This left-hand side of this postcard features a portrait of David Schwartz, pictured in a circle in the top-left corner, with his invention, later known as the Zeppelin. The aircraft appears in the sky over what seems to be a European city. The (German) text below the picture reads:
“David Schwarz The aluminium air vessel at 280 metres high.”
The other side of the postcard features a close-up image of the airship, which is being anchored by a large group of people who seem to be dressed in uniform.
David Schwarz was born in Hungary in 1850. A wood merchant by profession, he did not have any formal training but became interested in mechanics and invented the first all-metal airship. He unfortunately died before its inaugural flight. After his death, Schwarz’s wife sold the rights to his invention to the German general Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin.
The designs were adapted and led to the creation of the Zeppelin. The airship was initially used for civilian transport but then as bombers in World War I.
