1954day.year
Hugo Eckener
(1868 - 1954)
German pilot and designer
German pilot and designer
Pioneering German airship commander and designer who led the Graf Zeppelin’s record flights.
Born in Flensburg in 1868, Hugo Eckener became a physicist and later the director of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
He commanded historic flights of the Graf Zeppelin, including a world-circling voyage in 1929.
Eckener resisted Nazi attempts to use airships for propaganda and remained a voice for civilian air travel.
Under his leadership, the Zeppelin company advanced lighter-than-air engineering and passenger comfort.
He passed away on August 14, 1954, remembered as a pioneer of airship exploration.
1954
Hugo Eckener