Along with another Zeppelin , LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin , it was the biggest airship in the world at the time it was built . The DZR was jointly owned by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin ( the airship 's builder ) , the Reichsluftfahrtministerium ( German Air Ministry ) , and Deutsche Lufthansa AG ( Germany 's national airline ) , and also operated the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin during its last two years of commercial service to South America from 1935 to 1937 . The Hindenburg and its sister ship , the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II ( launched in September 1938 ) , were the only two airships ever purpose-built for regular commercial transatlantic passenger operations , although the latter never entered passenger service before being scrapped in 1940 .