German Rocket Society - Verein für Raumschiffahrt by Frank H. Winter - Part 4

From The Space Library

The following paper is ©2015 Frank H. Winter.

Contents 1 Brief History Of The “Entertainment Supplement” To Die Rakete: 1.1 2nd Supplement 1.2 3rd & 4th Supplement 1.3 5th Supplement 1.4 6th Supplement 1.5 7th Supplement 2 Brief Review Of Other VfR Activities, 1927-1929 3 The Move To Berlin And Founding Of The Raketenflugplatz 3.1 Winkler's Immediate Post-Vfr Activities, A Brief Summary 3.2 The Vfr's Move Of Activities To Berlin

Brief History Of The “Entertainment Supplement” To Die Rakete:

As seen, it had been announced in the August 1929 issue that Willy Ley was chosen to edit the “Entertainment Supplement” to Die Rakete. However, this is curious since the first Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeischrift Die Rakete (Entertainment Supplement to Die Rakete) actually appeared three months earlier, in May 1929, and its first article, “A Visit to the Ufa (Film) Studio (in Berlin-Babelsberg), was evidently authored by Winkler as it is signed “J.W.” It thus appears that in great anticipation of the coming of the “space film,” and made by one of Germany's greatest directors of the day, Fritz Lang, Winkler simply created the idea himself of the supplement and arranged (perhaps through Oberth's help, as Oberth was the technical adviser for the film) to personally travel to Berlin to visit the studio. But it is not known if Winkler interviewed Lang. Nonetheless, he was able to provide the VfR members with a fairly good “preview” of the important technical part of the “Frau im Mond story,” the launch to the Moon. This issue ended with a space poem, “Resignation” by Peterchen, from the Breslauer Zeitung (Breslau Newspaper), about travel to different cities of the world besides a line about travel in an hour with (von) Opel rockets and one day “whizzing” past Saturn.^[1]

2nd Supplement

The second Supplement, of June 1929, featured the first of the four-part article, “About the Living Conditions on other Heavenly Bodies (i.e. the Planets),” by the Polish-born Russian spaceflight popularizer, Yakov Isidorovich Perelman, plus a second piece by him, “Rogue Agent to Reach to the Moon (H.G. Wells 'Cavorite'),” the fictional anti-gravity substance in Wells' novel, First Men in the Moon (1901). This was followed by the anonymously-written article, “Remembering the (von) Opel Days,” then another space poem. Thus, it is clear that Winkler was mainly presenting the VfR membership with among the earliest known “popular culture” aspects of spaceflight, and that these were international contributions.^[2].

3rd & 4th Supplement

The third Supplement of July 1929 carried the second part of Perelman's article on “Living Conditions on other Heavenly Bodies,” while the fourth of August 1929 - and probably the first or second Supplement edited by Ley - featured his article “Frau im Mond” ('Woman on the Moon') - Memory of a Novel and Problem.” This was followed by the third part of Perelman's series.^[3]

5th Supplement

The fifth Supplement of September carried another of Ley's articles, about popular books on astronomy, followed by the fourth and final part of Perelman's series. Then there was a surprise piece by member Hans Grimm, who was one of the earliest known “collectors,” or rather compilers, of at least literary materials relating to spaceflight. This was titled “New from Goddard” and was a partial re-print and German translation of a 1924 letter Goddard had sent to the Swedish astronomer Dr. Axel Corlin of the Lund Observatory in which Goddard related that he had started experimenting with liquid propellant since 1921, and furthermore, had even considered (theoretically) the use of solar cells on a space rocket for helping to steer it through space.

However, this information could have hardly been used by the VfR members at this point since they were not yet at their experimental stage and there were no real technical details here anyway. If anything, this curious addition is as close as the Society came to learning anything tangible on Goddard but it was vague in any case and had been written more than two years earlier (on 9 September 1924, to be exact), prior to the launch of his first liquid-propellant rocket flight. A final inclusion in this Supplement issue is the “New Books” section that includes the popular work by Felix Linke, Das Raketen-Weltraumschiff (The Rocket Spaceship), perhaps one of the earliest uses of this general term. ^[4]

