7qLdGmcKcZfnZPsIdletCkD2b4aFcrL1NYetR9QG6oP32wsHyRA_RfKqt4jVKOQmIBSs46ObQ1NSweyFON6a4tgEzrYvUydHDdMOPySlflYcBSCcbxPE88qs2JOWkn_9IUrM0/s400/Witt+on+stretcher+%28contrast+corrected%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441212058056673202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Major Witt being transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital, May 7th, 1937</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Witt was taken to nearby Paul Kimball hospital with burns to his face, head, and hands. He was moved the next day to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York where he recovered for several weeks after the fire. He testified to the Board of Inquiry from his hospital bed on May 28th. Shortly after this, with his health improving, Witt was taken on a day trip, along with injured Hindenburg engine mechanic Theodor Ritter, to visit the US Army academy at West Point.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Witt returned to Germany after recovering from his injuries, and in September of 1937 he transferred to the Luftwaffe General Staff in Berlin. He was then given command of flight group Jagdgeschwader 26 on December 14th, 1939, but was relieved at the end of the Battle of France on June 23rd, 1940, and spent the rest of the war in staff positions. After the war, Witt took on a job as a lead caster in a German battery factory, eventually taking a position as a salesman with the firm.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Hans-Hugo Witt passed away in 1976 at the age of 75.</span>
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<br />Special thanks to Luftwaffe historian Don Caldwell, who was kind enough to provide me with details about Hans-Hugo Witt's wartime service, as well as his post-war life.</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-48511090277629318382009-05-06T13:37:00.010-05:002012-04-25T21:02:04.458-05:00Jonny Dörflein</span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBXm8EX6IsRl9r8ne_2W8CemmTJVgvRr18qgC0cwHSznLYx0A47bsubXB5g-Bo4879IPThyphenhyphenUm7y9rgfst2XrTCz51_llwmrblq95WGTdL92PxOGE4XhCN6kNme6mu7iR3B8vDtX5CVeA/s1600-h/JDoerflein2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBXm8EX6IsRl9r8ne_2W8CemmTJVgvRr18qgC0cwHSznLYx0A47bsubXB5g-Bo4879IPThyphenhyphenUm7y9rgfst2XrTCz51_llwmrblq95WGTdL92PxOGE4XhCN6kNme6mu7iR3B8vDtX5CVeA/s400/JDoerflein2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373276693786836898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Age: 26 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hometown: Frankfurt </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Occupation: Engine mechanic </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Location at time of fire: Engine gondola #3, starboard forward </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Survived </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Jonny Dörflein was one of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> engine mechanics. Born in Hamburg on August 2, 1910, he had flown with the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> as a trainee in early 1936, and was made a permanent member of the ship's staff of mechanics in August of 1936. He was aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first North American flight of 1937, standing watch in engine gondola number 3, forward on the starboard side, along with fellow mechanic <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willi-scheef.html">Willy Scheef</a>, chief mechanic <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/german-zettel.html">German Zettel</a>, and mechanic trainee <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/wilhelm-steeb.html">Wilhelm Steeb</a>. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> approached the landing field at Lakehurst, NJ on May 6th, 1937, Dörflein was in the crew's mess when the signal for landing stations was sounded. He went to his bunk, changed clothes, and then proceeded to his landing station in engine gondola #3. Zettel was already there, as was Steeb, the trainee. Dörflein climbed into the gondola with them, and took over on the engine throttle while Steeb observed him. Engineering officer <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/eugen-schuble.html">Eugen Schäuble</a> appeared at the doorway into the gondola shortly afterwards, but remained out on the catwalk between the engine car and the ship, observing the landing from there. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXNW4YvUkctbL2Er-t_e75A-cnrkilZHxbaT4WpzuOGrijx8sDGqluMPxSMDTd6sWcl_0TlRe-0jz3zqblrURSE1dQjy2DMKYkSsCXMJtBjmSaXsWkNL2NFlyAqG_670_d_dHXHilLh0/s1600-h/Doerflein+Location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXNW4YvUkctbL2Er-t_e75A-cnrkilZHxbaT4WpzuOGrijx8sDGqluMPxSMDTd6sWcl_0TlRe-0jz3zqblrURSE1dQjy2DMKYkSsCXMJtBjmSaXsWkNL2NFlyAqG_670_d_dHXHilLh0/s400/Doerflein+Location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332784310760593074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Jonny Dörflein's location at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Dörflein, on orders from the control car, had given the engine one last burst at full ahead before reversing it to slow astern. Suddenly, everyone in the engine car was aware of "a shaking", and Dörflein heard "a very dull explosion" as the rear of the ship burst into flame. Schäuble shouted that the ship was on fire, and Dörflein turned around to see that the ship was ablaze above engine car #1 aft of them. Dörflein throttled down and fixed the brake on the engine as the stern of the ship dropped, with the propeller stopping just before the engine gondola hit the ground. Then Dörflein and the others leapt out and ran just before the framework of the ship collapsed all around the car.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_ZTlXmQ_PAASgBQHPT9txgreOH7sZTrL4qezpDsgrGgtrSZDundQRsagS-6WjANxStF4htL3rwUgy5c3CdV52JFGtSMYhY72TVeSUFti8hJBsZbsu3XdSf9VhWaR_hH9nH0R9ZyNEuU/s1600-h/DoerfleinEscape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_ZTlXmQ_PAASgBQHPT9txgreOH7sZTrL4qezpDsgrGgtrSZDundQRsagS-6WjANxStF4htL3rwUgy5c3CdV52JFGtSMYhY72TVeSUFti8hJBsZbsu3XdSf9VhWaR_hH9nH0R9ZyNEuU/s400/DoerfleinEscape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332783662644234146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Jonny Dörflein (circled) runs from engine car #3 as the Hindenburg collapses to the ground.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsvh8FKXecnM-gla3pIv-2jZHB5MNqbDDj0Jzpz9w0Hz6l_2A69zo3wPhpl6NPgZx076HtlZNaTDDbu2fovsgzXyJfbvAQm4_owESWr3SnRzQCSsqmQ3kAg8dUp92JsuG-T-PN3m8tJw/s1600-h/InspectingEngineCar.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsvh8FKXecnM-gla3pIv-2jZHB5MNqbDDj0Jzpz9w0Hz6l_2A69zo3wPhpl6NPgZx076HtlZNaTDDbu2fovsgzXyJfbvAQm4_owESWr3SnRzQCSsqmQ3kAg8dUp92JsuG-T-PN3m8tJw/s400/InspectingEngineCar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332785007300311170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Dörflein inspects the ruins of his engine car several days after the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Jonny Dörflein escaped the wreck virtually unscathed. He stayed in America long enough to testify before the Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 19th, and that same day he and fellow crew survivors <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/egon-schweikard.html">Egon Schweikard</a>, Eugen Schäuble, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/max-zabel.html">Max Zabel</a>, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html">Captain Walter Ziegler</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Captain Anton Wittemann</a> made a blimp flight as guests of the United States Navy. Dörflein then returned to Germany, along with a number of his fellow crew survivors, aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bremen</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> a couple of days later.</span>
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<i>Thanks to Mary Dörflein, Jonny Dörflein's cousin, for providing me with his birth date.</i>
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-74430350481724151882009-05-06T12:16:00.020-05:002011-04-05T14:58:32.262-05:00Captain Anton Wittemann</span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBc4HzuajN-0xYm9cnvDQNuuBIlsm1irjzFjeRmlFccgncEk8ZhFvI1_OQiWu0KHpgZkBoxL_DVcj560LMHF6xx3zjkekYaTeV_4_y09L7KgvCIgtqUAfPfyZnsKytGqJ0XAACxoNTBHQ/s1600-h/Captain+Anton+Wittemann.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBc4HzuajN-0xYm9cnvDQNuuBIlsm1irjzFjeRmlFccgncEk8ZhFvI1_OQiWu0KHpgZkBoxL_DVcj560LMHF6xx3zjkekYaTeV_4_y09L7KgvCIgtqUAfPfyZnsKytGqJ0XAACxoNTBHQ/s400/Captain+Anton+Wittemann.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332765521379216402" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 50 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Friedrichshafen </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Captain (observer) </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Control car </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived </span></span>
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<br />Captain Anton Wittemann was born in Mittelheim on March 12, 1887, and had been working on airships since 1910. Starting with the LZ 7 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Deutschland,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Wittemann flew on all of the DELAG ships prior to World War I, and then during the war he took part in all test and certification flights for the Zeppelins that were built for wartime service by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. As new ships were built, Wittemann would act as a service representative for the Luftschiffbau and assist the new airships' crews as they took over their new ship. To this end, Wittemann would often fly with the new crew to their assigned base to make sure that their Zeppelin was operating in a satisfactory manner, and would then travel by train back to the airship works at Friedrichshafen-Löwenthal to begin the process with the crew for the next Zeppelin.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After the war, DELAG attempted to re-establish passenger service throughout Europe. Certified as an airship pilot in 1919, Wittemann flew aboard the LZ-120 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bodensee,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> which made regular flights between Friedrichshafen and Berlin between August of 1919 and July of 1921 when it, along with its newly-built sister ship, the LZ-121 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Nordstern,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was seized by the Inter-Allied Commission as war reparations.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When Luftschiffbau Zeppelin completed the LZ-126 for the United States Navy in 1924, Wittemann served as a navigator on the delivery flight across the Atlantic. Along with a number of other members of the German delivery crew, he then stayed in the United States for approximately three months to help to train US airshipmen in the operation of their new ship, which was officially christened </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Los Angeles.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8x9sp2T8PVhtgrvw_1BGRSgFQpWXRfSJD_OpXqdH1aHX7ENRHIw3A6xwmikeYR3Y3RyLq2P3L91A52h1zlDpbzr6CMYPeEgPE4DZzMEQe1Jwl_RRHJpE6Zw16oSl-KqvdMOqYDMvrTh4/s1600-h/Los+Angeles+delivery+crew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8x9sp2T8PVhtgrvw_1BGRSgFQpWXRfSJD_OpXqdH1aHX7ENRHIw3A6xwmikeYR3Y3RyLq2P3L91A52h1zlDpbzr6CMYPeEgPE4DZzMEQe1Jwl_RRHJpE6Zw16oSl-KqvdMOqYDMvrTh4/s400/Los+Angeles+delivery+crew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332765776795412210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Senior members of the delivery crew for the LZ-126 and US military representatives in Friedrichshafen prior to the delivery flight. From left: Lieutenant Commander Sidney M. Kraus, US Navy; <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Max Pruss</a> (elevatorman); unknown; Hans Ladewig (radio operator); Hans von Schiller (navigator); Anton Wittemann (navigator); Dr. Hugo Eckener (ship's commander); Captain Hans-Curt Flemming (watch officer); <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/willy-speck.html">Willy Speck</a> (radio operator); Walter Scherz (helmsman); Leo Freund (radio operator); Captain George W. Steele, Jr., US Navy.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: times new roman;">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Several years later, in 1928, the Luftshiffbau built the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ-127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and Wittemann once more served as a navigator. He was to make over 350 of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flights in all, and covered approximately a million miles in the process. On some occasions Wittemann was assigned to man the ship's elevator wheel during a particularly tricky maneuver. One such occasion arose during the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> round-the-world flight in late summer of 1929. Dr. Hugo Eckener, in command of the ship, decided to take advantage of the counterclockwise circulation of a typhoon over the Pacific Ocean to try and pick up a tail wind to help speed the ship on its way to the American coast. Wittemann, due to his experience and his considerable abilities in holding a level course, was stationed at the elevator wheel. Eckener had his helmsman approach the southern portion of the storm, chose what appeared to be the lightest spot in the massive wall of dark clouds, and ordered the ship forward into the storm. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the intense wind currents of the typhoon suddenly and sharply pushed the ship's bow down, Wittemann compensated with the ship's elevators and brought the ship back to an even keel, holding it there as the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> traversed the storm. A short while later, as the ship exited the storm, Wittemann was ready once more as an updraft pushed the ship's bow upward, and again he leveled the ship off and held it steady until they were sailing through smooth skies again. After approximately half an hour weathering the most intense storm the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">had yet encountered, Dr. Eckener's instincts were proven right, and the ship had increased its speed from 50 knots to 85 knots, which lasted for another four or five hours.
