Accident at the rocket demonstration in Braunlage in 1964

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For disaster in missile demonstration in Braunlage 1964 on the Hasselkopf in Braunlage came when one of the so-called mail rocket exploded near the spectator in the air. Three people were seriously injured, two of whom later died.

Happenings

On May 9 and 10, 1964, the Stamp Collectors Association Hannover Nord eV and the Amicale Philatelique Roussillonaise Perpignan association organized a German-French partnership exhibition Jumelage Philatelique in the "gallery building" in Hanover-Herrenhausen . In advance, on May 7, 1964 on the Hasselkopf near Braunlage, ten so-called mail rockets designed and built by the rocket engineer Gerhard Zucker were supposed to transport ten thousand letters with special stamps. Around 1,500 spectators came to the area to watch the rockets launch.

Even the launch of the first rocket failed; it wobbled and fell too soon. The second rocket exploded 4 meters above the wooden launching frame, hurling a 40 centimeter long metal tube at high speed into the crowd, which was only 35 meters away. Three people were seriously injured.

A 14-year-old student from Edewechterdamm near Cloppenburg succumbed to his injuries eleven days later. The second of the injured also died later. The third one lost a large part of his hearing and was paralyzed.

After the accident, the event was ended and the spectators left the site. The celebratory dinner scheduled for the evening in the Kurhaus was canceled.

Causes of misfortune

In a trial for negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm against Gerhard Zucker in 1965, the public prosecutor's office took the view

  • the propellants should not have been used in the rockets because they were missing some fastening screws.
  • a cordon in a radius of at least 400 meters around the launch ramp was necessary, while the spectators were allowed to approach the ramp to 30.25 meters at the time of launch.
  • Zucker was not allowed to launch the rocket, as he was only allowed to launch rockets weighing up to 5 kilograms, while the rockets launched in Braunlage weighed 8.3 kilograms.

consequences

The events in Braunlage led to a ban on private rocket launches in West Germany. This also meant the end of the missile tests taking place in Cuxhaven by the Hermann Oberth Society and the Berthold Seliger Research and Development Society and the industrial-military-oriented Luftrüstungs-AG .

source

  • Braunlage local history museum

annotation

  1. Michael Grube: Operation Backfire / Trial Command Altenwalde geschichtsspuren.de, accessed November 9, 2017.