Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen

Just half an hour from Lindau, the Zeppelin Museum invites you to visit. Located directly on the shores of Lake Constance, in the centre of Friedrichshafen, you can learn many exciting facts about the history of German and international airship travel and the classic Zeppelins. The museum is not only worth a visit for families or individual travellers, but also for groups or school classes.

Housed in the listed building of the harbour railway station, the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen combines the world’s most important collection on airship travel with an art collection that includes the great masters from southern Germany from the Middle Ages to modern times. Around 1,500 exhibits covering an area of over 4,000 square metres include unique objects – not only for Zeppelin enthusiasts. Highlights include the walk-in passenger compartments of the LZ 129 Hindenburg in a faithful replica measuring around 33 metres in length, a chamber of wonders dedicated to the cult object that is the Zeppelin, and experimental stations that make the principle of ‘lighter than air’ understandable for young and old alike and bring it to life with the aid of a flight simulator.

The technical collection

Fragments of airships such as frames, propellers, gondolas, altitude engines and gearboxes are on display alongside historical audio, film and image recordings, newspaper articles and airship equipment. These multimedia exhibits bring to life the pioneers of airship travel and recall their greatest successes and most terrible disasters. They also answer the question of how Count Zeppelin managed to build an airship that is almost four times the size of an Airbus but still lighter than air, and how he used it to promote Friedrichshafen as an industrial centre. They also answer the question of how Count Zeppelin managed to build an airship that is almost four times the size of an Airbus but still lighter than air, and how he used it to shape the city of Friedrichshafen as an industrial location in the long term.

The art collection

Another special focus of the exhibition is on works by artists who retreated to Lake Constance during the Nazi era as part of their ‘inner emigration,’ such as Otto Dix, Max Ackermann and Willi Baumeister. Through meticulous research, the Zeppelin Museum traces the history of the artworks in its collection. In this way, it reveals the fates of collectors, stolen or relocated artworks, and Nazi campaigns against modern art.

Temporary exhibitions

Through temporary exhibitions on current social issues, the museum builds bridges to contemporary art and continually fosters dialogue between art and technology. Public guided tours of the exhibitions take place every Sunday, and on Thursdays visitors are invited to OPEN HOUSE! for free lectures, readings and other events.

Digital content and formats for preparation and follow-up

The digital collection and media library invite you to browse, in the ZM talks podcast series, employees share insider knowledge or engage in conversations with experts on current topics, ZeppApp offers comprehensive information and audio guides to the exhibitions, the museum’s own discourse platform debatorial® invites you to exchange ideas, the museum blog invites you to read, and the profiles on social networks invite you to interact and engage in storytelling.