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Dr. Hugo Eckener (August 10, 1868–August 14, 1954) was the old man of the Zeppelin airship company. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German company which, during the early 20th century, was a leader in the design and manufacture of rigid airships. ...

Eckener was born in Flensburg. He trained as an economist and was a correspondent for the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1905, 1906. Flensburg (Danish: Flensborg, Low Saxon: Flensborg, North Frisian: Flansborj) is an independent town in the North of the German state Schleswig-Holstein. ... The Frankfurter Zeitung was a German newspaper that appeared from 1856 to 1943. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Originally, Eckener had been very skeptical of zeppelins and their abilities and published criticisms of the LZ 1 and LZ 2. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, however, sought his critic out and then Eckener joined the Zeppelin Company. Zeppelin Ferdinand von Zeppelin Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich Graf von Zeppelin (July 8, 1838 – March 8, 1917) was the founder of the Zeppelin airship company. ...

The first time he was captain he crashed the Zeppelin Deutschland II. Nonetheless, he became a very successful airshipman.

Eckener was responsible for training most of Germany's airship pilots both during and after World War I. “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

After the War, Eckener succeeded Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who had died on March 8, 1917. He kept the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen on Bodensee (Lake Constance) in Wurttemberg, in southern Germany, from being retooled to produce other, and likely more profitable, products. He then persuaded the US and German governments to allow the company to build LZ 126, later recristened the USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), for the US Navy as war reparations. Eckener himself captained the airship on its delivery flight to Lakehurst New Jersey. The Los Angeles went on to be the longest serving rigid airship ever operated by the US Navy. Zeppelin Ferdinand von Zeppelin Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich Graf von Zeppelin (July 8, 1838 – March 8, 1917) was the founder of the Zeppelin airship company. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Friedrichshafen is a town on the northern side of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria. ... Lake Constance (German Bodensee, also known as Schwäbisches Meer (informally) and sometimes written Lake of Constance) is a lake on the Rhine between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. ... Württemberg (often spelled Wurttemberg in English) refers to an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in south-western Germany. ... The USS Los Angeles flying over southern Manhattan The USS Los Angeles was an airship, designated ZR-3, that was built in 1923-1924 by the Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where it was originally designated LZ-126. ...

Eckener then set about raising funds for and supervising construction of Graf Zeppelin, the most successful rigid airship ever built. Eckener captained Graf Zeppelin on most of its record setting flights including the first flight around the world by an airship. Many of the records set by Eckener with Graf Zeppelin stand to the present day. Graf Zeppelin, filled with abundant hydrogen, circumnavigated the globe. ...

A master of publicity as well as a master airship captain, Eckener used the Graf Zeppelin to establish the Zeppelin as a symbol of German pride and engineering.

The popularity of the Zeppelin airships led to Eckener's own popularity. During the early 1930s, Eckener was one of the most well-known and respected figures in Weimar Republic Germany. He was encouraged to run for the presidency to oppose the National Socialist German Workers Party. Eckener declined, focusing on what he knew best, airships. Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: , or NSDAP, commonly, the Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ...

Nonetheless, Eckener and the Nazis had a deep and mutual loathing. Eckener made no secret of his hatred of their leader Adolf Hitler and the disastrous course he saw coming. Eventually the Nazis declared Eckener to be a "non-person" and his name was no longer allowed to appear in print. Hitler redirects here. ...

During his many years as head of airship operations, Eckener always made safety his absolute priority. His safety orientation had results. Under Eckener's leadership, the Zeppelin company had a perfect safety record with no passenger ever sustaining a serious injury on any of the more than 1 million air miles that the rigid airships flew.

With the rise of Nazi Germany came the nationalization of the Zeppelin operation. The Nazis replaced Eckener with men who were compliant with their wishes. Seeking to please the Nazi regime, these newly promoted airshipmen did not always follow Eckener's well proven safety procedures. Many believe that the reduced focus on safety led to the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Hindenburg — moments after catching fire. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Hugo Eckener was in Graz, Austria when he heard news of the disaster. In the official inquiry he concludes that a static spark ignited leaking hydrogen in the aft section of the ship. The leak would be caused by the sharp turn which he believed caused a wire to break and rip a gas cell. Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec), with a population of 305,000 (council census 2000) is the second-largest city in Austria and the capital of the province of Styria (Steiermark in German). ...

He initially blamed Captain Ernst A. Lehmann, Captain Max Pruss and Commander Charles Rosendahl for rushing the landing maneuver. But in his heart, Eckener believed that he was to blame for the disaster, for a decision 8 years ago when he had been offered the chance to use helium but decided against it because he thought that the helium would make the Hindenburg (which was only on the drawing board) much more expensive. Contrary to popular and persistent rumor, he did not go to Washington D.C. before the Hindenburg disaster and ask for helium, only to be refused by United States officials. (This myth is perpetrated in many places, including the 1975 Universal Studios motion picture The Hindenburg (film). The decision to use hydrogen was a financial one. Captain Ernst August Lehmann (May 12, 1886 - May 7, 1937) was a German airship captain. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the American media conglomerate. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... The Hindenburg (1975) is a movie based on the disaster of the German airship Hindenburg. ...

After the destruction of the Hindenburg, the rigid airship fell from favor and Eckener receded to the shadows. He survived World War II and died in 1954 at the age of 86. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Arthur George Joseph Whitehouse (1966). The Zeppelin Fighters Robert Hale Limited ISBN 0-7091-0544-4
• Douglas Botting (2001). Dr. Eckener's Dream Machine Harper Collins ISBN 0-00-257191-9
• Hindenburg: The Untold Story, Pioneer Productions.