Commission for Aerophilately

Fédération Internationale de Philatélie

Last update: 27-Jan-2019

LZ-129 Hindenburg

75 years ago, on May 6, 1937, airship LZ-129 Hindenburg crashed at Lakehurst, NJ. The cause of the crash has not yet finally been determined. And many questions are still unanswered in connection with the mail onboard, of the 17,500 mail articles onboard, only 357 were officially recovered.

In April 2012, a new book is due dealing exclusively with the crash mail of the Hindenburg. And most of the open questions will be answered. The book is titled LZ-129 Hindenburg, Zeppelin Crash Mail, the author and editor is Dieter Leder. The book will be published in A4 size (about Letter size) in the English language. It will be about 300 pages with more than 300 illustrations, the book is hardbound and in full color

The first two chapters are deal with the pre-crash mail dispatch at Frankfurt Auslandsstelle (foreign section) and Luftpoststelle (airmail section). Chapter three is about the operation of the onboard post office. Chapter four deals with the American eastbound mail dispatch. And then comes the crash....
The following ten chapters are about the nine mail findings in the wreckage. Chapter 16 deals with the forwarding of the eastbound mail which should have made the Hindenburg return flight.

Sample page from the census of recovered mail.

With 120 pages, the census chapter is the largest one of the book. It lists all officially and privately recovered articles including their address. Where available, the recovered article is illustrated. A final chapter deals with crash mail forgeries. The book is fully indexed. With the help of this handbook, the history and especially the postal history of each crash cover is fully documented. This includes the dispatch, the handling at the corresponding post offices up to the documentation of how the article was loaded into the airship and where the article was stored at the time of the crash. The book describes further on when, where and by whom the article was recovered and how the article was handled after the recovery and delivered to the addressee.

"Am enjoying a nice crossing". Card written by passenger Burtis Dolan.

In years of research, fascinating and thrilling details have surfaced. The Hindenburg crash mail will be seen in a completely new light. The new book contains information on documented articles and it also provides information on unreported crash covers. Research revealed first information on several recovered articles although the article in question is still hidden in a collection or private possession.
The book will be available end of April 2012/early May 2012 depending on the delivery from the printer.
The regular book price is Euro 100 plus Euro 15 for shipping and handling.
The fastest and easiest way to pay is through paypal (send funds to zpj@arcor.de ), cash is accepted as well as cheques (make them out to Dieter Leder and send them to: Dieter Leder, Seepromenade 6, 88709 Meersburg, Germany).

If you have any questions, please email me at zpj@arcor.de

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON ZEPPELIN MAIL AND AIRSHIP MEMORABILIA:

- The web portal for zeppelin mail and airship memorabilia: http://www.eZEP.de/
- The board for zeppelin mail and airship memorabilia: http://www.eZEPtalk.de/
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