History
Count von Zeppelin had been building various guidable rigid airship prototypes from as early as 1899. For the first few years, finance for the research was supplied by the count himself, by private donations, and even a lottery. With the growing success of each flight, public interest also grew. In 1908, the 'Zeppelin LZ 4' crashed during a high profile test flight. The failure was somewhat serendipitous, in that it caused a flood of public support. The ensuing donation campaign collected over 6 million German marks which was used to set up both 'Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH' and a Zeppelin foundation.
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin manufactured many Zeppelin airships for both civilian and military use over the next few decades. However, with the rise of the Nazis in 1933, focus shifted to 'heavier than air' aircraft, due to their military superiority (though Zeppelins were used in a number of major propaganda campaigns to great effect). By the onset of World War II, demand for the Zeppelins had waned. In fact the last active vessels (LZ 127 and LZ 130) were decommissioned early in the war and salvaged for their precious aluminium.
From 1917 to 1940, the company worked with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to build Zeppelins in the United States and the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation was created to facilitate the relationship. The partnership ended after World War II began, but the American company continued to build airships under the Goodyear name.
Read more about this topic: Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
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