Ludwig Dürr (4 June 1878 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

– 1 January 1956 in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

) was a German

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

designer.

Life and career

After completing training as a mechanic, Dürr continued his training at the Königliche Baugewerkschule (Royal School of Engineering). In 1898 he entered the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

, but was discharged at the end of the year. Beginning in 1899, Dürr worked for

Ferdinand von Zeppelin Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...

. After assisting in the construction of the first

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

airship, the LZ 1, he himself began to construct airships and lightweight construction parts. All of the following zeppelin designs were Dürr's. He often flew on board his designs, at the elevator control wheel, including the maiden flight of Zeppelin LZ 5 to

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle ( ...

and back. On 31 May 1909, Dürr was still at the elevator controls after the 37 hour flight, when the nose of the ship crashed into a pear tree near

Göppingen Göppingen (Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the bi ...

. He was employed by the Zeppelin company until its dissolution in 1945, from 1915 on as technical director.Geschichte der Ludwig-Dürr-Schule
(German) On 19 July 1923, he married Lydia Beck; they had two daughters and two sons.

Honours

Great Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellec ...

of the Federal Republic of Germany (1953) * Honorary doctorates from Technical Universities and Universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Tübingen and Graz * Honorary citizen of Friedrichshafen and Stuttgart-Echterdingen (now part of

Leinfelden-Echterdingen Leinfelden-Echterdingen ( Swabian: ''Laefälda-Ächdordeng'') is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport and directly adjacent t ...

) * Ludwig-Dürr-Straße in

is named after him. * The Ludwig Dürr School in Friedrichshafen, a primary and secondary school with

Werkrealschule Werkrealschule is a relatively young branch of German secondary education (e.g. in Baden-Württemberg), which offers pupils additional lessons in grades 8 and 9 and allows them to qualify after ten years with a final exam which is equal to graduatio ...

year, is named after him. * The high Alpine trail between the Friedrichshafen and Darmstadt huts in the Verwall Alps is named the Ludwig-Dürr-Weg after him.

References

Sources

* Schmitt, G. and Schwipps, W. -''Pioniere der frühen Luftfahrt'', Blindlach: Gondrom Verlag, 1995,

External links

Ludwig Dürr biography at Airships.net
* 1878 births 1956 deaths German aerospace engineers 20th-century German inventors German designers Aircraft designers Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Engineers from Stuttgart LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin {{Germany-engineer-stub