Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (), abbreviated DZR, is a German limited-liability company that operates commercial passenger zeppelin flights. The current incarnation of the DZR was founded in 2001 and is based in Friedrichshafen. It is a subsidiary of Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik and operates Zeppelin NT "Next Generation" airships. By 2009 the DZR had transported over 55,000 passengers. As of 2012 the DZR flies a schedule of 12 tour routes between March and November in Southern Germany. The company also operates flights to other selected cities as well as charter flights.
In the mid-1930s, the DZR was a commercial airline based in Frankfurt that operated zeppelins in regular transatlantic revenue service, including the famous LZ 129 Hindenburg. Following the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 the DZR stopped transatlantic service, although it launched a new airship in 1938 and had another on order. Plans for more operations ended at the outbreak of World War II and its remaining two zeppelins were dismantled and scrapped in 1940. Today's DZR sees itself as the successor of this original airline and is incorporated under the same name.
History
DELAG (1909–1935)
DELAG (; English: German Airship Transportation Corporation Ltd) was founded on 16 November 1909 as a subsidiary of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Corporation to commercialize airship travel. It became the world's first passenger airline in revenue service with the launch of LZ 7 Deutschland in 1910. While DELAG's initial flights were primarily sightseeing tours, by 1919 it was operating a regular schedule between Berlin and Friedrichshafen with a stop at Munich. Between 1910 and the outbreak of World War I DELAG transported over 34,028 passengers on 1,588 commercial flights.
The first DZR (1935–1940)
Founding
The creation of the DZR as successor to DELAG occurred for both political and business reasons. Luftschiffbau Zeppelin (LZ) chairman Hugo Eckener, who had intended to run against Hitler in the 1932 presidential election, was already disliked by the Nazis. When Eckener later resisted the new Nazi government's efforts to use zeppelins for propaganda purposes, Reich Minister of Aviation Hermann Göring insisted that a new agency be created to extend Party control over LZ Group. A personal rivalry between Göring and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels also played a role. To complicate matters further, the Luftschiffbau was a loss-making concern and needed cash investment, in particular to complete construction of the Hindenburg.
Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei was therefore incorporated on 22 March 1935 as a joint venture between Zeppelin Luftschiffbau, the Ministry of Aviation, and Deutsche Luft Hansa. The LZ Group's capital contribution came primarily from its two airships LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin and LZ 129 Hindenburg, the latter of which was not yet complete on the date of incorporation. Nearly all of the rest was an infusion of cash by the Air Ministry and DLH. In exchange for this, the DZR agreed to ownership apportioned as follows:
The first chief executive officer of DLZ was Ernst Lehmann and Hugo Eckener was appointed chairman, a position he accepted because it left him with a degree of influence over the zeppelins. Despite Nazi pressure, the DZR's operating routine was businesslike. The board of directors included Albert Hofmann Mühlig (RLM), Carl August Freiherr von Gablenz (DLH) and Martin Vronsky (DLH). One of their first tasks was a complete reorganization of the transatlantic travel agency system in Germany, which was then a monopoly run by the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG).
Early success (1935–1937)
The DZR took over the South American service of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin on 22 March 1935. On 19 March 1936 the airship LZ 129 Hindenburg was licensed to carry passengers and handed over to the DZR, allowing the airline to maintain regular South and North American routes. Construction began at the new Frankfurt Airport on a second airship hangar as well as special housing for employees. On 30 June 1936 the DZR ordered a sister ship to the Hindenburg, LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II, for 5.5 million Reichsmark. Completion was scheduled for October 1937. Between 1935 and 1936 the company's share of revenues rose from 47 to 57 percent, allowing the Reich government to decrease financial support from 53 to 43 percent. At the start of the 1937 fiscal year, the Supervisory Board and shareholders' meeting of 16 December 1936 voted to order yet another airship (LZ 131) for the price of 6.3 million RM, demonstrating high confidence in the future.
Hindenburg disaster (1937)