Wernher von Braun

“It’s not exactly rocket science, you know.” The cliche implies that rocket science is the epitome of something that is difficult, obscure, and abstruse; something comprehensible only by the brainiest of the genius class. Names that qualify for the title “father of rocket science” include Tsiolkovsky, Goddard, and von Braun. But Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was mostly a visionary and chalkboard theorist, and Robert Goddard only targeted the upper atmosphere for his projects; he was also secretive and suspicious of others to a fault. Of the three, and any others that could be listed, Wernher von Braun has the prestige of actually taking mankind from the simple beginnings of rocketry all the way to the moon and the planets. His name is almost synonymous with rocket science. He is an icon of the space age. As we will see, he should be remembered for much more than that.

Von Braun (pronounced fon BROWN – and roll the R) is important in this series because he was recent enough to be in the living memory of many, and we have a great deal of documentation, photographs and motion pictures of him. Even young people (that is, anyone born after 1972) who did not live through the glory days of Apollo are all familiar with three of von Braun’s last great projects he took from vision to reality: the Space Shuttle, orbiting space stations and interplanetary travel. Unquestionably, he had a great deal of help. One does not do rocket science alone! At the height of the Apollo program, some 600,000 employees were involved in tasks from machining parts to managing large flight operations centers. Yet by wide consensus and by results achieved, Wernher von Braun was a giant among giants: highly regarded by his peers, respected by all who worked with him, a celebrity to the public, showered with honors, and unquestionably responsible for much of the success of the space program. Few have ever personally taken a dream of epic proportions to reality. The peaceful exploration of space! It was the stuff of dreams — dreams by Kepler, Jules Verne, science fiction novels and countless childhood imaginations, yet today it is almost too commonplace. Von Braun dreamed, but made it happen. He was the right man with the right stuff at the right time.

What kind of person was he? Many great scientists are quirkish or aloof in their personal lives, but we’re going to reveal a lesser-known side of von Braun, a spiritual side that kept him humble, grateful, unselfish, and strong. We’ll see a remarkably well-rounded individual, a family man who loved swimming and travel and popularizing science for children; a man who loved life, had charisma and energy and dignity and integrity, handled huge projects yet kept a winning smile and a sense of humor even in the most stressful of project deadlines. We’ll see a model of leadership that success-bound corporate heads would do well to emulate. Maybe you didn’t know (incidentally) that he was also a Christian and creationist.  But first, a review of his record.

The Space Race

Von Braun was the “can do” mover and shaker that rescued America’s prestige from the embarrassment of Sputnik (1957) and drove the moon mission against a host of naysayers, leading to that unforgettable moment when the whole world held its breath: “Houston: Tranquillity Base here — the Eagle has landed!” In hindsight, many feel that Russia beat the U.S. to orbit and put the first man in space largely because the top brass had snubbed von Braun, whose team was eager and ready, and gave the job to the Navy. Those first awful images of exploding and stray rockets, broadcast to America’s horror on international TV, are now captions to illustrate Murphy’s Law. But once President Eisenhower put JPL and von Braun in the driver’s seat, their string of spectacular successes left the Russians in the dust. On January 31, 1958, von Braun’s Jupiter-C rocket successfully lifted America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit (see biography of Henry Richter, instrument manager of Explorer 1, in this series). The historic photo of Pickering, Van Allen and von Braun holding a model of Explorer 1 overhead in a victory salute at a Washington D.C. press conference symbolized the turning of the tide. When Kennedy became President, Von Braun was already thinking of bigger goals. He told Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, “We have an excellent chance of beating the Soviets to the first landing of a crew on the moon.” Largely because of von Braun’s confidence, President Kennedy in 1961 challenged the country to make it to the moon before the decade was out. And America did it, on time! A year after Kennedy’s speech, with the launch of Mariner 2 to Venus in 1962 and Mariner 4 to Mars in 1964, von Braun’s childhood dream of interplanetary exploration became reality. Von Braun saw the progress of flight from crossing the Atlantic to crossing the ocean of space. In the year he died, Voyagers 1 and 2, launched on rockets built by his technology, began their epic voyages to the outer solar system.