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQAkZ1POJJOb77Ohmt4yUjNNRpDyR5m94k89_0YDczlfO4X35xnLaYBAq9x-9ExfNLGftKzk6jW4Wpn8omDbTTtdGnWHCjhPVmEvILlJNIBW-U4PuH38qtkvY-AkFbL_e5Mb5yuKxZpM/s1600-h/Wittemann+taking+sight+aboard+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 347px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQAkZ1POJJOb77Ohmt4yUjNNRpDyR5m94k89_0YDczlfO4X35xnLaYBAq9x-9ExfNLGftKzk6jW4Wpn8omDbTTtdGnWHCjhPVmEvILlJNIBW-U4PuH38qtkvY-AkFbL_e5Mb5yuKxZpM/s400/Wittemann+taking+sight+aboard+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332768400952404994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Anton Wittemann takes a navigation sight aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Graf Zeppelin.</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: times new roman;">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span>
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFqZnoLpgwlYi6frNwu6wWc7VIxJd9aAz3XbBwp6becRpIkc91qvNemyWp-nsXZcggs6NE-doDWt7Nb5JkCHgFM4mbg4U3u6xaPD1i8YY3-ePDvH0G4nFs6kxS47o47TKpR5l2cRLe3Y/s1600-h/Wittemann+and+Flemming+on+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFqZnoLpgwlYi6frNwu6wWc7VIxJd9aAz3XbBwp6becRpIkc91qvNemyWp-nsXZcggs6NE-doDWt7Nb5JkCHgFM4mbg4U3u6xaPD1i8YY3-ePDvH0G4nFs6kxS47o47TKpR5l2cRLe3Y/s400/Wittemann+and+Flemming+on+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332768808514332610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Anton Wittemann (left) leans out of the Graf Zeppelin's navigation room window as Captain Hans-Curt Flemming (right) passes orders to the ground crew.</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: times new roman;">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By the early 1930s Anton Wittemann had been promoted to watch officer, and was eventually given command of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> on a number of flights, especially after the LZ-129 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was put into service in 1936. At that time, a number of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span> command crew were transferred to the new ship, but Wittemann remained with the <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Wittemann was, however, aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first North American flight of 1937 as an observer. It was his first transoceanic flight on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> He had originally been slated to command the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin </span><span style="font-family:arial;">on a round-trip flight to South America beginning on April 30th, while Captain Hans von Schiller would have flown on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Von Schiller, however, wanted to be back in Germany by May 11th for a 25th reunion of his old comrades from the German Naval Airship Division, and so he and Wittemann swapped places: von Schiller commanded the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> down to South America, while Wittemann took his place on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst Lehmann</a>, Director of Operations for the Zeppelin Company, was also aboard as an observer. During the flight, Lehmann confided to <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Captain Max Pruss</a>, the ship's commander, and to Captain Wittemann that at least one warning had been received that the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> would be destroyed on this flight.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">However, nothing unusual occurred during the flight other than the strong, persistent headwinds that delayed the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> progress across the North Atlantic and put her about 12 hours behind schedule. Captain Wittemann, as an observer, had no specific duties throughout the flight, did not stand a regular watch, and instead spent much of his time familiarizing himself with the new ship and its various new systems and instruments, many of which were somewhat more advanced than those on the nine year old </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On the final afternoon of the flight, May 6th, Wittemann climbed down into the control car when the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was over New York. He remained there throughout the rest of the afternoon, as the ship flew over the landing field at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station at about 4:00 PM, and then continued on down the New Jersey coast to wait out some particularly bad thunderstorms that had moved into the Lakehurst area. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, at 6:12 PM, word was received from Lakehurst that the weather was clearing and that the ship should come in to land. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> began to make its way to Lakehurst about half an hour later, at 6:45, and by 7:10 the ship was making its final approach to the landing field, hovering just outside the mooring circle and dropping its bow landing lines at 7:21. Wittemann noticed, a couple minutes after the landing ropes had been dropped, that the ship was drifting off to starboard, thereby tightening the portside rope. He stood in the center of the control car watching with some concern that the landing crew might not be able to keep hold of the ship on the port side, but more importantly that the rope itself might break.</span>
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uwQKGEC8p8euWpnz2ktbuJGH7UK7MXAN1G5znvMUHE9xoXJ6XPaRDcA73l73mPIka0yLpJkplSnQY3PDUeQsUgUEmyACuY8q7glEbay9OuohlAa9rOKnenflpWdlGCTJCtnQq84J4_k/s1600-h/Wittemann+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uwQKGEC8p8euWpnz2ktbuJGH7UK7MXAN1G5znvMUHE9xoXJ6XPaRDcA73l73mPIka0yLpJkplSnQY3PDUeQsUgUEmyACuY8q7glEbay9OuohlAa9rOKnenflpWdlGCTJCtnQq84J4_k/s400/Wittemann+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332769457164773218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Anton Wittemann's location in the control car at the time of the fire.</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Suddenly Captain Wittemann heard a dull thud and felt a jolt run through the ship. He thought that the landing line had indeed broken and remarked on this. Captain Pruss replied that both ropes were fine.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Then the stern of the ship dropped as Wittemann heard somebody else in the control car shout "Fire!" Wittemann looked up and saw a bright fire above the ship, and everyone hung on as the ship tilted aft at a 45-degree angle before the bow gradually dropped back toward the ground again. As the ship descended, Wittemann noted that there was "complete quiet" in the control car. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When the control car neared the ground, Wittemann heard one of the others in the control car say "Everybody out!" As he later testified, "To my opinion, it was high time to get out too." He saw Captain Lehmann climb out through a small window toward the front of the control car's starboard side, and went to follow him. However, the top of the window frame had already begun to collapse, which slowed Wittemann's escape.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As Wittemann finished climbing through the window, he saw Captains Pruss, Lehmann, and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html">Sammt</a> running off to starboard. He went to follow them, but saw the burning hull crashing to the ground behind them. "There was no use for me to run into the fire, because it was clear to me that I would burn there, and that I had to look for another avenue of escape."</span>
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5kwBTQjXRyMTeflnnEsvdHHbGHhVzcrKw6NPcbLuPQDqIaWPs8B2A1zcxhQ53dEc4zPHprrKd1wDxgztR7ntTx3Nr26kUATNaVCD77vkCABd5Qwt1RDTEFqXO5c9O5uNmpG7lp9gkVY/s1600-h/Wittemann+escape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5kwBTQjXRyMTeflnnEsvdHHbGHhVzcrKw6NPcbLuPQDqIaWPs8B2A1zcxhQ53dEc4zPHprrKd1wDxgztR7ntTx3Nr26kUATNaVCD77vkCABd5Qwt1RDTEFqXO5c9O5uNmpG7lp9gkVY/s400/Wittemann+escape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332769726844076706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >One of the Hindenburg's watch officers, either Anton Wittemann or <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html">Walter Ziegler</a>, (arrow) pauses and begins to backpedal as the ship's hull collapses atop several other members of the command crew in front of him.</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Wittemann therefore turned around and made his way back to the control car. He was now surrounded by burning framework and a large portion of the outer covering that had collapsed over the gondola and, along with radio officer <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/egon-schweikard.html">Egon Schweikard</a>, dropped to the ground and waited. Amazingly, he later noted that, "I was hardly bothered by the fire in that position. I did not feel any excessive heat."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Before long, Wittemann noticed that the wind was blowing the fire and smoke off to starboard, and he soon noticed a clear path out of the wreckage on the port side. He quickly got to his feet and ran to safety through "a short streak of fire that had come through." Once outside the wreckage, Wittemann waited briefly while the fire near the control car subsided, and then made his way back into the wreckage to see if anyone was still in the gondola. Satisfied that the control car was empty, Wittemann walked back out of the wreckage.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"Beyond a slight strain," Wittemann later said, "I had no injuries." He was remarkably none the worse for the wear for having been trapped under the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> burning hull. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">About two hours after the crash, Captain Wittemann sought out Commander Charles Rosendahl, commander of the Lakehurst Naval Air Station and the man in overall charge of the ground operations during the landing. He found Rosendahl talking with two FBI agents, W.S. Devereaux and E.J. Connelly, and told him that he needed to speak with him on a rather urgent matter. With the two FBI agents standing within earshot, Wittemann told Rosendahl of the warnings received before the flight. Rosendahl cautioned Wittemann to keep that particular bit of information to himself for the time being.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Wittemann spent the next two weeks in the States, and as one of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> ranking officers who was not confined to hospital, he worked closely with investigators, and also helped to identify bodies in the makeshift morgue that had been set up in one of the side rooms in Lakehurst's giant airship hangar. He was also, along with several other Hindenburg crew survivors, a guest on a US Navy blimp flight on May 19th.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Wittemann testified before the U.S. Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 20th, 1937 and, with a number of other crew survivors, sailed back to Germany a day or two later aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bremen.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> In his official testimony, he described for the Board the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> course from the time the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first passed over the Lakehurst air station at about 4:00 PM until the time of the crash. Also covered were the decisions made by the command crew in response to the threatening weather that passed over Lakehurst in the late afternoon, and the ensuing delay in landing. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Since Wittemann had been an observer in the control car during the landing, rather than having to focus on one specific set of tasks like the watch officers did, he was able to provide the Board a fairly comprehensive overview of the various elements of the landing maneuver: the trim of the ship on its approach to the landing field, the valving of gas and the dropping of ballast as the ship flew up to the mooring area, the various commands sent via telegraph to the engine gondolas, etc. He even answered questions from the Board about other fires aboard earlier German airships and about the precautions that had been taken against fire on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> He did not, however, mention the warnings about which he'd spoken with Commander Rosendahl on the night of the crash, evidently preferring to follow Rosendahl's advice and keep the matter to himself.</span>
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALO5S6QBiyEvzaCyhk1_EcCZfr00ruVKKOD3rk0edu_lXczcXUdDtqxXLdgLUJGi0ivqDfBlY1BBZDzK8cmBEyzQUJO_6yJ2ZWRL_G29lpOO5Wa9co4nXze74PP9dPHOE8rb5xjYq31o/s1600-h/Wittemann+and+Eckener+at+BOI+hearing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALO5S6QBiyEvzaCyhk1_EcCZfr00ruVKKOD3rk0edu_lXczcXUdDtqxXLdgLUJGi0ivqDfBlY1BBZDzK8cmBEyzQUJO_6yJ2ZWRL_G29lpOO5Wa9co4nXze74PP9dPHOE8rb5xjYq31o/s400/Wittemann+and+Eckener+at+BOI+hearing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332769918745425458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Anton Wittemann (left) and Dr. Hugo Eckener (right) confer during the Board of Inquiry investigation.</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Privately, Wittemann, like many others among the crew survivors, remained convinced that the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> had been sabotaged. Interviewed a little more than 20 years after the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span> disaster, Wittemann insisted that he knew of "maybe a hundred" instances in which Zeppelins (some of which he was aboard at the time) had been struck by lightning and not once had a fire resulted. He maintained the belief that the <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> had become so symbolic of the Third Reich that it invited sabotage.</span>
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NNmvZOp4BVaf7TYTX8KteEuQHoI-oYfH3FEcgQ93k15LjsLcvBjxvSfhXi9_nzOD0QKmBVEF36NzFTjj-gYeraNuVtML_bib3n4rq7jrPS3C7dBszPBZSwZAgcRnWoHuO2wKkaYQmE0/s1600-h/Wittemann+with+dismantled+Graf+engines.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NNmvZOp4BVaf7TYTX8KteEuQHoI-oYfH3FEcgQ93k15LjsLcvBjxvSfhXi9_nzOD0QKmBVEF36NzFTjj-gYeraNuVtML_bib3n4rq7jrPS3C7dBszPBZSwZAgcRnWoHuO2wKkaYQmE0/s400/Wittemann+with+dismantled+Graf+engines.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332770353537868674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Wittemann stands in front of scrapped engine gondolas from both the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin and the LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin at Frankfurt in the Spring of 1940.</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Anton Wittemann retired in the Frankfurt-area town of Neu-Isenburg, where he lived until the age of 84. He passed away on December 23rd, 1971.</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-54354128773916202502009-04-29T15:56:00.023-05:002011-07-24T22:05:37.443-05:00Erich Spehl</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxIBUlDzlfZUreaUSRRZHnHFWGclyzZcUIfoa-g5lUlAeXX7IHlTcebRhZGgz4XbOdSoxWcUuMXCnFKNN-ePi88U-x7TfWVBiDTJ7pu7MWYF-p3-swA-dOTTjKXV2-T8diFTk3I0K0bE/s1600-h/Erich+Spehl+portrait2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxIBUlDzlfZUreaUSRRZHnHFWGclyzZcUIfoa-g5lUlAeXX7IHlTcebRhZGgz4XbOdSoxWcUuMXCnFKNN-ePi88U-x7TfWVBiDTJ7pu7MWYF-p3-swA-dOTTjKXV2-T8diFTk3I0K0bE/s400/Erich+Spehl+portrait2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330232671304825426" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 26 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Göschweiler, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew designation: Rigger </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Mooring shelf in bow </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Died in naval station's infirmary </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Erich Spehl was born on December 5th, 1910 on a small family farm in the Black Forest village of Göschweiler. His mother died when he was young, his father later remarried, and eventually Spehl was part of a family of nine children. When he was 18 he left the farm and took an apprenticeship with a saddler and upholsterer named Karl Gratwohl in the village of Markdorf, near Friedrichshafen. Spehl spent the next three years learning the saddler's trade. By the time Spehl was ready to go out on his own, however, the Great Depression had hit Germany and like millions of other Germans, he could not find steady employment. He spent the next couple of years as an itinerant laborer, and finally enlisted for a one-year stint in the new Nazi government's labor corps.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After his government service had ended, in 1934, Spehl managed to find a job with the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen. This was likely due in part to the fact that his father had been a member of the Nazi party since the 1920s, and had the connections that such a long-time association would tend to bring. But since Spehl quickly moved from a job in the airship construction facility to a position as a rigger with the crew of the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ-127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">his success at the Zeppelin Company was almost certainly based primarily on his own merits and abilities. And in fact, a note from his employment record from shortly after Spehl joined the Graf Zeppelin's crew states, "He dedicates himself to his new job with great care and enthusiasm."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Erich Spehl first flew as a rigger on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> on a flight to South America in November of 1934. He learned the rigger's trade under the tutelage of Chief Rigger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/ludwig-knorr.html">Ludwig Knorr</a>, a Zeppelin Company "old-timer" who had been an airship rigger since before the first World War. The skills Spehl had learned during his saddler's apprenticeship, particularly those involving needle and thread, served him well as a rigger and he learned to maintain and repair the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> outer cover, its ballast bags and control cables, and its huge gas cells.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmWrbQBTS9e7HrV0cT4nmkDbOJ6CZESceUHVGDlBMACPDPmwOhUzEeqANd2CfK5O6xQy8L5FcMuFRLMGAqFsu-rRzDtEH2agBrP1kxDHJV_m8ozJkY6503_efxFgtGa8MJiTBLGEFSqY/s1600-h/Spehl+in+lower+fin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmWrbQBTS9e7HrV0cT4nmkDbOJ6CZESceUHVGDlBMACPDPmwOhUzEeqANd2CfK5O6xQy8L5FcMuFRLMGAqFsu-rRzDtEH2agBrP1kxDHJV_m8ozJkY6503_efxFgtGa8MJiTBLGEFSqY/s400/Spehl+in+lower+fin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330234790780041362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Erich Spehl looking out porthole on starboard side of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> lower tail fin, near emergency control stand.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When the Zeppelin Company completed the LZ-129 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> in 1936, Spehl was transferred to the new ship where he continued to serve under Chief Knorr. He was aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">maiden flight on March 4th, 1936 and flew on most, if not all, of the ship's flights for the remainder of the year, including seven round-trip flights to South America and ten round-trip flights to the United States.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Lhol2hBSYdtlpg3sUA-NobkVxkmUk9ni9gjA-6lTJGFsYV2_GPk6FFEvWWF_9r6ENJxJ0QR-Zbf_LkajL4SZfTRAE8cK_2sMoUR4wgZpGSV3fX6V7KojKp12aNmeMXwrXkg7ZL4zEiI/s1600-h/Spehl+in+bow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 327px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Lhol2hBSYdtlpg3sUA-NobkVxkmUk9ni9gjA-6lTJGFsYV2_GPk6FFEvWWF_9r6ENJxJ0QR-Zbf_LkajL4SZfTRAE8cK_2sMoUR4wgZpGSV3fX6V7KojKp12aNmeMXwrXkg7ZL4zEiI/s400/Spehl+in+bow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330235247879378386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Erich Spehl (l.) and unidentified crewman on mooring shelf of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span> during a landing at Lakehurst, NJ, 1936.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPGe6BwA9EcfDjORroOPzFHpyTx0WdhkbTrlclgd3_ujVWNBAAS0BIDebG4GMXqhISSQ-kBy6RQ2juc2y9rmb_m7S74m4ssWOzcXFsm-f465VB9MlGv4w7TDdTOmLFN9WK7IxK8szWkFs/s1600-h/Spehl+%26+Sauter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 342px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPGe6BwA9EcfDjORroOPzFHpyTx0WdhkbTrlclgd3_ujVWNBAAS0BIDebG4GMXqhISSQ-kBy6RQ2juc2y9rmb_m7S74m4ssWOzcXFsm-f465VB9MlGv4w7TDdTOmLFN9WK7IxK8szWkFs/s400/Spehl+%26+Sauter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330235713719156930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Erich Spehl (r.) and Chief Engineer <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Rudolf Sauter</a> (l.) pose atop the mooring mast at Lakehurst, 1936.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Spehl, whose father passed away in 1936, would still visit his family in Göschweiler when he had free time in between flights. A shy young man, Spehl would speak occasionally with his family and closest friends of his experiences on the Zeppelins and of his journeys across the sea to Rio and New York. He was, however, very proud to be a member of a Zeppelin crew.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">During the winter of 1936-1937, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made no flights and was instead laid up in its hangar for a winter overhaul. Erich Spehl, along with a number of his fellow crewmates, served out eight weeks of compulsory military service during this time. Because of their position as members of a Zeppelin crew, and since the Zeppelin Company fell under the purview of the Reich Air Ministry, Spehl and his comrades were allowed to do their time at boot camp with a Luftwaffe unit. They were all back aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> however, when flights commenced in March of 1937.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Erich Spehl was aboard the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> for its first North American flight of 1937, which began in Frankfurt on the evening of May 3rd. As usual, Spehl's chief was Ludwig Knorr, and the two of them rotated watches with fellow rigger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/hans-freund.html">Hans Freund</a>. The flight proceeded smoothy, without incident. On the evening of May 6th, Spehl finished his last two-hour watch of the flight at 6:00 PM and went to the crew's mess for dinner. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> approached the landing field at Lakehurst, NJ about an hour later, and when the signal for landing stations was sounded shortly after 7:00 PM, Spehl went forward to the mooring shelf at the tip of the ship's bow. Here, he would man the telephone extension to the control car and relay orders to the other three men (helmsman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/alfred-bernhardt.html">Alfred Bernhardt</a>, elevatorman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/kurt-bauer.html">Kurt Bauer</a>, and senior elevatorman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/ernst-huchel.html">Ernst Huchel</a>) who were tasked with dropping the landing ropes and winching down the thick steel mooring cable.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Shortly after the four men arrived at their landing station, elevatorman trainee <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/ludwig-felber.html">Ludwig Felber</a> was sent forward on orders from the watch officer, and he replaced Bauer, who climbed down from the mooring shelf and found a spot about a hundred feet aft along the lower keel where he watched the landing through a hatch. About five minutes later, several more crewmen were sent forward to help trim the ship for landing, and several took positions alongside the stairs leading to the mooring shelf, just below Spehl and the others.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3uoxX-AJeEVDCgIIgpD9pfjvrMT_PdIXpfNMo0U9NV0hBHbHJ4Ex23cFpw9KjP9G6k2uMbo1-dEjNGprBPEoJMjFb1VHFSSQ77pAeyUO34UOMGItQ5q9YhctVZQ5eWQPWObrIfQfdcU/s1600-h/Spehl+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3uoxX-AJeEVDCgIIgpD9pfjvrMT_PdIXpfNMo0U9NV0hBHbHJ4Ex23cFpw9KjP9G6k2uMbo1-dEjNGprBPEoJMjFb1VHFSSQ77pAeyUO34UOMGItQ5q9YhctVZQ5eWQPWObrIfQfdcU/s400/Spehl+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411446802040541154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Erich Spehl's approximate location at the time of the fire.
