Description
Germany airship Graf Zeppelin crew badge, green enamel; circa 1932. Made by made by Friedrich Linden (FLL) after 1st commercial flight; excellent overall condition with original patina – rare this nice.
Scarce pre-WW2 German airship Graf Zeppelin “large” crew badge with green enamel border fields in excellent overall condition. These were issued to the crew and airship service staff after Graf Zeppelin’s 1st commercial flight in 1932. The badges were manufactured by Friedrich Linden (FLL) which produced them in several colors. The common belief is that various badge colors signified different occupation or a specialty within the airship’s crew and other service staff members.
Graf Zeppelin (German designation D-LZ 127) was probably the most famous rigid airship ever; it was designated for transporting passengers and cargo over long distances at the speed unheard of at the time. One of the largest airships of the time, Graf Zeppelin had a crew of 36 (!!) men. The airship’s length was 776 feet/236.53 meters; ship’s diameter: 100 feet/30.48 meters; gas volume (Hydrogen): 3,700,000 cubic feet/111,000 cubic meters. This giant ship was propelled by five 550-hp Maybach engines at the maximum speed of 80 mph / 128 km/hr. The most successful commercial airship ever built, Graf Zeppelin flew more than 1,000,000 miles on 590 flights, carrying well over 34,000 passengers without a single injury. Sadly, the “golden era” of these giant airships was brief: the Nazis cut up all of their rigid airships in 1940 as the quality aluminum was needed for Luftwaffe’s warplanes.
This is a pretty “airship” type badge with very attractive “old coin cabinet” dark-brown patina on the bronze and intact enamel fields. The badge is about 44.5 mm in diameter; about 32.2 grams. The pin is nice and tight with no damage; no dings or contact marks – this type is rare this nice. This rare Germany airship Graf Zeppelin crew badge is not a later reproduction or a copy; it is guaranteed to be 100% authentic or your money back. Not cleaned; a couple of minor contact marks on obverse are noted for accuracy; these are the actual photos. Don’t miss your chance to add this attractive vintage airship memorabilia to your collection!
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