Last modified: 2012-09-08 by pete loeser
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![[Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH 1935-1937 (Germany)]](../images/d/de$dzr.jpg)
Image sent by Erik, 16 Feb 2004
At this website you can see the house emblem patch of the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei . Marc Pasquin asked, "by that time, wouldn't the airship be flying the swastika flag?" It did indeed. The swastika flag was printed on the upper and lower tail fins at both sides.
Blas Delgado, 15 Oct 2001
From the Airline Timetable Images website: The Zeppelin works, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Friedrichshafen in southern Germany, was founded in 1908 by Count von Zeppelin. A number of quite successful civil and military airships were
produced before and during WW1. When Allied restrictions on aircraft manufacture in Germany were lifted in 1926, the production of the large LZ127 'Graf Zeppelin' could start the year after, with the maiden flight in the autumn of 1928. After some test flights to South America during 1930 and
1931, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin opened a scheduled service between Friedrichshafen and Recife in northeastern Brazil in April 1932.
In March 1935, the South Atlantic flights became the responsibility of Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei, after this company had been set up jointly by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, the German Air Ministry and Deutsche Lufthansa. The even larger airship, the LZ 129 'Hindenburg' joined the 'Graf Zeppelin' in 1936, and, in addition to South Atlantic flights with its parter, inaugurated a service over the North Atlantic, between Frankfurt and Lakehurst in New Jersey, in the summer. Also in 1936 the South American route was extended to Rio de Janeiro. Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei ceased operations as the commercial use of airships came to an abrupt end on 6 May 1937, when the
'Hindenburg' exploded at Lakehurst.
From the present Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei website: The Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH was founded in January 2001 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Zeppelin Luftschifttechnik GmbH. Hence, a company called the "Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH" was founded for the second time since 1935. Back then, the DZR was founded with the aid of governmental funding by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH. The purpose of the DZR at that time was flight operation for Zeppelin airships.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Feb 2004
I noticed a recent posting to FOTW about the flag of the German Zeppelin Airship Line. As it happens Zeppelins are another of my many interests. Attached is a photo from Hindenburg: An Illustrated History by Rick Archbold and Ken Marschall. The colour photo shows the Deutsch-Zeppelin Reederei Flag.
Also, the nazi swastika flag was painted on the vertical tail fins of both the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin and LZ 129 Hindenburg. The Hindenburg's little known sister ship LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin (II) does not appear to have had the swastika on its tail fins. The entire vertical tail fins of LZ 127 were painted red with the white circle and black swastika in the center of each. On the LZ 129, however, a red rectangle was painted on both vertical tail fins with the white circle and black swastika in the center of it.
Also of interest: The Olympic Rings were painted on the Hindenburg's
sides as it was planned to (and did) fly over the Opening Ceremony of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Erik, 16 Feb 2004
It may or may not be significant that the later (current?) flag of Lufthansa
is remotely resembling it.
Željko Heimer, 16 Feb 2004
I happen to own an original flag of the Zeppelin Reederei. It is a little over 8 feet (2,4 m) long and a little under 5 feet (1,5 m) high. The nylon is a heavy grade, single thickness except that the edges are hemmed. There are no grommets - a pole was inserted at the end towards which the eagle faces. The corners at the opposite ends are weighted with two metal flat slugs (rectangular) enclosed within triangles of nylon. The thing was made to last, and except for creases where folded mine is in perfect shape. Each piece is sewn together very well with heavy black thread looped countless times to create the black outline of the various parts. My flag more closely resembles the "yellower" of the scans on the webpage (top left cormer), but the eagle is a little simpler. The scan at the bottom of the webpage
is much cruder - I have to wonder if it is genuine. However, I believe every flag will be slightly different since they were obviously hand-made. It would be very interesting to know how many were made. I suspect not many. There may have been different sizes.
Nick Follansbee, 21 Jun 2008
![[Zeppelin Reederei]](../images/d/de_zeppe.gif)
Image by Jaume Ollé, 22 Feb 2000
Lucien Philippe report it but the yellow is changed to white (It's sorpresive the use of the Weimar and moderns colors in nazi era flag). The image I posted several years ago is attached for comparison. Since that time nobody has establish that it was "Reederei."
Jaume Ollé, 22 Feb 2004
It should be noted that the "Zeppelin Company" flag has also been called the "Zeppelin Corps" flag. It was used at pre-war military Zeppelin bases and installations, but because the Zeppelin itself was already obsolete, the Zeppelin Corps became one of the shortest-lived German service branches of World War II. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Luftwaffe ordered the last two Zeppelin airships moved to a large Zeppelin hangar in Frankfurt. In March of 1940, Göring ordered their destruction and the aluminum fed into the Nazi war industry. In May, a fire broke out in the Zeppelin facility which destroyed most of the remaining parts. The rest of the parts and materials were soon scrapped with almost no trace of the German "Giants of the Air" remaining by the end of the year.
Pete Loeser, 23 August 2011