Zeppelin! (2005)

In Gordian Maugg's historic crime story ZEPPELIN! the airship casts its long shadow over three generations of a southern German family: Why did Robert Silcher, crew member of the LZ 129 Hindenburg, die in the flames at Lakehurst on 7 May 1937? Unsuccessfully his son Jakob spent his life trying to shed light on the mysterious circumstances of the accident. His grandson Matthias remembers his father's deep sadness and a trip to Lake Constance in 1973. Matthias' investigation leads him to the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen to one of Robert's former colleagues, Karl Semmle. But the old man rejects Matthias and first wants to know why he is so curious before he breaks his silence. The bizarre circumstances of Robert's death and the lives of his surviving family members thereafter does not come to light until 2004 with the help of Karl Semmle, the only witness of the time who really knows what happened and what drove Robert to sacrifice his own life to save the airship industry - a decision that would go on to haunt the lives of three generations. Filmmaker Gordian Maugg interweaves beautiful archive footage of the Hindenburg in this film, allowing a rare sight on the big screen of this exceptional airship.