The prestige America gained through the space program, and its political advantage in a dangerous world dominated by communism, to say nothing of all the spinoff benefits to science and technology, are benefits we all gained largely to von Braun’s vision of space flight. His impact on science, the economy and politics are symbolized by the two final missions launched on his Saturn rockets: Skylab (1973), the first orbiting space station, that took science and technology to new heights and unfamiliar environments, and Apollo-Soyuz (1975), in which American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts joined hands in earth orbit. His work even transformed mankind’s own view of itself. Who could ever forget the first image of our planet from the moon, when Apollo 8, a risky mission launched on a brand new rocket called Saturn V (the most complex machine ever built, yet launched flawlessly every time) enabled a world at war to see home as just a pale blue gem in the blackness of space, devoid of political boundaries, fragile and beautiful and alone? Yes, there were many giants in the space program, but Frederick C. Durant summarized von Braun’s special place in history by saying, “Future historians may well note this century (or millennium) as significant in that mankind took its first tentative steps into space. In accomplishing these steps to the moon and beyond, Wernher von Braun was an eminent leader. He not only had a dream, but he made his dream come true for all of us.”

Childhood Dreams

That dream began in childhood, when Wernher was given an astronomical telescope by his mother at the festive occasion of his confirmation into the Lutheran church at age thirteen. This lit a spark that exploded into his lifelong fascination with the moon, Mars and space travel. Wernher was full of boundless energy as a child, so much so that his father considered him unstoppable. He had “a mind like a dry sponge, soaking up every bit of knowledge as eagerly as he could,” his father said. His mother stimulated the children’s interest in science and the arts; Wernher even took piano lessons with the great German composer Paul Hindemith, and carried this skill through life. (Many years later in Salt Lake City on a visit, he was invited to try out the great organ in the Mormon Tabernacle; he promptly sat down and played A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.) Astronomy was the most unstoppable interest of the young teenager. By age sixteen he was writing on the history of astronomy, speculating about life on Mars, and building telescopes. By this time also, “his almost magical ability to form and lead a team,” became evident, as Ordway describes it (p. 13); “the end product of most of his projects would be complete success.” At 14, he had organized an astronomy club that made telescopes and built rockets. They even put together old car parts and tried to create a rocket-propelled automobile. He became so engrossed in these experiments, that he flunked mathematics and physics! His parents sent him to boarding school – without the rockets.

Not disheartened, young Werner read Hermann Oberth’s visionary book The Rocket into Interplanetary Space and studied Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, which for him were like racetracks to the planets. He resolved to master mathematics and become a space pioneer. His life goal was “to turn the wheel of progress” – a pretty visionary goal for a 14-year old. Those who enjoyed the movie October Sky can appreciate the adult von Braun’s interest in the young student rocket-makers, having played that role himself. By age 15 he had written, in an essay about a journey to the moon, “An age-old dream of mankind—to travel to the stars—appears to approach fulfillment.” The young student wrote to Oberth showing him a paper on rockets he had written, and received an encouraging letter, “Keep going, young man!” His teachers were impressed, and told his mother he was a genius. Few young man had the energy of dreams so strong, and knew so confidently what they wanted to accomplish in life, as Wernher von Braun. Unfortunately for him, political currents in Germany would lead to a crisis between the dream and the ugliness of war and dictatorship.

Von Braun studied mechanical engineering at the University of Berlin. Throughout his college career, he required no prodding; once, he showed his professor a letter he had received from Albert Einstein in answer to his questions, and while a student, he received a grant to experiment on liquid fueled rockets. In 1932, he graduated with a PhD in physics. Always fascinated with flight of any kind, he learned to fly gliders, and in 1933, received his pilot’s license for motorized aircraft. While the rise of Hitler was occurring during the 1930s, it must be stressed that von Braun was focused on rockets, not politics. One must remember that rocketry was “weird science” in those days, with no commercial or strategic appeal. Von Braun knew that his small amateur team, severely short on money and materials, could never advance his dream of space travel without the help of a large organization. He made a sober, consequential decision to approach the army.

In the winter of 1931-32, Von Braun gained the interest of the German army, which had a small rocket development program under Walter Dornberger. Their collaboration at the army’s Peenemünde Rocket Center is legendary; it launched Wernher von Braun into the forefront of the world’s foremost rocketry program. (Although Robert Goddard was testing liquid-fueled rockets in America, he was so secretive that von Braun had not even heard of him till after the war). From the first, the Peenemünde engineers were developing rockets for peaceful purposes. Though Hitler was in the news, von Braun at the time considered him a “pompous fool” and none of the engineers imagined their work being used as instruments of horror in the hands of a Nazi regime. Stuhlinger explains the army connection: “The situation of the young rocketeers was similar to that of the aviation pioneers when the airplane could only be developed because of military support” (Ordway, p. 24). Rocketry demanded facilities that the former amateur team lacked. Until rather late in the war, von Braun’s rocket team was largely ignored by the growing Nazi regime, which did not see rockets has having weapons potential and considered rocket research heretical.

