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Captain Hans von Schiller Collection

 Collection
Identifier: L008-17

Scope and Content

The collection arrived in fair condition and was initially processed with only a container list as description. Due to a change of the content management system, further description proved to be necessary.

Dates

  • Undated

Language of Materials

Collection is in English.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection are open for research.

Literary Rights Statement

Permission to publish material from this collection in any form, current or future, must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives Division, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas.

Biographical Sketch

Hans von Schiller was born on March 17, 1891 on Gut Buckhagen in the Province of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1912, von Schiller joined the Imperial German Navy as Naval cadet. At the beginning of the First World War, von Schiller was an Officer Aspirant assigned to a ship. Von Schiller, however, changed his mind and he enlisted in the Naval Aviation but failed to inform his superiors about the move. As a disciplinary action, he was transferred to a light tower for duty, where he received training on a radio and his patent as a radio operator. In 1915, he took his exam as an airship captain before Hugo Eckener. He completed over 221 flights on several Zeppelin airships under the command of Captain Horst Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels.

After World War I, von Schiller continued flying Zeppelins to the Arctic, circumnavigating the world as Navigation Officer with Hugo Eckener in 1929, flights to South and North America. From 1935 through 1937, von Schiller was the commander of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. In 1937, he was supposed to board the Hindenburg on her flight to Newark, New Jersey, but was delayed from a trip from Rio de Janeiro in his arrival at Friedrichshafen, Germany, thus was not on board, when the airship crashed.

In 1940, von Schiller was the Commander of the air base at Köln-Butzweilerhof in Cologne, Germany. Von Schiller, now holding the rank of Major, survived with his family the RAF bombings on Cologne in May of 1942. From 1943 through 1944, he was stationed in Oslo, Norway in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to the air-sea rescue group.

After the Second World War, von Schiller assisted in clearing the Rhine for navigation on the river. In 1948, the city of Cologne, appointed him as Director of the Rhine ports for Cologne.

After retirement, von Schiller moved to Stuttgart authoring several books on Zeppelins. Hans von Schiller passed away on December 8, 1976 in Tubingen, Germany.

Sources

Source
"Hans von Schiller," "Wikipedia," accessed 15 March, 2021, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_von_Schiller
Source
"Hans von Schiller," "Wikipedia," accessed 15 March, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_von_Schiller

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet ((One envelope).)

Abstract

This collection contains one copy of book "A Million Miles in a Zeppelin" and one black and white photograph labeled "Vernon Hacken and Son Dale."

Series Description

The archivist kept the original organization intact without any further arrangement.

Provenance Statement

The Captain Hans von Schiller Collection was donated to the History of Aviation Archives, Special Collections and Archives Division, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas, by Wilbur Cross Associates, Ltd.

Additional Sources

Additional information about this topic can be found in the History of Aviation Archives in the following Collections: Lighter than Air Archives

Image ID

It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission from copyright holders of materials to which this institution does not own copyright.

Images in this collection are identified by a unique number that provides information about the format, record group, collection, series, box, folder, and image numbers. Please use this number when ordering reproductions of images from this collection.

Record Group Code

1 = CAT/Air American Archives

2 = Doolittle Archives

3 = Lighter than Air Archives

4 = George H. Williams, Jr., World War I Aviation Library

5 = History of Aviation Archives

6 = University Archives

7 = HAC Stacks

8 = WPRL Stacks

9 = Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Collection

10 = Belsterling Collection

11 = Closed Stacks

12 = Unidentified

13 = Chance Vought Archives

14 = Twirly Birds Archives

Image Format Code

P = Photograph/Postcard

S = Slide

N = Negative

T = Positive Transparency

B = Black and White

C = Color

Example: 3CVS-1-1-PB1

3 = Lighter than Air Archives

CVS = Captain Hans von Schiller Collection

= Series Number

1 = Box Number

1 = Folder Number

P = Photograph/Postcard

B = Black and White

1 = Image Number

Images archived in plastic image holders may also have a location code in the format: 1/TL. In this example, the number is the sheet number and the letters indicate the top left position on the sheet. Position indicators are T = top, L = left, R = right, M = middle, and B = bottom. Position indicators may be combined to describe the position on the sheet, as shown in this example.

Title
Guide to the Captain Hans von Schiller Collection, 1891-1976
Status
Completed
Date
2018-06-15
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Edition statement
First revision by Madeline Hoff, 2018-06-13. Second revision by Patrizia Nava, CA. 2021-03-15.

Revision Statements

  • 2018-06-13: 1st revision was a migration to ArchivesSpace by Madeline Hoff.
  • 2021-03-15: 2nd revision was an update of the biographical sketch, subject terms and other style elements of the finding aid by Patrizia Nava, CA.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections and Archives Division, History of Aviation Archives. Repository

Contact:
3020 Waterview Pkwy
SP2
Suite 11.206
Richardson Texas 75080 US
972-883-2570