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2.3 literature bodies about and around zeppelins 19
both a chronological depiction of the technological development and
the surrounding conditions. Yet he is more concerned about stating
events than interpreting the environment of the airship to a greater
extent. The history surrounding the technology and the biographical
information serves more as a sort of frame for the technological narrative.
After criticizing other redundant narratives, his original sources
bring up some issues that are not mentioned by many other authors
and thus provide some added material to the discourse. Two further
publications by Knäusel are informative: »LZ1 - Der erste Zeppelin«
[31] and »LZ1 - Die große Verheißung«[29]. Both books are identical in
large parts. They provide a very nice account of the very beginnings
of Zeppelin’s interest in airships and the efforts it took him to build
his first prototype. Apart from the analysis Knäusel provides, the
books offer a quite unique feature: Knäusel publishes reproductions
of original documents from the time - speeches Zeppelin gave, letters
to and from him and various other documents that offer first-hand
insights into the difficult beginnings of Zeppelin’s airship venture.
2.3.3 Studies of the Zeppelin from a Social Science Perspective
While the former categories provide the frame of the entire story, for
an STS research project the social science literature about and around
count Zeppelin’s airship provides the most interesting pieces. Probably
the most holistic approach comes from Guillaume de Syon [9].
He gives a great overview – basically re-telling the entire history of
Zeppelin airships from a fairly balanced perspective (not being German
might be helpful at this point - if understanding the zeppelin
as a technology with a national connotation, sharing the national
cultural background in which it is remembered with such affection
might prove to be a liability if one is not careful) and connecting the
history of the technology with surrounding phenomena. He pays
special attention to the relation of ’Germany’ to the technology – his
book is subtitled »Germany and the Airship 1900-1939«. As his approach
to cover the entire span of existence of the airship gives not too
much room to the early developments, it still gives a very informative
overview. In his book »Deutschland hebt ab«, Helmut Reinicke [42] lights
the craze around the zeppelin airship from various perspectives. The
perspectives he chooses cover various angles – focusing on different
meanings the airship incorporated. Some important ones of those are
the airship as an example for the general fascination for technology,
the »national donation« (»Volksspende«) as a »cultic sacrifice« (original
quote: »Opferfest des deutschen Volkes«, [42, 25]), the airship as
symbol of upper class comforts in contrast to socialist tendencies and
the airship as imagined supreme weapon. Giving a great amount of
historic sources and material, a generally dramatic and elevated style
of writing sometimes gives the impression of Reinicke himself being