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(Hindenburg structural diagram courtesy of David Fowler)</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A few minutes later, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> caught fire and almost immediately began to tilt steeply aft. Fire came shooting forward through the gas cells and along the axial catwalk, which ended just behind the mooring shelf. Spehl and the others were right in the path of this huge pillar of flame and were immediately engulfed by the fire. Most of the other men nearby leaped through the burning outer cover and fell to their immediate deaths. Spehl, along with Felber and Bernhardt, somehow managed to hold on and survive the initial crash, and the three men were pulled from the wreck by rescuers.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Erich Spehl, still alive but horribly burned, was taken to the air station's infirmary. As he lay in one of the beds, he managed to communicate to one of the attendants that he wished to send a telegram to his girlfriend back in Frankfurt. The attendant searched through the infirmary for somebody who spoke both German and English, so that the telegram could be written down and sent as soon as possible. Passenger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/joseph-sph.html">Joseph Spah</a>, slightly injured, returned with the attendant to Spehl's bedside, and copied down the address. Spehl then managed to dictate a two-word message: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"Ich lebe."</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> ("I live.") However, as Spah turned to go and send the message, Erich Spehl passed away. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">His body was taken back to Germany and buried in Göschweiler.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKlopDY5FAIdgelYzHeFqFecEdXv6sXqGQCIt1qzzgYTcwk1khVHe-5W3IWmRlGipg4Y6SiZNzE87SadTjsjp46Fle0Sh2VdBVj3ZlAMKaHP7h6wGp6hYEb5-XjECa4o1b4n4qzAnICE/s1600-h/SpehlGrave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKlopDY5FAIdgelYzHeFqFecEdXv6sXqGQCIt1qzzgYTcwk1khVHe-5W3IWmRlGipg4Y6SiZNzE87SadTjsjp46Fle0Sh2VdBVj3ZlAMKaHP7h6wGp6hYEb5-XjECa4o1b4n4qzAnICE/s400/SpehlGrave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330236031580516818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Erich Spehl's grave in Göschweiler</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Approximately 25 years after the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> disaster, a theory that the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> had been sabotaged was published in A.A. Hoehling's book "Who Destroyed The Hindenburg?", and Erich Spehl was named as the alleged saboteur. Ten years later, author Michael Mooney, writing a tie-in book for a planned Hollywood feature film about the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> disaster, repeated and expanded upon Hoehling's sabotage theory. In short, it was alleged that Erich Spehl had planted a time bomb next to one of the gas cells in the aft section of the ship, intending that it detonate after landing (and in front of American reporters) in order to gain international exposure for the German anti-Nazi resistance movement of which, it was further claimed, Spehl and his girlfriend were a part.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The accusation that Erich Spehl was a saboteur who destroyed the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was and remains absolutely baseless and without merit. Hoehling based his theory on the thinnest of circumstantial evidence, half-truths, and cherry-picked fragments of eyewitness testimony, all designed to support a sabotage theory that, it was hoped, would sell books. Key figures interviewed by Hoehling subsequently disputed Hoehling's conclusions as well as his interpretation of some of their own statements. Hoehling himself was, in his own book, only able to offer Spehl as a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >potential</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> saboteur, so shaky was the ground on which his theory had been constructed.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Mooney, despite presenting his book as a work of non-fiction, merely took Hoehling's work and added layer upon layer of fictionalization, effectively turning Erich Spehl into a character from a pulp novel. While Mooney implied that he had done extensive interviews in Germany, it turned out that he had spoken only briefly (and through a translator who spoke very little German) with a single relative of Erich Spehl - a sister-in-law who had married Spehl's older brother some time after the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> disaster. From this, Mooney concocted a fanciful back story for Spehl that seems to have existed primarily in Mooney's own imagination, and which was once again designed to sell books (and also, given Mooney's movie deal, to sell movie tickets.)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Unfortunately, these two books and the movie were enough to link Erich Spehl's name with the concept of a sabotage plot in a number of subsequent publications and documentaries - though few (if any) serious students of airship history have ever granted the theory the least bit of legitimacy. Research into the process by which the Erich Spehl sabotage story was originally constructed has shown that the theory was, to put it mildly, essentially an act of libel. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Special thanks to Herr Manfred Sauter of the Freundeskreis zur Förderung des Zeppelin Museums e.V., whose memorial article on the Hindenburg crew members who lost their lives at Lakehurst (Zeppelin Brief, No. 59, June 2011) provided additional details on Spehl's career, and to Dr. Cheryl Ganz for providing me with a copy of the article. </span>
<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-43527730750496182292009-04-28T08:29:00.018-05:002011-04-05T14:56:42.840-05:00Ludwig Knorr</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpFgbgHmybZQjy0JLvvvOFYcxvdKPJa82mK-S59F9NU2RCsqtNRSyplooZpb-lOWgl7TbxXpDQYkJwCzzwb95MH8dA7JIoapMxU3a-ZXRUkq1NMMZV0WvB1DuLkg_lzfZNionl6f3hO8/s1600-h/LudwigKnorr4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpFgbgHmybZQjy0JLvvvOFYcxvdKPJa82mK-S59F9NU2RCsqtNRSyplooZpb-lOWgl7TbxXpDQYkJwCzzwb95MH8dA7JIoapMxU3a-ZXRUkq1NMMZV0WvB1DuLkg_lzfZNionl6f3hO8/s400/LudwigKnorr4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329740845582944450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Age: 45 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hometown: Kohren-Sahlis, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Crew designation: Chief Rigger </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Location at time of fire: Either in bow or on axial gangway </span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Died in wreck </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ludwig Knorr was born Alexander Heinrich Ludwig Knorr on October 9, 1891 in Kohren-Sahlis, a small town in Germany's Saxony region. He was married in 1914 and was the father of two daughters. As an adolescent, Knorr studied ballooning under an aeronaut named Spiegel in nearby Leipzig, making his first solo balloon flight in 1906 at age 15, for which he skipped two days of school. He sought out Count von Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen in 1908, and by 1912 he was a rigger onboard the DELAG passenger airship, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Sachsen</span><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In World War I, Knorr served aboard Army Zeppelins Z-12, LZ-90, LZ-98 and LZ-120, flying on raids over England, as well as a flight over Africa. After the war, Knorr once again joined the DELAG passenger service for its brief postwar existence, and later served as Chief Rigger aboard the "reparations ship" the LZ-126, and was among the delivery crew when Dr. Hugo Eckener flew the ship to the United States to turn it over to the US Navy at Lakehurst in 1924. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In 1928 the Zeppelin Company built a new airship, the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ-127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> on which Ludwig Knorr once again served as Chief Rigger. On the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first flight to the United States in October of 1928, Knorr was instrumental in saving the ship when a mid-Atlantic storm tore the fabric covering the lower portion of the portside fin. The loose fabric was flapping in the wind, and threatened to foul the elevator along the aft edge of the fin. Dr Eckener, in command of the ship, asked for volunteers to climb out onto the fin to repair the damage. Knorr stepped forward along with Eckener's son Knut, who was one of the ship's helmsmen, navigator Hans Ladewig, and elevatorman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html">Albert Sammt</a>.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Together, the four of them climbed out across rain-slicked girders to the outboard side of the damaged fin. They were lashed together with rope like mountain climbers, with an angry sea 1500 feet directly below them. Using knives and shears, they cut away the loose fabric before it could jam the elevator, and secured the remaining covering to the surrounding framework using rope and blankets. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDMNHDWG8cjQ7M1d83DRxMxENcl9Eq7etKV6K-HudqU5-C__iSny2gcTznWTgMfvVWjlGb_kmm2zNizasLZyQYNKODlHcBqH8fIt-dJN5zh_wQqOZ_qSesoDXMLx9JUZ-mzkuugfJCt8/s1600-h/Fin+repair+on+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDMNHDWG8cjQ7M1d83DRxMxENcl9Eq7etKV6K-HudqU5-C__iSny2gcTznWTgMfvVWjlGb_kmm2zNizasLZyQYNKODlHcBqH8fIt-dJN5zh_wQqOZ_qSesoDXMLx9JUZ-mzkuugfJCt8/s400/Fin+repair+on+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329741236069543490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >A rare snapshot of the in-flight repair to the Graf Zeppelin's fin over the North Atlantic. The view is from the hull of the ship looking out into the interior of the fin. Ludwig Knorr is either one of the two men to left or else the man in the center (as the taller man to the right is almost certainly Knut Eckener.)</span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="">
<br />(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Meanwhile, Dr. Eckener had ordered the ship's engines to be throttled down to prevent the slipstream from dragging the men off of the fin. As the ship picked up rain in the storm, with no forward motion to dynamically lift it, it began to slowly sink toward the ocean. Eckener waited for word from the stern, but when none was forthcoming, he was forced to make the difficult decision to bring the engines back up to speed before the ship crashed. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Minutes later, a message was passed forward: "Work detail safe. Withdrew inside hull when speed increased. Will resume repairs when motors throttled back again." For several hours, this continued, with Knorr and the others climbing out to work on the fin when the ship gained enough altitude for the engines to be idled, and clambering back inside again when the engines were brought back up to speed so the ship could regain altitude once more. Four and a half hours later, the men finished repairs and climbed back inside at last. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> flew on to Lakehurst minus about 80% of the lower covering on its port fin, but still airworthy.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Subsequent to this, Knorr flew on every flight of the LZ-127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> including the round-the-world flight in 1929. He stayed with the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> until March of 1936, when he transferred to the new ship, the LZ-129 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> As on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Knorr was in charge of the riggers on board the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Overall, he reported to Captain Albert Sammt (with whom he had helped to repair the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> fin eight years before), and on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first North American flight of the 1937 season, which began in Frankfurt on May 3rd, Knorr's sailmaking crew consisted of <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/hans-freund.html">Hans Freund</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/erich-spehl.html">Erich Spehl</a>. According to Freund, there were no major problems or repairs that Knorr and his riggers had to deal with during the flight, the gas cells and outer cover were all in order, and everything was as routine as could be expected.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On the afternoon of May 6th, the final day of the flight, Captain Sammt was making a final inspection of the ship shortly before going on watch at 4:00 PM. He encountered Knorr at Ring 47 just ahead of the lower tail fin. Knorr, who was at this time on standby watch, was filling the aft water ballast hoses on either side of the keel, and Sammt was puzzled that so much water was being pumped that far aft. Sammt asked about this, and Knorr replied that the command to shift water aft had come from the control car. Sammt immediately countermanded that order, and told Knorr to pump several tons of water forward to the ballast hoses at Ring 62, and furthermore to pump enough water forward to fill the ballast hoses at Ring 281 near the bow of the ship. Sammt later said in his autobiography, "The Chief Rigger was a very reliable man, and I am confident that he carried out my order."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Approximately two hours later, Knorr relieved Erich Spehl and took his final two-hour watch of the flight from 6:00 PM onward.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Over the years there has been some anecdotal suggestion that there might have been a last-minute problem with one of the gas cells, and that Knorr was aware of this problem. The story goes that Chief Steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinrich-kubis.html">Heinrich Kubis</a> encountered Knorr at about 7:00 PM on May 6, about half an hour before the fire, and Knorr mentioned something to him about a problem with gas cell #4 in the stern of the ship. Knorr was unclear as to exactly what the problem was, but apparently he made a remark to Kubis that they'd have to make some sort of repair before sailing for Germany later that night.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Kubis allegedly told this story to author A.A. Hoehling in 1961 when Hoehling was conducting research and interviews for his book "Who Destroyed The Hindenburg?" In the absence of additional corroborating evidence, however, it is impossible to tell how much of this may have been embellished to support Hoehling's sabotage theory. The implication made in Hoehling's book is that a saboteur somehow damaged the fabric of gas cell #4 while placing an incendiary device.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">While it is conceivable that Knorr might have noticed something amiss with cell 4 during his watch inspection of the gas cells, it is highly unlikely that he would have noticed a problem serious enough for him to have bothered to mention it to the Chief Steward (even in passing) and then not reported that problem to the control car. And he certainly would have stayed near the damaged gas cell until the ship was safely on the ground to make sure that the damage didn't worsen. However, he did not do this.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Just after 7:00 PM, the signal for landing stations sounded, and Knorr took his position which, according to <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/captain-walter-ziegler.html">Captain Walter Ziegler</a>, was up along the axial catwalk that tunneled through the center of the gas cells, walking along and monitoring the gas valves during the landing maneuver. The official crew locations diagram later assembled for the Board of Inquiry indicates that when the ship caught fire a short while later, Knorr was on the lower keel at Ring 233, near the bow of the ship. It is unknown, however, whether this is where he was standing or whether it was simply where his body was found in the wreckage.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYn25nhsF4ee_SGIynlkao195gwjr3SaOF6VAfTLdvHFSQkci11CG2JEQxcoaTwEn4XuYrkb8eeTFEy6SPgB8yYM_eZXtmhT-kEa7S5HXjHAvIqdwN34o8ddCRWerx_F-ADZ0fH5VFAQ/s1600-h/Knorr+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYn25nhsF4ee_SGIynlkao195gwjr3SaOF6VAfTLdvHFSQkci11CG2JEQxcoaTwEn4XuYrkb8eeTFEy6SPgB8yYM_eZXtmhT-kEa7S5HXjHAvIqdwN34o8ddCRWerx_F-ADZ0fH5VFAQ/s400/Knorr+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411474332468364066" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Ludwig Knorr's reported location at the time of the fire.
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(Hindenburg structural diagram courtesy of David Fowler)</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ludwig Knorr didn't make it out of the ship after the crash, and his body was recovered the next day.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Special thanks to Kay Saupe, whose outstanding web page on Ludwig Knorr was instrumental to me in filling in some of the details of Knorr's early life. Kay's Knorr page (which is in German) is well worth seeking out and can be found <a href="http://www.deepskay.de/kaysaupe_de/knorr/knorr.html">HERE</a>.
