Germans and the American Dream: Wernher von Braun, the German who sent the first Americans to the moon

In der Reihe „Germans and the American Dream“ stellen wir jeden Monat einen deutschen Auswanderer vor, der sich auf der anderen Seite des Atlantiks einen Namen gemacht und den Amerikanischen Traum gelebt hat oder lebt. In der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On widmen wir uns Wernher von Braun, einer äußerst kontroversen Figur. Der „Vater der Raumfahrt“, wie er manchmal genannt wird, war einer der wichtigsten Raumfahrtingenieure des 20. Jahrhunderts, ist aber durch seine Mitschuld an Nazi-Verbrechen umstritten.

Wernher von Braun, the German who sent the first Americans to the moon

The aerospace engineer played an important role in space travel, but his ties to Nazi Germany are a black mark on his career.

By Franziska Lange

1                 When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon on July 20, 1969, he said it was “one giant leap for mankind”. But for Wernher von Braun, a German aerospace engineer who had immigrated to the US 24 years before, the triumph was personal.

2                 As one of the most important rocket developers of the 20th century, von Braun played a big role in getting the first American astronauts to the moon. But the career of the man who is sometimes called “the father of space travel” is overshadowed by his past in Nazi Germany.

3                 Wernher von Braun was born into a wealthy aristocratic family on March 23, 1912, in Wirsitz in Germany (now Poland). When he was a boy, his mother gave him a telescope, starting his lifelong interest in space and astronomy.

4                 After earning degrees in mechanical engineering and physics, he became the technical director of a military rocket development centre at just 25 years of age. He and his team worked on developing the world’s first long-range ballistic missile: the A-4, which the Nazi government called V-2, or Vengeance Weapon 2.

5                 Not only did V-2 rockets kill at least 8,000 people in bombings of Europe; an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 concentration camp prisoners died in the horrible conditions at Mittelwerk, a forced labour factory where the rockets were produced.

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Den vollständigen Artikel lesen Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On.

Vocabulary

0–1           aerospace engineer Raumfahrtingenieur(in) — ties Verbindungen — black mark dunkler Fleck — leap Sprung — mankind Menschheit — to immigrate einwandern

2–4           rocket developer Raketenbauer(in) — to overshadow s.th. etw. überschatten — wealthy wohlhabend — to earn a degree in … einen Hochschulabschluss in … erwerben — mechanical engineering Maschinenbau — long-range ballistic missile Langstreckenrakete — vengeance Vergeltung(s-)

5                 bombing Bombardierung — an estimated … geschätzte … — concentration camp Konzentrationslager — conditions Bedingungen — forced labour factory Fabrik, in der Zwangsarbeiter(innen) eingesetzt werden

Photo: Pixabay/Prawny