Space Enthusiasm. Cultural History of the Early Space Pioneers in Germany during the Weimar Republic – with Marie-Luise Heuser

Abstract

The space movement from 1923 to 1933 was primarily a cultural phenomenon in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Neither the universities nor industry recognized the potential of space travel at the time. Often ridiculed as dreamers, the space pioneers pursued their visionary goals, founded the famous “Verein für Raumschiffahrt” in 1927 and carried out the first self-built rocket tests. They wrote science fiction stories, were involved in the production of Fritz Lang’s legendary 1929 film “Woman in the Moon”, invented scientifically based future scenarios and published metaphysical works. They were border crossers between cultures. We want to approach this cultural phenomenon from different angles and examine “technology fiction” as a philosophical concept.

A short bio

Marie-Luise Heuser studied philosophy, history, physics and mathematics at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf/ Germany and completed her doctorate with a thesis on Schelling’s philosophy of nature and the physical theories of self-organization. She worked in research and teaching at the universities of Düsseldorf, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Braunschweig. From 2002-2015 she was a research assistant at the Department of Philosophy at the Technical University of Braunschweig and organizer of the transdisciplinary cooperation “Culture and Space”. From 2015-2020, she headed the Department of Culture and Space at the Institute of Space Systems at TU Braunschweig. Since 2010 she has also been Managing Director of the Gesellschaft für Kultur und Raumfahrt e. V. (www.kulturraumfahrt.de), since 2020 Head of the Space and Culture Committee in the German Aerospace Society (DGLR), since 2022 Head of the Space Philosophy Laboratory of the Space Renaissance Academy, and since 2024 she has been delegate to UN COPUOS. Her research interests are: Classical philosophy of space flight from anquity to modernity, metaphysics, ontology, anthropology, philosophy of nature and philosophy of art. Her publications include: Transterrestrialismus in der Renaissance (2008), Russischer Kosmismus und extraterrestrischer Suprematismus (2009), Space Philosophy (2016), Space Ontology and Space Travel around 1600 and 1900 (2016), Return to the Moon (2019), Husserl’s Phenomenology of Flight (2020), ‘Man is not only there for the Earth’. Schelling’s Philosophy of Space (2020), Zur Philosophie der Raumfahrt bei Günther Anders. Zwischen kopernikanischer Wende und Wiederverwurzelung (2021), Space Culture and Space Philosophy (2022) and together with Adriano Autino et al: A SRI position paper on the key crical issues toward 2030, 2024, ISBN 979-8879814286.

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