6th Supplement

The sixth Supplement of October also ran a “New Books” section that cited the Russian work, (printed in bold Cyrillic lettering), Zavevannyi mezhplanetih prostranst (Conquest of Planetary Space) by Y. V. Kondratyuk (Yuriy Vasilievich Kondratyuk). Now regarded as a remarkable early pioneer of cosmonautics, Kondratyuk is known for developing a theory of the earliest known Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR), a key concept for landing and return spaceflight from Earth to the Moon, among other contributions, although it is highly doubtful that his work was readily obtainable in Germany at the time.^[5]

7th Supplement

The seventh and final Supplement of November/December 1929 was fully devoted to “Frau im Mond,” with stills from the movie obtained by Ley from Lang, and included “Moon Anecdote” by Gerda Maurus, the actress who played the leading role in the film and includes a dialog between Maurus and Oberth; “Science and Artistic Creation” by Thea von Harbou, the wife of Lang and author of the novel and screenplay of “Frau im Mond”; and lastly, Ley's own article, “Berlin Speaks about Spaceships,” which was really about the film and its huge impact in the popular press. Indeed, Ley and others of the VfR were very much aware of the significance of the film and how it could benefit the Society and the spaceflight movements overall. “We were excited,” Ley later observed, “...millions and millions of people would not only hear about our (spaceflight) problem but see it in most impressive (moving) pictures.” Moreover, Fritz Lang was one of the greatest of German filmmakers of the time, and indeed, was internationally acclaimed. “A Fritz Lang film on space travel,” Ley also wrote, “consequently, meant a means of spreading the idea which could hardly be surpassed in mass appeal and in effectiveness. More than that, this connection might also mean funds, sizeable funds for experimental work on liquid-fuel rockets.”^[6]

Brief Review Of Other VfR Activities, 1927-1929

It would be a mistake to conclude that Winkler's publication of Die Rakete represented the sum of the Society's activities during the 1927-1929 period and the sum of his own activities. Winkler kept enormously busy, not only collecting membership dues and maintaining membership records, but handling the bulk of the Society's considerable correspondence. Most fortuitously, by ca. 1977 the “papers” of Johannes Winkler were discovered in the attic of his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Guder, who died about two years ago, and these were found to contain most, if not all, of the correspondence and other papers connected with the VfR when he was active with the Society throughout that period.

Some years before their eventual deposit in the archives of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the papers were first sent to the late Rolf Engel, then living in the village of Sauerlach, not far from Munich. , was then gathering materials toward an eventual history paper on Winkler and his own role in that work and his completed paper is used as one of the sources in this article.

In late 1982 or early 1983, the author of this present study, Frank H. Winter, then Curator of Rocketry of the National Air and Space Museum, was sent to Germany to survey collections of material on Peenemünde in the Deutches Museum. During that time, Winter stayed in the Engel home for a week and also surveyed the Winkler papers. Lack of time, unfortunately, did not permit a closer study of the VfR portion of the papers nor to take notes, with few exceptions. Overall, of the 23 three-in. (7.6 cm) “Leitz binders” (i.e. ring binders) examined, comprising the Winkler papers, four contained material specifically on the VfR. The subsequent written survey made of the Winkler papers is linked to this document and it is left up to students and scholars to use these invaluable papers to undertake continued or more comprehensive histories or studies on the subject of the VfR. However, an updated finding aid for the Winkler collection (with the Catalog No. NL 097, and now consisting of 28 boxes), is also available from the Deutches Museum in Munich.

During this survey, one important fact became evident: It is inaccurate to say that Winkler entirely severed his connection from the VfR in 1929 when he left Breslau. On the contrary, the VfR correspondence by itself in the Winkler papers covers the period from 1929 to 1933 and amounts to a foot (0.3 m) of material arranged alphabetically. This material clearly shows he was very much involved in the affairs of the Society even up until its last year, in 1933 (although it appears he may have disposed of earlier VfR correspondence, from 1927 to 1928.) In addition, the collection contains individual miscellaneous VfR items, like the document “An alle Freunde der Raumschiffahrt!” (“To all friends of space travel!”) and similar pieces not published in Die Rakete but which were separate pleas for support for the Society and the spaceflight movement in general during those same years. There are also forms for the re-registration of the VfR; a VfR membership list ca. 1930 for the Berlin area alone that includes 75 names (although not von Braun's); a VfR “Work Program”; Winkler's inaugural speech delivered upon the opening of the Society; VfR financial status documents, and so forth.

