This month’s featured stein is a Bavarian Airship regimental stein with the
unit designation: Königlich Bayerische Luftschiffer und Kraftfahr Abteilung, Luftschiffer
Compagnie 1910-1912 München (Royal Bavarian Airship and Motorized Vehicle Detachment,
Airship Company 1910-1912 Munich).
The stein is a blue-grey stoneware, Marzi & Remy black handle
stein. German regimental collectors often call this body style a Keferloher
stein, named for a tiny town near Munich where those blue/gray salt glazed stein were commonly used at inns patronized by drovers in the 19th Century.
The first airship units were organized in 1884 to evaluate tethered, ball shaped observation
balloons and by 1896, the Parsival-Sigsfeld “kite” balloons with a stabilizing tail.
Finally, by 1906 airship units were testing semi-rigid and rigid early Zeppelin type powered airships.
The stein has a propeller on the face, right above a laurel wreath that surrounds the
Luftschiffer Barracks in Munich. Below is a crowned Bavarian shield between assorted
military equipment on the left and a red shoulder strap with a golden
“L
” on the right.
Two standing airship soldiers frame the stein’s front. On the left side is a tethered
Parsival balloon and a semi-rigid, powered airship. On the right is a ball shaped
observation balloon, an early airplane and a rigid, Zeppelin type airship.