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<br />(Kay is also an excellent amateur astronomer, and some of his photos can be found <a href="http://www.deepskay.de/index_frame.html">HERE</a>.)</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-71123110559125485022009-04-23T00:39:00.025-05:002011-03-16T08:44:46.158-05:00Theodor Ritter</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh232xsUZMh1VMgeP0zPCvIGNPiGDs4uCQKCwvk0DXmPMTItyXQIFV8vYUMpepEee-yLpg3PoLtyNrpnslFF0KF9ozNAVM4RtFiFVH52rWeJo2fwVogCYgXTqNHdy52IcFmAEmbbV3r7Gw/s1600-h/NoPhoto3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh232xsUZMh1VMgeP0zPCvIGNPiGDs4uCQKCwvk0DXmPMTItyXQIFV8vYUMpepEee-yLpg3PoLtyNrpnslFF0KF9ozNAVM4RtFiFVH52rWeJo2fwVogCYgXTqNHdy52IcFmAEmbbV3r7Gw/s400/NoPhoto3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327761153059791762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 23 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Schwäbisch-Hall, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Engine mechanic (trainee) </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Engine gondola #4, portside forward </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Theodor Ritter was one of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> engine mechanics. Born on December 23, 1913 in Schwäbisch-Hall, Ritter had previously worked on the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> engines at the Daimler-Benz factory in Untertürkheim near Stuttgart. He ran tests on them for three years before they were installed on the ship, and had been hired by the Zeppelin Company as an in-flight engine mechanic in late April of 1937.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter was aboard the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> on its first North American flight of 1937, assigned to engine gondola #4, portside forward. He had already made two shorter flights within Germany, but this was his first regular transatlantic flight. Technically he was considered a trainee, but he stood a regular watch under the observation of the ship's chief mechanics as well as <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Chief Sauter</a> and his trio of flight engineers.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As this was his first real voyage on the ship, many of the experiences that had become commonplace for his comrades were quite new to him. He would later write down his impressions of the trip and of his first time standing watch on a flight that lasted more than a few hours. Ritter had the first watch of the flight which, since it was evening, was a three-hour watch as opposed to the engine mechanics' standard two-hour daytime watch. After the ship took off from Frankfurt at approximately 8:15 on the evening of May 3rd, Ritter was on his own in his engine gondola until 11:00. His first surprise of the trip was that, since the ship's clocks would be periodically set back as they flew west, an extra hour would be added to his watch.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Since he was intimately familiar with the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> engines from having worked on them at Daimler-Benz, he could quickly tell that his engine was running smoothly, and so most of his first watch was spent watching the sights from the vantage point of his engine gondola. The ship's powerful searchlight illuminated the ground below, and at one point as they flew low over a village, Ritter was fairly sure he saw a couple on a secluded park bench whose evening was rudely interrupted when the searchlight suddenly lit them up, bright as day.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Shortly after this, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> approached the city of Cologne. The engine telegraph sounded and Ritter saw that the indicator had changed to "slow ahead". He sent an acknowledgment signal back to the control car, then throttled his engine down to the lowest speed. Looking down toward the ground, Ritter saw the ship's searchlight illuminate a parachute with a mail sack attached. It was mail that was scheduled to have been delivered, complete with a special <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> post mark, during a short propaganda flight the previous Saturday, May 1st. The flight had been canceled due to bad weather, however, and so the mail sack had to be dropped on this flight instead. Once the passengers had been given time to watch the mail bag parachuting to the ground, the order came over the engine telegraph to set the motor back to "full ahead" and the ship continued on.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter's first watch ended at 11:00 PM, shortly after the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> had reached the English Channel. The #4 engine car's chief mechanic, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eugen-bentele.html">Eugen Bentele</a>, arrived to relieve Ritter, who then climbed back into the ship, and headed to the crew's mess for dinner. Afterward, as he made his way aft to the crew's quarters, he stopped to chat with a few of his comrades along the way before proceeding to his bunk. He was met by the loud snores of his bunkmate, mechanic <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/alfred-stockle.html">Alfred Stöckle</a>. But neither this nor the constant drone of the ship's engines kept Ritter awake. He knew he was back on watch again at 5:00 in the morning and needed to get as much sleep as possible.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And so it went for the rest of the flight. "Work, eat, sleep, work," as Ritter would later write. However, the engine gondolas offered just about the best view on the entire ship, and Ritter quickly discovered how many fascinating things there were to see out over the North Atlantic. Once the weather cleared after the first day out, Ritter marveled at sights like freighters rolling on the waves below, the Northern Lights filling the entire sky, and, as the ship approached the coast of Newfoundland, a massive iceberg surrounded by several smaller ones. The watch officer ordered the engines stopped so that the passengers could get a good look at the icebergs, and Ritter estimated the largest one to be rising about 80 meters over the water.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, on the morning of May 6th, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> reached the United States, flying over New York City in the early afternoon when Ritter was on standby watch. Once more, he was astounded at what he saw below. The ocean of skyscrapers and houses easily dwarfed anything he had ever seen in Germany, and the Empire State Building rose almost to the same altitude at which the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> was flying.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After circling over New York for approximately half an hour, again to give the passengers a chance to enjoy the view, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> flew south to its landing field at Lakehurst, NJ. Ritter started his final two-hour watch of the flight at 4:00, as the ship flew over the airfield. However, there was a thunderstorm approaching, and the ship's commander decided to delay the landing until the weather had cleared. Ritter and everyone else aboard were treated to a bird's-eye view of the Jersey shore as the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> cruised up and down the coastline.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter went off watch at 6:00 that evening, but stayed in the crew's mess rather than going back to his bunk, because he would be called to his landing station in his engine gondola once the weather improved and the ship was able to approach the airfield. He sat in the mess, drinking coffee and talking with fellow mechanic <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-kollmer.html">Richard Kollmer</a>, who was also assigned to engine car #4, and who had the watch right before Ritter's.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, shortly after 7:00, the signal for landing stations was sounded. Kollmer headed aft to his landing station in the lower fin, and Ritter took his position in the forward portside engine car along with Bentele and flight engineer <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/raphael-schdler.html">Raphael Schädler</a>. Ritter kept an eye on the engine telegraph, and relayed orders from the control car to Bentele, who was operating the engine's throttle. Over the next several minutes, orders came from the command crew to shift the engine to "idle ahead", then "full astern" in order to bring the ship to a halt just beyond the mooring circle, and then finally "idle ahead" again.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXcEiz9cCfTT2x8WHvzFJDvDJPPMh0Jp89_4st2i1qHJeO_QmPBDb8tpeSkFvVpre6WhNGsfXLOCdkw2jWGEIsSOuS4jnaKpMLsAvYZEHgqdBxYNOEYc8ICUKEtk0HZpiILNThJ2e_ns/s1600/Ritter+Location.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXcEiz9cCfTT2x8WHvzFJDvDJPPMh0Jp89_4st2i1qHJeO_QmPBDb8tpeSkFvVpre6WhNGsfXLOCdkw2jWGEIsSOuS4jnaKpMLsAvYZEHgqdBxYNOEYc8ICUKEtk0HZpiILNThJ2e_ns/s400/Ritter+Location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571067487023453730" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Theodor Ritter's location at the time of the fire (diagram is top view of the ship.)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter had just "blocked back" the "idle ahead" message to the control car, so as to confirm that the order had been received and carried out. As he carefully eyed the telegraph, waiting for the next order to come through, he suddenly glanced aft and saw the upper hull of the ship erupt in flames as a heavy shock ran through the ship, shaking the whole engine gondola. The fire raced forward, reaching the forward engine gondolas almost immediately. Most of the aft hydrogen cells already having burned, the ship's tail began to drop to the ground, and the forward part of the ship rose up to practically a 45-degree angle.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter and his comrades clung to anything they could to keep from falling into the propeller, which continued to turn slowly just behind them. As Ritter would later write,</span>
<br />
<br /><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">"The ground is coming up at us damned fast, and one of my comrades says something like "Bail out!" But the gondola crashes into the ground and I think to myself, "I'm dead. This is it." Fire swirls around my eyes, and the impact causes me to lose my footing. I fly in an arc over the engine and out into the propeller, which hits me on the head."</blockquote>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter was dazed by the blow to the head, and probably also from being doused with hot water from the engine, and afterward he was unable to recall what happened next. By the time he came back to his senses, he was running full speed, already quite a distance from the ship. He turned around to see the forward part of the ship, now completely ablaze, collapse to the ground amid a chorus of screams from nearby spectators, as well as from those still trapped in the wreck.
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsP1oicMh9s9O3vnM51oWXWoJrIViYad-o1VDXOZwfpUW0FuLQh7K0QgL5ii7tUKACGEbPX8K3KancOEMtgIG5QMxdvVoSu_rzWkEWW5rnWVVOA-xTtVqzQYSIB5pG4VnPwctXBv45fc/s1600/Ritter+escape.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsP1oicMh9s9O3vnM51oWXWoJrIViYad-o1VDXOZwfpUW0FuLQh7K0QgL5ii7tUKACGEbPX8K3KancOEMtgIG5QMxdvVoSu_rzWkEWW5rnWVVOA-xTtVqzQYSIB5pG4VnPwctXBv45fc/s400/Ritter+escape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571067778035414738" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Theodor Ritter (arrow) runs from the back of engine car #4 (laying on the ground just to the left of Ritter.)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He suddenly realized that he had blood streaming down his face from the cut on his head where the propeller had hit him. As Ritter wiped his eyes clear, he saw that he was covered in blood clear down to his trousers. His skull didn't feel like it had been fractured, though, so he assumed that his scalp wound probably wasn't as bad as it looked. Somebody then led him to a car, along with chief helmsman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/kurt-schonherr.html">Kurt Schönherr</a>, who had injured his chest and was moaning loudly. The injured men were driven to the air station's infirmary, where they were met by a large crowd of people. From the amazed stares the crowd was giving them, Ritter figured that he and Schönherr must have been among the first survivors to arrive at the dispensary.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Once inside, Ritter was given first aid dressing for his head. Parched from the fire and smoke, he drank a couple pitchers of water, then borrowed a cigarette and walks off to see which of his comrades had also made it to the infirmary. He was glad to find fellow mechanics <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/adolf-fischer.html">Adolf Fisher</a>, bleeding from a cut under his eye, and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/wilhelm-steeb.html">Willi Steeb</a>, who didn't seem injured at all.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Just then, Eugen Bentele brought in Raphael Schädler, who seemed to have suffered some internal injuries. Ritter helped to remove Schädler's shoes and socks as Bentele helped the injured flight engineer out of his overalls. Then they laid Schädler down on a nearby bed.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As Ritter stood back up again, he began seeing stars and realized he was on the verge of blacking out. His entire body felt hot, his arm had gone numb, and his back burned terribly. A nurse came up and gave him a shot of morphine, which helped. She then cut off Ritter's shirt and got a good look at Ritter's injuries. Since it had been a warm day, Ritter had just been wearing trousers and a short-sleeve shirt, instead of his heavy mechanic's overall, which would have given him some protection from the flames. His back was burned, as were his arms clear up to the elbows, and he was already beginning to blister. This was in addition to the cut on his head, which continued to bleed profusely.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Nurses covered his burns in salve and bandaged him, and he was taken to Paul Kimball Hospital in nearby Lakewood. By now, Ritter had begun to worry about his family. If word of the disaster hadn't already reached them, it soon would. Unfortunately, Ritter spoke very little English. From his bed he tried to get somebody to send a telegram to his fiancée, Gertrud Moser, who lived in his hometown of Schwäbisch-Hall. However, in the first chaotic hours after the disaster, with so many German-speaking patients and precious few people onhand who spoke the language and could translate, the nurses weren't able to understand much of what Ritter was saying other than "Gertrud." Eventually a translator was found and Ritter was finally able to send a telegram to his parents: "Slightly injured. Don't worry. Everything will be all right. Please notify Gertrud."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Eventually, a doctor stitched up Ritter's scalp, and he was given another shot and put to bed, where he slept until late the following morning. He remained at Paul Kimball until Saturday, when he was transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Lenox Hill not only had better facilities than Paul Kimball, but it had also been known, until about 20 years before, as German Hospital and the majority of its doctors and nurses still spoke German.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When first notified that he was to be transferred, Ritter was rather concerned, as several badly injured survivors had already been transferred to New York, and some had already died. As he was being carried outside to the ambulance, his stretcher was surrounded by news photographers, reporters, and onlookers. The same thing occurred when he arrived in New York and was being taken into Lenox Hill Hospital. He later recalled that as he was being brought upstairs, one group of onlookers (mostly women, Ritter noticed) actually got into the elevator with them.</span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFMzZk_vhWnVLDVDgLXqnEnDGYUGSuB2Rxh58bZKEt_hlS_gGUhqYCqLZRU7pSHP69-PggDck-N3WYUY86u8oxSRtvk4uRlJePQyj6yjrofOo0vfi3be92WSQljRBE-mkVw-OD3WBKME/s1600/Theodor+Ritter+ambulance.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFMzZk_vhWnVLDVDgLXqnEnDGYUGSuB2Rxh58bZKEt_hlS_gGUhqYCqLZRU7pSHP69-PggDck-N3WYUY86u8oxSRtvk4uRlJePQyj6yjrofOo0vfi3be92WSQljRBE-mkVw-OD3WBKME/s400/Theodor+Ritter+ambulance.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571068270792887490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Theodor Ritter smiles as he's transferred from Paul Kimball Hospital to Lenox Hill Hospital the day after the disaster.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">That evening, a couple of doctors and a group of nurses came to Ritter's bedside with a cart laden with instruments and medication. "Here we go…" Ritter gamely thought to himself. A nurse sat him up and held him as the doctors debrided his burns, removing the burned tissue so that he would heal properly. "Wherever I was burned, the doctors skinned me alive in the truest sense of the word. Not exactly a pleasant sensation", Ritter would later say. As the doctors worked on him, however, Ritter joked with them to keep his spirits up. The doctors and the nurses were rather taken aback, because while they expected Ritter to yell and scream during the procedure, what they got was a young man saying things like, "Hey Doc, could you at least save the skin for me so I can make myself a pair of suspenders or some gloves out of it?" But as Ritter later pointed out, humor makes everything easier and yelling and making a fuss wouldn't have changed anything anyway.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Once Ritter's wounds had been cleaned, the doctors sprayed him down with tannic acid, gave him another morphine shot, and put him to bed. The next day he was moved to a private room on a higher floor, where he spent the next few weeks recovering. In addition to his injuries, Ritter was also fighting a fever, and it was some days before the doctors considered him to be out of the woods. He had many visitors, most of whom he didn't know, but some of whom were crewmates of his who had not been injured seriously enough to be hospitalized. He also got mail from friends and family back home, including a long letter from his fiancée Gertrud, which he later said helped him through many difficult hours.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Eventually, however, Ritter was well enough to walk around on his own and visit his comrades <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/franz-herzog.html">Franz Herzog</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/josef-leibrecht.html">Josef Leibrecht</a>, who were recovering from their injuries on another floor. Ritter also gave testimony to the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry into the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> disaster. Since it was impossible for him to make the trip to Lakehurst to testify before the investigation commission, a group of them came to Lenox Hill on May 28th to interview him and several other injured survivors in their hospital rooms.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">People began taking Ritter on day trips as he got stronger. A friend named Hugo Scheere took Ritter for a Sunday afternoon at Long Beach on Long Island, and then to Café Hindenburg on 86th Street. Another person took Ritter and an injured passenger who was also at Lenox Hill, Luftwaffe <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/major-hans-hugo-witt.html">Major Hans-Hugo Witt</a>, to visit West Point. On another day a man named Mr. Peters and his wife invited Ritter to accompany them to the cinema, where they saw a German film called "Drei Mädels um Schubert", of which Ritter later said, "That was a little piece of home."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, on June 13th, Ritter was ready to return to Germany. He and radio operator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/herbert-dowe.html">Herbert Dowe</a>, who had spent the past month at Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Neptune, NJ recovering from his burns, boarded the steamship <span style="font-style:italic;">Hansa</span> (formerly the <span style="font-style:italic;">Albert Ballin,</span> on which a number of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> newer crew members had previously served) for the ten-day sea voyage home. Prior to boarding, Ritter and Dowe had agreed between themselves to make every effort to remain anonymous for as much of the trip as possible. Each had already had to tell and retell the stories of their escape from the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> wreck so many times to so many people while they were in the hospital, and they didn't want to spend the next ten days doing the same for everyone on the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hansa.</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It worked for about three days. The third day out, they had a shipboard passport inspection in the ship's lounge. Dowe was off seeing a doctor, but Ritter was standing in the lounge with other passengers, leisurely having a cigarette, when the door burst open and in strode the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hansa's</span> Captain, followed by the First Officer, the ship's physician, the Chief Steward, and the Chief Engineer. The Captain loudly and none too subtly walked up to Ritter and greeted him in front of everyone, announcing Ritter's identity to one and all. His cover now blown, the peace and quiet of the previous few days now a thing of the past, Ritter gamely began once again to endlessly retell his story to anyone who asked.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter and Dowe were now shipboard celebrities, and as such they were kept in free beer and other gifts from fellow passengers for the remainder of the trip. In addition to having to tell his story over and over, Ritter would also later remember the seemingly endless stream of festivities.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">Every day there was something new to do. It was all wonderfully varied. First movies, then a dance, a bock beer fest, and just before the end of the ten-day voyage, a lavish costume party. The two of us had decided to donate a bowl of pineapple punch in return for the many glasses of beer. Shortly after the prizes were awarded, the steward brought out a huge bowl of punch, which we started in on immediately. This quickly ratcheted up the mood of the party, because the stuff went down damned smoothly and really got things going.
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<br />The band was missing a drummer, and after being invited by the bandleader I sat in with the band, pounding away on the kettle drum. That was a lot of fun, and and I got a huge round of applause that was obviously more for the jolly young airshipman than it was for my drumming skills. After every number, a glass of champagne was set near me, since the empty punchbowl had been quickly refilled with this kingly libation. I gradually developed Herculean strength and thundered away like a savage. I was drunk for the first time in quite awhile, because apparently the champagne just kept flowing. But then we started getting crazy. Those who were still there got what was coming to them, as once the racket got too appalling, the chief steward gingerly broke things up. But he only sent us from the dining salon into the bar, which we nearly trashed while he led each one of us gently to our door and bid us good night. It was "only" 5:00 in the morning. It goes without saying that the inevitable "tomcat" (hangover) followed the next day, and the pickled herring tasted superb!!</blockquote>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, on June 23rd, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hansa</span> docked at Cuxhaven and Ritter was met by his friend and comrade <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/jonny-dorflein.html">Jonny Dörflein</a>, who had been in the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> starboard forward engine gondola at the time of the fire and who had escaped almost completely uninjured. Dörflein was from Hamburg, not far from Cuxhaven, and he and Ritter took a train to Hamburg where Dörflein's father hosted them for the evening. The two shipmates then took a sleeper train down to Frankfurt, where they, like the rest of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> crew, had apartments near the Rhein-Main airfield. There they were met by a group of fellow airshipmen, including flight engineer Raphael Schädler, who had recovered from his injuries and returned to Germany shortly before Ritter had.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ritter's landlords greeted him with tears of joy when he returned to his apartment, but he stayed only long enough to pack a few things. He had a flight to catch down to Böblingen, where his family and his fiancée were waiting for him. He was given a lift to the airfield, but even that wasn't without incident. "On the way, we collided with another car. I can't get a break from accidents, apparently."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But Ritter made his flight and was soon reunited with his family.</span>
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<br /><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">I will never forget this moment as I stepped into the hangar. My Trudele comes flying up to me and we are immediately in each other's arms, jubilant, blissful, everything in the past, troubles forgotten. I am back. Then comes my dear, sweet Mom, my beaming father, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews. How brave they are all acting. The only thing they can't hide is their moist, shimmering eyes.
