Hans von Schiller was famous for over twenty years as an airship Zeppelin crew member and 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 ( now in Denmark ) - today 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 ( from Germany ) 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
Lakehurst tragedy
Hindenburg disaster
Hans von Schiller