Zeppelin tower
The zeppelin tower is an old anchor mast for airships in Recife in the state of Pernambuco , Brazil . It is located in the Jiquiá district, on the former Jiquiá field for airships about 10 minutes from the Mangueira Metrô station. It stands on a public, former military site and can be viewed freely without any problems.
history
Between 1930 and 1938 Recife was one of the first South American cities with a direct flight connection (non-stop) to Europe. In Europe, Frankfurt am Main was approached by airships.
The zeppelin tower was used from 1930. On May 21, 1930, the LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin" anchored on its first voyage to Brazil. Since no suitable infrastructure had yet been found on the "Campo dos Afonsos" in Rio de Janeiro , the airships' journey ended in Recife. The onward journey to Rio de Janeiro was carried out by the airline "Sindicato Condor" with airplanes.
On December 26, 1936, the infrastructure in Rio de Janeiro was inaugurated. This enabled Frankfurt am Main to be connected directly to Rio de Janeiro, although the stopover in Recife was retained.
In April 1936, the LZ 129 "Hindenburg" set off with the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos in Recife for Germany. In 1938 the flights were stopped.
Between 1930 and 1938, the airships of the Brazil-Germany line, four of the LZ 129 "Hindenburg" and five of the LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin", anchored at the Zeppelin Tower in Recife.
present
Today the zeppelin tower in Recife is the only completely preserved anchor mast of the German airships LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin" and LZ 129 "Hindenburg".
The mast was restored in the 1980s. The tower was restored between 2005 and 2007, although some original parts have not been on the tower since then.
The city council of Recife is planning, in cooperation with Infraero , to completely restore the tower, integrated into a nature reserve .
Web links
- Old picture ( Memento from February 1, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
- Old picture
- Old picture
- Old picture
Coordinates: 8 ° 4 ′ 42.4 ″ S , 34 ° 55 ′ 34.8 ″ W.