Report on the general meeting of the Förderverein Zeppelin-Tourismus e.V. of 26 May 2018 in Friedrichshafen

Under the motto "150 Years Dr. Hugo Eckener - Pioneer of Zeppelin Tourism", the annual general meeting of the Förderverein Zeppelin-Tourismus e.V. took place during Motorworld Classics at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre on 26 May 2018. For the city of Friedrichshafen, City councillor Dr. Sigg delivered greetings on behalf of the City of Friedrichshafen. Since 2001, the Zeppelin NT have travelled around 1.7 million kilometers in the air, at least symbolically overtaking LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin.

Simone Häusler and her colleague, Samira Nowarra, welcomed the guests with an excellent harp performance. The first chairman, Mr. Hans Paul Ströhle, welcomed further guests of honour, including a grandson of Hugo Eckener, Dr. Uwe Eckener. After all, the motto of the entire annual meeting was "150 years of Dr. Hugo Eckener, pioneer of Zeppelin Tourism".

Samira Nowarra and Simone Häusler

Dr. Uwe Eckener delivered the greeting of the Eckener family with interesting, very personal anecdotes about his grandfather.

Dr. Uwe Eckener

Afterwards there was information from the archive of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, delivered by the director of the archive, Mrs. Barbara Waibel. Numbers, dates and facts were followed by a staged reading from the book "Onkel Hugo - Hugo Eckener in Briefen, Selbstzeugnissen und Erinnerungen" (Uncle Hugo - Hugo Eckener in letters, personal statements and reminiscences) written by Mrs. Inge Gollbeck-Eckener, choreographed by Mrs. Gabriele Gerdau and Mrs. Häussler. They were supported by Martin Emmert.

Martin Emmert and Simone Häusler

Mr. Jürgen Bleibler, curator of the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen brought along the film "Goodbye Zeppelin", in which the central themes development and the Atlantic crossing of LZ 126, later named ZR-3 Los Angeles, are covered. With this achievement, Dr. Hugo Eckener contributed to the rehabilitation of Germany after the end of the First World War and at the same time laid the foundation stone for the LZ 127, considered to be the most successful airship of all times. The Zeppelin NT sees itself in its tradition of opening up the blue sea of air for travel. The event closed with the exclusive special presentation of the briefing film of the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei, which otherwise only passengers get to see before their flight. However, the number of attendees not knowing this video is likely to be low. The first chairmen of the association agreed that the event was a success, continuation not excluded.

First Chairmen: Hans-Paul Ströhle (current), Thomas Brandt, Wolfgang von Zeppelin, Prof. Dieter Bögle