As some who have flown with Lufthansa may know, there is a small, relatively secret “amenity” that puts a smile on the face of thousands who fly First Class on Lufthansa. Yes, I am talking about the Rubber Duck that adults go out of their way to acquire (NOT speaking from personal experience 🙂 ).
I did some investigating to find the genesis of these Ducks, and reached out to Lufthansa to find out why and when did all of this happen. Thanks to Benedikt F. at Lufthansa for his invaluable help in providing me with the history and images that you’ll see here.
A brief story of the origin and history of the Ducks as told by Lufthansa:
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“During the preparations for the grand opening of the First Class Terminal in November 2004, Lufthansa wanted to add a little portion of “personality” to the first class experience. So while looking around in the First Class Terminal, and finally reaching the bathrooms, Lufthansa had the idea of the rubber duck, which today is placed on the side of every bathtub.”
“To make it an exclusive product which is only available in Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Terminal is printed on the front of the ducks. Over the years “event” rubber ducks were produced. These include special editions for the soccer World Championship in 2006, 2010 and for the European Championship in 2008. Introducing LH’s Spa in the Lounge in 2009, a Spa Duck was designed. Also Christmas and Wedding Ducks where introduced during the years. At this point Lufthansa is very proud to see the ducks being offered on ebay as collectors’ items!”
I suspect that Munich got wind of what Frankfurt was doing, and decided that as the capital of Bavaria, that they too deserve to have their own Duck representing their First Class Lounge, and from that came Munich’s exclusive Bavarian Ducks (more on them later).
All of the photographs are courtesy of Lufthansa (thanks again Benedikt!) unless otherwise indicated.
Lufthansa’s Holiday Ducks Throughout The Years:
One Of Several Holiday Versions
A Festive Flock........
Additional Holiday Ducks
Santa Duck
2010 Holiday Edition
Introducing the 2011 Edition
Not to be out done by the holiday ducks, these are just as great:
The Original Classic
Herr Business Duck
For a GREAT STORY about Mrs. LufthansaFlyer and Herr Business Duck, please click here.
Easter is also observed by the Ducks:
Happy Easter!
Just For Kicks – Tributes to Soccer World Cups & European Championships:
The Following Soccer Ducks Are Courtesy Of Milepoint.com’s ParanoiaTX:
Saving Face? The Spa Duck Courtesy of Lufthansa
Green With Envy???
Perhaps The Most Rare, The Honeymoon Edition:
Happily Ever After.......
Even though this post is focused on the origin of the Ducks in the Frankfurt Lounges, I wanted to to make sure that I took a look at the Munich editions. The core of the Munich collection is the male and female Bavarian model dressed in their appropriate Bavarian attire. I have noticed from personal experience that the female’s “Dirndl” is available in both green and brown versions:
Munich's Bavarian Ducks Visit Roman Colosseum - Mrs. LufthansaFlyer
Courtesy of Mrs. LufthansaFlyer
The Bavarian's Holiday to Frankfurt's First Class Terminal - Courtesy Mrs. LufthansaFlyer
Visiting Capri - courtesy of Mrs. LufthansaFlyer
Courtesy of Mrs. LufthansaFlyer
Courtesy of MilePoint.com's ParanoiaTX
For additional Pictures of the Bavarian Ducks from our recent trip to Italy, You can visit my dedicated Duck Gallery page here.
Hopefully I’ve covered the majority of editions that have come from Lufthansa’s First Class Services. If you have one thats not on here, please share a photo. I’ll be creating a dedicated page that will hold a gallery for the Lufthansa Ducks and would love to have as many versions as possible represented.
hi, could you please tell me where I can buy this bavarian ducks? I live in Berlin at the moment… thanks a lot in advance for any help!
@David – You can occassional spot them on ebay.com, but more regularly on ebay.de (Ebay Germany).
Thanks for showing a small bit f your collection. Besides actually visiting the FCL where can one bid on these?
Thanks
David
Great Post, made me smile (a lot!).
Cheers,
PedroNY
I was happy to see that the honeymoon edition is “rare” because believe it or not, that’s the only one I have. They gave it to us on a cut-out heart-shaped piece of red construction paper with sequins splattered on it, wrapped in a nice plastic tied at the top, waiting for us in the Porsche which took us to the plane.
Amazing!
Great story. I never knew LH has so many versions! They always seem to be out of stock when I ask. By the same token it would be interesting to do a story on the Rimowa kits.
I really want the Angel ente!
quack quack quack 🙂
GREAT post! OMG… I have to travel through there around Easter!!!!
@Carl – I think that Angel is among the nicest one’s they’ve ever had.
We got our 2011 angel duck yesterday – just like in your photo.
What a great piece! Thanks.
Really neat! Hopefully one day will be able to see one firsthand:-)
I CAN’T Beleive I spent time in the awesome lounge thanks to points, saw the duck and didn’t realize I could bring it home. Dumb!! That Lufthsansa trip was incredible!
Well, now you have a reason to go back!!!! 🙂
Great report on the little Lufthansa Entes! I just wish there had been one in the Munich First Class Lounge when I visited there in June!
Awesome. Thanks for the smile.