Furthermore, there is considerable correspondence from Wurm of the VfR's Berlin office to Winkler, covering the period from 1929 to 1930, plus correspondence between Oberth and Winkler between 1926 and 1930, undoubtedly much of it concerning VfR affairs, including Oberth's original “Critic's Corner” manuscripts with Winkler's corrections. Other correspondents throughout Winkler's career who have already been cited in this present study of the VfR thus far, include: Max Valier, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Walter Hohmann, N.A. Rynin, André-Louis Hirsch, Franz von Hoefft, George Lau (one of the VfR founders), Willy Ley, Guido von Pirquet, Friedrich Sander, Franz Abdon Ulinski, Otto Willi Gail, et. al. Apart from the above described Winkler Papers, there are more than 80 separate pieces in the Oberth-Winkler correspondence, mainly in the Deutsches Museum as well as in the Hermann-Oberth-Raumfahrt-Museum (Hermann Oberth Spaceflight Museum) in Feucht, Germany, covering the period from 1926 to 1930 that undoubtedly include additional material on the history of the VfR. These are all listed chronologically by Rohrwild in a paper presented at the 4th (Johannes) Winkler Colloquium held during 17-April 2001 in Dessau.^[7].

The Move To Berlin And Founding Of The Raketenflugplatz

Understandably, after the departure of Winkler and the sudden loss of Die Rakete, the earliest part of this next phase of the history of the VfR is not well documented. Therefore, we largely have to rely upon the accounts by Ley, in his Rockets, Missiles, & Space Travel although some of Oberth's surviving letters, contained in the work Oberth Briefwechsel (Hermann Oberth Correspondence Exchanges), edited by Hans Barth, as well as other sources, helps fill in some gaps. But before we cover this part, it is necessary to briefly sum up what happened to Winkler after he left Breslau, including the continuation of his experiments.

Winkler's Immediate Post-Vfr Activities, A Brief Summary

It seems Winkler was particularly intrigued with a little item he had picked up from the German press service that he had run in the 15 August 1929 issue of Die Rakete about a most promising application of rockets for lifting up (boosting) aircraft, carried out by the Junkers Company in Dessau. Consequently, he contacted Philipp von Doepp of Junker's Research Office (other references say Chief of the Department of Aerodynamics of Professor Hugo Junkers' Research Laboratory) and offered a collaboration with this firm towards the further development of this rocket application. Engel, in his manuscript “Spaceflight-Projects as I saw them Nearly 50 Years Ago,” reveals that Winkler had a personal interview with Hugo Junkers himself. The upshot was that the Junkers firm offered Winkler a six-month contract, which he accepted; later, the contract was extended to a year. Almost at the close of the year, on 21 December 1929, Winkler attempted to submit a manuscript for the REP-Hirsch Prize but it had been sent too late and was not accepted.

The Engel manuscript opens up another “mystery,” namely, when Winkler may have actually started working for Junkers at Dessau. Engel states that Winkler signed the contract with Junkers on 20 September 1929, following his interview. If this is correct, it is possible he may have already left for Dessau not long after this date, although still continued to edit Die Rakete until the end of the year (by November, as suggested above), besides running at least some of the VfR's affairs. Since Engel says Winkler had initially conducted his experiments “in his apartment” in Breslau, and since the initial contract was only for six months, it is conceivable his wife remained in Breslau while he was away and this is why the “editorial offices” of Die Rakete and the headquarters of the VfR could both still be based in Breslau. In short, it cannot be taken for granted, as given in many histories of rocketry, that both the cessation of Die Rakete and the end of Winkler's presidency of the VfR both took place by December 1929, or at least concurrently. ^[8]

To Winkler's thinking, his Junkers appointment, besides helping work out a very practical application of the rocket, also afforded him, in his spare time at Dessau, the ideal opportunity to concentrate and proceed more vigorously with his own experiments. Again, as seen above, he did not entirely divorce himself from the VfR, especially since he initially understood that his Junkers appointment was for six months only. He therefore must have agreed to continue to handle VfR correspondence and other matters like re-registering the Society, even though the presidency of the VfR was turned over (or soon to be legally turned over) to Oberth.

