Hindenburg partial replica is highlight of Zeppelin Museum in Germany
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany — I am looking at a piece of the Hindenburg — or, rather, its replica: its lounge, reading and writing room, passenger cabins and smoking room (yes, there was one) and bar. It's part of the Zeppelin Museum, in the former Hafenbahnhof, or Harbor Railway Station, a striking Bauhaus-style building completed in 1933 in Friedrichshafen, the birthplace of the zeppelin.
The museum is chockablock with zeppelin memorabilia, but its centerpiece and what drew my wife, Laurel, and me here in October, is this full-size replica of the starboard section of the Hindenburg that's more than 100 feet long. It was created from photographs and original plans, using, in part, original tools. Familiar as I was with Hindenburg history — my father had been a passenger on one of its eastbound flights to Germany — entering these re-created spaces was a revelation.
When the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg exploded and burned while landing at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, N.J., on May 6, 1937, as it concluded its first crossing of its second season, the zeppelin era abruptly ended.
Zeppelins are so long gone from the public consciousness that it's easy to forget that 75 years ago the Hindenburg offered a comfortable, stylish, swift (two days) way to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Its huge size turned heads wherever it flew. It was a magnet for celebrities and on the cutting edge in its day.