Zeppelin Takes Flight

Airships had flown since the 1850s, but the first rigid airship to comfortably carry passengers - the Zeppelin - had its maiden voyage at Lake Constance on 2nd July, 1900. The passion project of German aristocrat Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the ‘golden age’ craft were freezing cold on-board, and precarious: the majority of them eventually crashed. Nonetheless, his pluckiness captured the German imagination, raising millions of Reichsmarks, and inspiring Hitler to co-opt the machines for political and military means. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion consider how Zeppelin’s connections to Daimler saved his start-up; explain why the Hindenburg (fatefully) ended up being filled with hydrogen, rather than helium; and reveal the plans of a Bedfordshire-based business to bring blimps back to Britain’s skies... Further Reading • ‘A History of German Airship Aviation’ at Google Arts & Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-dream-of-flight-a-history-of-german-airship-aviation-zeppelin-museum-friedrichshafen/cQJywRaJSvazIw?hl=en • ‘The Hindenburg Disaster in 1937’ from PennLive (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b94SPaP7mU • The Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander 10 - from their official website:  https://www.hybridairvehicles.com/our-aircraft/airlander-10/ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices