Germany, Weimar Republic. A First World Trip of Airship Graf Zeppelin Medal 1929
Item #G48910
$102
In silver, maker marked "PREUSS. STAATSMÜNZE" (Prussian State Mint) and "SILBER 900 FEIN" (Silver 900 Fine) on the edge, obverse illustrating the busts of Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin, Dr. Hugo Eckener and Ludwig Dürr, surrounded by the inscription "ZEPPELIN DER SCHÖPFER ECKENER DER FÜHRER / DÜRR DER ERBAUER" (Zeppelin the Creator, Eckener the Leader, Dürr the Builder), with the engraver's initials at the far right, all within a beaded border, reverse illustrating a view centring around the North Pole, featuring Europe, Asia and North America, with four destinations and corresponding dates of arrivals and departures indicated on the map: "FRIEDRICHSCHFEN 10.8. 15.8. 4.9. / TOKIO 19.8. 23.8. / LOS ANGELES 26.8. 27.8. / LAKEHURST 29.8. 8.8. 2.9.", surrounded by the inscription "I. WELTFAHRT DES LUFTSCHIFFS / GRAF ZEPPELIN 1929" (First World Trip of Airship Graf Zeppelin 1929), all within a beaded border, measuring 36.2 mm in diameter, bruised, edge nicks, contact marks, fine.
Footnote:
1. LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service. Named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a Count (Graf) in the German nobility, it was conceived and operated by Dr. Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights totalling almost 1.7 million kilometres (over one million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36, and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship, and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air; its range was enhanced by its use of Blau gas as a fuel. It was built using funds raised by public subscription and from the German government, and its operating costs were offset by the sale of special postage stamps to collectors, the support of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and cargo and passenger receipts. After several long flights between 1928 and 1932, including one to the Arctic, Graf Zeppelin provided a commercial passenger and mail service between Germany and Brazil for five years. When the Nazi Party came to power, they used it as a propaganda tool. It was withdrawn from service after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, and scrapped for military aircraft production in 1940.
2. Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin (July 8, 1838 - March 8, 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships; he founded the company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
3. Hugo Eckener (August 10, 1868 - August 14, 1954) was the manager of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin during the inter-war years, and also the commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin for most of its record-setting flights, including the first airship flight around the world, making him the most successful airship commander in history. He was also responsible for the construction of the most successful type of airships of all time. An anti-Nazi who was invited to campaign as a moderate in the German presidential elections, he was blacklisted by that regime and eventually sidelined.
4. Ludwig Dürr (June 4, 1878 in Stuttgart - January 1, 1956 in Friedrichshafen) was an airship designer. After completing training as a mechanic, Dürr continued his training at the Königliche Baugewerkschule (Royal School of Engineering). In 1898, he entered the German Navy, but was discharged at the end of the year. Beginning in 1899, Dürr worked for Ferdinand von Zeppelin. After assisting in the construction of the first zeppelin airship, the LZ 1, he himself began to construct airships and lightweight construction parts. All of the following zeppelin designs were Dürr's. He often flew on board his designs, at the elevator control wheel, including the maiden flight of Zeppelin LZ 5 to Bitterfeld and back. On May 31, 1909, Dürr was still, exhausted, at the elevator controls after the 37 hour flight, when the nose of the ship crashed into a pear tree near Göppingen. He was employed by the Zeppelin company until its dissolution in 1945, from 1915 on as technical director.