The Nazi Trap

For most of the 1930s, therefore, rocket R&D was removed from the thought of war; it was von Braun fulfilling his childhood dream. The team moved to Peenemünde in 1935, and as late as 3 October 1942, after a successful launch of their baby the A-4 (53 miles elevation, 118 miles downrange), von Braun was still idealistic: “Do you realize what we accomplished today? Today the spaceship has been born!” and Dornberger chimed in innocently, “This 3 October 1943 [sic] is the first day of a new era of travel, the era of space travel!” Up till now, growing Nazi intrusions had been a nuisance and irritant to the decidedly non-political team, but the successful launch suddenly switched Hitler’s attention to it. He organized a committee of overseers; von Braun and Dornberger eluded some of the intrusions with claims that the work demanded absolute secrecy, but by the end of 1943, after the British had inflicted severe damage at the test center, Hitler ordered the production underground. This became the notorious Mittelwerk production center, in which A-4 rockets (renamed V-2s by the Nazis for “vengeance weapon #2”) were built by slave labor in a last-ditch effort to save Germany from defeat. In February 1944, Himmler, who had visited the Peenemünde center the previous summer, tried to lure von Braun’s support; when it was rebuffed, the Gestapo arrested him in the middle of the night.

Von Braun was kept in jail two weeks without any explanation as to why he had been arrested. Finally, he was hauled before a mock trial, where the accusation was, “he did not intend the A-4 to be a weapon of war, that he had only space travel in mind … and that he regretted its military use” (Ordway, 32). He was also accused of spying and trying to escape. In the nick of time, Dornberger entered the courtroom with a document. When the official read it, von Braun was released. What happened? Dornberger had been working since the arrest to effect his release, and after many unsuccessful attempts, persuaded the head of the Gestapo that von Braun was “absolutely essential” to the success of the A-4 program. Also, Albert Speer had persuaded Hitler, who grudgingly agreed, that the “secret weapon” Germany had been boasting about publicly could not proceed without its premiere rocket scientist. For six months, until the assassination attempt on Hitler (when the von Braun affair was forgotten), von Braun was in a very precarious position.

He had two choices: refuse to cooperate and be shot, or steer the circumstances he was placed in for good, with what influence he had. Who could fault his decision? He had no authority, and no power other than advice, which he used to mitigate the evils around him. For instance, when he was made aware of the “hellish” circumstances under which prisoners were forced to build rockets in underground tunnels at Mittelwerk, he realized quickly that humane arguments with the morally-bankrupt SS leaders were futile. He persuaded them with shrewd pragmatic arguments that the project could not be completed on time unless the workers were fed and given rest. Similar shrewdness is found with Hushai’s counsel to Absalom in the Bible (II Samuel 16). Because of this, some of the suffering was alleviated. Yet von Braun had no authority over the project that the Nazis had wrested from his team’s hands; he was only asked his opinion on very specific problems, and was escorted under guard at all times. On September 8, 1944, V-2s were launched against Paris and London. Von Braun later described hearing the news as the darkest day of his life. To his chagrin, the rockets worked perfectly; they just hit the wrong planet.

From time to time, revisionists criticize von Braun for not defying the Nazi regime, which would surely have meant his death. Rumors surface that he was a secret Nazi collaborator, or a member of the Nazi party, etc. Those tempted to believe this should read the detailed account of the period in the book by Frederick Ordway (American long-time co-worker) and Ernst Stuhlinger (part of the Peenemünde team), Wernher von Braun, Crusader for Space (Krieger Publishing, Florida, 1996). These men both knew von Braun personally over many years and participated in the events. Von Braun was no Nazi. Since 1940, Himmler had tried to woo him with gifts and a rank in the SS, which von Braun confided with friends made him deeply upset. But with their advice, he avoided making an issue to prevent Himmler from flying into a rage. When sweet talk did not work, force was applied, and von Braun’s options were none: do as you are told, or die. For the crusader for the peaceful exploration of space from his youth to his death, the years 1943-1944 turned his dream into a nightmare. His plowshares were stolen and turned into swords. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Finding himself powerless to stop Hitler and the war, what little influence he had, he used, and as soon as the war was over, he quickly and willingly surrendered to the American liberators.

