Erich von Däniken

Erich Anton Paul von Däniken ( born April 14, 1935 in Zofingen ) is a Swiss author on the topic of pre- astronautics.

His books have been translated into 32 languages ​​and have partially achieved bestseller status with a total circulation of 63 million copies sold. Two of his books have been made ​​into a film, more movies are based on Däniken's ideas. The always- derived von Däniken from archaeological finds and theories are not scientifically proven by him, but only in the style of " narrative nonfiction " presented and therefore also referred to as a " fantastic science."

Life

His school days spent von Däniken in Schaffhausen and Fribourg. He was particularly interested in books on philosophy, theology and archeology. While he worked as a hotel management trainee in the Bernese Schweizerhof, he made a first trip to Egypt. This was followed by employment in different hotels. Since 1960, Erich von Däniken is married to Elisabeth Skaja, whom he met as a waiter at the Hotel Ascot in Zurich. After a trip to the Soup Knorr von Däniken was manager of the Restaurant Mirabeau in Bern. In 1964 he took over the hotel Rose Hill in Davos. In the 1960s von Däniken published for the first time präastronautische considerations in newspaper and magazine articles, and worked on his first book.

Early 1968, his book Memories of the Future after it had previously rejected 20 publishers. The Econ Verlag had agreed to publish it after revision by Wilhelm Roggersdorf (pseudonym of Utz Utermann ). It was an unexpected success. The sales figures soared, within a short time was Däniken edition millionaire. The end of 1968 Däniken was arrested, charged and sentenced to three and a half years in prison on February 13, 1970 for fraud and forgery. About the protracted trial of the best-selling author was also reported in the media outside of Switzerland; the court proceedings, in particular the handling of psychiatric expert Erich Weber, it has been subject to criticism.

With the success of the first book of the allegation of plagiarism came up. Däniken have copied and extensively the ideas of other authors, such as Robert Charroux operated. Däniken was also accused to substantiate his thesis by means of manipulated interpretations of scientific sources and distorted pictures.

While Däniken's Chariots of the detention of Harald pure linen was filmed. The film received an Oscar nomination. In 1976, a second film. Däniken was at the hotel and devoted himself entirely to Präastronautik. He has published to date, over 20 other non-fiction books, undertook research trips and lectured on several continents. A trailer of his speculations, the American lawyer Gene Phillips, founded in 1973 in the U.S., the Ancient Astronaut Society (AAS ), which organized several international congresses.

1983 first published a collection of short stories and travel experiences. Later novels and other short stories followed; yet the author was mainly active in the field of non-fiction. In the 1990s Däniken produced a 25 - part TV series, In the Footsteps of the All- Mighty for Sat.1 and three TV documentaries in collaboration with RTL Television and the American Broadcasting Company. After several years of planning, the Mystery Park in Interlaken opened its doors in 2003. The präastronautische theme park was forced to close in late 2006 due to financial problems, but had a million visitors during this time. In the 2009 summer season, the park was opened again, before he was transfigured by the new owners and reopened in 2010 as a young woman park. Däniken published in 2005 together with the musician Norbert Reichart CD World of Mysteries, which made ​​it to fourth place in the Swiss charts.

Erich von Däniken claimed since 2006 that he had had contact with an extraterrestrial in 1987. He has this claim, first published in the novel Tomy and the Planet of the lie, and later reiterated in interviews.

In November 2008, von Däniken was produced in the ProSieben TV show Uri Geller Live: UFOs and Aliens - The Incredible TV - experiment as a guest. Due to enormous criticism of the show and numerous letters to him, he distanced himself in early 2009 in the magazine Legendary Times on behalf of its Research Institute for Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI (AAS ) of the show, putting forward his views known

Von Däniken has a daughter and lives in Beatenberg to Interlaken.

Hypotheses

Erich von Däniken is the most famous representatives of the so-called pre- astronautics or " Paleo-SETI hypothesis ": aliens have visited Earth long ago and influenced the development of mankind crucial. Because of their high technical superiority these astronauts had been held by the primitive man for gods. Against the background of this assumption suggests von Däniken the most diverse legacies (buildings, legends, etc.) of ancient cultures as evidence of extraterrestrial visitors.

