Ferdinand was the son of Württemberg Minister and Hofmarschall Friedrich Jerôme Wilhelm Karl Graf von Zeppelin (1807–1886) and his wife Amélie Françoise Pauline (born Macaire d'Hogguer) (1816–1852).

[2] In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines, during which he narrowly avoided capture, made him famous among many Germans.

Inspired by a recent lecture given by Heinrich von Stephan on the subject of "World Postal Services and Air Travel", he outlined the basic principle of his later craft: a large rigidly-framed outer envelope containing a number of separate gasbags.

[11] In 1887, the success of Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs' 1884 airship La France prompted him to send a letter to the King of Württemberg about the military necessity for dirigibles and the lack of German development in this field.

[14] Zeppelin was so confident of his concept that in June 1891 he wrote to the King of Württemberg's secretary, announcing he was to start building, and shortly after requested a review from the Prussian Army's Chief of General Staff.

The next day Zeppelin almost gave up as he realized he had underestimated air resistance,[15] but resumed work on hearing that Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld made light but powerful engines, information soon shown to be overoptimistic.

Whereupon Zeppelin urged his supporter Max von Duttenhofer to press Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft for more efficient engines so as not to fall behind the French.

[16] Despite those setbacks, Zeppelin's organization had refined his idea: a rigid aluminium framework covered in a fabric envelope; separate multiple internal gas cells, each free to expand and contract thus obviating the need for ballonets; a modular frame allowing addition of sections and gas cells; and the controls, engines and gondola rigidly attached.

After publishing the idea in March 1892 he hired the engineer Theodor Kober who started work testing and further refining the design.

[21] This led to a first contact with Carl Berg who supplied aluminium alloys which Zeppelin had tested, and by May 1898 they, together with Philipp Holzmann,[23] Daimler, Max von Eyth, Carl von Linde, and Friedrich Voith, had formed the joint stock company Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Luftschiffahrt.

After repairs and some modifications two further flights were made by LZ 1 in October 1900, However the airship was not considered successful enough to justify investment by the government, and since the experiments had exhausted Count Zeppelin's funds, he was forced to suspend his work.

It was completed by 30 November, when it was first taken out of its hangar, but a ground-handling mishap caused the bows to be pulled into the water, damaging the forward control surfaces.

The final financial breakthrough only came after the Zeppelin LZ 4 was destroyed by fire at Echterdingen after breaking free of its moorings during a storm.

[30] Following the destruction of LZ 4, LZ 3, which had been damaged when the floating hangar broke free of its mooring during a storm, was repaired: at the same time it was lengthened by 8 m. It was re-inflated on 21 October 1908 and after a series of short test flights a flight lasting 5 hours 55 minutes took place on 27 October with the Kaiser's brother, Admiral Prince Heinrich, on board.

In spite of poor weather conditions, the flight succeeded: two days later LZ 3 was officially accepted by the Government and on 10 November Zeppelin was rewarded with an official visit to Friedrichshafen by the Kaiser, during which a short demonstration flight over Lake Constance was made and Zeppelin awarded the Order of the Black Eagle.

During the First World War, Imperial Germany decided to deploy Zeppelins as long-distance bombers and launched numerous attacks upon Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.

His granddaughter Countess Eva von Zeppelin once threatened to sue them for illegal use of their family name while they were performing in Copenhagen.

[37] A 1974 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus (Series 4, Episode 1, The Golden Age Of Ballooning) features a skit in which Count Zeppelin (Graham Chapman) has taken various members of the government up in his ship for a promotional flight, only to get angry and throw each guest out of the ship's gondola while it is still in the air over the perceived insult of everyone referring to the craft as a balloon instead of his preferred airship or Zeppelin.