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Germany under Paul von Hindenburg – President: 12 May 1925 – 2 August 1934
Flight of the Graf Zeppelin
1930 E Silver 3 Mark 30mm (14.90 grams) 0.500 Silver (0.2411 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 67, J# 342 | Engraver: F. Krischker
*DEUTSCHES REICH* DREI REICHSMARK, Eagle.
GRAF ZEPPELIN WELTFLUG 1929, Graf Zeppelin right over globe.
Edge Lettering:
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 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin 127) was a German passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service. Named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count (Graf) in the German nobility, it was conceived and operated by Dr Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights totalling almost 1.7 million kilometres (over 1 million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36, and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship, and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air; its range was enhanced by its use of Blau gas as a fuel. It was built using funds raised by public subscription and from the German government, and its operating costs were offset by the sale of special postage stamps to collectors, the support of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and cargo and passenger receipts.
After several long flights between 1928 and 1932, including one to the Arctic, Graf Zeppelin provided a commercial passenger and mail service between Germany and Brazil for five years. When the Nazi Party came to power, they used it as a propaganda tool. It was withdrawn from service after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, and scrapped for military aircraft production in 1940.
 Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg, known simply as Paul von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934), was a German general and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death during the Weimar Republic. He played a key role in the Nazi Machtergreifung in January 1933 when, under pressure from advisers, he appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany.
Born to a family of minor Prussian nobility, Hindenburg joined the Prussian army in 1866 where he saw combat during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. He retired with the rank of General of the Infantry in 1911, but was recalled to military service at the age of 66 following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914 and shortly thereafter received nationwide attention as the victor of the Battle of Tannenberg and promotion to Field Marshal. Upon later being named Chief of the General Staff in 1916, his popularity among the German public dramatically increased and produced a large cult of personality. Taking advantage of Wilhelm II’s broad delegation of authority to the Army High Command, Hindenburg and his deputy, General Erich Ludendorff, established a de facto military dictatorship that controlled Germany for the rest of the war.
Hindenburg retired again in 1919, but returned to public life in 1925 to be elected the second President of Germany. He defeated Hitler in a runoff to win reelection in 1932. He was opposed to Hitler and was a major player in the increasing political instability in the Weimar Republic that ended with Hitler’s rise to power. He dissolved the Reichstag twice in 1932 and finally agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Hindenburg did this to satisfy Hitler’s demands that he should play a part in the Weimar government, for Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party, which had won a plurality in the November 1932 elections. In February he approved the Reichstag Fire Decree, which suspended various civil liberties, and in March signed the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave Hitler’s regime arbitrary powers. Hindenburg died the following year, after which Hitler declared himself Führer und Reichskanzler, or Supreme Leader and Chancellor, which superseded both the Presidency and Chancellorship.
  Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany is a federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe. It includes 16 constituent states and covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi) with a largely temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Berlin. With 81 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state in the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular migration destination in the world.
Various Germanic tribes have occupied northern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 CE. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation.
The rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states in 1871 into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic. The establishment of the Third Reich in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After 1945, Germany split into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990, the country was reunified.
 In the 21st century, Germany is a great power and has the world’s fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the fifth-largest by PPP. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the world’s third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a developed country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled and productive society. It upholds a social security and universal health care system, environmental protection and a tuition free university education.
Germany was a founding member of the European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world. Known for its rich cultural history, Germany has been continuously the home of influential artists, philosophers, musicians, sportsmen, entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors.
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