Item: Hermann Oberth signed photo.
Size: 10 x 15 cm.

Description: this image was printed from a photo negative for collectors. It has the following annotations on the back written in German: "Father of spaceflight", and the dates of birth and death.

Hermann Julius Oberth (1894-1989) was a German physicist and engineer born in Austria-Hungary. He is considered one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics, along with the Frenchman Robert Esnault-Pelterie, the Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the American Robert Goddard and the Slovenian of Austro-Hungarian origin Herman Potočnik.

Oberth became a member of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR), the "Society for Space Travel", an amateur rocketry group that had been greatly inspired by his book, and Oberth acted as a mentor to enthusiasts who joined the Society, which included people like Wernher von Braun, Rolf Engel, Rudolf Nebel or Paul Ehmayr.

Oberth's student Max Valier joined forces with Fritz von Opel to create the world's first large-scale experimental rocket program, Opel-RAK, which led to speed records for land and rail vehicles and the world's first rocket plane. The Opel RAK.1, a purpose-built design by Julius Hatry, was shown to the public and world media on September 30, 1929, piloted by von Opel. Valier's and von Opel's demonstrations had a strong and lasting impact on later pioneers of space flight, in particular another of Oberth's students, Wernher von Braun.

In 1929, Oberth conducted a static firing of his first liquid-fueled rocket engine, which he named Kegeldüse. He was aided in this experiment by 18-year-old student Wernher von Braun, who would later become a giant of German and American rocket engineering from the 1940s onward, culminating in the gigantic Saturn V rockets that made it possible for man to land on the Moon in 1969 and several years later. In fact, Von Braun said of him:

"Hermann Oberth was the first who, when thinking about the possibility of spaceships, took a slide rule and presented mathematically analyzed concepts and designs... I myself owe him not only the guiding star of my life, but also my first contact with the theoretical and practical aspects of rocketry and space travel. A place of honor in the history of science and technology must be reserved for his pioneering contributions to the field of astronautics."

Wernher von Braun poses with Hermann Oberth, Ernst Stuhlinger, U.S. General Holger Toftoy, Robert Lusser, and models of missiles he helped design.

More information

Hermann Oberth (Wikipedia)

Item: Rudolf Nebel signed postcard.
Size: 9.9 x 18 cm.

Year: 1969.
Publisher: Briefmarkenschau, Duisburg

Description:

Postcard titled "Rudolf Nebel and Wernher von Braun at the Berlin Rocket Launching Site".

For more information about Rudolf Nebel, visit this post from my collection.

Item: Rudolf Nebel signed postcard.
Size: 10.5 x 14.2 cm.
Publisher: Ruhr-Nachrichten.

Description:

Rudolf Nebel (1894-1978) was a rocket designer and founder of the world's first rocket airfield in Berlin. He is considered one of the founding fathers of space travel.

He was an early member of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt, or VfR (Society for Space Travel), working closely together with persons such as Wernher von Braun, Rolf Engel, Hermann Oberth or Paul Ehmayr.

Nebel acted very much as the group's spokesperson, organising the donation of materials from various local businesses, and negotiating with the Berlin municipal council for the use of a disused ammunition dump for the VfR's launch site or Raketenflugplatz. He later talked the Magdeburg council into funding the launch of a rocket with a human passenger on board (Magdeburger Startgerät).

On his 80th birthday, Rudolf Nebel was not only honored by a number of major German newspapers, but his student Wernher von Braun also wrote in his birthday letter: "You can also be assured that the history of technology has well recognized your own part in the success of manned spaceflight. The letter ended with the words: "I myself am indebted to you, since it was you who, as a young student, introduced me to the practical problems of developing liquid rockets."

Rudolf Nebel (left) and Wernher von Braun during their time in the VfR, Berlin. Credit: Die Deutschen Geheim Waffen, by Brian Ford, 1969.

More information

Rudolf Nebel - Wikipedia

Rudolf Nebel - Stadtwiki Weißenburg (German)