The Rhine River takes a long and lazy trip through Europe from its beginnings in the Swiss Alps. The Alpine Rhine descends from the mountains through a valley to the north, forming the border between Switzerland and Lichtenstein. And then, it takes a hard left turn where it gets lost in a lake before becoming the High Rhine as it marches toward Basel. This lake, better known as the Bodensee (or Lake Constance), marks the border between three countries with Switzerland on the south, Austria on the east, and Germany on the north. It’s on those northern shores that you’ll find a gem of an aviation destination with a checkered past, Friedrichschafen.
The town of Friedrichschafen is home to two historic aviation companies: Zeppelin and Dornier. We visited both museums and went for a ride on a Zeppelin during our action-packed day this summer.
It’s hard to have a bad start to the day when you wake up to this:
We were staying in the Allgäu at the Lindner Hotel Oberstaufen. I felt like I was in a Ricola commercial, and the sound of the cowbells was remarkably soothing. But there was no time to waste. We had a 45 minute drive ahead to get to Friedrichschafen and our first stop.
Zeppelin Museum
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH was founded in 1993, nearly 50 years after the end of World War II when the original Zeppelin company effectively disappeared. The first Zeppelin had a dark history. There was not only the disaster of the Hindenburg exploding on arrival in New Jersey, but the company was also involved in producing V-2 rockets for the Nazis during World War II.
The new company was considered a reincarnation with a more benign purpose, to produce a new generation of Zeppelins for commercial use. This now includes the ones that Goodyear flies instead of its previous generation blimps. (A Zeppelin has a hard internal structure unlike a blimp.)
On the shores of the Bodensee right next to the ferry terminal lies the Zeppelin Museum.
The building houses a lengthy history of Zeppelins along with a detailed look at their use, including the Hindenburg and its disaster.
Inside, there is a portion of a life-size mock showing what it was like to fly on a Zeppelin back in the day. Here I am in the lounge.
There are also rotating exhibits which have absolutely nothing to do with Zeppelins. When we were there, there was a pretty cool interactive gaming area as well as an art installation upstairs. We spent about 2 hours in the museum and that was enough for us. Had I been there alone, however, I probably could have used another hour.
To visit:
- Zeppelin Museum website
- Open 9a – 5p daily in summer, 10a – 5p every day but Monday in winter
- Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen
Seestraße 22
88045 Friedrichshafen
Dornier Museum
Once we finished up at the Zeppelin Museum, we had lunch in the town, and then we made our way up to the Dornier Museum which is about 15 minutes away on the airport grounds. I enjoyed this museum far more.
Claude Dornier worked as Count von Zeppelin’s right-hand man, but he eventually left and created an aircraft company of his own, Dornier Flugzeugwerke.
Like Zeppelin, Dornier developed aircraft for Nazi Germany. It also used forced labor from the camps. Clauder Dornier was a non-political engineer at heart, but he did eventually join the Nazi party in 1940 for fear of losing his company. All of this was discussed in the museum. I find German museums in general are very good at not skirting over their awful histories.
But the bulk of the museum was dedicated to the history of the company as well as static aircraft displays. The history is very well-presented using a mix of photos, words, and videos that projected on the back of the model cases.
Though Dornier was known best for its massive seaplanes before the war, most people today know the company — if they know it at all — for its Dornier 228 and 328 aircraft. Inside the museum, however, there is a large group of airplanes from the earlier history:
Outside we found those newer aircraft, including this Dornier 228:
There’s also a Dornier 328JET out there which you can walk through:
Of course, you can still do that today in commercial service with a select few airlines, including Advanced Air and Denver Air Connection in the US.
If you need a break — which we did — there’s a restaurant in the museum with a great view of the runway at Friedrichschafen Airport (FDH). All-in, we spent two hours here, but I could have done much longer and paid much closer attention.
To visit:
- Dornier Museum website
- Open 10a – 5p every day but Monday
- Claude-Dornier-Platz 1
88046 Friedrichshafen
Deutschland
Flying a Zeppelin
Once we finished up at the museum, we drove to the other side of the airport where Zeppelin has its hangar.
Here, Zeppelin has built a terminal where people can come to fly a Zeppelin. In fact, the company does flights all over Germany depending upon the time of year, but it consistently has the most flights from its home in Friedrichschafen.
It should be noted that flights are not cheap. We ended up doing a 45 minute flight which was around $500 a person. But then again, how often would we have a chance to fly a Zeppelin? If you do this, book in advance, because it fills up.
In the terminal, you check in at a counter and receive a boarding pass. There is a restaurant with a large patio where you can await your flight.
About half an hour before the flight, they call everyone in for a safety briefing. German speakers get a fancy video in a theater, but those of us who speak English get a much shorter version from one of the staff.
