December 2000
Balloonfestival at Weilburg celebrated
pioneer balloonist Francoise Blanchard.
He was the first balloon pilot to fly to
Weilburg in the year 1785—two years
after the invention of the balloon by the
Montgolfier brothers. Blanchard was one
ofthe most important balloon pilots at this
time. On September 7, 1785 he became
the first to make the crossing of the sea
was
fascinated,
because
now
there
was
another way to cross the English Channel
besides using ships. Using this balloon he
started
on
October
3, 1785
at
10:00
am
from
Frankfurt
during
an
autumn
faire.
After
half
an
hour
he
reached
Weilburg
and
visited
the prince at his
palace. That
was a great sensation for all citizens. The
people had
never seen
a balloon before.
Blanchard’s first two attempts atland-
ing
failed, because the people misunder-
stood
the
purpose
of
the
thrown
anchor
and
took
it
off
the
rope
to
which
is
was
attached to
the basket.
Blanchard’s
third
attempt,
however,
was
successful.
The
balloon was then brought to the palace of
the
prince of
Weilburg. Blanchard
him-
self was celebrated for this triumph by the
citizens.
As
a
sign
of
his
thank
you
for
the
friendly
welcome Blanchard
left his flag
in
Weilburg. Today you can find
the flag
in
the city museum.
The
Weilburg
Balloonfestival
was
set
up
in
1995. It started
with
three bal-
loons.
This year 16
balloons
gathered
to
join
in
the celebration. The
weather this
year
was
excellent in
opposite from
last
year. Many people attended, especially in
the
evenings
to
see
the
balloon
launch.
Saturday
night’s balloon
glow presented
Balloonfestival at
Weilburg, Germany
wonderful
atmosphere
for
the
many
spectators. Many children werefascinated
with
Tony the Tiger
balloon.
On
Sunday morning
Tony the Tiger
landed
in
a forest. That was
really spec-
tacular.
There was
only
a
little space
to
land
the
balloon
safety.
But
it
was
suc-
cessful.
The pictures
from this
spectacu-
lar
landing
should
not
be
seen
by
the
sponsor. They might have a heart-attack.