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<br />Two cars are waiting outside to bring the entire happy company to Esslingen and soon we are all sitting together having a leisurely lunch. Two days later I am home, really home, in my beloved Hall, recuperating with my girl and my parents, who need it just as much as I do.</blockquote>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">With the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> gone and the future of Zeppelin travel uncertain, Ritter returned to work at the Daimler-Benz factory in Untertürkheim. He soon took a position at the Porsche factory in nearby Zuffenhausen, which he held until the end of World War II. After the war, Ritter worked for a time as a lumberjack, and then took a job as the foreman at the Hahn auto repair shop in Fellbach, just up the road from his old Daimler job in Untertürkheim, and about 35 miles from his hometown of Schwäbisch-Hall. He worked for the next 31 years at Hahn, and retired in Fellbach.
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<br />Throughout the years, Theo Ritter kept in touch with his old Zeppelin comrades, and every year on May 6th he would meet with them either in Frankfurt or in Friedrichshafen to commemorate the loss of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span>, and to remember their comrades who lost their lives in the disaster. In 1993 while being interviewed for an article in the Waiblinger Kreiszeitung to mark his 80th birthday, Ritter remarked upon the fact that he could now count his remaining <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> comrades on the fingers of one hand, then smiled and said, "I'm 80 years old, and still the rookie among them." </span>
<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">
<br />(Many thanks to Helge Juch, who interviewed Theo Ritter for an article for the Waiblinger Kreiszeitung in 1993. Helge was kind enough to provide me not only with a copy of his article, but also with a copy of a nine-page memoir that Ritter wrote about his Hindenburg experience after he returned to Germany. Between the article and Ritter's memoir, I was able to write a far more extensive and informative article on Ritter than had previously been possible.)</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-2365291836773165872009-04-05T16:36:00.016-05:002018-08-18T12:50:34.993-05:00Lieutenant Claus Hinkelbein
<br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBy5ugIl_ks-Fe6ZoPW3quqQeMGRR7vdvd3t3pjMNJi5pRD6V-EgiT6rOgS7qGQleosBvkJufpVafhN0-SXS_EonF20umZe5qCjZLpHljawn0c94tUEd9R5lbLvtsBBkacOfNPSmgr2c/s1600-h/Claus+Hinkelbein.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377520342300292306" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 214px; height: 311px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBy5ugIl_ks-Fe6ZoPW3quqQeMGRR7vdvd3t3pjMNJi5pRD6V-EgiT6rOgS7qGQleosBvkJufpVafhN0-SXS_EonF20umZe5qCjZLpHljawn0c94tUEd9R5lbLvtsBBkacOfNPSmgr2c/s400/Claus+Hinkelbein.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Passenger </span>
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<br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Age: 27 </span>
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<br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Residence: Schwäbisch Hall, Germany </span>
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<br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Occupation: First Lieutenant, German Luftwaffe </span>
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<br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Location at time of fire: Passenger decks, starboard lounge </span>
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<br><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Survived </span></span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Claus Hinkelbein was born December 28th, 1909 in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Hinkelbein was a First Lieutenant in the German Luftwaffe as of May of 1937 when he and two other Luftwaffe officers, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/colonel-fritz-erdmann.html">Colonel Fritz Erdmann</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/major-hans-hugo-witt.html">Major Hans-Hugo Witt</a>, were assigned to fly as military observers aboard the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> first North American flight of the 1937 season. The three men were primarily aboard to observe the techniques developed by the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> command crew for long-range navigation and weather-forecasting.</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">There has long been a baseless story circulating in which it is claimed that Lt. Hinkelbein, Col. Erdmann, and Maj. Witt were actually ordered to make the flight as security officers charged with the task of uncovering and stopping a potential sabotage attempt. No credible evidence of this has ever been discovered, and it appears that the sole source for this story was Michael M. Mooney's heavily-fictionalized book "The Hindenburg," published in 1972. Mooney offered no proof whatsoever to support his claims such as this one, and no corroborating evidence has ever surfaced. The </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> in fact, carried military observers (German, American, and often both) on virtually every flight it made in 1936, and there is no reason whatsoever to assume that there was anything different about the trio of military observers aboard the ship's final flight.</span>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qS8Hd7bvGyC3gnAYUeqYJTMYSHCx9PzSNRfpQKOQgBYdo3MjFxvLG8vZgX-WP2eyWGcnxCBoL1tLE3pPUyC9EW3ux9ZwqRSUhqncgm2N4Uw5b942u2GVkWRhyphenhyphenSkI4L4KYsXkg_ii_y4/s1600-h/Hinkelbein+on+Hindenburg.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381713708781186194" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 225px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qS8Hd7bvGyC3gnAYUeqYJTMYSHCx9PzSNRfpQKOQgBYdo3MjFxvLG8vZgX-WP2eyWGcnxCBoL1tLE3pPUyC9EW3ux9ZwqRSUhqncgm2N4Uw5b942u2GVkWRhyphenhyphenSkI4L4KYsXkg_ii_y4/s400/Hinkelbein+on+Hindenburg.JPG" border="0"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Lt. Claus Hinkelbein (right, facing camera) aboard the </span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;"> during its last flight. Fellow passengers </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/03/ernst-rudolf-anders.html">Ernst Rudolf Anders</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;"> (lower center, with binoculars) and </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/moritz-feibusch.html">Moritz Feibusch</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;"> (left, silhouetted against upright post) are sightseeing through the ship's observation windows. (Image taken from home movies shot during the </span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;"> last flight by fellow passenger </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/joseph-sph.html">Joseph Spah</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">.)</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Hinkelbein, along with Erdmann and Witt, was given free access throughout the ship during the flight, and the three of them went forward to the control car several times a day in order to observe the navigators in their duties.</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">As the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> approached its mooring mast at Lakehurst, NJ at the end of the flight, on the evening of May 6th, 1937, Lt. Hinkelbein was in the starboard passenger lounge watching the ground crew out of one of the observation windows along with Major Witt, Colonel Erdmann, and fellow passenger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-hirschfeld.html">George Hirschfeld</a>. Hinkelbein watched felt the ship come to a standstill and saw the bow lines drop.
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<br></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPriHaqVcRp1QepcE335FVdIBIcIiUina3O6cI9CYATCcTQ5H0V0vrhNWDgwk0fmAe1jNGSqofSbHHQpsMHdsDmquxbfjvlc6K8tNQF6nSISBxfZH8FE6gDVQY-ehlSqbt-Tb3fV-HMCE/s1600/Hinkelbein+location.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570133240339597522" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 342px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPriHaqVcRp1QepcE335FVdIBIcIiUina3O6cI9CYATCcTQ5H0V0vrhNWDgwk0fmAe1jNGSqofSbHHQpsMHdsDmquxbfjvlc6K8tNQF6nSISBxfZH8FE6gDVQY-ehlSqbt-Tb3fV-HMCE/s400/Hinkelbein+location.jpg" border="0"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Lieutenant Hinkelbein's location in the starboard lounge at the time of the fire.</span></span>
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<br>A few minutes later, he felt a sudden jerk run through the ship and, looking out of the window, saw the reflection of fire aft. Almost immediately he felt the bow begin to rise and held on to keep his footing. As the ship came down again, Hinkelbein ran forward to the nearest open window and jumped through it.</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Once on the ground, Hinkelbein was able to thread his way through the wreckage without serious injury. He went back to the wreckage and found Major Witt caught in a burning wire, which had tangled around Witt's neck. Together with another rescuer, Hinkelbein freed Witt and helped him to safety.</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Lt. Claus Hinkelbein gave testimony to the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 15th, 1937, nine days after the disaster. He sailed back to Germany on the steamship </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Europa</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> the following day.</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Hinkelbein remained in the Luftwaffe throughout World War II, taking part in the invasions of Poland, France, and the Soviet Union. Hinkelbein was placed in command of the Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" (a JU-87 Stuka group) as a Major from September 10, 1939 through October 29, 1939. This was followed by command of Kampfgeschwader 30 "Adler" (a JU-88 group) from December of 1939 through June of 1940. It was during his command of KG 30 that Hinkelbein was awarded the Knight's Cross, on June 19th, 1940. Following this, Hinkelbein commanded Ergänzungskampfgruppe 5 from September 20th, 1940 through October 8th, 1940. After this, he seems to have been promoted to Lt. Colonel and made Chief of General Staff for Feldluftgaukommandos XIV, where he remained through the remainder of the war. </span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Following the war, Hinkelbein served with the West German air force, and was commander of the air force base at Aurich from 1966-1967.</span>
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<br><span style="font-family: arial;">Major General Claus Hinkelbein passed away in Bad Salzuflen on April 28th, 1967, at age 57.</span>
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<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Special thanks to Herr Gerhard Bronisch at the Stadtarchiv Ludwigsburg for kindly providing the photo of Claus Hinkelbein used in this article. The photo is the property of Stadtarchiv Ludwigsburg.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-20727811506221428452009-03-30T18:23:00.011-05:002011-04-05T16:24:23.998-05:00Xaver Maier</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtP2BcfwyOOe9_v8Ec5Ma-RW0sxz6LFJU0tGIUuJdLPZo5FvjHcNo-I7n4rUM-K6V-O57_pVRN17WXgkLeeKrdu2XSseQU2ITpA_3T5glY10tct51cRc_sh39mMQpESblaRC5GawVqlNY/s1600-h/Xaver+Maier.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtP2BcfwyOOe9_v8Ec5Ma-RW0sxz6LFJU0tGIUuJdLPZo5FvjHcNo-I7n4rUM-K6V-O57_pVRN17WXgkLeeKrdu2XSseQU2ITpA_3T5glY10tct51cRc_sh39mMQpESblaRC5GawVqlNY/s400/Xaver+Maier.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319120827363140098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 25 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Walldorf, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Head chef </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Kitchen </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Xaver Maier was the head chef on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Having previously been head chef at the Ritz in Paris, Maier had been flying as a Zeppelin cook since 1933, first aboard the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ 127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and then when the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was commissioned in 1936 he was assigned to the new ship. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigyJjNhCw50rgstRm8rgIvfuKNQO67Tut646hNLsnC0QeV47JUIiblCZ7U-RTn7JqAoDD4eVf1fVbfjpZpwPgbV6hDkBW-s08bzxcSO-lmleJis2O5PyVIqK62HSh_qTweWAF-JU_awG8/s1600-h/Maier+on+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigyJjNhCw50rgstRm8rgIvfuKNQO67Tut646hNLsnC0QeV47JUIiblCZ7U-RTn7JqAoDD4eVf1fVbfjpZpwPgbV6hDkBW-s08bzxcSO-lmleJis2O5PyVIqK62HSh_qTweWAF-JU_awG8/s400/Maier+on+Graf+Zeppelin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319121688032297570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Xaver Maier preparing lobsters in the galley of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Graf Zeppelin,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > circa 1934.</span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="">(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Maier flew on every flight the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made in 1936 and early 1937, and during the first weekend in May of 1937 he oversaw the provisioning of the ship for the first North American flight of the 1937 season. He would later recall how on the day before the ship's May 3rd departure, officials from the Gestapo and the SS's security division, reacting to the increasing number of bomb threats that the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> had been receiving and conducting an exhaustive pre-flight search of the airship, had made an unusually thorough inspection of the kitchen and particularly the food storage compartments. Maier guided the security officers back along the lower keel walkway to the three storage areas. He noted with some exasperation that they made a special point of spending what Maier considered to be an inordinate amount of time in the compartment where the canned and preserved goods were kept, opening and sampling tins of game meat, caviar, and other expensive delicacies – all of which would need to be replaced before the ship sailed the following day.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Other than this comparatively minor annoyance, however, Xaver Maier noticed nothing particularly out of the ordinary during the flight to the United States. He had his two main chefs with him, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/alfred-grzinger.html">Alfred Grözinger</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/albert-stffler.html">Albert Stöffler</a>, as well as two new kitchen assistants, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-mller.html">Richard Müller</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/fritz-flackus.html">Fritz Flackus</a>. Between the five of them, they would provide three meals a day, not including incidental snacks, for 36 passengers and 61 crew members (themselves included.) On the return flight they would have almost twice as many passengers to feed, as the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">was fully booked with people traveling to England for the coronation of George VI the following week. At least, as Maier would later note, there were no problems with the equipment in the ship's all-electric kitchen during the westbound flight.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49PMRaeXNi7j86tOgHcQ2VvohJYq3kZrpZ-EYF-xHulPJTnEEZ1iwUJLG0ethXK15ACjYlNgqu-Act6x9lmQop6lXmLj15ZTT6m0bf9vMi6aPfqAMx1sufIx3XXY35Ken_xux6NhElrA/s1600-h/Maier+and+Groezinger3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49PMRaeXNi7j86tOgHcQ2VvohJYq3kZrpZ-EYF-xHulPJTnEEZ1iwUJLG0ethXK15ACjYlNgqu-Act6x9lmQop6lXmLj15ZTT6m0bf9vMi6aPfqAMx1sufIx3XXY35Ken_xux6NhElrA/s400/Maier+and+Groezinger3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319122296926540850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Xaver Maier (left) and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/alfred-grzinger.html">Alfred Grözinger</a> (right) working in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > kitchen during one of the ship's 1936 flights.</span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="">
<br />(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive)</span></span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> came in to land at Lakehurst at the end of the flight on the evening of May 6th, Maier was in the kitchen down on B-deck, just below the portside dining room. Maier heard the landing signal sound at approximately 7:00 PM, and a short while later he saw radio officer <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/franz-eichelmann.html">Franz Eichelmann</a> take a call on the ship's phone nearby, relaying an order from the control car for six of the off-duty men in the crew's mess to take positions forward. Three of Maier's cooks, Grözinger and the two young trainees, Flackus and Müller, were among those who responded to the order and left the kitchen area to make their way to the bow. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZtCdHaVW-9NF0173H3zkOWOvr1gdQCGvKSk2EtJQ9njN8JMOEtYUWewMbjG6hhiNI3BPgKP3qxp6v7155RSIFm2xI1AtZW3VR7j2zTeYX9z77ExPcCM0U79wnQghoHoiiygPyUtLFKs/s1600-h/Maier+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 351px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZtCdHaVW-9NF0173H3zkOWOvr1gdQCGvKSk2EtJQ9njN8JMOEtYUWewMbjG6hhiNI3BPgKP3qxp6v7155RSIFm2xI1AtZW3VR7j2zTeYX9z77ExPcCM0U79wnQghoHoiiygPyUtLFKs/s400/Maier+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319148956763722642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Xaver Maier's location on B-Deck at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Maier was putting away a stack of clean dishes. He had just set a plate in the scullery when he heard a detonation, closely followed by a sharp jolt which knocked him on his back. As he grabbed a girder next to the scullery and pulled himself up, Maier noticed that the ship was taking a steep inclination aft, sending dishes falling to the floor. He wasn't sure what had gone wrong, but he knew he'd better get out of the ship. He then looked out of the kitchen entrance and saw cabin boy <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/werner-franz.html">Werner Franz</a> dropping out through a service hatch out in the keel corridor near the door to the purser's office and the smoking room. Maier followed, jumping from a height of approximately 10-15 feet. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpw4wpu5INovy7Se1fHFnaw7iSwySmab5eXtHZ0Y-myJg7KMJHuJi3jX90bdaQaT2tpnx6QGD2jTmbD4M2ok_hsEfAuJlThludltguzwBBDJZ76Vw0JpNx9GmZLNn91lt9675AgdpSHg/s1600-h/Maier+escape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 184px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpw4wpu5INovy7Se1fHFnaw7iSwySmab5eXtHZ0Y-myJg7KMJHuJi3jX90bdaQaT2tpnx6QGD2jTmbD4M2ok_hsEfAuJlThludltguzwBBDJZ76Vw0JpNx9GmZLNn91lt9675AgdpSHg/s400/Maier+escape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319149268548969394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >One of the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > cooks (arrow), either Xaver Maier or <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/albert-stffler.html">Albert Stöffler</a>, just barely visible by his kitchen whites, runs to safety as the ship's hull collapses behind him.