Friedrichshafen is a town on the northern side of Lake Constance in southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria. Friedrichshafen is best known for having been home to the Zeppelin airship company and the Dornier Flugzeugwerke, as well as ZF Friedrichshafen AG, manufacturer of transmission systems. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was born in Konstanz (Constance), originally had his airships built in a floating airship hangar on the lake which could be aligned with the wind to support the difficult starting procedure.