Consider these points in response to critics:

1. Von Braun was arrested and jailed by the Gestapo.
2. He was charged with resisting the military use of his rockets, and trying to escape.
3. Himmler’s awarding von Braun an honorary rank in the SS no more made him a Nazi than awarding Martin Luther King an honorary membership in the KKK would make him a white supremacist.
4. The evil uses of his rockets occupied only a few months at the end of the war.
5. During his release from jail, when the military used von Braun for his advice, he was escorted under military guard at all times and under strict orders what he could say or do.
6. He used his influence to argue for more time (delaying tactics) and better conditions for the prisoners.
7. When he tried to argue for better treatment of the prisoners, he was threatened that it was none of his business, and that he had better shut up or he would be wearing the same prison stripes.
8. His lifelong dream was the peaceful exploration of space. He was devastated when he heard the news that his rockets had been used against Allied cities.
9. After the war, he sought out the Americans, and willingly surrendered not only himself but his whole team. He knew this meant abandoning his fatherland (and who, in spite of evil leaders, does not have some heart for his own country?). He became a patriotic, energetic American citizen.
10. As soon as he reached America, he was eager to help the American space program.
11. He repeatedly gave a full accounting of all his activities during the war, when interrogated by the government and by suspicious critics.
12. His record since the war speaks for itself. A leopard does not change its spots. If von Braun were anything less than a man of integrity, bad signs would have surfaced in the subsequent 32 years in America.
13. The British Interplanetary Society awarded him an honorary membership right after the war. Surely if anyone had doubts about his motives and allegiances, it would be those who were victimized by V-2 rockets raining down on their city.

It is only fair for war victims, especially the Jews, to investigate the motives and actions of anyone connected to the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. We hope this brief review helps to dispense with rumors that von Braun was ever personally at fault. He was a victim as well. Read the book by Ordway and Stuhlinger, probably the most authoritative biography by those close to von Braun, for further information. It contains many details and quotations by contemporaries, and gives a spellbinding account of events that are still within the memory of some alive today. Update An article on Space.com posted August 2019 corroborates von Braun’s peaceful motivations. Space.com found the testimony of a friend who knew von Braun in German. He confirms that the rocket pioneer had a “one-track” mind about rockets and space travel from his youth, before the rise of Hitler.

But everyone has a past, and long before his career took off, von Braun was a student, unsurprisingly enough. Even then, he was obsessed with spaceflight, according to an account written decades later by a friend he met in 1931 that Space.com recently stumbled upon.

That friend, Constantine D. J. Generales Jr.,  recounts that at first he was overwhelmed by von Braun’s focus on spaceflight during a brief meeting over lunch in Zurich. “After the usual exchange of amenities, he unexpectedly turned the conversation to rockets, and of all things, of using them to get to the moon,” Generales later wrote. The recollections were originally presented at a spaceflight symposium in New York in 1968 and the text was later included in a collection published by the Smithsonian Institution.

Generales worked with von Braun on experiments to see if mice could withstand the rigors of space—an important thing to know before launching humans to the moon. But von Braun’s dream was to be snatched from him. He was developing rockets at Peenemünde right before Hitler’s rise to power. The Space.com reporter impugns von Braun as a willing participant in subsequent Nazi atrocities, contrary to the points in his defense listed above. As soon as the war turned, he put himself and his team at great risk to surrender to the Americans, the enemies of Hitler’s Germany. He intentionally avoided being captured by the Russians, whom he considered just as bad. In America, von Braun knew his expertise could be put to peaceful use once again, as it was, spectacularly.

