Hindenburg Gas Cell

"Oh, the humanity, all the passengers. screaming around here [...]  Listen, folks; I... I'm gonna have to stop for a minute because I've lost my voice. This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed." - Herbert Morrison, WLS radio broadcaster at the scene of the disaster.

On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg burst into flames in what should have been a routine landing. The airship was kept aloft by 16 gas cell chambers, which were infamously filled with flammable hydrogen. A spark was all it took for the explosion to begin, which ripped through the Hindenburg in a matter of seconds.

This specimen is a piece of one of the gas cells from the Hindenburg. The chambers were made with a new gelatine-brushed cotton. The specimen was acquired from one of the largest private collections of Hindenburg artifacts in the world. It was originally retrieved at the scene in 1937 by journalist Harry Kroh.  Kroh was a local reporter dispatched to cover what was expected to be a routine landing, but turned into one the most well-covered disasters in history.