Andreas Burkart, University of Duesseldorf, writes us with the story and pictures of the Zeppelin mooring mast in Brazil:
Recife is a large metropolis on the east coast of Brazil. In the 1930s, along with Rio de Janeiro, it was a mooring place for Zeppelins. In Recife the mooring tower still exists in very good order and was an anchoring place for the airships LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin" and LZ 129 "Hindenburg".
During a study project in the east of Brasil it was possible to visit this historical place. In the direct neighborhood of the Zeppelin tower there is a training station of the military police which uses parts of the area for shooting exercises. For visitors, the Zeppelintower is
easy to access, and taking pictures is no problem.
The former mooring field for airships no longer exists. The tower is now surrounded by mango trees, wild plants and decayed military buildings. But the historical worth of the technical monument was recognized by the government and due to several restorations, the tower is now in very good order. It's impressive how much the place has changed its face, since the last airship landed about 70 years ago, but you still can see the signs. The Brasilian people still remember the storys of their grandparents which sometimes had the luck to have seen an airship crossing the skies over Brazil.
I visited this monument, in late 2013..
ReplyDeleteI was able to get there thanks to an understanding taxi driver....would not recommend walking in the town around that area, but we did ask a couple of pedestrians for directions as the Google map location was wrong and managed to find the site. Thanks to the surrounding trees and buildings it is not visible from a distance as one might expect.
The mast is in excellent condition and a guard is posted 24/7 to prevent vandalism/thievery. As the poster said photos are no problem. The mast is now painted Aviation Orange and White.
I was honored to have been able to visit: glass raised to the Brazilians for preserving this piece of Zeppelin history and of course Count Von Zeppelin, Hugo Eckener and the dedicated German engineers and airshipmen!
Donald Macomber
Lompoc, CA USA