Heinrich Kubis (16 June 1888 – 1979) was a German professional waiter known for serving as the world's first

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

and for surviving the

Hindenburg disaster The ''Hindenburg'' disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. The German passenger airship LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' caught fire and was destroyed during its attemp ...

Career

Kubis trained as a waiter and worked in several luxury hotels in Europe, including the

Hôtel Ritz Paris The Ritz Paris is a hotel in central Paris, overlooking the Place Vendôme in the city's 1st arrondissement. A member of the Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, the Ritz Paris is ranked among the most luxurious hotels in the world. T ...

and the

Carlton Hotel, London The Carlton Hotel was a luxury hotel in London that operated from 1899 to 1940. It was designed by the architect Charles J. Phipps, C. J. Phipps as part of a larger development that included the rebuilding of Her Majesty's Theatre, which is adjac ...

. In March 1912 Kubis began attending to passengers on the

LZ 10 Schwaben LZ 10 ''Schwaben'' was a German rigid airship built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in 1911 and operated by DELAG (Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft) for passenger service. It is regarded as the first commercially successful passenger-carrying ...

during flights from Berlin to Friedrichshafen. He thereby preceded the debut of the first female flight attendant,

Ellen Church Ellen Church (September 22, 1904 – August 22, 1965) was the first female flight attendant. A trained nurse and pilot, Church wanted to pilot commercial aircraft, but those jobs were not open to women. Still wanting to fly, Church successf ...

, by eighteen years. He survived the destruction of the ''Schwaben'' near

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

on 28 June 1912. Kubis was on the '' Hindenburg'' at the time of its

destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...

in New Jersey in 1937. On the ''Hindenburg'' Kubis was not only a flight attendant but the manager of the entire waitstaff, overseeing fifteen cooks and waiters. He was responsible for confiscating cigarette lighters and matches from passengers as they boarded the aircraft, stating, "We Germans don't fool around with

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

." Kubis had nearly missed the voyage due to illness, but recovered in time to make the flight on 3 May. Kubis was in the dining room at the moment of the explosion, and helped passengers to jump to safety. He himself escaped the disaster without injury. He died in 1979.

In popular culture

Kubis has figured in fictional works about the ''Hindeburg'' disaster: ''The Hindeburg Murders'' by Max Allan Collins (2000), and ''Flight of Dreams'' by Ariel Lawhon (2016). In the film '' Hindenburg: The Untold Story'' he was portrayed by actor Thorston Manderlay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubis, Heinrich 1888 births 1979 deaths Flight attendants German aviation record holders LZ 129 Hindenburg