[2] As a boy, Parseval attended the Royal Bavarian Pagenkorps in Munich from 1873 to 1878, where he took the Fähnrichexamen (cadet exams).

In the garrison town of Augsburg he came into contact with August Riedinger and also came to know his later partner Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld [de], with whom he developed Drachenballons: kite balloons used by the military for observation[3] designated as Parseval-Sigsfeld type.

[3] Up to the end of the First World War, 22 Parseval airships (both non-rigid (blimps) and semi-rigid (with keels) were built.

In the late twenties and early thirties, four more semi-rigid airships were built in accordance with the "Parseval-Naatz principle".

Because the Parseval ships were non-rigid, unlike Zepplins, they were sold freely to foreign powers, including: Austria, Russia, Turkey, Japan, Italy, and Great Britain.