A great film of LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin at low level. I still can’t get over what it must have been like to see one of these ships close-up:
My thanks to the ever-enthusiastic Milan Zivancevic for letting me know about this video.
You’re the best, Milan!
How much do you think it did cost to build and furnish a huge airship like that?
What a sinister-looking child in the opening seconds! Why were he and the other children looking away from the ship? Great addition to a great website, however. Many thanks to Milan and, as ever, to you, Dan.
My guess is that the footage was taken by the father of the boy, as in pretty much every shot you have the kid in front of the zepp.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that LZ 130 did get some time in helping with some radar and other research projects in development, for Luftwaffe, and so forth. But don’t now how correct that is. Seems like the airship would’ve been extremely useful for parachute training/classes, sailplane training/classes/launches, and… Read more »
Just a little point of accuracy. The Graf Zeppelin was LZ-127 christened 7/8/28. LZ-128 was to be a ship larger then the Graf but, after the disaster of the British R-101, It was never built. The next in line was LZ-129 Hindenburg (first flight 3/4/1936). LZ-130 was being built at… Read more »
While Botting’s book is an enjoyable read it is peppered with inaccuracies and should not be relied upon for factual information. And just a small correction; LZ-130 was not “Graf Zeppelin II,” but simply “Graf Zeppelin.” People often add “II” or “2” to distinguish LZ-130 from LZ-127 but both ships… Read more »
Hi Dan. Could you point out some of the inaccuracies in his book so I don’t trip over them.
Hi! I am Thomas Kuenzl from Germany. I manage the archive of the City of Bad Neustadt (Germany). We post the movie of LZ 130 last week. For more information feel free to contact me 🙂
Thank you so much for posting that rare video, mr. Kuenzl. As you can see, it was pretty quickly discovered. 😉
This looks like the airship that I saw over Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1938. I was a small child but it was such an impressive sight that I still remember it pretty well. I remember that the four redial engines were exposed with no covering. I was too young to know… Read more »
You mentioned you wondered what it was like to see one of these guys in the air, actually close up, well, I can’t help you with close up, but I do remember seeing the Hindenburg flying over New York heading out to sea. I was a wee lad at the… Read more »
Dan, What a great surprise to see these wonderful images of the D-LZ 130. Considering the age of the film, the images appear to be 1st generation or close to in quality. After all these years since then, this find is encouraging, suggesting that there’s more out there, still awaiting… Read more »
Oh wow! Now that is just incredible. Gorgeous ship. Even on video, I was completely overtaken with awe. Thank you both so much for sharing this.