The story of the surrender is one of those remarkable turning points in history, that is haunting to think about in retrospect. 100 members of the Peenemünde Rocket Center waited in hiding after the German surrender as Allies and Russians combed the land. They had recently escaped the fear that the SS would destroy them and everything they had done in one last desperate blow. Marshall Space Flight Center’s biography says, “After stealing a train with forged papers, von Braun led 500 people through war-torn Germany to surrender to the Americans. The SS were issued orders to kill the German engineers, who hid their notes in a mine shaft and evaded their own army while searching for the Americans.” Von Braun had convinced some SS officers they needed to retreat to a place safe from attack. Secured in an alpine village, news reached them April 30, 1945, that Hitler had committed suicide. The guards left. On May 2, Wernher’s youngest brother, Magnus von Braun, rode his bicycle with a white handkerchief down the hill to look for the Americans; upon finding them, he told them that the German rocket scientists were waiting to surrender. A Wisconsin-born private first class who spoke German, Frederick Schneikert, came to the compound and ordered, “Come forward with your hands up!” – as if they needed any convincing. Von Braun was given free choice along with all the others whether they wanted to immigrate to America. The historic photo shows von Braun accepting the terms, his arm in a cast due to a fracture he had suffered during the traumatic events. Along with the German rocket scientists, their priceless research documents were recovered from the mine where they had been hidden. This required hurriedly digging a new tunnel, because they had blasted the entrance closed to secure it. Also, parts for about 100 V-2 rockets were spirited to Allied safety in Austria by May 22, with monumental effort, just days before the Russians gained control of the territory according to the Yalta agreement. Had the Russians captured the German rocket scientists and their work, history would likely had been very different. Knowing the aftermath of the cold war and the threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles bearing nuclear weapons, one wonders whether there would be an America today.

American Citizen

The German scientists were brought to America under top-secret Operation Paperclip. When Americans became aware of their presence, there was understandable alarm, and it took some convincing by the military and the government that they were now willing allies in strategic work. Von Braun was raring to go forward with his research. This attitude was shared by the entire team, and von Braun was restless at the seemingly interminable delays and interrogations. Slow progress was made, as freedom was granted by degrees, until full citizenship; the days of Truman and Eisenhower, the post-war boom, the threat of communism, none of these deterred von Braun from his dream. By the 1950s, the Air Force, Navy and Army had their own rocket development programs, often with strong rivalries between them, but von Braun gained national stature as America’s leading rocket scientist. He became an icon of space to millions of children at their black and white TV sets on March 9, 1955, with the first of several Walt Disney shows about manned space travel – at the time, still the subject of science fiction. But not for long. Von Braun’s strategic importance to the nation gained a huge and unexpected boost on October 4, 1957, when historic bleeps were heard beaming down from space, heralding both hopes and fears. The Russians’ Sputnik 1 was in orbit.

Reactions were swift and disorderly. Von Braun was not surprised; he had foreseen this two years earlier, and had warned that the Russians might beat us into space. His reaction was a politely but sternly worded I-told-you-so, but more than that, an optimistic appeal about the promise of space flight. But his German team, which was ready with its Redstone (Jupiter-C) rocket at Huntsville, Alabama (where his team resided from 1950 to 1970), was snubbed by the top brass in favor of the Vanguard. In the rush to catch up just two months after Sputnik 1, and a month after Sputnik 2 carrying the first animal (the dog Laika), the Vanguard launch button was pushed. To the shocked eyes of already embarrassed Americans, it exploded in a cataclysm of fire and smoke. The Army Redstone project was given the next shot. On January 31, carrying a small scientific payload named Explorer 1 developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and instrumented by Henry Richter, Von Braun’s Jupiter-C launched the satellite flawlessly into orbit. The mood in the country was electric. Newspapers trumpeted the news, featuring the victory picture showing William Pickering (JPL Director), James Van Allen (whose instruments on this flight detected the radiation belts bearing his name), and Wernher von Braun holding a replica of Explorer 1 high overhead. Of this picture, which symbolizes one of America’s defining moments, Van Allen said, “Wernher, as usual, carries the brunt of the load.”

The 1961 Kennedy speech committing America to put a man on the moon, the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs – all these are oft-told adventure epics. The subjects of countless documentaries, they need not be repeated in detail here, though they bear retelling, especially among a rising generation with no first hand knowledge of those heady days of the space race.  Readers are encouraged to relive the adventure with the well-done HBO documentary series From the Earth to the Moon, and better yet, to visit the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Take the all-day bus tour where you can walk where Von Braun walked, see the hangar that served as his office, look at the launch buttons he pushed in bunkhouses just yards from the early rockets, stand in awe of the Apollo launch pad 39A (now used for the Space Shuttle), and stare upward at the indescribable hugeness of the Vehicle Assembly Building where Saturn V rockets rolled out a mile on huge crawlers to the pad. Then end your day at the superb Apollo Saturn V Theater, where a series of presentations let you relive the tension of countdown, as you watch the original flight operations computers come to life with dramatic music and sound effects and images on a giant screen, to the dramatic touchdown on the moon with a lifesize Lunar Module descending to a cratered surface. In between is the most awesome sight of all: a full-scale Saturn V rocket, in Smithsonian-mint condition, horizontally mounted above you in a hangar a quarter mile long.  This is a sight that must be seen to be believed; it is a monument that should be visited by every American. It will make you proud, and humble. That something this large, heavy and complicated, could ever have been built, on time, on schedule, and launched with 100% success every time, is a tribute to thousands of talented and committed people, and to their leader, their inspiration: Wernher von Braun.