For example, he believes that people of the distant past were not without outside help in the position to provide cultural achievements such as the construction of the Pyramids of Giza, the stone monuments on Easter Island, Stonehenge or the map of Piri Reis. He looked different objects as possible replicas of launch pads and landing places for UFOs (eg Nazca Lines ) to aliens ( gods ) again to persuade them again to land on Earth - while he interprets these objects as remains of cargo cults. In religion and mysticism traditional gods he interpreted as aliens.

The first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel ) in the Bible interpreted by Daniken as the description of the landing of a spaceship. Based on the biblical description of this was " Ezekiel Spaceship " from the NASA engineer Josef F. Blum Rich (1913-2002), a model constructed.

Organizations

The " A.A.S. directed by Erich von Däniken - Research Institute for Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI "; (1973 founded under the name "Ancient Astronaut Society " and refounded in 1998 as a Swiss GmbH) brings together people who want to prove visits alien. The acronym SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence ( Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence ). The A.A.S. publishes a bi-monthly magazine and organizes annual conferences.

1996 was " Erich von Däniken - Foundation " was founded. Däniken has devoted a part of his extensive archives of the Foundation. These include books, slides, films, manuscripts, images and more. Purpose of the foundation is to explore the great mysteries of the world, particularly puzzling relics of past cultures. The Foundation aims to promote research that previously seemed impossible: research, adhering to the principles of scientific knowledge acquisition and are carried out by researchers, but can not be narrow of existing paradigms.

Däniken's views and attitude

Erich von Däniken asks the historian on to are not confined to one subject area (such as Egyptology ), interdisciplinary rather to recognize the similarities between the ancient civilizations ( for example, the pyramids in Africa and South America, but see, for example, Thor Heyerdahl ) to recognize the similarities and to explore in more detail. He criticizes the Catholic Church as well as governments and authorities of various countries to the effect that important evidence would be retained, which supported his hypotheses (including Egypt).

Erich von Däniken considers himself a man of faith, who pray every day. However, the teachings of all religions of the world were flawed because they were based on false "facts." The reason for this lies in the question of the origin of life, which in his view, lies in space. Also distances itself from Däniken always explicitly from all UFO religions and considers it important that, although repeatedly mentioned in the media so no ufologist is.

Reception

Already after the first commercial success of the books Däniken the late 1960s, there were publications that explained the inconsistency of his statements. As the author is Däniken outside the scientific community of archeology, anthropology, astronomy and history of science that ignore predominantly Däniken's work because of its obvious inconsistency. In strong opposition Däniken make filings at the skeptic movement.

In the 1980s, many of Däniken's theories through science journalist Hoimar of Ditfurth in the popular science television program cross-section have been shown to be untenable.

Von Däniken merely postulated hypotheses, which he tries to back it up with ambiguous rock art and other cultural artifacts without applying scientifically accepted methods.

A major point of criticism is that von Däniken the skills of indigenous people underestimate or even below suggest. His ostentatious self- criticism of his own thesis serves only the self-protection against too critical objections and before the associated demand for a scientifically coherent approach.

Influences

Däniken's main themes, such as " the Gods were Astronauts " or " Atlantis" were already in 1951 in the science- fiction novel " Empire in the Moon" by Manfred Langrenus (pseudonym of Frederick Hecht, a geochemist from Vienna ) described in detail. In France, Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier common with "On the Way to the third millennium " in the 1960s similar theses. The German director Roland Emmerich fell back in his film Stargate on some theories Däniken, these were then later with the series Stargate - raise again Kommando SG -1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. Similarly, Ridley Scott had for his sci-fi film " Prometheus - " from the year 2012 inspired, find Stone Age murals in which scientists in a cave, showing the strange creatures and a star formation.

