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I hadn\u2019t thought about this story for a long while until I was browsing through the Bridgeport History Center\u2019s digital collections online.\u00a0 I happened upon a photograph of a Zeppelin flying over Bridgeport.\u00a0 The description on the photograph read: A Zeppelin is seen flying over downtown Bridgeport as pedestrians look up and people gathered on a rooftop take in the sight. “Times-Star” newspaper building at 928 Lafayette and trolley tracks on State Street are visible as are a parking lot and the Richfield gas station. A sign from the Cameo Theater is also visible. Photographer Griffin, Walter<\/em>I immediately thought of my father.\u00a0 He would have been nine years old when he saw the Hindenburg.\u00a0 Until I saw this picture it was just another one of his childhood stories to me.\u00a0 Now it was real, and I could see what he so enthusiastically described.\u00a0 Curiosity ignited, I began surfing through the BHC Collections.\u00a0\u00a0 I found two “Bridgeport News’ articles by Mary Witkowski.\u00a0 Mary is the History Center Head Emeritus.\u00a0 She wrote over 400 articles for the “Bridgeport News” during her tenure at the BHC. All of her articles are available on-line from the Bridgeport History Center Collections.\u00a0 These fascinating articles explore many facets of Bridgeport history, the people, the places, and things\u2013\u201cfrom the renowned to the quirky.\u201d The Bridgeport History Center collections allow the viewer a fascinating window into Bridgeport\u2019s past.<\/p>\nMary\u2019s first article, \u00a0It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s 1936, it was the Hindenburg flying over the Park City<\/em>, on February 8, 1996, explained that the Hindenburg was flying over Bridgeport in honor of the City\u2019s Centennial, from 1836 to 1936, something I\u2019m sure my father was unaware of.\u00a0 On that October day 150,000 people, almost the entire city population, turned out to watch the Hindenburg circle over the city twice. Factory whistles blew, people shouted and clapped, the noisy atmosphere was festive as the massive silver airship floated over Bridgeport. The Hindenburg was over three football fields in length, longer than the Queen Mary, and the largest aircraft ever constructed.\u00a0 It was buoyed by 7.2 million cubic feet of highly flammable hydrogen gas and traveled 84 miles per hour.\u00a0 The Hindenburg could carry a cargo of 20 tons and 70 passengers in its elegant cabin which included a sophisticated dining room, a promenade deck, sleeping cabins, a bar and a piano lounge. \u00a0The piano was made of aluminum to save weight. Americans were fascinated by the ship and the Nazi\u2019s were proud of this spectacular symbol of their prowess.\u00a0 The ship was commissioned only a month after Hitler occupied the Rhineland in 1936 and the ship made ten round trips to the United States that year.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Bridgeport\u2019s Mayor McLevy sent a radiogram to the captain of the ship that said, \u201cGreetings from Bridgeport and many thanks and best wishes on our centennial anniversary.\u201d\u00a0 Commander of the Hindenburg, Dr. Hugo Eckener, was the most experienced zeppelin captain in the world. Eckener, a staunch anti-Nazi who had thwarted Nazi attempts to name the ship Hitler, radioed back, \u201c\u2026Felicitations to Bridgeport on the 100th<\/sup> anniversary of city.\u00a0 Your industrial progress over the century brings international note to your community.\u00a0 Best wishes for continued success as one of the foremost American municipalities.\u201d\u00a0 Ironically, Bridgeport was also one of the foremost American manufacturers of armaments in the world and in a few years many of the factories that blew their whistles, and the workers that turned out to cheer the huge German craft, would become crucial in manufacturing the weapons, arms, and ammunition that ultimately and heroically defeated the Nazi menace.<\/p>\n The flight of the Hindenburg over the City of Bridgeport was a thrilling sight that remained in the memories of witnesses for many years. Seven months later the ship exploded spectacularly while being moored in Lakehurst, New Jersey at 7:21 on the evening of May 6, 1937.\u00a0 The disaster would end commercial air travel by zeppelin forever.\u00a0 As the ship was docking on that clear spring evening in New Jersey two explosions rocked it. The highly flammable hydrogen that filled the craft mixed with oxygen combusted in seconds and engulfed the Hindenburg in a ball of fire.\u00a0 Thirty-five passengers and a ground crew member were killed.\u00a0 Miraculously, 62 passengers survived.<\/p>\n The fireball that incinerated the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937, was a symbolic omen of the coming inferno of World War that would engulf the world.\u00a0 Bridgeport would do its part for the war effort on the battlefields and the home front.<\/p>\n Many of Bridgeport\u2019s citizens would remember forever the huge airship circling the city twice as factories throughout the city blew their whistles and children and adults looked to the sky in awe at this unforgettable sight.\u00a0 The digital archives of the Bridgeport History Center preserve for all of us the memories of Bridgeport.\u00a0 Through the archives we can witness the past.\u00a0 Celebrate these collections.\u00a0 Celebrate Bridgeport\u2019s history and the history of our nation.\u00a0 I\u2019m more grateful than I can say for the History Center and its preservation mission.\u00a0 Through these collections I am able to see in 2021 what my father saw in 1936 and to remember fondly the stories he told of growing up in Bridgeport.<\/p>\n BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/strong><\/p>\n Bridgeport History Center Digital Collections: Record Type: Photo<\/p>\n Zeppelin seen from downtown Bridgeport, 1936 – 1936-10-13<\/em><\/strong>, Hindenburg Aeronautics–Zeppelin Streets–State Street Streets–Lafayette Street Newspapers, Record Type: Photo<\/p>\n Bridgeport History Center Digital Collections: Record Type: Bridgeport News Articles<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bportlibrary.org\/hc\/wp-content\/uploads\/articlepic-2-338x500.png\")
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Still today there is speculation about the cause of the explosion.\u00a0 Officials reported that the explosion was ignited by static electricity or other natural causes.\u00a0 But was it sabotage? Some historians believe it may have been an anti-Nazi crew member who planted a bomb on the ship and triggered the combustion that immolated the largest aircraft ever built.<\/p>\n