Luftschiffer, a German word meaning "airship navigators", were one of the first German air forces created, lasting from 1913 until the end of World War I and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The Luftschiffer consisted entirely of zeppelins, the German War-designed dirigibles under the command of Peter Strasser.
Founded in 1913, just one year before the start of World War I, the Luftschiffer became the backbone of German aerial warfare in the first years of the War, conducting reconnaissance flights as well as the first bombings of cities, including Paris and London.
Upon the outbreak of World War I, the Luftschiffer numbered around 20-25 zeppelins in service. The Luftschiffer began aerial surveilance early on in Belgium and France, but often came under fire by anti-aircraft guns. Because of their slow speed, they were very vulnerable. After three zeppelins were shot down in the first month alone, the Luftschiffer were switched to naval surveillance, observing British ship movements, in which capacity they played a decisive role in the Battle of Jutland. Tests were done of dropping bombs from zeppelins in order to increase their potential. Zeppelins had a typical carrying capacity of almost 9 metric tons, making them useful enough for this operation. Following the Christmas truce, Kaiser Wilhelm II approved of the Luftschiffer's bombing of England. On January 19, 1915, the first bombs fell over Britain, when two zeppelins dropped 50 kg explosives on villages outside Great Yarmouth. Five people died in the first raid; 18 more raids that year would end in almost 900 casualties. Following the terror, the British government began taking measures to stop the bombings. Anti-aircraft guns were set up all over south-eastern England, as well as spotlights for night time.
1916 was more horrific than 1915. After an accidental bomb-dropping on London, the Kaiser approved of raids directly against the city's urban center. 23 raids on London resulted in around 1,800 casualties. Despite safety precautions, civilians were still unprepared for the raids and zeppelins were still able to avoid defenses. 1917 and 1918 marked the end of the threat the Luftschiffer posed to London. Large-scale introduction of fighter planes caused nearly half of the planned bombings to end in failure. Only eleven successful raids occurred in the last year of the war. Nearly 80 zeppelins had been build for the Luftschiffer during the war; around 60 of them were shot down, including Peter Strasser's own zeppelin, with himself on board.
The Luftschiffer's career and service to Germany came to an end when, following World War I, the Luftschiffer was dismantled and barred from existence by the Treaty of Versailles, which prohibited Germany from owning an airforce under article 198 and 202. Germany would next have an airforce after Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 and the creation of the Luftwaffe.