Winkler's task at Junkers was well-defined: to determine the best type of rocket suited for the JATO purpose, using modern test installations at Junkers. Engel indicates the work only focused on solid-propellant units, but very likely he conceived liquid-propellant units as well and proposed these to Junkers, although for simplicity's sake, they appear to have been fixed on just solid units at this juncture. Nonetheless, by 1930, Junkers, like so many other businesses, was in very bad financial straits due to the widening and now global economic Depression. Therefore, no more money could be spent for research. At this point, Winkler turned to Hugo A. Hückel, the wealthy men's hat and aluminum manufacturer of Neutitschein, Austria-Hungary (today, Nový Jičín, Czech Republic), who had donated ample funds to the VfR; but this time, Winkler needed him for support of his own experiments that were now conducted at Dessau. Hückel agreed and the partnership became most fruitful.

Also within the Winkler papers, is a prolific exchange of about 3 in (7.6 cm) thick of correspondence between Winkler and Hückel, although the latter appears to have been Hugo Hückel, although the latter appears to have been Hugo Hückel, Senior, who was more technically-minded than his son, Hugo August Hückel, Junior (1899- ), who was then still in school. In any case, this correspondence is quite technical and awaits further study from scholars. But both Hückel, Senior, and Junior were hay manufacturers which the family had been for generations. ^[9]

By the summer of 1930 Winkler began the construction of what he called the Hückel-Winkler-1, or HW-1 liquid-propellant rocket. This was a very rudimentary designed contraption, 60 cm (23.6 in) tall and 30 cm (11.8 in) in width, and consisting of a triangular frame of three interconnected aluminum tubes. The tubes held the LOX (the oxidizer), liquid methane as the fuel, and compressed nitrogen (the pressurizing gas for forcing in the propellants into the combustion chamber). The motor was mounted on top, making it a “nose-driven” rocket. To keep it as light as possible, the rocket had no fairings and was simply an open body without fins.

The first launch was made on 21 February 1931 on the parade ground Großkühnau, near Dessau, but due to a malfunction in the fuel supply, the rocket only reached a height of 3 m (9.8 ft.), then fell down and continued burning until its fuel supply was exhausted. Yet, technically-speaking, this was the first liquid-fuel rocket launch in Germany - and probably in continental Europe. A second launch was made on 14 March 1931 and was more successful; the rocket reached an altitude of about 100 m (328 ft.), although some sources even speak of 300 m (984 ft), but probably confused this distance with the distance the rocket fell.

At this time, due to Goddard's secrecy, it was believed these were the first liquid-propellant rocket launches in the world. It was only in 1936 that the experimenters in Germany, the U.S., and probably elsewhere, learned that Goddard had already achieved that distinction a decade earlier. We will later briefly return to Winkler's second rocket, the HW-2. But at this point, we return to Oberth's experiments for the publicity for the film “Frau im Mond,” since this phase of Oberth's career was directly connected to the further progress of the VfR.^[10]

The Vfr's Move Of Activities To Berlin

Ley relates that Rudolf Nebel was hired by Oberth as an assistant simply through an advertisement Oberth had placed in several daily papers. Nebel, he says, simply introduced himself as: “Name is Rudolf Nebel, engineer with diploma, member of (the) oldest student corps, World War combat pilot with rank of lieutenant and eleven enemy planes to my credit,” whereupon Oberth hired him at once. At least this was how Ley remembered it. As for Oberth's second assistant, Alexander Borrisovitch Shershevsky (as spelled by Ley) was a Russian aviation student and Oberth had first “come across his name because it had appeared as a by-line under several articles in aviation magazines - articles which had met with Oberth's approval.”

But what Ley did not explain is that there had been a short biographical piece, with portrait, on “Alexander Boris Scherschevsky” (sic.) in Die Rakete for 15 March 1929 (the same issue mentioning that Oberth was assisting in the making of the film (“Frau im Mond”); this piece likewise mentions that Scherschevsky had already exchanged correspondence with Oberth. In other words, there is a strong probability that Oberth may have already known of Schershevsky before he was involved with the film. Moreover, their earlier communication between each other was very likely due to Oberth's mention of Scherschevsky's name in a postscript in a letter to von Hoefft of 5 March 1927 in a discussion about Tsiolkovsky.

