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Germany, Weimar Republic. A First South America Equator Trip by "Graf Zeppelin" Medal 1930
In copper with a reddish bronze-coloured finish, magnetic, obverse illustrating the left-facing bust of Dr. Hugo Eckener, surrounded by the inscription "DEM GENIALEN DEUTSCHEN LUFTSCHIFF-FÜHRER / DR. HUGO ECKENER" (The Ingenious German Airship Leader) / Dr. Hugo Eckener), engraver marked "O. GLOECKLER" at the base of the bust, reverse illustrating the Graf Zeppelin in flight, backed by a map of the South Atlantic Ocean region, passing over the Equator and bearing the inscription "ERSTE SUDAMERIKA-AEQUATORFAHRT "GRAF ZEPPELIN" 1930" (First South America Equator Trip by "Graf Zeppelin" 1930), surrounded by the inscription "FRIEDRICHSHAFEN - SEVILLA - PERNAMBUCO - RIO DE JANIERO - LAKEHURST", the names of the locations visited on the trip, measuring 36 mm in diameter, spotting, light contact, near extremely 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 It was withdrawn from service after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, and scrapped for military aircraft production in 1940.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. 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.