Speaking of leadership, von Braun is a case study par excellence. His remarkable ability to build, lead, and inspire a team is legendary. The size and importance of the projects he led to success have few equals, but even small business managers or youth leaders would do well to learn from his leadership style. A large and imposing man, von Braun brought a commanding presence merely by walking into the room, yet was an inspirer, not a dictator. Ernst Stuhlinger said, “…he possessed … an irresistible charm, coupled with almost magic powers of persuasion, which helped him conquer many hesitant or doubtful minds” (Ordway, p. 330). His leadership ability combined tremendous drive, humor, grace under pressure, dignity, humility, the power to encourage and inspire, and single-minded vision. “What is the most important thing a man needs,“ he was once asked, “when he wants to build a spaceship and travel to the moon?” “The will to do it!” was his instant reply. “We have a job to do!” was his positive appeal, in a tone that conveyed excitement and teamwork, and the need to put aside lesser things.

He could be ruthlessly direct, as when he chided JPL and Army teams for their petty rivalries during the push to launch Explorer, “Are you grown men, or young schoolboys? Is your precious little ego more important to you than a satellite in orbit? Now, you go back and work out your differences. If you can’t, I will replace you on this project!” But even in this they knew he was calling them up to a higher standard, not talking them down; and he subtly complimented their maturity by implying they could solve their problems without his micromanagement. He led by example, Stuhlinger says:

He had the rare and precious gift of instilling in his many co-workers his own enthusiasm for hard work and high quality. But he was not only a tough and demanding task master, he was a path finder and problem solver, and he always overflowed with an exuberant joy of life that lighted up many dark chasms on the road to the stars.  (Ibid.)

Most of the time, even under stress, von Braun was upbeat and positive with his team. Michael Collins (Apollo 11 astronaut) said, “he realized that rockets could only be as successful as the people who built them, and he assembled an extraordinarily talented team, people who worked well with each other, and who were totally devoted to Wernher” (Ordway, p. 330). He had a warm smile and firm handshake that would make even a janitor feel important, part of something big. And he rarely took credit for the successes. He was quick to honor his co-workers above himself. But the record of his leadership speaks loud and clear: Collins lists just some of the later accomplishments of those who worked under the leadership of this “warm and friendly man, interested in everyone around him”:

Thirty-three Saturn flights, all successful, all without loss of life, all without weapons … Saturns sent twenty-seven Americans to the Moon, twelve of them to walk on it. Saturns sent nine astronauts up to Skylab, which itself was a converted Saturn upper stage. And, finally, the last Saturn sent an American crew up to join a Russian spacecraft in earth orbit.

In response, his adopted country showered honors on him, such that he surpassed Lord Kelvin’s record (21) for honorary doctorates: von Braun received 25, along with numerous other medals, awards, and honors from around the world. In the waning days of his illness, almost too weak to receive it, he accepted the National Medal of Science from President Gerald Ford, responding to a friend humbly, “Isn’t this a great country! Here I have come in from another country and they give me this wonderful honor. Isn’t this a wonderful country!” Today, von Braun’s bust is prominently on display at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville where he made his greatest contributions. The Von Braun Center hosts the city’s fine arts, and the Von Braun Astronomical Society that he helped found continues its telescope events. The Von Braun Memorial Lectures continue at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Tour guides at the Kennedy Space Center hold him in high esteem. Elderly NASA employees who can, brag about having met Dr. Wernher von Braun.

How von Braun Became a Christian

Though nominally Lutheran from his childhood, Wernher von Braun appears to have gotten serious about his faith only later in life. Ordway says, “Throughout his younger years, von Braun did not show signs of religious devotion, or even an interest in things related to the church or to biblical teachings. In fact, he was known to his friends as a ‘merry heathen’” (p. 270). In the days of Apollo, however, through the 1960s and 70s, “a new element began to surface in his conversations, and also in his speeches and his writings: a growing interest in religious thought.”