Indeed, Schershevsky's biographical sketch says he arrived in Germany in 1919 but had earlier been “inspired by that great work of his teacher, Prof. K.E. Ziolkowsky (Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky)” that led him to write the book Die Rakete für Fahrt und Flug (The Rocket for Travel and Flight), published in Germany in 1928, in which Tsiolkovsky is frequently mentioned. In fact, Jelena conclusively shows in her paper “Dissemination of Information on K.E. Tsiolkovsky's Scientific Works on Astronautics in the West (Up to the Mid-1930s)” that Scherschevsky was one of the leading people who spread the word of Tsiolkovsky's works in Germany from the early 1920s until later years.

Thus, very likely Oberth knew of Scherschevsky through his writings on Tsiolkovsky - not “aviation” topics. But we do not know the exact circumstances or date; nor do we know why Oberth came to choose Scherschevsky as an assistant, especially since he was better known as a writer rather than as a practicing engineer, although he was well educated and had a good theoretical mind. At any rate, according to Ley, both Nebel and Scherschevsky turned out to be bad choices. Ley and other authors show that Nebel in particular proved to be not only incompetent technically but an unscrupulous opportunist and closer examinations of his autobiography, Die Narren von Tegel (The Fools from Tegel) and his other writings find them to be untrustworthy. Ley adds that Nebel later revealed to him that he (Nebel) actually “had never worked as a designing engineer but for some time as a salesman of mechanical kitchen gadgets instead.”^[11]

Ley's account continues and states that after Oberth was asked to build a rocket for the “Frau im Mond” publicity launch, he (with the help of his team) first conducted basic combustion experiments, one of which resulted in an explosion that almost cost him his eyes. After a recovery of a few days, he then came up with a “theoretically ideal combustion chamber.” This he called the Kegeldüse (cone nozzle) and “had several specimens built.” His choices of propellants were liquid oxygen and (liquid) methane - perhaps from Winkler's influence. The rocket itself was to be torpedo-shaped, that was a favored rocket configuration in those years, about six ft. (1.8 m) long and of an aluminum alloy for lightness. Nebel had the vehicle made at a factory that he later identified as IG Farben in Bitterfield. This was followed by parachute release tests.

Then, the Ufa press department announced (in Ley's words) that “the Oberth rocket would reach a maximum altitude of about 40 miles (64 km) and that it would be fired from the Greifswalder Oie (a small island in the Baltic Sea, east of Rügen on the German coast).” But due to concern by officials over the safety of a lighthouse here if the rocket exploded, the site was shifted to the seashore resort of Horst, facing the East Sea. Then Oberth quickly changed his plans since, as Ley says, he “realized, or was made to realize, that time was short...” and now opted to make a prototype or “demonstration” rocket first, using solid carbon sticks as the fuel and surrounded by liquid oxygen, the carbon sticks to burn downwards; this was perhaps the earliest known design of a hybrid rocket, although Ley characterized it as “primitive.” It was also a nose-driven rocket. Oberth conducted experiments with finding the right carbon sticks (the earliest known hybrid experiments) but simply ran out of time. Not even a “demonstration rocket” materialized and Ufa was forced to release a statement that the rocket launch “had to be postponed indefinitely,” suggesting that the weather would not permit it. ^[12]

Ley says that the film (released, as mentioned, in mid-October 1929) was “moderately successful,” mainly because the first talking movies also appeared at the time and attracted more people due to their novelty. He adds that Winkler “had resigned as president of the VfR” by early 1930 and that “Professor Oberth had become president and I (Willy Ley) vice-president.” Also, “While the legal seat remained in Breslau, at least the work could be done from Berlin (in Wurm's office).” But neither of these statements is correct on important points.

