His lumber business suffered due to his obsession and, like other aviation pioneers, his project attracted mockery.

David s Having worked out the design of an all-metal airship, Schwarz then offered his ideas to the Austro-Hungarian war minister.

[13] Also, the skin was not airtight,[14] The first airship's specifications were:[13] The circumstances of Schwarz's return are unclear; there were reports of a hasty departure from Russia.

[citation needed] In 1894, Carl Berg procured a contract to build an airship for the Royal Prussian government, referring to Schwarz as the originator of the idea.

[18] The components were produced in Carl Berg's Eveking Westphalia factory and, under the direction of Schwarz, assembled in Berlin.

[10] In June 1896 Carl Berg sent a card to his stepfather from Moscow apparently indicating that he had searched for information on Schwarz and became cynical of delays and was nearly convinced he had been swindled.

[20] Due to delays, the airship was first filled with gas and tested on 9 October 1896, but the results were not satisfactory because the hydrogen delivered by the Vereinigte Chemische Fabriken from Leopoldshall (part of Staßfurt) was not of the required purity and so did not provide enough lift.

Gas of that quality could not be obtained for some time, and a test flight could not be made until November 1897, roughly ten months after Schwarz's death.

On 13 January 1897 he collapsed outside the "Zur Linde" restaurant in Vienna, and died minutes later from heart failure, aged 44.

However, the airship broke free of the ground crew, and because it rose quickly Jägels disengaged the vertical axis 'lift' propeller.

As the ship rose to 510 m (1,670 ft) the drive belt slipped off the right propeller, the airship thus losing all propulsion.

Jägels then opened the newly fitted gas release valve and landed safely, but the ship turned over and collapsed and was damaged beyond repair.

From 3 December 2000 to 20 April 2001 the Museen der Stadt Lüdenscheid held an exhibition which covered Berg, Schwarz and Zeppelin history from 1892 to 1932, with displays of documents, photographs and airship remnants.