Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Born: 1838 | Died: 1917

Engineer and Soldier

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was born in Konstanz in southwestern Germany. He was married in 1869 to Isaballa von Wolff from Livonia and they had a daughter, Hella.

Count von Zeppelin served with the Prussian army and fought in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, during which he was commended for bravery. During a leave of absence from the Prussian army in 1863 he served with the Union army during the U.S. Civil War. He retired from the army in 1891 with the position of lieutenant-general.

Von Zeppelin was the first large-scale builder of the rigid dirigibles which eventually became synonymous with his name. Zeppelin first conducted balloon trials whilst in the U.S. as a military observer during the 1860s. He subsequently founded an airship factory at Friedrichshafen using his own funds, and after his retirement, proceeded to devote the remainder of his life to the design and construction of engine-powered dirigibles.

The first successful trial of one of his airships took place on the 2nd of July 1900. Eight years later, Zeppelins were making routine commercial mail and passenger flights over Germany, with a remarkable safety record despite the risks in using highly flammable hydrogen gas to inflate the airships.

Zeppelin successfully persuaded the German military of the potential of using airships during wartime. Their use was more or less discontinued in 1917 as Allied bombers demonstrated a consistent ability to destroy the airships. He died in Berlin.

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