Oberth, Hermann
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1894-1989) Austro-Hungarian born German engineer and physicist, in his early years much influenced by the work of Jules Verne. He is of great importance in the theory and development of Rocket science from as early as 1917, and his (rejected) doctoral thesis – Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ["The Rocket into Interplanetary Space"] (1923 chap; exp vt Wege zur Raumschiffahrt ["Ways to Spaceflight"] 1929) – directly inspired the founding of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt [the German "Society for Space Travel"], by Willy Ley and other significant proponents of rocket-propelled Space Flight. In 1928 the UFA studios offered Oberth the chance to build a rocket as a publicity stunt for Fritz Lang's film Die Frau im Mond (1929); the project collapsed. In 1931, with Wernher von Braun, he successfully launched several rockets, an initiative that led eventually to the German development at Peenemünde of the V-1 and V-2 rockets that were deployed at the end of World War Two. In his later life, Oberth was involved in speculations about the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs. [JC]
Hermann Julius Oberth
born Hermannstadt, Austro-Hungary [now Sibiu, Romania]: 25 June 1894
died Nuremberg, Germany: 28 December 1989
works (selected)
nonfiction
- Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ["The Rocket into Interplanetary Space"] (Munich and Berlin: R Oldenbourg, 1923) [nonfiction: chap: pb/]
- Wege zur Raumschiffahrt ["Ways to Spaceflight"] (Munich: R Oldenbourg, 1929) [nonfiction: much exp vt of the above: dedicated to Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou: hb/]
- Menschen Im Weltraum: Neue Projekte für Raketen- und Raumfahrt ["People In Space: New missile and space missions"] (Dusseldorf: Econ-Verlag, 1954) [hb/]
- Menschen Im Weltraum: Neue Projekte für Raketen- und Raumfahrt ["People In Space: New missile and space missions"] (Dusseldorf: Econ-Verlag, 1957) [rev of the above: hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry