Friedrichshafen was established in 1811 as part of the new Kingdom of Württemberg, an ally of France during the Napoleonic Wars. It was named for King Frederick I of Württemberg, who privileged it as a free port and transshipment point for the kingdom's Swiss trade. Friedrichshafen was created from the former city of Buchhorn, whose coat of arms it adopted. The new city also incorporated the former village of Hofen, whose monastery was refurbished to serve as the summer residence of the Württemberger kings.
King William I continued improving the city, including the purchase of the steamship Wilhelm. Ministers and senior officials built villas around the royal castle, and many foreign tourists visited the city as well, including Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The first track laid by the Royal Württemberg State Railways connected the port to Ravensburg in 1847. Heilbronn was connected in 1850, and a ferry to Romanshorn, Switzerland, began operating in 1869. Despite their previous opposition to Prussia, under the federal structure of the German Empire, Württemberg and Friedrichshafen continued to enjoy some special privileges following their incorporation into Germany following the Franco-Prussian War.
Aviation
Ferdinand von Zeppelin established his famous dirigible factory at the end of the 19th century. The 128m-long LZ1 rose from its mooring on July 2, 1900. Other aviation companies, including Maybach, also arose in Friedrichshafen to help service the industry, which received a major impetus from the First World War. Following the Treaty of Versailles, the Kingdom of Württemberg was dissolved but the deposed royal family continued in their possession of their castle in Friedrichshafen, despite a workers' revolution there in November, 1918.
In the aftermath of the war, Maybach and many other aviation companies turned to automobile construction, while Claudius Dornier purchased Theodor Kober's failed Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen and established Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Because of the provisions of the Versailles treaty, many of the planes were initially produced in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, or Japan, but resumed work at its Friedrichshafen and other German factories following the rise of the Nazi regime. The 1937 Hindenburg disaster and a subsequent embargo of American helium to Germany, however, effectively ended the production of German dirigibles. However, in 1993 the Zeppelin manufacturing company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin (LZ) was re-established and in 2001 a commercial airline Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (DZR) began flying passenger service from Friedrichshafen Airport. As of 2012, 12 scheduled routes were offered with additional flights to selected cities.
Presently, a yearly aviation conference hosts the latest in European aircraft designs. AERO Friedrichshafen hosted an attendance of 33,400 in 2011, and 30,800 in 2012. Aero 2013 is scheduled for 24–27 April 2013 at Friedrichshafen Airport.
World War II
See also: Bombing of Friedrichshafen in World War II
Friedrichshafen served the Nazis as a resort for workers. The presence of Zeppelin, Maybach, Dornier, and Zahnradfabrik also made it an important industrial center for Germany during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945, these factories employed hundreds of concentration camp prisoners from Dachau and Dora-Mittelbau. They were housed first at Zeppelin's hangar and then, following its destruction during a raid, the V-2 factory Raderach. The prisoners were also used to dig underground tunnels near Friedrichshafen to protect production sites from the repeated bombing.
Between June 1943 and February 1945, the city was the site for eleven Allied bombing attacks. The most serious took place on April 28, 1944, and destroyed most of the old town center. Approximately two-thirds of the city was destroyed over the course of the war.
Modern Germany
Following World War II, Friedrichshafen was part of the French occupation zone before its incorporation into Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. The German aeronautics industry was again banned for many years after the war, and companies again failed or shifted production. The city's principal recovery dates to its establishment as the administrative seat of the Bodenseekreis district of, West Germany, in 1973.
The last French troops withdrew from their "Durand de Villers" Quarter (Quartier Durand de Villers) in 1992.
Economy
Airship construction in the first third of the 20th century attracted considerable industry and contributed significantly to Friedrichshafen's relative prosperity. Friedrichshafen is best known for having been home to the Zeppelin Airship Company, the Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Tognum AG and its commercial internal combustion engine manufacturing subsidiary - MTU Friedrichshafen Gmbh as well as ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a 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. There is a large Zeppelin Museum sited near the lake shore. 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. There is also a Dornier Museum, located at the Friedrichshafen airport, which displays restored Dornier aircraft and technology.
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.
Education
Zeppelin University, a private research university, is the only private university in the state of Baden-Württemberg to have received the rare right to confer PhD titles to its students. Only founded in 2003, its Cultural & Communication Management programme has been already ranked the best university programme in that field in German speaking countries, according to the prestigious CHE ranking. The programme in Public Management & Governance was ranked 4th while the programme in Corporate Management & Economics was ranked 6th among all examined German, Austrian, Swiss and Dutch universities (figures from 2011). Zeppelin University holds the title of the 'most committed' university in Germany with regard to civil society issues (Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft/Stiftung Mercator 2011). Ravensburg University of Cooperative Education also has a campus in Friedrichshafen.
Transport
Friedrichshafen Stadt station 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.
Friedrichshafen has an local airport which offers, amongst other services, daily international connections provided mainly by Lufthansa CityLine, Turkish Airlines and Germanwings.It also acts as the hub for the airline carrier InterSky.
The nearest big cities are Konstanz, St. Gallen, Ravensburg, Ulm, Munich, Zürich, and Bregenz.
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