For one, according to the first Mitteilungen, or Newsletter of the Berlin office of the VfR (Nr. 1) for April 1930, the Board was then composed of Winkler as Chairman (President), although “currently in Dessau,” while Erich Wurm headed the Berlin office; and the named Board members are von Hoefft, Hohmann (at Essen-Ruhr), Neubert (at Munich), Oberth (at Medias Romania), Sander (at Wesermünde), Dipl. Ing. H. Sauer (in Berlin), and Valier (in Berlin). Thus, it is very clear Winkler had not resigned his position “early in 1930,” and in fact was still in this position, even while now situated in Dessau; furthermore, several other Board members were similarly based elsewhere, so location away from Breslau or Berlin definitely did not prevent them from holding their respective positions. Additionally, according to the published letter of Oberth to Winkler of 24 July 1930, Oberth informed him:

“Mr. Wurm told me the contents of your letter of 14.7 (14 July 1930) in which you once again uttered the wish to transfer the first chair (the Presidency) of the VfR to me. I take this offer and hereby acknowledge and accept the first chair (Presidency) in your place and ask you to kindly cause the change to be made immediately (to register it) with the district court of Breslau to bring about a quicker transaction.” Thus, the transfer of the Presidency of the VfR to Oberth was made much later in 1930 than Ley stated. Still, there is an indication here that in Winkler's place by this date, Wurm may have temporarily been made the interim, or acting President. But it does seem that the “legal seat” of the VfR did stay in Breslau for the time being. (Note that no mention is made of Willy Ley assuming the Vice-Presidency of the VfR and this position was actually conferred upon him much later than he infers, as seen below.)

Oberth's letter ends with his comment that he understood there still remained VfR legal business he would be responsible for when assuming the leadership of the Society. “Of the liabilities of (the VfR) office in Berlin,” he said, “I have already taken note. I would be grateful to get a list as soon as possible of the changes introduced of the liabilities of the VfR...” “I know, of course,” he ended “you have worked (under) such difficult circumstances...” although he did not spell these out. ^[13]

From the above, and the following letter, it is also clear that (outside the VfR correspondence that was still handled by Winkler) the main responsibility of running the day-to-day business of the Society had devolved upon Wurm. Thus, he did far more than provide his office, and at some point had officially been made the Managing Director of the Society. But it still took a lot of time to fully settle matters in that difficult year. Fortunately, a published letter from Wurm to Oberth, dated 22 September 1930, further helps explain the situation.

“In order to establish a business foundation for the Society's next year,” Wurm began, “I think the immediate convocation of a general meeting is necessary. For this purpose, the change of the Board must be completed. I therefore ask you again to write to Mr. Winkler (if not already done) and to insist that he immediately request the following changes (be conveyed) to the Local Court of Breslau.

1. Resignation of Mr. Winkler of the Presidency and his departure from the Board
2. Your appointment as first Chairman (i.e. The President).
3. New Board members Wurm and Nebel.
4. The journal Die Rakete is no more the Society's organ.”

In other words, it appears there was still much unsettled VfR business well into the year and that Oberth had badly procrastinated his Society responsibilities. This may have been due, in part, to the lingering feelings of great disappointment and frustrations he had experienced with his work on the Ufa film “Frau im Mond.”^[14]

Undoubtedly, the Ufa episode was a most traumatic experience that Oberth never fully overcame in his long life. Indeed, in 1967, or almost 40 years after the events, he presented a memoir paper at the first History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), held at Belgrade and frankly recalled: “The affair (his Ufa experience) was...disgraceful. First, I was not a trained mechanic (engineer); and Henry Ford was right when he said that one should not invent an engine if one could not assemble it with one's own hands....Second, my nerves were shattered by an explosion in the fall of 1929...Fourteen days later I had my slit injector and nozzle. Another seven days later my cone combustion chamber (the Kegeldüse) was ready to fire. With that the door of space travel was pushed open. However, as a consequence of my tension and taut nerves, I had committed several grave blunders, especially in treating people.”

Apart from this, it may be that Oberth was simply not a good “organization man,” or rather administrative person, and he was President of the Society largely in name only. (Years later, in a letter to Ley in 1952, von Braun epitomized Oberth's character as follows: “He is a lonesome genius, not a team man.”) In any case, Ley merely says: “After the experiments at the Chemisch-Technische Reichanstalt...Oberth had returned to Mediash (sic.) where he took no part in active experimental work and very little in (VfR) organizational activities.” Earlier, in his article “The End of the Rocket Society,” Ley claimed (rightly or wrongly) that when Oberth became the VfR president, he (Ley) was “re-elected as vice-president” and “did most of the work...” Yet he minimized Wurm's role and added that “Wurm refused to anything without Oberth's consent” while later in his article he said that “Wurm and I held the Society together as well as possible...” Later in the same article, Ley noted that “...Oberth often refused to sign this or that, saying that he was unable to judge the facts or take the responsibility from such a distant place. He was perfectly correct in saying that, but it was a bad handicap. He finally resigned, actually but not legally, and for several months (though Ley does not give the dates) there was no president...”70

