DELAG

DELAG, Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (German: acronym for "German Airship Transport Corporation") was the world's first airline to use an aircraft (a Zeppelin) in revenue service. It was founded on 16 November 1909 with government assistance, and operated airships manufactured by Zeppelin Corporation. Its headquarters were in Frankfurt.

Beginnings

Alfred Colsman served as the airline's first general director. Also involved in the early stages were Dr. Hugo Eckener and Dr. Franz Adickes, the mayor of Frankfurt. The founding capital amounted to three million Marks, of which the majority (Mk 2,600,000) came from the cities of Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The remaining Mk 400,000 came in the form of airships from the Zeppelin plant in Friedrichshafen.

Passenger service aboard the airship LZ 7 began in 1910 with routes from Frankfurt to Baden-Baden and Düsseldorf. This vessel, known as the "Deutschland," was destroyed on 28 June 1910, nine days after its maiden voyage, when it crashed into the Teutoburger forest. One year later, a steward was introduced aboard the new airship LZ 10 "Schwaben" and was responsible for the well-being of the passengers.

By 1913, DELAG had established a route network between Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Baden-Oos, Berlin-Johannisthal, Gotha, Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig. World War I prevented the planned expansion to other European capitals.

By July 1914, one month before the start of World War I, DELAG's Zeppelins had transported 34,028 passengers on 1,588 commercial flights; the fleet had flown 172,535 kilometres in 3,176 hours. (Source: "Zeppelin-Wegbereiter des Weltluftverkehrs", 1966)

Impact of World War I

The airships LZ 11, LZ 13, and LZ 17 were pressed into service for the German Army. After the war, however, DELAG's LZ 120 "Bodensee" and LZ 121 "Nordstern" helped reconnect the cities of Europe. LZ 120 already flew between Friedrichshafen and Berlin-Staaken with a stopover in Munich, but both ships were surrendered as post-war reparations in 1921: LZ 120 went to Italy and was re-christened "Esperia," while LZ 121 became France's "Méditerranée" before it ever entered service for DELAG.

Transatlantic service

In September 1928 DELAG began operating the successful rigid airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. This craft made regular, nonstop, transatlantic flights possible before airplanes had long enough range to cross the ocean in either direction without stopping.

Evolution

The Graf Zeppelin was the final airship employed by DELAG. In 1935, the state-sponsored Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (DZR) was founded. Its fleet included the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, LZ 129 Hindenburg and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin.

In 2001 a modern firm also by the name Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei was established as a subsidy of Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT). It operates the Zeppelin NT blimps on sightseeing flights around Germany.

DELAG's Airships

Prior to World War I:

• LZ 6
• LZ 7 Deutschland
• LZ 8 Deutschland (replaced LZ 7)
• LZ 10 Schwaben
• LZ 11 Viktoria Luise
• LZ 13 Hansa
• LZ 17 Sachsen

Following World War I:

• LZ 120 Bodensee
• LZ 121 Nordstern (North Star)
• LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
• LZ 129 Hindenburg

External links

• The Early Years of German Commercial Aviation

References

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "DELAG".