Exhibition
from 22 December 2014 to 31 January 2015
You are cordially invited to view the exhibition about Herman Potočnik Noordung, created in collaboration with the Primož Premzl Art Cabinet.
Who is Herman Potočnik?
Herman Potočnik, with the pseudonym Noordung, was born on December 27, 1892 in Pula, Istria. His father, Jožef Potočnik, who was a naval staff officer, served there. On his father's side, Herman Potočnik's family originates from Slovenj Gradec. His mother, Marija Kokošinek, was born in Maribor, and her family comes from Vitanje. His father, Jožef Potočnik, died when Herman was barely two years old. From Pula, he returned with his mother to Vitanje, and then spent most of his childhood in Maribor. After finishing secondary school in Maribor, he continued his education at the Military Technical Academy in Modling. He graduated from the academy as an expert in steel structural structures with the rank of lieutenant.
Shortly after graduating from school, Herman Potočnik had to go to the front, as World War I began. He left the battlefield with incurable pulmonary tuberculosis. The disease, with its fever, accompanied him throughout his years of research.
After the war, he was disabled and retired as a captain and began studying mechanical and electrical engineering in Vienna. He successfully completed his studies at the University of Vienna in 1925. In his further research, he then focused specifically on rocket technology, which was largely a result of his participation in a university group that dealt with aeronautical technology and also had its own rocket department.
Unfortunately, Herman Potočnik died very early and in great poverty, at the age of only 37, on July 27, 1929 in Vienna. Shortly before his death, his only book, "The Problem of Space Travel", was published in German, which brought him immortal fame. The book was published in Berlin in 1929 under the pseudonym Noordung. Herman wrote the final chapters of the book in early 1928, and the book was published in December 1928 with the year 1929 in the colophon. The publication of the book by Schmidt Publishing House in Berlin was important due to his connection with Hermann Oberth, who, like Potočnik, is considered a pioneer of space flight. Although Potočnik did not meet Oberth directly, he had an intense internal dialogue with Oberth's theses on space flight.
His book was translated into Russian as early as 1935, into English quite late, and into Slovenian only in 1986 in a reprint by Slovenska matica. You can also see the aforementioned Russian translation from 1935 at the exhibition.
The exhibition will be on display until the end of January on the second floor of the library.
You are welcome!