---
description: Swissair might have been once world renowned for its high standards of service and customer relations, but one might not know that photography was a driving passion of its co-founder. LightBox explores some of the treasures in the archives of the airline.
title: Great Heights In The Swissair Archive
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---
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# Great Heights In The Swissair Archive
by
[Jeffrey Ladd](/author/jeffrey-ladd/)
## Jeffrey Ladd
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Mar 12, 2013 7:22 PM CUT
Presentation of uniforms, 1985.
Presentation of uniforms, 1985.ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
by
[Jeffrey Ladd](/author/jeffrey-ladd/)
## Jeffrey Ladd
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Mar 12, 2013 7:22 PM CUT
Switzerland’s former national airline Swissair might have been once world renowned for its high standards of service and customer relations, but one might not have known that photography was a driving passion of its co-founder Walther Mittelholzer and the main reason that led him into civil aviation in the first place. After enrolling in the Air Force during World War I, Mittelholzer learned to fly and make aerial photographs — simultaneously wanting a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the world.
These images that he sold proved at first to be even more of a commercial success than his first airline. Based in Zurich, Ad Astra Aero AG was founded in 1919 to fly tourists over the Alps. When Ad Astra Aero AG merged with Belair to form Swissair in 1931, Mittelholzer and his co-director Balz Zimmermann continued a strong photography wing of their company to help market the airline and increase the popularity of Swiss civil aviation.
The recent publication, [_Swissair Souvenirs_](http://www.amazon.com/Swissair-Souvenirs-Scheidegger-Photographs-ETH-Bibliot/dp/3858813591 "undefined"), from the ETH Bibliothek and publisher Scheidegger & Speiss, showcases a number of these photographs that chart the life and image of Swissair’s global brand. Swissair Photo AG, the subsidiary photography firm, with 15 employees, produced thousands of images which were used in photo books, postcards and enlargements. On a larger scale, they systematically documented Switzerland’s countryside and cities, providing important topographic information for the building of roadways, power plants and other major infrastructure. It’s parent company, Swissair, had its own photographers, apart from Swiss Photo AG, for the more slick style seen in its advertisements, brochures, posters, the legendary Swissair calendar and the on-board magazine _Swissair Gazette_.
The range of photographs dating from 1910 to 2001 is stunning. When Swissair declared bankruptcy in October of 2001, the company’s photographic archive was saved from the assets by The Foundation Luftbild Schwiez and became the property of the ETH Bibliothek in Zurich where it is now in the process of being digitized. _Swissair Souvenirs_ makes up but a couple hundred among the hundreds of thousands of images yet clearly suggests not only the technical developments of civil aviation but how the experience of flying and its professions shifted into the modern era. Flight attendants modeling modern uniforms, check-in counters, and close-up shots of a variety of pralines from the dining menu are interspersed with training images of ditching procedures, images of crashed aircraft details, employees planning air routes and studying weather maps, and mechanics attending to and maintaining equipment. The strong affiliation and pride between Swissair and the citizenry of Switzerland was partly due to how popular the airline became in the global aviation market compared to the diminutive size of the country — which is why its demise is considered one the of the worst debacles in Swiss economic history. The profitable company once referred to as the “flying bank” slid from its global heights after poor corporate management, increased competition and limiting referendums on their services to the newly formed European Economic Area. Its seventy-year life receives a well-deserved remembrance with this extensive online archive and fascinating book.
---
_More information about the ETH Bibliothek Swissair Archive can be found_ [_here_](http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/ "undefined").
**_Jeffrey Ladd_** _is a photographer, writer, editor and founder of_ [_Errata Editions._](http://www.errataeditions.com/ "undefined")
---
All photographs in this gallery are from Swissair Souvenirs, published by Scheidegger & Speiss. The book showcases a number of photographs that chart the life and image of Swissair’s global brand. Clockwise from top left: Stewards in front of a Boeing 747-257 B (Jumbo) at Zurich-Kloten Airport, 1972 Hostess training course Va/1966 in front of a DC-3 from the Schweizerische Luftverkehrs schule (Swiss aviation school). Stewards in front of a DC-10, 1974\. Hostess and steward training course III/1960 in front of a DC-7C. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Presentation of the hostesses’ uniforms worn from 1960 to 1970. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Author Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908–1942) before take-off at Dubendorf, 1930s. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Spectators at Dubendorf in front of a DC-2, 1930s. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Flight attendants sleeping in a MD-11, second half of the 1990s. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Loading luggage into a DC-3 at Dubendorf, in the background a Czechoslovakian DC-2, ca. 1938–1939. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Cardinal Augustin Bea lands at Zurich-Kloten in a Sud-Aviation SE-210 Caravelle and is picked up on the airfield, 1964. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
A show jumper flies to the Olympic games in Tokyo, 1964. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Studying the weather map in a general aviation pilot course, 1943. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
General aviation pilot course, 1943. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Boarding stairway at Zurich-Kloten, 1950s. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Clockwise from top left: Exterior facility Radio Schweiz: surveillance antenna for radio navigation, 1979\. Antenna of the glide path ground station (Instrument Landing System, ILS), 1979\. VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range), 1979\. Exterior facility Radio Schweiz, 1979\. Surveillance antenna, 1979\. VDF (VHF Direction Finder) for the bearing of airplanes with radio telephony, 1979. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Mechanic with airplane wheel, ca. 1946. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Photo from the Douglas plant of a DC-1 cabin, with edited-in Swissair lettering, before 1934. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Model of the Basel-Mulhouse Airport, after 1958. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Captain in the cockpit of a DC-10, 1982. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Reproduction of a poster from Zurich-Kloten Airport, 1982. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Airport police on the airfield, 1985. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Clockwise from top left: A Macchi M.3 seaplane from Swissair’s forerunner Ad Astra Aero AG over Walensee, ca. 1920\. A DC-9-15 over the Alps, 1966\. A De Havilland DH-89 Dragon Rapide over Geroldswil, flown by Swissair 1948–1954\. A Convair CV-990 Coronado in flight, ca. 1960–1962. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Hostesses serving a meal in a Boeing 747-257 B (Jumbo), ca. 1978. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Pralines served on board, ca. 1984. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Children’s menu, 1990–1992. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Training center and course for hostesses: seat adjustment in a mock-up of the DC-7C, 1957. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Inaugural flight of the route to Japan with a DC-6B, 1957. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Practicing an emergency ditching with the lake police on Lake Zurich, after 1974 ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Damaged wing tip, 1940s. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Crash of a military machine, undated. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Engine studies in the hostess training course at Dubendorf, ca. 1948. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
In the motor assembly of a Convair CV-440 Metropolitan, 1962. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
In the laundry room at Kloten, 1961. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
In the laundry room at Kloten, 1992. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Luggage belt, undated. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
A Boeing 747-257 B (Jumbo) lands in the fog, 1978 ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Start of a Convair CV-990 Coronado, 1967. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Boeing 747-257 B (Jumbo) in front of a muffler for the static test at Zurich- Kloten, ca. 1980. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Presentation of uniforms, 1985. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Unknown lady on a Junkers G-23 from Ad Astra Aero AG, 1925. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Airline pilot Hans Kuhn, 1940s. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Landing strip lighting at Zurich-Kloten, ca. 1948. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Sunday enjoyment, 1979. ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Image Archive/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz
Great Heights In The Swissair Archive
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