Friedrichshafen, Germany

Friedrichshafen sits on the northern shore of Lake Constance and is home to roughly 63,000 residents. King Frederick I of Württemberg established the city in 1811 by merging the towns of Buchhorn and Hofen. Ferdinand von Zeppelin founded Luftschiffbau Zeppelin here in 1900, and the company produced around 120 airships through 1940, beginning with the LZ1. The 1996 Zeppelin Museum displays a partial reconstruction of the 245-meter 1936 Hindenburg (LZ129), while the 1850 Dornier factory built the 1922 Wal flying boat. A 1929 catenary railway still carries passengers to the beach.