Ludwig Ferdinand Dürr (4 June 1878 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

– 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, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

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 part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

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

Ferdinand von Zeppelin Graf, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a General (Germany), German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name became synonymous with airships and dominated long-distance flight until the ...

. After assisting in the construction of the first

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor 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. 155� ...

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 Hall ...

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 (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

. 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 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 ...

) * 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 The Verwall Alps or Verwall GroupKev Reynolds, Reynolds, Kev (2005). ''Walking in the Alps'', 2nd ed., Cicerone, Singapore, pp. 321-326. . are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps at the border of the Austrian states of Tyrol (state), Tyr ...

is named the Ludwig-Dürr-Weg after him.

References

Sources

* Schmitt, G. and Schwipps, W.: ''Pioniere der frühen Luftfahrt'', Blindlach: Gondrom Verlag, 1995, * Wolfgang von Zeppelin: ''Ludwig Ferdinand Dürr – Das erfüllte Leben des großen Ingenieurs beim Luftschiffbau Zeppelin'', 2013,

External links

Ludwig Dürr biography at Airships.net
* 1878 births 1956 deaths German aerospace engineers 20th-century German inventors 20th-century German designers 19th-century 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