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As he scrambled out from underneath the falling hull, he noticed for the first time that the ship was on fire. With the ship collapsing to earth just behind him, Maier escaped the wreck virtually unharmed. His kitchen whites were not even scorched, and he was filmed by the Movietone newsreel crew at the scene as sailors led him away to the infirmary, smoking a cigarette as he walked.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVphU5a5usyNS4MyJ5ikJztZS6CzkX2sHRb0hgpHiCpeMt2zYPHMhy_sZ7bNpp7uDTxrdoGEyx8jaHPt0Ap5ywTqmss3gVAk4AGkTTHF4oupTW4PbYOB9qiIjj9FV8x8JomcptHf2dKG8/s1600-h/Maier+after+fire.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 324px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVphU5a5usyNS4MyJ5ikJztZS6CzkX2sHRb0hgpHiCpeMt2zYPHMhy_sZ7bNpp7uDTxrdoGEyx8jaHPt0Ap5ywTqmss3gVAk4AGkTTHF4oupTW4PbYOB9qiIjj9FV8x8JomcptHf2dKG8/s400/Maier+after+fire.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319150368438736482" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Xaver Maier, cigarette in hand, being led away from the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > wreck.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Maier stayed in the States long enough to testify before the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 13th, exactly a week after the disaster. He sailed for Germany two days later on May 15th with the surviving members of his kitchen staff, as well as the surviving steward crew, onboard the steamship Europa. Maier survived the war, and thereafter continued to ply his trade at fine German hotels such as the Parc Hotel in Frankfurt.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Xaver Maier passed away in the late 1990s.</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-13983439384547021402009-03-27T14:17:00.017-05:002011-10-06T11:11:15.678-05:00Ernst Rudolf Anders</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJslsegTJuHA3g-7IkhJcDdVBpG5y6BA-pU9rS3FDDY6hOBt6SvhsOqf5OBEY2GEzFJSZTntLP91vKXWYpaqjEL-7rdPsxb1F6xs8UAgUhkELNz3i1DLRweHSKrsTCCnyV0VtBXC3wGJY/s1600/Rudolf+Anders2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJslsegTJuHA3g-7IkhJcDdVBpG5y6BA-pU9rS3FDDY6hOBt6SvhsOqf5OBEY2GEzFJSZTntLP91vKXWYpaqjEL-7rdPsxb1F6xs8UAgUhkELNz3i1DLRweHSKrsTCCnyV0VtBXC3wGJY/s400/Rudolf+Anders2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660412024643162034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Passenger</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 63 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Residence: Dresden, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Co-Owner, Teekanne Co. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Passenger decks, probably starboard lounge </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Died in wreck </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ernst Rudolf Anders was a tea merchant from Dresden and was, along with Eugen Nisslé, co-owner of the Teekanne Company. As a young man, Anders went to work for Teekanne, which had been founded in 1882 as a subsidiary of R. Seelig & Hille. Along about 1890, Anders and Nisslé, a fellow co-worker, came up with the innovative idea of selling tea in pre-mixed and measured amounts. This allowed Teekanne to provide consistent quality regardless of year-to-year differences in tea harvests. This soon became Teekanne's main focus, and before long gained the company worldwide recognition.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In 1898, Anders and Nisslé took over the company, and the two families have owned it ever since. By 1913, Teekanne introduced their "TeeFix" and "Pompadeur" brands, which would continue to be popular in Germany almost a century later. During the First World War, Teekanne began to supply Germany's soldiers with pre-mixed, pre-portioned tea in small gauze bags. Known as "tea bombs", these were the forerunners to mass-produced tea bags. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After more than a decade of making these early tea bags by hand, in about 1928 or 1929, Teekanne developed the first tea bag machine. It could produce 35 fully-packed tea bags per minute, and was soon being marketed world-wide. Several years later, faced with the problem of the tea bag material giving the tea an unpleasant after-taste, Teekanne developed tea bags made of perforated cellophane, and later parchment. By 1937, under the TeeFix brand, these new tea bags were being marketed around the world.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In the spring of 1937, Ernst Rudolf Anders made plans to travel to the United States with his son, Rolf. Now a very successful businessman, Anders could afford to book passage for himself and his son on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">However, two weeks before the voyage, Anders suddenly decided to cancel his son's ticket and send him instead via steamer. Evidently, Anders didn't feel entirely comfortable with the idea of having both of them traveling on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">reportedly explaining simply, "Can't have two from the same family on one airship."</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, on May 3rd, 1937, Anders' family saw him off at the Rhein-Main airport in Frankfurt. As the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">rose into the evening sky, the clouds above her briefly parted, revealing a star above the airship. Frau Else Anders, perhaps nervous about her husband's last-minute decision to cancel their son's ticket, screamed and pointed, thinking that the star was, in fact, a spark and that the airship was catching fire. People nearby quickly reassured her that she wasn't seeing a spark and that the ship was in no danger.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwuSPDql97RKIP7XH5G5CvKO4FZQGkezv9LQCW2dCPIIp1qLHvpa6kc-Qdi5Ezp1aEoNxlYnsiaZ7-q_di1KQQPJwLabhnbGDG3O155K7La27uklJH710BIAXNvdJoZGGDCv6gsxwD0Ws/s1600-h/Rudolf+Anders+-+icebergs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwuSPDql97RKIP7XH5G5CvKO4FZQGkezv9LQCW2dCPIIp1qLHvpa6kc-Qdi5Ezp1aEoNxlYnsiaZ7-q_di1KQQPJwLabhnbGDG3O155K7La27uklJH710BIAXNvdJoZGGDCv6gsxwD0Ws/s400/Rudolf+Anders+-+icebergs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317951936553101298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Ernst Rudolf Anders watching icebergs off the Newfoundland coast, Wednesday, May 5th, 1937. (Image taken from home movies shot during the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > last flight by fellow passenger Joseph Spah.)</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOX9Qm6tFRuQjHg4peo7QnnYTWT7jJkiDSCM66VkPPMdWq-6hVakG-7wPdYOm8XzM6iEH4Hy4ZqYWyWG1bDQlz0zDhKOISavwsfzkoK3znP_rO2JpU2kkjt_thM0RlAUtNTe_aCr8JPWI/s1600-h/Anders+at+observation+window.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOX9Qm6tFRuQjHg4peo7QnnYTWT7jJkiDSCM66VkPPMdWq-6hVakG-7wPdYOm8XzM6iEH4Hy4ZqYWyWG1bDQlz0zDhKOISavwsfzkoK3znP_rO2JpU2kkjt_thM0RlAUtNTe_aCr8JPWI/s400/Anders+at+observation+window.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317952323705098114" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Ernst Rudolf Anders, lower center with binoculars, enjoys the sights passing by the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > observation deck. Probably along the North American coastline on May 6th, 1937. At left, silhouetted against an upright post, is fellow passenger </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;" href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/moritz-feibusch.html">Moritz Feibusch</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >. To the right of Anders, facing the camera, is <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/lieutenant-claus-hinkelbein.html">Lt. Claus Hinkelbein</a>. (Image taken from home movies shot during the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" > last flight by fellow passenger Joseph Spah.)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sadly, Frau Anders' apprehensions turned out to be well-founded. When the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">came in to land at Lakehurst three evenings later, Herr Anders was in the passenger section, probably in the starboard lounge watching the landing through one of the observation windows, when the ship suddenly caught fire. It is not known how Anders died, or whether he initially made it out of the ship alive and died in the infirmary or was simply trapped in the wreckage like many of his fellow passengers. He was later identified by a ring, his watch, and the spats and striped brown shirt he was wearing.</span>
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<br /></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyA437ikgJ_pFxsFgr0dOuF8K6KFrnev-frbRO4JTLR-t0h0G5hgytleeE-YU9iL8AUT3K2cY4a16k7LIiMFwpUcBPU62WaIP2cwc7DDT96Xf0av4gPm-Rh4Xvb5zgSi55BdG_4dQ7GFM/s1600/Anders+location.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyA437ikgJ_pFxsFgr0dOuF8K6KFrnev-frbRO4JTLR-t0h0G5hgytleeE-YU9iL8AUT3K2cY4a16k7LIiMFwpUcBPU62WaIP2cwc7DDT96Xf0av4gPm-Rh4Xvb5zgSi55BdG_4dQ7GFM/s400/Anders+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570125043257765650" border="0" /></a><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >The approximate location of Ernst Rudolf Anders on the passenger decks at the time of the fire.</span></span></span></span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Anders' son Rolf, who may indeed have owed his life to his father's decision to cancel his booking on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">subsequently took over his father's co-ownership of Teekanne. Eight years later, on February 13, 1945, in the last few months of World War II, the Allies virtually incinerated most of Dresden in a two-day aerial firebombing campaign. The Teekanne Company's facility was badly damaged, and production was slowed. In 1946, what remained of the business was seized by the Allies, and the co-owners, Rolf Anders and Johannes Nisslé, were displaced. With only a backpack, a typewriter, and a bicycle between them, the two men fled to West Germany, They relocated to Viersen, just outside of Dusseldorf, where they began the process of rebuilding the Teekanne Company. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Within a few years, Teekanne was a leader in the tea business once again, and in 2007 the company, still owned and operated by the Anders and Nisslé families, celebrated its 125th anniversary. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(NOTE: For additional reference, the <a href="http://www.teekanne.de/">Teekanne website</a> includes a section on the <a href="http://www.teekanne.de/index.php?id=324">history of the Teekanne Co.</a>)</span>
<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-78184240165450831332009-03-18T20:01:00.031-05:002011-04-05T16:34:06.991-05:00Captain Walter Ziegler</span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4GDMJWuQotSKEhy6DonkzgIO3lPb_jVSX2qfM3UATgrHicYOP1x6jgS2efRzq7i2YF_Pqj2ByTSdyNd8SMhoZ0ycrTgd0mhWlUuwglXlCuFJnSeXJ4caTI_nlXIOVFpOZr6qghQv3LY/s1600-h/Ziegler.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4GDMJWuQotSKEhy6DonkzgIO3lPb_jVSX2qfM3UATgrHicYOP1x6jgS2efRzq7i2YF_Pqj2ByTSdyNd8SMhoZ0ycrTgd0mhWlUuwglXlCuFJnSeXJ4caTI_nlXIOVFpOZr6qghQv3LY/s400/Ziegler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314714334116527058" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 29 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Hamburg, Germany</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Watch Officer </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Control car </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Survived</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Walter Ziegler was a watch officer on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> final flight. A former merchant marine, Ziegler had served aboard the Hamburg-America Line steamers </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Resolute</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >New York,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> rising to the rank of third officer before being hired by the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei on May 1st, 1935. With the DZR looking to train watch officers to command the fleet of airships which was expected to be built over the next several years, Ziegler quickly progressed from his initial station on the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ 127 </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Graf Zeppelin</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> as one of <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/ludwig-knorr.html">Chief Knorr's</a> riggers, to stand watch as a helmsman, then as an elevatorman and finally, by the time the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> made her maiden flight on March 4, 1936, a navigator. By the beginning of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> 1937 season, Walter Ziegler had reached the rank of watch officer, and as such was one of the ship's second officers. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ziegler was also, according to Klaus Pruss (the son of the Hindenburg's commander <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/captain-max-pruss.html">Captain Max Pruss</a>) one of three ranking members of the Nazi Party among the Hindenburg's crew, </span><span style="font-family:arial;">the others being Chief Engineer <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/rudolf-sauter.html">Rudolf Sauter</a> and rudderman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/helmut-lau.html">Helmut Lau</a>. According to Pruss, Ziegler and the others were, however, dedicated airshipmen first and foremost.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVj2Sdb7-lB8vsKolMcrn9s5HBxeVfwabFRHgCtwHqTFqKuEsSQyjlv-EgessFBpUfUlUDT6o5HOPq793K-x_DM5JBsBj9JTaBd2i2hexsmIX1I1J8waqT4ogZBJ9xaxDwItaWvAtgbxM/s1600-h/Ziegler+giving+tour.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVj2Sdb7-lB8vsKolMcrn9s5HBxeVfwabFRHgCtwHqTFqKuEsSQyjlv-EgessFBpUfUlUDT6o5HOPq793K-x_DM5JBsBj9JTaBd2i2hexsmIX1I1J8waqT4ogZBJ9xaxDwItaWvAtgbxM/s400/Ziegler+giving+tour.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314723937103300770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Walter Ziegler (prior to promotion to navigator, given the lack of insignia stripes on his sleeve) gives a tour of the navigation room in the Hindenburg's control car.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A disciplined man, Ziegler was apparently more than a bit concerned by the comparatively lax security in the Zeppelin hangar at Rhein-Main Flughafen in Frankfurt, as visitors were allowed inside the hangar to look at the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> in the days before it's first 1937 flight to America, which was scheduled to begin on May 3rd. Ziegler, who was the officer in charge of moving the Hindenburg into and out of her hangar, later recalled that diagrams of the interior of the ship were posted on the walls of the hangar, which could conceivably have made a much easier job of it for a potential stowaway or other troublemaker.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The first North American flight of the season progressed without incident, and Captain Ziegler's last four-hour watch of the flight ended at 4:00 on the afternoon of May 6th, shortly before the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> passed over the Lakehurst air station for the first time before heading for the New Jersey coast to await better landing conditions. Ziegler returned to the control car at approximately 7:00, just before navigator <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html">Eduard Boetius</a> sounded the signal for landing stations. The ship was approaching the Lakehurst air station from the southwest, and the giant airship hangar came into view shortly thereafter.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Ziegler took the off-watch position at the gas board at the rear of the command deck in the front section of the control car. At approximately 7:10 PM, as the ship made a wide circle to the north and west of the landing field, Ziegler cranked the wheel on the gas board, valving gas simultaneously for 15 seconds from gas cells 3 through 11, and cells 13 and 14 on orders from <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/06/captain-albert-sammt.html">Captain Albert Sammt</a>, the watch officer in charge of the ship's altitude during the landing maneuver. When it was noticed a couple minutes later that the ship was tail-heavy, Sammt ordered Ziegler to pull the individual valving mechanisms for cells 11 through 16 (which filled the forward half of the ship) in an effort to bring the ship into trim. Ziegler valved these six forward cells three times over the next five minutes or so, for 15 seconds at 7:13, an additional 15 seconds at 7:16, and for 5 seconds at 7:19 when the ship was hovering almost stationary just beyond the outer edge ot the mooring circle, preparing to drop its yaw lines. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sammt then remarked that the ship seemed to be in trim, and Ziegler proceeded to watch the ground crew below. He saw the ship's two yaw lines drop from the bow at 7:21, and watched the ground crew attach the port line to the corresponding mooring car. The wind suddenly changed slightly, and Ziegler saw the portside yaw line tighten as the ship moved to starboard. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3qYvb3iGcl9VUMOG-c-PYHay_kIANoGr5rE9rT-j4CTongLoEHy370vH_m0LDCpMBBu9PQ5m7I6kj8CvTO-JocmbuwDjalwIZ3et-rvmfUliUkoUzOoGBjs_2ay5fYv-Bh0x4dfRABQ/s1600-h/Ziegler+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3qYvb3iGcl9VUMOG-c-PYHay_kIANoGr5rE9rT-j4CTongLoEHy370vH_m0LDCpMBBu9PQ5m7I6kj8CvTO-JocmbuwDjalwIZ3et-rvmfUliUkoUzOoGBjs_2ay5fYv-Bh0x4dfRABQ/s400/Ziegler+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314725955579294722" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Ziegler's location in the control car at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The ship suddenly gave a shake, and Ziegler heard a dull thud. He looked aft, and saw a yellowish-red glare coming from the area near the stern of the ship, then he held on as the ship itself took a sudden steep inclination aft. Gradually, the front of the ship began to descend at what Ziegler later described as "a moderate speed, and "settled relatively smoothly." As the ship neared the ground, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/captain-ernst-lehmann.html">Captain Ernst Lehmann</a>, former <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span> commander who was aboard as an observer, ordered everybody out of the car. Ziegler made his way to a window on the starboard side and prepared to jump. The ship touched down on the hydraulic landing wheel beneath the control car, and Ziegler held back as the ship rebounded about 15 or 20 feet back into the air, leaping out the window as the ship settled to earth for the second and final time. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ziegler's natural escape route at that point was to run towards the starboard side of the ship, but he quickly stopped and thought better of it when he saw the ship's starboard structure collapsing in front of him. He turned around and made his way back toward the control car and, having heard stories of wartime Zeppelin crew members having survived fiery crashes by lying down on the floor of their gondolas until the fire had subsided, Ziegler climbed back into the remains of the control car and lay face-down on the floor of the navigation room.