Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen

As well as the airship, Friedrichshafen is famous for its airplanes, built by pioneering designer Claudius Dornier.

The Dornier Museum is right at Friedrichshafen airport. Covering 100 years of exciting aviation and space history, this futuristic building houses 400 exhibits, including 12 historic aircraft and 7 exhibits from space.

Dornier designed a host of revolutionary and successful airplanes, including the first giant flying boat. But it is two planes that stand out. Built in 1925, the single-engine Dornier Merkur was the first aircraft to make a scheduled flight for Deutsche Luft Hansa and went on to break record after record. The first jet aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing, the Do 31 made its first flight in 1967, and again smashed world records.

Friedrichshafen is 125 miles/200 km south of Stuttgart.