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Friedrichshafen

[free-driks-hah-fuhn; Ger. free-drikhs-hah-fuhn]

Friedrichshafen, city (1994 pop. 56,050), Baden-Württemberg, S Germany, a port on Lake Constance. Industries include ship and railroad car repair, leatherworking, and the manufacture of cars and textiles. Friedrichshafen was formed in 1811 by the union of the towns of Buchhorn (founded by the 9th cent.) and Hafen (founded in the mid-11th cent.). In 1824 it became the summer residence of the kings of Württemberg. As the site of the Zeppelin aircraft works, Friedrichshafen suffered heavy damage in World War II. Of interest are the baroque ducal castle (originally a Benedictine abbey) and its church (both built in the late 17th cent.).

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Friedrichshafen

Friedrichshafen is a town on the northern side of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (Kreisstadt) of the Bodensee district (Landeskreis) in the federal state (Bundesland) of Baden-Württemberg.

Friedrichshafen has a population of c. 58,000.

Zeppelin

Friedrichshafen is best known for having been home to the Zeppelin airship company and the Dornier Flugzeugwerke as well as ZF Friedrichshafen AG, manufacturer of transmission systems. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was born in Konstanz (Constance), originally had his airships built in a floating airship hangar on the lake which could be aligned with the wind to support the difficult starting procedure.

Visitors can learn more about the history of Zeppelin airships in the large Zeppelin Museum sited near the lakeshore. In recent years a number of small Zeppelin airships have been constructed using modern technology (Zeppelin NT) and these can be booked for sightseeing tours.

Economy

Airship construction in the first third of the 20th century attracted considerable industry and contributed significantly to Friedrichshafen's relative prosperity, yet also exposed the town to air strikes (such as Operation Bellicose) by the Allied Forces in the latter part of World War II which almost completely destroyed its historical centre. During the war, a subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp was located in the town. It provided slave labour for local industry.

Apart from industry and tourism, various regular commercial exhibitions, such as Aero (aviation technology), InterBoot (water sports) and EuroBike are important economical factors. Furthermore, the Graf-Zeppelin-Haus cultural centre has become a popular location for congresses, conferences, and other events.

Transport

The town enjoys regular-interval train services to Lindau and Ulm, as well as to Basel in Switzerland.

A car ferry service links Friedrichshafen to Romanshorn in Switzerland, and various other towns around the lake can also be reached by ferry. Since 2005 a fast ship connection has been in service between Friedrichshafen and Konstanz.

The presence of an expanding local airport which offers, amongst other services, a daily international connection to London Stansted and Dublin operated by Ryanair, and acts as the hub for airline carrier Intersky is a factor which has recently contributed to new growth in the town.

The nearest big cities are Konstanz, St. Gallen, Ravensburg, Ulm, Munich, Zurich, and Dornbirn.