A Flight of Fancy (Part Five)

LXIII

Passengers on the Promenade Deck as the Hindenburg is in sight of New York on our lady passenger's mythic flight. Lunch orders are being taken in the Dining Room

Our invented lady passenger and her fictional dinner companion meet on the portside Promenade Deck about 90 minutes before dinner. They stand talking side by side, mostly looking out the big Promenade windows as the countryside unrolls beneath them.

Passengers waving goodbye from the portside Promenade windows, several of which are open. This photo was taken either in late 1936 or on the ship's last flight. Note the passenger cabin windows on "B" Deck

The Hindenburg sails, conditions permitting, at the relatively low altitude of 650 feet. There are two reasons for this. The practical one is simply that higher altitudes tend to be colder. Since virtually the entire crew lives or works within the unheated hull it's simply common sense to keep them comfortable. The romantic one is that the low altitude allows the passengers to see in some detail the charming small towns of western Europe, herds of horses galloping across meadows, trains passing below, and cars racing along roads. Oftentimes, the shadow of the Hindenburg causes people on the ground to look up suddenly. The passengers wave to them, and they wave back, probably.

A view of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin from the Promenade Deck looking aft, 1936. Note the engine gondola

After a sunshower, the ship's shadow is surrounded by an aureole of light casting a rainbow around it. It's a trick of the light only ever seen from the Hindenburg.

A special reception was held in New York to celebrate the Maiden Voyage

Over the ocean, passengers can thrill to whitecaps, whales breaching, occasional icebergs, and steamships plying the North Atlantic Ferry Route.

After window-gazing for awhile, our friend and her friend turn to watch the Stewards rearranging the Dining Room. The Dining Room runs the entire port side of the passenger area of the ship, measuring 47 x 13 in total. The room can hold about 50 people with a little squeezing.

The Dining Room, set up for dinner

The ship is equipped with unique Hindenburg china and cutlery engraved with the airline's initials. The walls are decorated with small murals depicting the various ports-of-call of the Graf Zeppelin.

Many menus from the Hindenburg exist. Note the fruit cocktail "a la Eckener" and the other items named for the ship

For luncheon, the room is arranged cafe style, rather like the lounge, with small tables placed throughout. At dinnertime though, the room is arranged with two long banquet tables set end to end. One is the Captain's Table, where Captain Max Pruss presides, usually with a uniformed Junior Officer or two to add a nautical dash to the seating arrangement.

A passenger puzzles over the dinner menu

The other is Dr. Hugo Eckener's table, and by reputation it quickly becomes the table to sit at. Our dinner companions manage to grab the last two seats available. Dr. Eckener is a famous speaker and a dinner party raconteur known for his acerbic wit, and conversation dwindles at the Captain's Table as people seated there also try to listen to Dr. Eckener. Eckener tends to switch between German, English, and French, and the passengers of various nationalities struggle to translate and keep up at the same time.

The Dining Room set up for lunch

Tonight, Dr. Eckener announces that construction on the next DZR airship, number LZ-130, is progressing nicely. He tells everyone that she has been named Graf Zeppelin II "for good luck."

A Hindenburg menu without the flourishes

To a question about whether she will be much bigger than the Hindenburg, Eckener says no, that they will be sister ships drawn from the same plans with a few improvements. "They'll fix The Shpritz," he promises, and everybody laughs. "We're also trying to acquire helium from the American government. Some people are afraid to fly in airships because of the hydrogen. But hydrogen is perfectly safe," he adds, "as long as a Captain respects his ship and its lifting gas. Are you listening, Captain Pruss?" he inquires, with a lift to his voice.

A crowded lunch in the Dining Room

"To every word. As always," Pruss answers. People chuckle, but there is an edge to Pruss' answer. He has said before that he dislikes being out-Captained, and even his officers approach Eckener for advice at times when they should go to Pruss.

A Hindenburg place setting. Note the zeppelin logos

Eckener ignores the edge. "Good. Then we'll give you the LZ-131 to command." LZ-131 and LZ-132 are still on the drawing boards, but they will be a million cubic feet larger than Hindenburg and will definitely be helium airships. And they will each carry 120 passengers.

A liquor list from the Hindenburg

"Ah!" Eckener crows. "Here comes the Mocha. Shall we repair to the Lounge and drink and be merry?"