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHRlr8JrWsZXRJQKaCTD66jVkgH_XTUNR2nNR5cZsQQxiCKMS3IE8r1GnsrIxwkK2M8hiY6WdXijRB-gzwUZx2eD7sowGSMqBAYOZEmAicek3KhffmZW24nSdgU-FcZlIcMNlZCQX0N5E/s1600-h/Ziegler+escape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHRlr8JrWsZXRJQKaCTD66jVkgH_XTUNR2nNR5cZsQQxiCKMS3IE8r1GnsrIxwkK2M8hiY6WdXijRB-gzwUZx2eD7sowGSMqBAYOZEmAicek3KhffmZW24nSdgU-FcZlIcMNlZCQX0N5E/s400/Ziegler+escape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314775873329748658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >One of the Hindenburg's watch officers, either Walter Ziegler or <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Anton Wittemann</a>, (arrow) pauses and begins to backpedal as the ship's hull collapses atop several other members of the command crew in front of him.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Captain Ziegler stayed in the control car for a few seconds, and then quickly realized that it was simply too hot for him to remain there. He briefly hunted around the navigation room for the ship's log book but, unable to locate it, he climbed back out the starboard window of the navigation room and made his way around the front of the control car. He noticed that the fire was less intense to port, and after a few moments the rest of the outer cover had burned away and he saw a clear path to safety there. Chief Sauter was already out there, and when he saw Ziegler emerging from the wreck, he helped him to get clear.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After making a rather slow escape from the wreck, Ziegler somehow walked out virtually unscathed, and then joined with other crew members in climbing up into the portside passenger decks to look for survivors. Once they assisted the last five passengers out of the ruins of the dining salon, Ziegler and a number of others including steward <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/fritz-deeg.html">Fritz Deeg</a>, navigators Eduard Boetius and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/christian-nielsen.html">Christian Nielsen</a>, and an Esso Oil official named Emil Hoff began trying to determine who had escaped the fire and who had not. Ziegler stayed on the field doing what he could for the next couple of hours, and finally went over to the DZR office in the heavier-than-air hangar where crew survivors had been gathering, and then proceeded over to the infirmary to see how many survivors had passed through there.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ziegler remained in the United States for about 3 weeks after the disaster. He stayed by the bedside of engine mechanic <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/walter-banholzer.html">Walter Banholzer</a>, critically burned and dying at nearby Paul Kimball Hospital, until Banholzer passed away early in the morning on May 7th, the day after the fire. Ziegler was also required to assist several other surviving crewmen in the sad task of identifying the bodies of the victims, lined up on the floor in a makeshift morgue in one of the side rooms of Hangar #1. One of those identified by Ziegler was <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/emilie-imhof.html">Emilie Imhoff</a>, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first stewardess, who had been hired by the Zeppelin Company the previous September. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As one of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> most senior officers not confined to the hospital (the other two being <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/05/captain-anton-wittemann.html">Captain Anton Wittemann</a>) Ziegler took an active role in the investigation into the disaster, particularly in the hours and days immediately following the accident. He was onhand as police and federal agents combed through the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> wreckage, and at one point was approached by an FBI agent who was holding what he claimed to be part of a bomb he'd discovered in the stern portion of the ship. What at first appeared to be a watch spring, Ziegler told the man, was in fact merely part of one of the tensiometers used to measure the tautness of the bracing wires radiating out like bicycle spokes from the ship's axial girder.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ziegler, along with Bauer and several others, also conferred with the US Navy's Board of Inquiry before it was shut down due to a jurisdictional conflict the Monday following the disaster. Since the Hindenburg was a civilian aircraft, the investigation fell to the US Department of Commerce, even though the disaster had taken place on a Navy base. Once the Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry convened, Ziegler and the others conferred with the Board members as needed, though they were not actually part of the Board itself.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A week after the disaster, Ziegler was onhand for the Board testimony of 14 year-old cabin boy <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/werner-franz.html">Werner Franz</a>, the youngest crew member by at least several years. There was some question as to whether Franz should be sworn in or not since, as Ziegler pointed out to the Board, it was customary in Germany that minors not be made to swear oaths. In the end, it was decided that the boy should be allowed to testify without being sworn in.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYUtO4AIEYOqt-uegF2W7lAyyP1dNNlYPDRN9CKxDt-7oPSr3EMhV2du8GgBbwl3iMDwCRysaM73cvaoqMmiA3koE_WV6VhGt_OxX-xtpqqmHemFIuuDOiC_LWdcv8AvoZuTrXk62KHo/s1600-h/Franz-Ziegler.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYUtO4AIEYOqt-uegF2W7lAyyP1dNNlYPDRN9CKxDt-7oPSr3EMhV2du8GgBbwl3iMDwCRysaM73cvaoqMmiA3koE_WV6VhGt_OxX-xtpqqmHemFIuuDOiC_LWdcv8AvoZuTrXk62KHo/s400/Franz-Ziegler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314734362355010642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Captain Walter Ziegler (right) and cabin boy <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/werner-franz.html">Werner Franz</a> (left) on the day of Franz's testimony to the Board of Inquiry.</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" ><span>(photo courtesy of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmBH Archive) </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ziegler himself testified before the Board of Inquiry on May 20, and then joined a group of his fellow crewmembers two days later as they returned to Germany onboard the steamship <span style="font-style: italic;">Bremen,</span> which then arrived in Bremerhaven on May 28th. Ziegler later reportedly told of having been met at the ship's port in Germany by a Gestapo agent, literally as he walked down the ship's gangplank to disembark. He was taken to Berlin, where he was interrogated for several hours by a ranking Gestapo officer, who was apparently investigating the possibility that the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> had been sabotaged. Since this account comes from A.A Hoehling's book, however, and there is as yet no second source upon which to triangulate and attempt to glean some sort of context for the story, it must be taken with a grain of salt.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Walter Ziegler survived the war, and settled down in Hamburg, where he worked for a British petroleum company.</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-20431486080599164562009-03-18T18:18:00.016-05:002017-02-24T13:51:33.569-06:00Max Zabel</span><br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpwlXK3f0kafxjXoao8Qyf24dF29WyQtAT2JZqgd7tFTFhY2aSB1fgvI0QWqZAlONJkGhh9gzG7WjzQwV6CNiU5fchrNgFm2xMZxfBi3QbHhfggs-s2qh64UILn7JxmdNeCx85xVmxMg/s1600-h/Max%252520Zabel%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Max Zabel" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Max Zabel" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cVkgj55i4d0/WLCOxQW9R_I/AAAAAAAAE1w/qToBUZbm3kw/Max%252520Zabel_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="210" align="left" height="297"></a> <br><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold"><span style="font-family: times new roman"> Crew Member </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman"> Age: 29 </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman"> Hometown: Walldorf, Germany </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman"> Occupation: Navigator (third officer) </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman"> Location at time of fire: Navigation room, control car </span><br><br><span style="font-family: times new roman"> Survived </span></span><br><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Max Zabel was one of four navigators on the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> last flight, the others being <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/09/franz-herzog.html">Franz Herzog</a>, <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/christian-nielsen.html">Christian Nielsen</a>, and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/12/eduard-botius.html">Eduard Boetius</a>. Zabel had previously sailed with the Hamburg-Amerika shipping line, starting out as an able seaman (AB) in about 1925 when he was in his late teens, rose through the ranks, and by late 1932 was second officer aboard the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Vogtland.</span><span style="font-family: arial"> Zabel was hired by the Zeppelin Company in 1935 as a navigator. He had first flown on the <a href="http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin">LZ-127 </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Graf Zeppelin</span></a><span style="font-family: arial"> before the Hindenburg was commissioned in 1936, and then transferred over to the new ship in time for the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> maiden flight on March 4th, 1936. In all, Max Zabel made 45 flights aboard the two airships.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1SXXh4feGIz6niTtO5R0NtFIMWa3UKilPLSD4vHtLnQK1a0sk6b_ZHcy45vNXYKXaE0cdt5bKmroBbkUoK6E43O5VeBgSWtD0XWsaATwZMeTpwnRqqELweN-ghBJEK-NuvCkigEsE10/s1600-h/Zabel+autograph+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314678827399181138" style="cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 352px; text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1SXXh4feGIz6niTtO5R0NtFIMWa3UKilPLSD4vHtLnQK1a0sk6b_ZHcy45vNXYKXaE0cdt5bKmroBbkUoK6E43O5VeBgSWtD0XWsaATwZMeTpwnRqqELweN-ghBJEK-NuvCkigEsE10/s400/Zabel+autograph+1.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Max Zabel signs autographs during a stop at Lakehurst in 1936.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">On the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> first North American flight of 1937, which began on May 3rd, Zabel was serving not only as a navigator, but also in his new capacity as ship's postmaster, having taken over for helmsman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/kurt-schonherr.html">Kurt Schönherr</a> who had acted as the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family: arial"> postmaster during the 1936 season. Zabel not only looked after the bags of mail which were carried at Ring 203 above the control car, but he also handled in-flight mail sent by passengers and crew. Zabel's standby watch, therefore, tended to be taken up largely by his mail duties. </span><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The flight proceeded without incident and on the final day, May 6th, as the ship cruised over the New Jersey shore waiting for the weather at Lakehurst to clear, Zabel was on standby watch and went to the crew's mess for dinner shortly after the ship passed over Asbury Park at approximately 6:00 PM.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">About an hour later, the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> received clearance to land, and was approaching the air station at Lakehurst. Max Zabel reported to the navigation chart room in the center of the control car when the signal for landing stations was sounded. He was in charge of the forward landing wheel under the chart room, which he deployed using compressed air. He then used a detachable control wheel to keep the landing wheel and its housing turned into the wind. After he had gotten the landing wheel more or less into position, Zabel was watching the landing operations on the ground from one of the windows alongside the control car. He saw the two yaw ropes drop from the nose of the ship, one after the other, and the ground crew picking them up and hauling them off to be connected up to the mooring tackle near the mast. The port rope tightened noticeably as the wind changed and pushed the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family: arial"> to starboard. </span><br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDEgh33QzvS9-QMhaYVf56G2DCoYkrHXCARVYmUPXOtbtNlcJKQSp_6ojbfD5C3pd0_ct3_BThSEn61DEUhUYaV9hLAMVI5ZPKrRINkzaTS2I4PCxpG9DRlAyn7RDSav_yjScxyL9Q1I/s1600-h/Zabel+location.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314675611558976354" style="cursor: pointer; height: 220px; width: 400px; text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDEgh33QzvS9-QMhaYVf56G2DCoYkrHXCARVYmUPXOtbtNlcJKQSp_6ojbfD5C3pd0_ct3_BThSEn61DEUhUYaV9hLAMVI5ZPKrRINkzaTS2I4PCxpG9DRlAyn7RDSav_yjScxyL9Q1I/s400/Zabel+location.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Max Zabel's location in the control car at the time of the fire.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">The control car shook suddenly with an extraordinary vibration as Zabel heard a muffled explosion. He looked aft and saw a reddish/yellowish reflection. Suddenly the stern of the ship dropped and Zabel braced himself against the rear wall of the navigation room. He saw the contents of the forward chart table, drawers, the log book, etc., fall to the floor as the ship tilted even more steeply. After a number of seconds, Zabel felt the bow of the ship finally beginning to descend. He saw fire everywhere above him, and climbed up onto the chart table to jump out of the main portside window in the navigation room, but he got his foot caught momentarily in one of the top drawers. Navigator Christian Nielsen was already at the window ahead of Zabel and and jumped as the ship neared the ground. Zabel felt the ship rebound on its landing wheel and leapt from the ship a split second after <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/captain-heinrich-bauer.html">Captain Heinrich Bauer</a>, who had dropped through a window next to the elevator wheel, just forward of Zabel. The two men ran out from under the wreckage as it descended for the second and final time.</span> <br><br><br> <div style="text-align: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBevRKk5T_GUwez86uB1SJ2v10KK-bPA-RziUjiE4JEea2RGDJDE3hB7AjkMO3Ev3KGANnUjM0uIG6r-rciokjd1GHFwr9VhlDf75Iv5Dtf9wFZfW2DovfIO9rbpQzddAD05cqfwMYtAc/s1600-h/Zabel+escape.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317936774262307330" style="cursor: pointer; height: 182px; width: 400px; text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBevRKk5T_GUwez86uB1SJ2v10KK-bPA-RziUjiE4JEea2RGDJDE3hB7AjkMO3Ev3KGANnUjM0uIG6r-rciokjd1GHFwr9VhlDf75Iv5Dtf9wFZfW2DovfIO9rbpQzddAD05cqfwMYtAc/s400/Zabel+escape.jpg"></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold">Max Zabel (arrow) drops to the ground, having just jumped from the portside navigation room window in the control car.</span> <br></div><br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Max Zabel escaped the wreck unhurt, and immediately ran aft to the passenger decks where he helped others to lead two men and two women out of the ruined dining salon. Once it was clear that they'd rescued everyone they could from the passenger decks, Zabel returned to the control car to make sure nobody was still in there. Seeing that the control car was indeed empty, Zabel then proceeded forward to the bow where he knew there had been nearly a dozen men stationed. He saw rescuers carrying the burning body of one of the men out of the bow, and couldn't tell who it had been. Zabel continued to check various parts of the ship for some time after that, but was unable to find anyone else to rescue.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">As ship's postmaster, Zabel worked with the US Postal Service and the Zeppelin Company to account for the mail that had been aboard the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> when it burned. The <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> had begun the flight with approximately 235 pounds of mail in eight separate mailbags, though one of those bags had been dropped by parachute over Cologne, Germany on the first night of the trip. Between the remaining seven bags of mail and the in-flight mail that various passengers and crew had posted during the voyage, however, there were still between 15,000 and 17,000 letters on the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg</span> at the time of the fire. Ultimately, only 358 pieces of mail were recovered. Those that could be forwarded to their intended recipients were eventually sent on. However, Mr. F. W. von Meister, the representative for the Zeppelin Company in the United States, had lists of regular philatelic mail subscribers who had had mail being carried on the <span style="font-style: italic">Hindenburg's</span> last flight. To those whose mail could not be salvaged, Max Zabel signed copies of a form letter that had been written up, explaining that their mail had been lost in the fire.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">Zabel testified before the US Commerce Department's Board of Inquiry on May 19th, and then sailed for Germany slightly more than two weeks after the disaster along with other crew survivors onboard the steamship </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic">Bremen,</span><span style="font-family: arial"> finally arriving home approximately a week after that on May 28th.</span> <br><br><span style="font-family: arial">After the war, Max Zabel worked in Hamburg for the German Hydrographical Institute.</span> <br><br></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-14261652260206847942009-03-03T21:45:00.022-06:002011-07-24T21:55:22.060-05:00Ernst Huchel</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzmypbgBfCJ709t8KDfN3WW4_jMEUCXtA9OY2qvAQwl-F_SfHp2HVAtW-SUXPoFus1NTT23OH1OUXrOqAyVD0HsC7AlUnG4KTcHZU_uUfarVK8nn5mNqkf6ADyohceJTKSRDNqm7ZO-E/s1600-h/Ernst+Huchel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzmypbgBfCJ709t8KDfN3WW4_jMEUCXtA9OY2qvAQwl-F_SfHp2HVAtW-SUXPoFus1NTT23OH1OUXrOqAyVD0HsC7AlUnG4KTcHZU_uUfarVK8nn5mNqkf6ADyohceJTKSRDNqm7ZO-E/s400/Ernst+Huchel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309175821104188594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Crew Member </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 31 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Hometown: Friedrichshafen, Germany </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Senior elevatorman </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Bow, mooring shelf </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Died in wreck </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ernst Huchel was born on February 26, 1906 in the village of Satuelle, which was situated northwest of Magdeburg, the capital of the Prussian province of Sachsen (Saxony.) Apprenticed as an engine fitter, Huchel found work at the Maybach Motorenbau, and at Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in the tank/container division. He later completed engineering school and on August 5th, 1930, he was hired by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin as an engineer in the construction office.
