Airship Graf Zeppelin Passenger Equator Certificate with Captain's Autograph

Description

Beginning with the first visit of the airship Graf Zeppelin to Brazil in 1930, passengers flying to South America from Germany were treated to a sprinkling of water by the crew, a baptism symbolic of the dunking which shipboard sailors and passengers experienced when first crossing the Earth's equator. Voyagers on the Graf Zeppelin and also Hindenburg South Atlantic flights were awarded a certificate which depicts Aeolus, god of the winds, in whose realm the Zeppelins traveled, granting access and passage to the initiate over a clearly peeved Neptune shaking his fist at the transiting airship independent of his realm. At the time, the Graf Zeppelin was the only means by which travelers could fly over Neptune's realm to and from Europe and South America, hence, recipients of a certificate such as this were a very exclusive group indeed. Translation of the German to English reads: " We Aeolus. god of the winds, son of Hippotes, a friend of the undying gods, rightful ruler of the air, the weather, the trade winds, monsoons and all kinds of winds have, with great abundance of grace, ruled that the dust-born (name) on board the Zeppelin airship Graf Zeppelin be permitted to cross our equator by air. Issued on board the Graf Zeppelin on (date)." This certificate was issued to passenger Ernst Paschke on August 21, 1934, the sixth flight of 1934 between Friedrichshafen, German and Recife de Penambuco, Brazil. One of the airship's captains would officiate at the ceremony when on duty at the time of crossing, in this instance, Hans Curt Flemming, who in 1934 was a regular watch officer along with Hans von Schiller and Max Pruss under the overall command of Ernst Lehmann or Hugo Eckener when he was aboard for a flight. This certificate bears Flemming's autograph. Before his tenure with the Graf Zeppelin, Flemming had served with the LZ 126 / ZR3 Los Angeles, the DELAG Bodensee and during the war, set the all time altitude record, albeit unplanned, in the height climber L 55 when Allied fighters chased him above 25,000 feet to escape their incendiary ammunition during the "silent raid" in October 1917. Flemming was junior only to Eckener (and as vehemently anti-brownshirt), and Lehmann and likely would have had his pick of the North or South American service if declining health had not curtailed his career when he passed away in 1935. This certificate is in exceptionally fine condition with one corner bend and very minor wear commensurate with its 80 years. Image is pin-sharp and not faded, having been carefully preserved. Measures approximately 6 1/2 by 8 7/8 inches. Please note: this auction is for the equator certificate only - the photo of Captain Flemming is not included.
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