Hindenburg Memorabilia Collection [von Meister]

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of material relating to F. W. "Willy" von Meister and his activities with the airship industries of Germany and the United States. The collection includes Christmas cards, including one with a written note to von Meister from Thomas G. W. "Tex" Settle, USN, 1937; seventeen black and white photo prints and postcards of the Hindenburg and Hugo Eckener, the head of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin; five Hindenburg envelopes; eighteen Hindenburg baggage labels; a printed passenger list for the first crossing of the Hindenburg from Lakehurst, New Jersey to Frankfurt; newspaper and magazine articles on airships; a Maybach Motor Company brochure written by von Meister; and several letters. Also included are fifteen black and white photographs and two sets of postcards of the Dornier DO-X flying boat, and Dornier DO-X baggage labels.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged by general subject and content.

Biographical / Historical

Friedrich Wilhelm "Willy" von Meister (1903-1978) was the representative of the Zeppelin organization's activities in the United States: Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH, American Zeppelin Transport, Inc., and Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH, from 1928 until 1938. After the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937, he assisted Dr. Hugo Eckener, head of the Zeppelin organization, in his attempts to obtain helium from the United States for the company's airships.