Award

In October 2012 Däniken was awarded the "Golden board in front of the head" for the " most amazing pseudo-scientific nonsense of the Year" for his life's work as a person who " has done for decades with particularly impressive resistance to scientific facts a name ." This negative prize is awarded annually by the Society for Critical Thinking, the Vienna Regional Group of the Society for the Scientific Investigation of para-science.

Work

• Memories of the Future, 1968
• Back to the stars, 1969, Econ, 1986
• Sowing and Cosmos, 1972
• My World in Pictures 1973
• Phenomena, 1974
• Visitors from the cosmos, 1975 ( anthology )
• Evidence, 1977
• Under cross-examination, 1978
• Prophet of the past, 1979
• Travel to Kiribati, 1981
• Strategy of the Gods, 1982
• The day the gods came, 1984
• Have I been wrong? , 1985
• We are all Children of the Gods, 1987, C. Bertelsmann
• The Eyes of the Sphinx, 1989, C. Bertelsmann
• The traces of aliens, 1990 ( picture book )
• The Stone Age was very different in 1991
• Memories of the Future, 1992, (special edition with a new preface)
• The gods - shock, 1992
• Space in Antiquity, 1993
• In the footsteps of the Almighty, 1993, C. Bertelsmann
• Messages and signs from the Universe, 1994, C. Bertelsmann
• Judgement Day has already begun - the expectation of the Messiah, and the aliens, 1995
• Characters for eternity - The Message of Nazca, 1997
• In the name of Zeus, 1999
• The gods were astronauts, 2001
• Mysteries, 2005, ( picture book )
• ( with Cornelia von Däniken ) The Mystery Park. The stories, people. All texts - all sources. Detailed comments, 2005
• Misinformed! From the most unlikely book in the world, Enoch's magic gardens and a hidden library of metal, 2007
• Twilight of the Gods - The return of the aliens. 2012 and beyond, 2009
• Greetings from the Stone Age - Who does not want to believe, see 2010!
• What is wrong in Mayan country? - Hidden technologies in temples and sculptures, 2011
• The Mediterranean and its mysterious prehistoric - Enigmatic buildings, incredible facts and debunked as false doctrines, 2012

• I love the whole world, 1983 ( short stories ) expanded edition: For 100 francs the world and other stories, 2003

• Reprint: The strange story of Xixli and Yum - A Tatsachenromen, 2002

• Encyclopedia of pre- astronautics, Edit. U. Dopatka, 1979
• Cosmic tracks, 1989 ( anthology of essays from the magazine Ancient Skies )
• New cosmic tracks, 1992 ( anthology of essays from the magazine Ancient Skies )
• Alien from outer space, Cosmic traces: new discoveries, discoveries, phenomena, 1995 ( anthology of essays from the magazine Ancient Skies )
• The Legacy of the Gods, 1997 ( anthology of essays from the magazine Ancient Skies )
• Hunter lost knowledge, 2003 ( anthology of essays from the magazine Ancient Skies )
• Explosive Archaeology, June 2008, ( story without dogma - Cosmic tracks, Volume 6 )
• The other side of archeology: The fascination of the unknown, 2011

• Gods of antiquity - as foreign cosmonauts? ( Record, 1972)
• Secrets of sunken worlds, 2003 ( Audio book, moderated by Rainer Holbe )

• Mysterious Egypt. In ancient Egypt, something is wrong - and no one talks about it. 2006
• Twilight of the Gods. The Return of the Gods?
• Erich von Däniken - Total

According to theses von Däniken Gods from outer space as a comic book series by Boguslaw Polch (drawings ), Arnold Mostowicz and Alfred Gorny (texts ) is implemented and has been to 1983, published in eight albums from the bastion -Verlag, 1978.

Movies

• Memories of the Future (1970) Director: Harald pure linen, Music: Peter Thomas

• Embassy of the Gods (1976) Director: Harald pure linen and Charles Romine ( English version). In the English version of William Shatner was the narrator.

• Torsten Sasse, Erich von Daniken - The Video Biography. Updated German documentation, 2005