Hindenburg disaster newsreel footage

Universal Newsreel of the Hindenburg disaster[1]
Live acetate disc recording from the scene of the Hindenburg disaster
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Newsreel footage of the 6 May 1937 Hindenburg disaster, where the zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg crashed and burned down, was filmed by several companies.

The film is frequently shown with narration, by WLS (AM) announcer Herbert Morrison, who was narrating a field recording on to an acetate disc, and was present to watch the zeppelin's arrival.[2][3] Morrison's commentary was recorded by engineer Charles Nehlsen, but not broadcast until the next day on May 7, 1937,[4] one of the first times that recordings of a news event were ever broadcast.[5] In 2002, the audio recording[6] was selected for preservation into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.[7] It has since been combined with the separately filmed newsreel footage. Most of the original newsreels have their own narration, and many composite edits have been made for documentaries dubbed with Morrison's commentary.

Four newsreel teams were in attendance at the time of the disaster. They were positioned close to each other and adjacent to the mooring mast for the airship. As a result, the newsreels do not show the mooring mast for the airship to be moored (other mooring masts appear in the background in many of the reels), unlike many of the press photographs which were taken farther away which show the mast as well as two of the newsreel cameramen with their cameras mounted atop of newsreel trucks. None of the newsreels captured the initial signs of disaster as the cameras had momentarily stopped filming after the ground crew caught the landing ropes (the fire started approximately four minutes after the first starboard rope was dropped at 7:21). At least one amateur film, taken by Harold N. Schenck, is known to exist, showing a side view of the stern on fire and the tail crashing to the ground.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

In 1997, the original reels were selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[14][15]

  1. ^ Herbert Morrison Hindenburg Recording, from WLS Eye Witness Recording Of Airship Hindenburg Disaster, LP vinyl recording.
  2. ^ Frassanelli, Mike "The Hindenburg 75 years later: Memories time cannot erase." The Newark Star-Ledger, May 6, 2012.
  3. ^ "The 'Prairie Farmer Magazine' Days". WLS Radio History. Retrieved 7 May 2021. Listeners in Chicago and across the country didn't hear Morrison's coverage of the disaster until the next day because his report wasn't broadcast live from Lakehurst. He and engineer Charles Nehlsen had been experimenting with field recordings on huge acetate discs. They realized the gravity of their recordings as they found themselves being followed by German SS Officers! After hiding out for a few hours, the two managed to make a clean getaway and get back across the country to WLS. The chilling account aired the next day on the station and was the first recorded radio news report to be broadcast nationally by NBC.
  4. ^ Childers, Scott (2008). Chicago's WLS Radio (Images of America: Illinois). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 9780738561943.
  5. ^ Hansen, K.A.; Paul, N. (2017). Future-Proofing the News: Preserving the First Draft of History. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-4422-6714-5. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  6. ^ "audio file of Herbert Morrison's account of the Hindenburg Disaster for WLS". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  7. ^ "Registry Titles with Descriptions and Expanded Essays | Recording Registry | National Recording Preservation Board | Programs at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nova-iMdb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nova-Promo-YouTube was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference NatGeoTV was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference New-Angle-of-Hindenburg-nbcphiladelphia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schenck-artnet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Fuhrmann, Doug (1 April 2015). "Local History: Vinelanders recall tragic Hindenburg explosion". The Daily Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2021. The explosion was so great that it shattered windows and overturned dishes at a Toms River restaurant six miles away, said Fred Schenck, a newspaper salesman from Pleasantville, who had been dining with his wife at the time. The tragedy had been broadcast live on the radio, and soon traffic jams at least five miles deep blocked roads leading to the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. In the traffic was Vinelander Harold Wright who was able to get only a mile from the site, but nevertheless had a distant view of the burning wreckage before heading home. Another Vineland resident, Arthur Schaefer, a member of the U.S. Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, was one of 106 officers called to the scene to help with crowd control.
  14. ^ "New to the National Film Registry (December 1997) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  15. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-10-30.