MIT LUFTSCHIFF HINDENBURG NACH NORDAMERICA (WITH THE AIRSHIP HINDENBURG BOUND FOR NORTH AMERICA)
Scott Nos. C57-58, postally used and cancelled at Stuttgart 6 May 1936. The cover is unopened, therefore it was sent as a philatelic souvenir. It was received in New York on 9 May 1936. For some reason it was backstamped at New York’s Madison Square Station on 11 May 1936.
The gum on Nos. C57-58 contains sulphuric acid and tends to damage the stamp. Most collectors of unused stamps prefer to remove it by soaking the stamps. On cover, however, these stamps typically show the foxing or discoloration around the perforated edges.
The Hindenburg was the largest rigid airship ever constructed and the victim of a spectacular disaster. It was 804 feet long of conventional Zeppelin airship design, and was first launched at Friedrichshafen in April 1936. It had a maximum speed of 84 miles per hour and a cruising speed of 78 miles per hour. The flight to North America took about 65 hours. The Hindenburg inaugurated commercial air service across the North Atlantic by carrying 1,002 passengers on 10 scheduled round trips between Germany and the United States. Inasmuch as this cover was mailed on 6 May, and air service was inaugurated in April, it is believed to have been carried on one of the earliest flights.

The reverse of the cover franked with Scott Nos. C57-58. It was received in New York on 9 May 1936, but for some reason it was later backstamped at the New York Madison Square Station on 11 May 1936.
Scott Nos. C57-58 were issued on 19 March 1936 in conunemoration of the North American Flight of the LZ 129.
Design by Karl Diebitsch depicting the “Hindenburg” or LZ 129 over the Atlantic Ocean. Perforated 14, 14'/zxl4. Recess printing, watermarked swastikas.
Valid until 31 December 1937,
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On 6 May 1937, while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey on the first of its scheduled 1937 trans-Atlantic crossings, the hydrogen-inflated Hindenburg burst into flames and was completely destroyed. Thirty-six of the 97 persons aboard were killed. The fire was generally attributed to a discharge of atmospheric electricity in the vicinity of a hydrogen gas leak from the airship, though it has also been speculated that the dirigible was the victim of an anti-Nazi act of sabotage. The Hindenburg disaster inarked the end of the use of rigid airships in commercial transportation.