- At the suggestion of one of Germany′s most prolific rocket experimenters, Max Valier, a Society for Space Travel was
set up. Ten of the original members met in the back room of the alehouse 'Goldenen Zeptor' (Golden Sceptre) at Schmiedebrucke 22,
Breslau on July 5, 1927.
- On that day, the Verein für Raumschiffahrt [VfR] (Society for Space Travel) was founded by
Johann Winkler in Breslau, Germany. Valier was too busy to be appointed the first president. so Johannes Winkler filled the
position for the first year. Four directors were made, these being Oberth, Hohmann, Sander and von Hoefft.
Its membership included also Klaus Riedel, Rudolf Nebel, and Max Valier.
- The first task was to produce a joumal, which would be the main instrument to gain members and raise funds. Winkler agreed to
produce this publicationn, called 'Die Rakete' (The Rocket), and Oberth was editor. Issue N01 was dated
Jan-Jun 1927 and had 12 pages. Bi-monthly publication followed with an increase in page numbers as more news was reported.
Impressed by Oberth′s mathematically-sound theories that space travel was achievable, the founders of VfR set out to build the
types of rockets he described.
- By mid-1928 membership had reached 500 including foreigners, and six issues of Die Rakete had been published. Hermann Oberth was
the next president with Willy Ley the vice- president, and following this the Ufa film company donated the rocket models that had
been made for the film Frau im Monde(The Woman in the Moon) by Fritz Lang. These aerodynanic shells were often seen in publicity
photographs by the VfR. Some were equipped for fuelling, but none ever flew with liquid propellants.
Through 1929 "Die Rakete" was being published every two months, with issue number 13 being for July 1929, and by September membership
of the VfR had reached 870. By the end of 1929 Army Ordnance had become interested in the activities of the Society, but unofficially.
- 1930 was a most important year for the VTR with membership now over 1,000 and in April 1930 they obtained permission to use an
abandoned ammunition dump in Reinickendorf, a suburb of Berlin, as test site for its projects. The facility soon became known as the
Raketenflugplatz (rocket airfield) and served as an early proving ground for several men who would go on to play a key role
in the German Army′s World War II rocket program.
- During a meeting meeting at the General Post Office, a new president the retired Major Hans-Wolf von Dickhuth-Harrach was announced.
Early in 1930 Rudolf Nebel had suggested ′faking′ a liquid propellant rocket flight, using a solid fuel motor as a
publicity stunt, but the VfR committee decided to have nothing to do with the idea.
- The first successful VfR test firing with liquid fuel (five minutes) was at the Heylandt Works on January 25, 1930; and
additional rocket experiments were conducted at a farm near Bernstadt, Saxony.
By April 1930 Klaus Riedel had completed an enlarged version of Oberth′s KEGELDUSE engine to now give a 32 kgf thrust,
and slowly through the summer a complete rocket was built, and called MlRAKfor Minimum RAKete. An 18-year-old Wemher von Braun
joined during the summer of 1930.
- In September 1930, before Hitler came to power, the VfR contacted the German army for funding. Rockets where one of the few
fields of military development not restricted by the Versailles treaty at the end of the world war, 11 years earlier. They received
permission from the municipality to rent a disused military site in the Reinickendorf area of Berlin with 300 acres of land, for
RM10 per year. The VfR named it the "Raketenflugplatz" or Rocket Flying Place.
For three years the VfR fired increasingly powerful rockets of their own design from this location.
Following the unsuccessful Mirak rockets, the most powerful rocket of the Repulsor series
(named for a spaceship in a German novel) reached altitudes over 1 km (3,000 ft).
- In the Spring of 1932; Capt Walter Dornberger, his commander (Captain Ritter von
Horstig), and Col Karl Heinrich Emil Becker viewed a (failed) VfR firing; and Dornberger subsequently issued a contract for a demonstration
launch. Wernher Von Braun who was then a 19-year-old young student and had joined the
group two years earlier was in favor of the contract. Domberger was impressed by von Braun′s enthusiasm, which resulted in him
being offered employmentment at Kummersdorf on 1st October 1932. A month later both Walter Riedel and Heinrich Grunow were also taken
on by the Army to form the nucleus of the military rocket effort.
- By the time Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933, VfR membership had fallen to just 200, but the
principle members were still experimenting with liquid propellant rocket engines. On 9th March 1933 Rudolf and Nebel began firing a
new chamber with a thrust of 150-200 kgf and achieved some success despite explosions on 25th March and 3rd April. Shortly after
Rudolf Nebel was suspended from the VfR for his "nefarious activities.' This was for the MAGDEBURG-STARTGERAT fiasco and the
non~payment of certain bills, which included the water bill. Over the years leaking taps at the Raketenflugplatz had run up a huge
debt The last launch at the Raketerrflugplatz was made on 19th September 1933, this being the 87th flight, which together with 270
static tests totalled 357 rocket experiments.
ln 1937 Riedel and Nebel were paid RM75,000 for alt VfR patent rights by the Army Weapons Office and given employment with Army Ordnance.
- The rocket enthusiasts who had populated the Raketenflugplatz had to abandon their
work or continue it in the military. Hauptmann Dornberger was now able to successfully
recruit former members of the VfR, many of whom joined the Army organization at
Kummersdorf.
- The only known VfR rocket artifact is a rejected aluminum Repulsor nozzle which member Herbert Schaefer took to the US when he
emigrated in 1935 and which he donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1978.
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