David Schwarz, a Zagreb Jew (1852-1897), invented steerable metal airship that is today unjustly bearing the name of the German count Zeppelin. Indeed, Zeppelin bought the complete project from Schwartz’s wife, shortly after his premature death. It is true that in 1897 the `Zeppelin’ constructed by Schwartz fell down during its trial flight near Berlin, due to a small technical error in the propeller, having reached the height of 460 m. It was 47.5 m long and had 35 tons.

While preparing the project of his flying ship, which for the first time was predicted to be metal made, he had to resolve many technical and technological problems. This led to the discovery of the special aluminum alloy now known under the name dural, also called the Schwartz aluminum.

Photos from David Schwarz web site by Ante Sucur The American Israel Numismatic Association issued two nice plaquettes in honour of David Schwarz, see here.

The Croatian Jews left truly remarkable traces in arts, music, science and architecture.