Hermann-Oberth-Gesellschaft

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The Hermann Oberth society is an association, named after Hermann Oberth the great German astronautics pioneer, which uses itself for the new generation of engineers for space technology and which developed and built in the past also its own rockets.

It was created in 1952 by Karl Poggensee in Bremen as German agency for affairs of space travel (DAFRA), in order to develop civilian rockets. In the beginnings in Hespenbusch near Großenkneten various attempt rockets were developed, which soon already reached heights of some kilometers, so that the available area in Hespenbusch went too small.

In 1957 the rocket experiments of DAFRA, which was renamed in DRG (= German rocket company), moved to Cuxhaven. There were done in 1959 by the German rocket company some post office rockets performed. On December 15, 1960 the first launch of the Kumulus with a maximum height of 20 kilometres took place and on September 16, 1961 the first launch of the Cirrus with a maximum height of 50 kilometers took place.

At this time also Berthold Seliger began, in the context of this society to built rockets, which was meanwhile renamed in Hermann Oberth society. In 1961 Berthold Seliger created its own company, the " Seliger Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH ", which cooperated with the Hermann Oberth society. The Seliger Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH developed also several two and three stages rockets, which could reach heights of up to 150 kilometers between 1962 and 1963. After the disputed flight demonstration of the Seliger Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH of militarily usable rockets before military representatives from non-NATO states at Cuxhaven on December 5, 1963 it came to the break between the Seliger Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and the Hermann Oberth society. The latter made some rocket launches until June 1964.

After the termination of rocket launches in the Cuxhaven area the Hermann Oberth society put its emphasis toward the education of future space technology engineers.

In 1993 the Hermann Oberth society and the Otto Lilienthal society were united to the German society for air and space technology, DGLR.