By Dermot O’Sullivan
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Few people are aware that Rio de Janeiro contains one of the last remaining intact airship hangars in the world, located on the Air Force Base in the distant suburb of Santa Cruz.
Many people do not even know that zeppelins once traveled to what was then the capital city of Brazil. The first of these flights occurred in 1930, the zeppelin departing from Friedrichshafen in Germany on May 18th and landing in Recife before continuing on to Rio where it landed on May 25th.
Following a number of other flights, it was decided that a permanent zeppelin facility should be built in the city and Santa Cruz was chosen for its favorable prevailing winds and rail connection to the city.
Construction began in 1934, with parts being shipped over from Germany and then assembled in Brazil. The zeppelin station was eventually opened in December 1936, with President Getúlio Vargas participating in the ceremony.
The facility was named Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport, in honor of a priest from Santos who carried out experiments with balloons in the early 1700s.
Regular journeys between Frankfurt and Rio de Janeiro (with a stop in Recife) began to operate, but unfortunately, the Hindenburg disaster of May 1937 cut short this enterprise and brought the era of zeppelin travel worldwide to an abrupt end.
Only nine transatlantic journeys were ever completed using the hangar in Santa Cruz. Five of these were by the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin and four by the infamous LZ 129 Hindenburg. 200 men were employed to secure the zeppelins with ropes when they docked, and then to inspect every inch of the enormous craft for any damage. These workers were nicknamed aranhas (spiders).
In 1941, when Brazil declared war on Nazi Germany, Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport was still German-owned.
At this point, however, the Brazilian military took control of it and turned it into an Air Force Base. American blimps that patrolled the Brazilian coast later used this base, and the hangar itself was repurposed to house fighter jets.
The zeppelin hangar is still located in a military area, so visits are restricted, but possible. Enquire online or locally for up-to-date information.