When it’s time to board, you get on a van which takes you an absurdly short distance where you wait for the Zeppelin to arrive. There were two Zeppelins flying that day, and we ended up on the one that wasn’t painted in Goodyear colors.
Boarding is a delicate dance. Two people get off and then another two get on until the entire cabin has been turned over. This keeps it in balance and means they can do very quick turns.
Once loaded up, we were off on our climb to about 1,000 feet.
The scenery was spectacular as we made our way to the west on this flight. Here we are passing over Hagnau am Bodensee.
After passing by Meersburg Castle, it was time to come back. That’s when we had a little fun.
The flight deck is wide open for everyone in the cabin, and well, the view is pretty good up front.
We began our descent as we approached the airport. You can see the other Zeppelin on the left in this photo:
But wait, what was this? We had a nice surprise as we came in with a Condor aircraft in the “sea” colors preparing to depart:
We soon touched down and made our way back into the terminal building.
To visit:
- Zeppelin Flight website
- 30 to 120 minute flights operate all day from Apr to mid-Nov
- Messestraße 132
88046 Friedrichshafen
Deutschland
It was a great day, but we weren’t done. We traveled southeast along the lake to the small island of Lindau where we had dinner and enjoyed the sunset.
After that, it was time to head back to the hotel and the sounds of cowbell to lull us to sleep.
9 comments on “One Perfect Day in Friedrichschafen: Zeppelin Museum and Flight Plus the Dornier Museum”
Certainly sounds like a fun filled day !
You don’t dwell much on the experience of the flight : how smooth / bumpy is it ?
Do they use those zeppelin to get you from one point to the other or are they just sightseeing trips ?
So, they don’t sell tickets usually from one city to another. It’s all about flightseeing. But I’m told that on some of the shorter repositioning flights like Munich they will sell that as a trip. I was told the longest they do is up to Berlin, but that takes something like 8 hours and they do that as a ferry. It sounds like it’s not very pleasant for a long ride.
As for the flight sensation, it’s kind of strange. There is turbulence, but it doesn’t feel like it’s sort of in slow motion. I wish I could describe it better, but it is a unique feeling. It just kind of feels like you’re shaking a little, but it’s not uncomfortable. I’m told that when it gets uncomfortable is if there are thermals. Then the pilot said it’s that up and down feeling and they get into a Dutch roll sometimes.
How do they bring those Goodyear to US? I am assuming a ZEPPLIN does not have the range to ferry itself across the ocean. Do they just ship the pieces and get it assembled at the destination?
Wany – I thought I heard that Goodyear built them under contract in the US, but I don’t know that for sure. I figured the one they had flying around in Europe was just promotional paint on the Zeppelin.
Slightly off topic, but… The one blimp/dirigible/zeppelin/airship (not going to worry too much about the technical differences in those terms) that I’ve seen a few times (in in the sky and on aircraft tracking sites like Flightradar24) recently is an aircraft that is used to promote Dick’s Sporting Goods; it’s gone between PA/NY state and the Boston-ish areas a few times, and has been used to promote the retailer’s flagship stores.
I looked the tail number on that one up and it appears to be one of the last airships built for the US Navy, before being sold off as surplus, going through a few owners and eventually landing at Skyship Services, which seems to operate airships as promotional services.
Airships are uncommon enough that they draw attention even of non-avgeeks (especially kids) and get some free publicity in local news. Glad to see that some companies other than the famous Goodyear are still using them for promotional purposes.
A wonderful avgeek day! Thanks for sharing, I may have to think about this for a future trip!
Love the trip report. I didn’t realize that one could fly on a zeppelin. Definitely adding that to my bucket list.
Sounds like the museums were great as well.
The last aviation museum that I visited was the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in the Finger Lakes region of NY state. That’s worth a visit when you’re in the area (and a great break from hitting wineries), not least because it tells of a very different side of early aviation from the usual focus on the Wright brothers.
What an enjoyable article to read as I was just there on August 26 ! I visited the Zeppelin Museum as well and had asked one of the personnel if there was a place where I could watch a take off or landing of a Zeppelin, as I really wanted to see something like this. I went to the Zeppelin Hangar, sat on their outside patio, had lunch and watched a Zeppelin come and go right in front of my eyes. It was so cool to see the arrival and the departure and all ! I took a picture of the available routes and pricing – and yes, it is very pricey and you need to book in advance.
Anyone reading this, please know that this is a place that is worth visiting and for sure, if you like the opportunity to fly in a Zeppelin.
Back when BMW did Euro delivery, we picked up our new car in Munich and headed west. We stopped in Friedrichschafen, not realizing the Zeppelin museum was right nearby. We stayed a few days, taking the ferry to Switzerland and back, and then went into the Museum. We were amazed. A little old guy, a docent, asked us if we needed information. He essentially toured us around for two hours. He spoke German, French, English, Spanish and Italian and was working on Russian. An amazing experience. You got more in spades. Great report.