Zeppelin's Hamburg-America Line

Booklet containing information about the commercial passage line from Hamburg to America.
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In 1912, the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, the company formed by Zeppelin to build his airships, was in threat of financial bankruptcy. At the suggestion of Managing Director Alfred Colsman, a passenger-service operating company was created to provide luxurious passage to world wide destinations. On October 16, 1909 the German Airship Travel Corporation (Deutsche Luftshiffahrt Aktien Gesellschaft, DELAG) was created, the “first airline of any kind in aviation history.” ¹ Count Zeppelin, though, was extremely opposed to the commercialization of his enterprise, feeling that “his conception [was] profaned if the airships were used to earn money through the DELAG. That enterprise thus remained for him, the feudal aristocrat and old soldier, a tradesman's venture. ... In an aristocratic context such as his, a merchant was just not socially acceptable.” ²

At the peak of the Zeppelin era, the enormous airships were also the peak of posh traveling. Seen as an extravagant get away, a trip on a Zeppelin was mostly patronized by the rich and upper class. To advertise for the famous ships, the Zeppelin company produced little booklets that contained pictures and a short historical summary of the Zeppelin air ships. The booklets also contained a menu, destination points, and prices. As the airplane began to reach the same achievements as the airship in quicker and more economical ways, the Zeppelins relied on the luxurious long-distance travel offered to the upper classes. Hugo Eckener, head of the Zeppelin company after the Count's death in 1917, proclaimed: "Im Luftschiff fliegt man nicht, fährt man nicht, sondern reist man in der schönsten Art, die man mit dem Worte Reisen verbindet". ³