ZEPPELIN MAIL

This page was last updated
06-Sep-2026 05:26

THE HINDENBURG
(LZ129)

1. NORDAMERIKAFAHRT
1st NORTH AMERICA FLIGHT
(6th / 9th May 1936

The first North America flight was performed by the Hindenburg LZ129 departing from Frankfurt on 6th May and returning on 14th May 1936. She had a crew of 56 and 50 passengers and carried an estimated 1,059Kg of mail. On the outward leg LZ129 landed at Lakehurst on 9th May and departed for the homeward leg on 12th May.

There are two postmarks to look out for related to this flight. The first is a red circular confirmation stamp (bestätigungsstempel) featuring an airship and a small plane flying out of the clouds with the inscription "DEUTSCHE LUFTPOST | EUROPA-NORDAMERIKA".

The second postmark is a black (also in violet and blue) circular handstamp (bordpoststempel) with the inscription "DEUTSCHE LUFTPOST | EUROPA-NORDAMERIKA | LUFTSCHIFF | HINDENBURG | 1. FAHRT" and dated '8.5.36'. There are two minor variants of this cancel, the first with a "1. FAHRT" and the second "1 .FAHRT".



ABOVE LEFT: Red Confirmation Stamp
ABOVE CENTRE: Black Type 1 boarding post stamp
ABOVE RIGHT: Black Type 2 boarding post stamp

Caution:
DR boarding post stamp 8.5.36 with arrival postmark New York and arrival postmark Frankfurt: All postmarks are fakes!

DR boarding post stamp 9.5.36 as FDC Olympia stamps: All stamps are fakes!

The forged of the boarding post stamps were all produced by the same forger. The easiest way to identify the forgeries is that the middle segment of the letter "M" from "NORTH AMERICA" ends halfway up, whereas on the genuine stamp it extends to the edge of the border line (see example of the stamp above).

For the return flight there are three possible arrival stamps in Frankfurt. The first is a circular stamp inscribed "FRANKFURT (MAIN) | MIT | LUFTSCHIFF HINDENBURG | BEFÖRDERT | 14.5.36" with a line drawing of the airship in the lower half circle. The second version bears the same text and date but now with the airship drawing in the upper half circle. The third stamp is a circular CDS inscribed "FRANKFURT (MAIN) | 14.5.36" with a rectangular slogan to the left inscribed "MIT LUFTSCHIFF | HINDENBURG BEFÖRDERT" and a line drawing of the airship above it.



ABOVE LEFT: First Frankfurt cancel
ABOVE CENTRE: Second Frankfurt cancel
ABOVE RIGHT: Slogan cancel with CDS

EXAMPLES FROM THIS FLIGHT