In the conclusion of his letter of 22 September 1930 to Oberth, Wurm alluded to a “transfer to the Berlin offices” that was supposed to happen and that he (Wurm) was to be “immediately” notified when this took place and “when the response decision of the District Court of Breslau is received.” I would also point out again,” he went on, “the following matters that Mr. Winkler has to also have done as soon as possible.

• a. His (VfR financial) statement on the Society during the last few years, particularly in 1929 and 1930.
• b. Agreement with Mr. Nebel

By creating your appointment as First Chair it is necessary for you to renew my appointment as Managing Director of the Berlin office. Enclosed I send you a template for this and please kindly Sir, return this with your signature. This document I also need very urgently for the Membership Assembly...I'm looking forward as soon as possible to hearing back from you.”

Hence, we further learn that a move had already been underfoot by this time to shift the VfR headquarters from Breslau to Berlin. Secondly, Nebel came aboard the VfR and there was a special VfR “agreement” with him which we will explore below. We might add that it must have made sense for Winkler to still maintain VfR correspondence (which he did faithfully up to 1933) rather than Wurm, since Winkler well knew the subject matter, whereas Wurm did not. In this sense, the evidently hectic period of 1930 to 1933 for the VfR was a case of shared responsibilities to try to maintain its viability and Winkler had by no means entirely cut off a relationship with the Society he had helped create and nurture, whether it was against the wishes of the Junkers firm or not. Ley also pointed out that by 1930 (with the loss of Winkler and the publication of Die Rakete, the “leading members of the Society” came to the realization that “the VfR had originally been founded to do experimental work” and it was now their mindset to carry this out.^[15] Continue to part five.