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<br />In 1935, Huchel was taken on as part of the crew of the LZ 127 <span style="font-style:italic;">Graf Zeppelin,</span> on which he stood watch as a helmsman, gradually training up to become an elevatorman. The following year, when the LZ 129 <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg</span> was completed, Huchel transferred to the new ship as the ship's senior elevatorman. He flew on the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> maiden voyage on March 4th, 1936, and on most flights thereafter.
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<br />A senior elevatorman, Huchel was also in charge of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Hindenburg's</span> freight, both loading and unloading it, and keeping the freight logs. In addition, he was also tasked with looking after special freight while the ship was in flight. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg</span> would often transport unusual items in its freight compartments, including airplanes, automobiles, and even on one occasion in August of 1936, a pair of live pronghorn antelope.
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<br />Huchel had married Else Baumann, and in 1936 he became the father of twin boys. He was also, in his spare time, an avid sailplane pilot, serving as a flight instructor, as well as the leader of the local glider club in Friedrichshafen.
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<br />On the <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> first North American trip of 1937, which left on the evening of May 3rd, Huchel served once again as senior elevatorman, the other two elevatormen aboard the flight being <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/10/kurt-bauer.html">Kurt Bauer</a> and <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/02/ludwig-felber.html">Ludwig Felber</a>. He also handled his usual duties overseeing the ship's freight, of which there wasn't a great deal on this particular flight.
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<br />There were, however, two dogs aboard – one being sent to a man named Fred Muller in Philadelphia, and the other being shipped by a passenger named <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2008/11/joseph-sph.html">Joseph Späh</a>. Huchel, on his standby watch, would walk aft to the kennel basket at Ring 90 to feed and check in on Mr. Muller's dog, usually with one of the stewards. Mr. Späh insisted on feeding and looking after his dog himself.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoLK-6ahkU3RXaLAmsqnOwq3_TpUDY8bg5XDJYXLEXT6rfHzRFiC8sS_a0ya_wihVkrSHSBCNFfszQxxxMMKA0AZfyjKeQzM-tRrrQ8MZamiJklm5Ew3rEf4bU-Xrf6mZ-yqGKj4W90I/s1600-h/Huchel+at+elevator+wheel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoLK-6ahkU3RXaLAmsqnOwq3_TpUDY8bg5XDJYXLEXT6rfHzRFiC8sS_a0ya_wihVkrSHSBCNFfszQxxxMMKA0AZfyjKeQzM-tRrrQ8MZamiJklm5Ew3rEf4bU-Xrf6mZ-yqGKj4W90I/s400/Huchel+at+elevator+wheel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309179221942844546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Ernst Huchel at the Hindenburg's elevator wheel, circa 1936.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ernst Huchel was off-watch as the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> came in to land at Lakehurst at the end of its final flight on the evening of May 6th, 1937, and as such he would normally have taken a landing station above the control car, manning the <a href="http://www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/hindenb-gondola050web.jpg">spider lines</a>. However, since the ship was making a flying moor instead of the usual German-style low landing, the spiders weren’t used. Instead, Huchel took a landing station at the mooring area in the bow with along with helmsman <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/01/alfred-bernhardt.html">Alfred Bernhardt</a>, rigger <a href="http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/04/erich-spehl.html">Erich Spehl</a>, and trainee elevatorman Ludwig Felber. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_bMZ7ZKAqn4mns5m0XY_xCs-H1Nk0i73VmwuH_7VRxzS9UfEYmtAjHLvqoWO_fAkMPVWJGHi4mxBeOXYb9oNCryBchgS1WvRW1WbElgzO_hdYd4QsObNtUp5uGiz01srGx9IVWS1GL8/s1600-h/Huchel+location.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_bMZ7ZKAqn4mns5m0XY_xCs-H1Nk0i73VmwuH_7VRxzS9UfEYmtAjHLvqoWO_fAkMPVWJGHi4mxBeOXYb9oNCryBchgS1WvRW1WbElgzO_hdYd4QsObNtUp5uGiz01srGx9IVWS1GL8/s400/Huchel+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411434977743887442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Ernst Huchel's approximate location at the time of the fire.
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(<span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg structural diagram courtesy of David Fowler</span>)</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When the fire broke out a short while later, Huchel and the others in the bow were engulfed by fire as the blaze shot up out of the nose of the ship and ignited the forward-most hydrogen cell. Huchel seems to have been standing on the lower mooring platform, from which the forward yaw lines had been dropped. While Bernhardt, Felber, and Spehl remained in the ship until it was on the ground, Huchel tried to escape the flames by leaping from the four-paned observation window between the mooring rope hatches. Unfortunately, the ship's bow was still several hundred feet in the air, and Huchel was killed when he hit the ground.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotMdCQNBsuXZVh-sP5W2Nd-TzAUASwR9uOl-rONaAKA8SBx-PptXgCSMNxngtHjDxzIKmfeFLH2Mu4GvS_ca5WkmvkjK5qbPICVKXhmfC9nMCXTmSyZF4BB58otehQXOhgUVdDpAOXpE/s1600-h/Huchel+Fall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotMdCQNBsuXZVh-sP5W2Nd-TzAUASwR9uOl-rONaAKA8SBx-PptXgCSMNxngtHjDxzIKmfeFLH2Mu4GvS_ca5WkmvkjK5qbPICVKXhmfC9nMCXTmSyZF4BB58otehQXOhgUVdDpAOXpE/s400/Huchel+Fall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309182231811236354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >A crewman, probably Ernst Huchel, plunges to earth after having leapt from the tip of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hindenburg's</span> bow.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqAlLIeZ6x9bOonJmKNAWVlC2JqEgLjQOAnn0olPOoSvRlANSFnIA8xlUKqyozdmw4M_0mG2lhnn35BBf5Fe8zm75v6StaWIsnNotjUfB2GoaaSAF-TY9hMRtjj6Hf63YqfrmNtHLByU/s1600-h/Huchel's+body.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqAlLIeZ6x9bOonJmKNAWVlC2JqEgLjQOAnn0olPOoSvRlANSFnIA8xlUKqyozdmw4M_0mG2lhnn35BBf5Fe8zm75v6StaWIsnNotjUfB2GoaaSAF-TY9hMRtjj6Hf63YqfrmNtHLByU/s400/Huchel's+body.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420044612071516178" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Ernst Huchel's body (foreground) after having been dragged away from the wreckage.</span>
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<br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">Ernst Huchel's body was shipped back to Germany the following week, May 13th, aboard the steamship Hamburg.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ironically, Jakob Baumann, the father of Ernst Huchel's wife Else had also been killed on a Zeppelin. During World War I, Baumann was chief engine mechanic aboard the German Naval airship SL 11, commanded by <span style="font-style:italic;">Hauptmann</span> Wilhelm Schramm. On the night of September 2-3, 1916, SL 11 took part in a multi-airship bombing raid on London. At approximately 2:30 in the morning, the airship was overtaken and shot down in flames by a biplane flown by Lt. William Leefe Robinson. SL 11 slowly fell to earth, ablaze from end to end, and landed in the London suburb of Cuffley. All aboard, including Jakob Baumann, were killed. The crew was buried in nearby Potter's Bar.
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<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Special thanks to Michael Pavlovic for helping me to confirm the identity of Ernst Huchel in the wreck photos shown above.
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<br />Thanks also to Herr Manfred Sauter of the Freundeskreis zur Förderung des Zeppelin Museums e.V., whose memorial article on the Hindenburg crew members who lost their lives at Lakehurst (Zeppelin Brief, No. 59, June 2011) provided additional details on Huchel's career, and to Dr. Cheryl Ganz for providing me with a copy of the article.
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-45840577609154664232009-03-03T20:16:00.017-06:002011-10-04T10:27:23.742-05:00Otto Reichhold</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJLghBOvqpXHY6wjZSLPbBAo1amxkfIQk7yO07LnfF4YEz16yBl4v1ykAHKuWzggq09SAwLneb07bODY4ihiX1ikY575zdEbvXRLQt-bLwZ1hVLpYzpA6Qr1_YOg47qcYF0JAeh8Ge2k/s1600/Otto-Reichhold.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJLghBOvqpXHY6wjZSLPbBAo1amxkfIQk7yO07LnfF4YEz16yBl4v1ykAHKuWzggq09SAwLneb07bODY4ihiX1ikY575zdEbvXRLQt-bLwZ1hVLpYzpA6Qr1_YOg47qcYF0JAeh8Ge2k/s400/Otto-Reichhold.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466791074769246658" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Passenger </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Age: 42 </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Residence: Vienna, Austria </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Occupation: Manager, Beck, Koller & Co., Vienna </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Location at time of fire: Passenger decks </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Died in wreck </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Otto Reichhold, born in Berlin in April of 1895, was manager of Beck, Koller & Company, a paint and varnish manufacturer owned and operated by the Reichhold family in Vienna, Austria. Reichhold had made a number of previous steamship voyages to the United States, including a 1913 trip to visit Doctor Edward Rumely in La Porte, Indiana. Doctor Rumely ran the Interlaken School in La Porte, and the 18 year-old Otto Reichhold visited the school as a student.
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<br />The Reichhold family had been renowned varnish makers who had long served the Austrian royal household. In the years following World War I, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken apart and the old trappings of feudalism faded, it was no longer of any particular benefit for a business to have served the Emperor, as it had been before. By the mid 1920s Otto Reichhold, then in his early thirties, and his brother Helmuth (just barely in his twenties) co-managed a smaller, stripped-down version of the family’s paint and varnish business, which was called Beck, Koller & Co. The brothers kept looking for ways to improve and expand the company.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">They found their opportunity in the burgeoning automobile market.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The concept of mass-production had begun to take hold, and American entrepreneurs such as Ford, Durant, and the Dodge brothers developed assembly lines to more efficiently (and inexpensively) produce automobiles… thus, making them available to the masses. One of the biggest snags in auto production of this kind, however, was the cumbersome, time-consuming process of painting the cars once they’d been assembled. The paint had to be applied by brush and with newly-developed spray guns, and the paint took far too long to dry so that a car could be delivered. It was common for automobile manufacturers to have anywhere from two to four weeks of inventory in the process of being painted at any given time. This inability to keep pace with the assembly lines was an industry-wide problem.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Helmuth Reichhold emigrated to the United States in the early 1920s and went to work in the paint department of Ford Motors, quickly rising through the ranks to become the technical head of the department within a year. In winter of 1925, Helmuth (who had Americanized his name to "Henry") heard from Otto back in Europe that the family company had developed oil-soluble, phenol-based paints that covered in one or two coats, and then dried quickly (in hours rather than days) with the application of a small amount of heat.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Having purchased 20 100-pound bags of the substance through Otto, Henry Reichhold named the new product "Beckacite", after the name of the family firm, and then started his own business selling Beckacite directly to Ford and, to a much lesser extent, to other automobile manufacturers. Henry and Otto Reichhold quickly realized that their Vienna factory was not going to be able to keep up with the American auto industry's demand for Beckacite. so, operating under the Beck, Koller & Co. name, Henry set up a factory and sales offices in Detroit.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Otto Reichhold, back in Europe, had begun dealing with the British automobile industry, and had expanded the Vienna branch of Beck, Koller and Co. on this basis. He sailed to the United States in 1928 aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Deutschland,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and spent a few months in Detroit with Henry working out the details of the company's new American operation. It was decided that Otto would focus on production and development, and Henry, along with his business partner Charles O'Connor, would concentrate more on sales.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And so, the Reichhold's businesses began to grow, establishing research laboratories in the United States to meet the increasing demands of Ford Motors, which made a point of selling its cars in as many different colors as it could. Beck, Koller & Co. faced its share of difficulties during the Great Depression, but the company survived and gradually began to set up smaller subsidiary companies in the United States and in Europe to produce the raw materials needed to create the various paint and resin lines Beck, Koller & Co. sold.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMB41Odry8h-48gDmur15K24PbwPK2BzIPjjcV5CanyMT4FoAtLEONUFkTABSRXA_T4KaZbf0l9fl7XUPml6YyTr1OXDryYfNsSQyTShGZtUU540_elZlXEVuxsWBl-5eGSdFHvLb-Zz0/s1600/Otto+Reichhold+1930s.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 534px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMB41Odry8h-48gDmur15K24PbwPK2BzIPjjcV5CanyMT4FoAtLEONUFkTABSRXA_T4KaZbf0l9fl7XUPml6YyTr1OXDryYfNsSQyTShGZtUU540_elZlXEVuxsWBl-5eGSdFHvLb-Zz0/s400/Otto+Reichhold+1930s.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483023997924393666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >Otto Reichhold photographed during an ocean voyage in the 1930s.</span>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(photo courtesy of Gerald List)</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Otto Reichhold, who continued to be based in Europe, would periodically travel to the United States to meet with Henry and discuss the further development of their international business. During the first week of May in 1937, Otto was on his way from Europe for one of these meetings. He had written to Henry to inform him of his plans to fly over on the German passenger airship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> mentioning how keenly he was looking forward to the experience. Otto left his wife Rosa and their daughter behind in Vienna, and boarded the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> in Frankfurt on May 3rd. Henry made his way from Detroit to Lakehurst, NJ to meet Otto when he landed on May 6th.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It is not known exactly where Otto was when the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hindenburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> caught fire. He may have been in his cabin, or perhaps in the starboard lounge (towards which the wind, and ultimately the fire itself, was blowing at the time of the accident, and where, unfortunately, a number of passengers ended up trapped and unable to escape). </span>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OODBVC87yqfhaBdgTy6tJa0pB5wypb18Vv-xlctizCsh61F3S0UsYK6eMkElq-PI2sHpCCypTbbY6jJmVYN8bbjJkIyM3O104714cEs8_5UPM2aMxY2sZibomzJ4cfbnt6jFN1C5s44/s1600/Reichhold+location.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OODBVC87yqfhaBdgTy6tJa0pB5wypb18Vv-xlctizCsh61F3S0UsYK6eMkElq-PI2sHpCCypTbbY6jJmVYN8bbjJkIyM3O104714cEs8_5UPM2aMxY2sZibomzJ4cfbnt6jFN1C5s44/s400/Reichhold+location.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570257125132417970" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">Otto Reichhold's possible location in the starboard lounge at the time of the fire.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Henry Reichhold and an associate, Dr. Stefan Baum, were standing in the visitors' area next to the Lakehurst Naval Air Station's huge airship hangar, watched in horror as the airship burst into flames and fell to the ground. They saw people leaping to the ground and running from the airship, and were hopeful that Otto was among them. They searched the airfield and the survivor lists long into the night, but as the hours passed their hopes began to fade.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As it turned out, Otto Reichhold was unable to get out of the wreck, and was burnt badly enough that it was several days before his body was identified. Otto's body was subsequently shipped back to Vienna aboard the steamship </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Hamburg</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> on May 13th, 1937. </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Following Otto’s death, Henry was left to shoulder the burden of responsibility for the company, and became CEO of Beck, Koller & Co. which, in the year following Otto’s death, was renamed Reichhold Chemicals, Inc. The company flourished and was still running strong at the beginning of the 21st century.
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<br />Henry Reichhold retired in 1982, having made Reichhold Chemicals into a Fortune 500 company. In fact, at the time of his retirement, Henry Reichhold had been Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 500 company longer than any other CEO. He passed away in December of 1989.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Otto Reichhold is buried in a cemetery in Vienna, with his brother Henry beside him.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">
<br />Special thanks to Gerald List, Otto Reichhold's grandson, who provided me with the photo of his grandfather seen here, as well as with some factual corrections courtesy of his mother, Herr Reichhold's daughter.
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<br />Thanks also to Laurie-Ellen Shumaker, whose father worked for Reichhold chemicals for almost 40 years, and who shared with me her father's written history of Beck & Koller/Reichhold Chemicals.</span>
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<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6