Hans von Schiller

Who is Hans von Schiller?

Hans von Schiller was most famous as an airship Zeppelin captain. Born in 1891 in Schleswig-Holstein, the young Hans von Schiller joined the navy at the beginning of World War I. He was Impatient for action and so volunteered for Zeppelin service and was active on numerous Zeppelin raids against the British from a base at Tonder in Denmark - now the site of an excellent Zeppelin museum.

After the war, Hans continued his career to become a world pioneer in international air travel. He was on board Zeppelins for flights to the Arctic and even a journey to circumnavigate the world. He captained innumerable flights to the USA and South America until the Lakehurst tragedy in 1937 brought an end to this form of travel. It was only because of a delay in Rio that he was unable to reach Friedrichshafen to join the last flight of the Hindenburg.

International flights in comfort and speed crossing oceans as well as mountains with ease, placed Von Schiller and his colleagues in public regard that we would now give to astronauts.

Only a few non-commercial flights were conducted after the Hindenburg disaster and so Captain Von Schiller was forced to look for other work.