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Footnotes

1. ^ ^{J.W. (probably Johannes Winkler), “Ein Besuch in den Ateliers der Ufa,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', May 1929, pp. 1-4; Peterchen, “Resignation,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitscrift `Die Rakete', May 1929, p. 4.}
2. ^ ^{Yakov Isidorovich Perelman, “Über die Lebensbedingungen auf anderen Himmelskörpern,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', June 1929, pp. 5-6; Yakov Isidorovich Perelman, “Vermeintliches Mittel den Mond zu erreichen (Wells `Cavorit'),” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', June 1929, pp. 6-7; (Possibly Johannes Winkler), “Erinnerung an die Opeltage,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', June 1929, pp. 7-8; “Schandhüpfel,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', June 1929, p. 8.}
3. ^ ^{Pereleman, “Über die Lebensbedingungen,” (Part 2), Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', July 1929, pp. 9-12; Willy Ley, “`Frau im Mond' - Gedanken um Film, Roman und Problem,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', August 1929, pp. 13-15; Pereleman, “Über die Lebensbedingungen,” (Part 3), Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', August 1929, pp. 15-16.}
4. ^ ^{Willy Ley, “Von den drei Zeiten der Astronomie und von populären Büchern,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', September 1929, pp. 17-18; Pereleman, “Über die Lebensbedingungen,” (Part 4), Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', September 1929, pp. 18-19; Hans Grimm, “Neues von Professor Goddard,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', September 1929, p. 19; “Neue Bücher,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', September 1929, p. 20. The original letter by Goddard to Corlin is found in Goddard and Pendray, The Papers, Vol. I, pp. 550-551.}
5. ^ ^{“Neue Bücher,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', October 1929, pp. 23-24.}
6. ^ ^{Gerda Maurus, “Mond-Anekdoten,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', November/December 1929, pp. 25-26; Thea von Harbou, “Wissenschaft und künstlerisches Schaften,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', November/December 1929, pp. 26-27; Willy Ley, “Berlin spricht vom Raumschiff,” Unterhaltungsbeilage zur Zeitschrift `Die Rakete', November/December 1929, pp. 27-28; Willy Ley, “The Story of European Rocketry,” Astronautics, No. 32, October 1935, p. 5; Ley, Rockets, Missiles, p. 124.}
7. ^ ^{Letter, Rolf Engel to Eugene M. Emme, NAS Historian, 2 June 1977, copy in “Johannes Winkler” file, NASM; Johannes Winkler Papers, 1984 survey by Frank H. Winter, attached, pp. 5-10, 13-14;Engel, “A Man of the First Hour,” p. 272; Karlheinz Rohrwild, “Johannes Winkler - Hermann Oberth - Chronik eines Breifwechsels,” paper presented at the 4th Winkler Colloquium, Dessau, Germany, 17-April 2001. Note that the Winkler Papers include original photos used in Die Rakete}
8. ^ ^{Letter with attachments, Rolf Engel to Eugene M. Emme, 2 June 1977, copy in “Johannes Winkler” file, NASM; (Frank H. Winter), “Winkler, Johannes, Misc. Biographical Notes,” gathered during survey of the Winkler papers, 1984, copy in “Johannes Winkler” file, NASM; Engel, “Spaceflight-Projects,” p. 22.}
9. ^ ^{Engel letter; Ley, Rockets, Missiles, p. 145; Hugo Hückel, U.S. Patents No. 974,490 and No. 1,088,580.}
10. ^ ^{Engel letter; Ley, Rockets, Missiles, p. 145. For a very brief account of Winkler's later career, see Ley, Missiles, Rockets, p. 222.}
11. ^ ^{Ley, Rockets, Missiles, pp. 126-127; email, Wolfgang Both to Frank Winter, 2nd January 2016; “Alexander Boris Scherschevsky,” Die Rakete, 15 March 1929, pp. 42-43; Letter, Hermann Oberth to Franz von Hoefft, 5 March 1927, in Hans Barth, ed., Hermann Oberth Briefwechsel (Kriterion Verlag: Bucharest, 1979), Vol. I, p. 94; Tanja Jelnina, “Dissemination of Information on K.E. Tsiolkovsky's Scientific Works on Astronautics in the West (Up to the Mid-1930s),” in Otfried G. Liepack, ed., History of Rocketry and Astronautics - Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics - Bremen, Germany, 2003, AAS History Series, Vol. 34, pp. 474, 476-477, 479, and especially pp. 491-492; Michael J. Neufeld, “The Excluded: Hermann Oberth and Rudolf Nebel in the Third Reich,” Quest, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1996), pp. 22-26; Frank H. Winter, Prelude to the Space Age - The Rocket Societies: 1924-1940 (Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, D.C., 1983), pp. 38-39, 42, 44, 47-48.}
12. ^ ^{Ley, Rockets, Missiles, pp. 128-130; Ley, “The End of the Rocket Society,” p. 74; Rudolf Nebel, “Rocket Flight to the Moon - From Idea to Reality: A Memoir,” in R. Cargill Hall, ed., History of Rocketry and Astronautics - Proceedings of the Third through the Sixth History Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics, AAS History Series, Vol. 7, Part II (Univelt, Inc.: San Diego, 1986), p. 119.}
13. ^ ^{Ley, Rockets, Missiles, p. 131; “Vorstand des Verein für Raumschiffahrt,”Mitteilungen - Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Geschäftstelle Berlin), Nr. 1, April 1930, p. 2; Barth, ed., Hermann Oberth Briefwechsel, Vol. I, p. 112; Pendray, “The German,” p. 5. Pendray, in his May 1931 article stated that Valier “became (the VfR) president” upon the resignation of Winkler but there is no evidence to support this and it is nowhere mentioned, for instance, in Valier's biography by I. Essers, or in the VfR's Mitteilungen.}
14. ^ ^{Barth, ed., Hermann Oberth Briefwechsel, Vol. I, p. 107; Ley, Rockets, Missiles, p. 220; Letter, Wernher von Braun to Willy Ley, 28 January 1952, in Willy Ley papers, NASM, Box 30, folder 4; Ley, “The End of the Rocket Society,” pp. 70, 74, 77; Willy Ley, “The End of the Rocket Society ( -- Part 2),” Astounding Science Fiction, Vol. 32, p. 63.}
15. ^ ^{Oberth, “My Contributions,” pp. 139-140.}