Zeppelin Hindenburg – c. 1936

THE LARGEST ZEPPELIN EVER BUILT: THE HINDENBURG

“Vzducholoď” [airship], colour lithograph, made ca. 1936. Size: 62 × 94 cm.

This poster shows a detailed cross-section of the German airship LZ 129 Hindenburg, then the largest passenger aircraft in the world. The illustration includes captions in Czech that explain the structure and layout of the vessel, including the gas cells, engine gondolas, passenger quarters, and technical installations.

Below the image, this technological marvel is described as follows:

“The airship is a means of transport for passengers, mail, and cargo over long distances, especially transatlantic routes. The straight, 36-sided hull consists of a framework coated with a hard aluminum compound and covered with thin leather resistant to weather conditions, and finished with a layer of aluminum. In the supporting part of the body are 16 gas chambers for hydrogen or helium. The airship is powered by four Daimler-Diesel engines of 1100 HP, cooled with oil and water, and housed in engine gondolas. The space for passenger transport can accommodate 50 guests. The crew consists of 40 men.”

Notably, in this Czech edition, the historically accurate swastika flag on the tail has been replaced with an American flag. After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the construction of the Hindenburg became a propaganda tool for the Third Reich. However, the makers of this poster appear to have aimed to highlight the technological innovation of the Luftschiff Zeppelin rather than Nazi ideology.

The poster fits within a broader context of interwar-era technology promotion, in which airships served as icons of modernity, national ambition, and transnational mobility.

The Hindenburg was in operation from its commissioning in 1936 until the fatal accident on May 6, 1937.

Price: Euro 1.450,-