The reason for this change is not widely known, but I obtained a document that explains what happened. In 1962, von Braun was led to Christ from a Gideon Bible. I had looked for years for evidence of this, and finally received a copy of an article from the Executive Director of the Gideons in Germany, who translated it for me from German. It was published in the German Gideons magazine in 2002 by the man who led him to Christ 40 years prior, William Albert Wilson. Known as “Al,” Wilson was one of von Braun’s engineers, and also a member of the Gideons (a world-wide organization that distributes free Bibles in hotels and other places). Von Braun heard through his Christian secretary Bonnie Holmes that Wilson had given a presentation on Christianity. Curious and also overwhelmed with the stress of work and difficult decisions, he called Wilson into his office. After discussing work matters briefly, Wilson used the opportunity to ask von Braun if he desired God’s wisdom as a free gift from God. Using Scriptures from that Bible, Wilson walked von Braun through the plan of salvation. He was ready. With Wilson’s help, von Braun prayed the sinner’s prayer, and then requested Wilson not tell anyone about their meeting. I’m reproducing the article at the end of this chapter.

Another contact, Wayne Hoover, emailed additional facts to me in 2012 about this conversion story, adding that von Braun had received a Gideon Bible seven years prior. Wayne knew von Braun’s secretary, and also heard Wilson’s recounting of the conversion in von Braun’s office. Hoover said,

In about 1955 Wm. Albert Wilson, American engineer, Christian, and Gideon, gave Wernher von Braun a dignitary Gideon Bible and over a period of the following seven years, when the opportunity arose at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Al would ask von Braun if he had any questions, had he been reading the Bible.

Eventually, on a Saturday morning in about 1962, von Braun called Al to his office and that’s when von Braun prayed the sinner’s prayer, word for word (the one in the back of the Gideon Personal Worker’s testament, similar to the prayer in the Four Spiritual Laws).  Following the amen, von Braun said he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

I spoke by phone with von Braun’s secretary, Mrs. Bonnie Holmes, and asked if she believed von Braun to be a Christian, and she replied that he liked to whistle the tune of “The Old Rugged Cross.”  Also, his favorite scripture verse was Ps. 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

I will also reproduce this email at the bottom of the chapter. Unfortunately, I lost track of Mr Hoover, and have not been able to locate the other references he provided as corroboration of the story. Anyone reading this who has additional information, such as the DVD of Wilson’s presentation, is invited to contact me.

Once von Braun had received Christ into his life, people began noticing the change. Von Braun was not overt or invasive about his new Christian faith, but it showed, and his scientific colleagues and the press appear somewhat baffled by it, treating it like some kind of personal quirk, something they did not expect from a leading rocket scientist pushing the limits of human achievement. After the Apollo 11 success, for instance, a reporter asked him what he was thinking when he gave the final ‘yes’ for launch. The reporter must have been surprised at his unabashed answer, “I quietly said the Lord’s prayer.”  Ordway comments that he could have been thinking of a dozen matters at that hectic moment, but his thought was, Thy will be done.

Having known von Braun so well, Ordway elaborates the prayer for him:

It would have been true to his nature if he had added, “You gave me this love for exploration and adventure and spaceflight, and also this gift to transform the dreams into reality.  I have lived and worked as one little part of Your boundless creation. If we succeed with this journey to the Moon, it will be to Your glory. If we don’t, it is Your will. As far as I am concerned, I have used all the talents You have put into me, and I have done my very best.” Whether these thoughts actually came to his mind at that moment, nobody will ever know. (Ordway, pp. 269-270.)

Von Braun was not pushy about religion, but neither was he embarrassed or annoyed by people asking if he believed in God: “Yes, absolutely!” would be his cheerful answer, “And then, he would begin to talk in his characteristic von Braun style, with perfect grammar and syntax, letting his carefully chosen words flow like a sparkling mountain stream, while he described his religious convictions with an almost disarming simplicity”  (Ordway, p. 270). Especially around 1975 when illness was advancing, “His desire to see the world of science and technology in full harmony with the world of religion, particularly as it is manifested in Christian faith, grew even stronger,” Ordway says (p. 272).  Whether a direct quote or a paraphrase is not clear, but Ordway has von Braun saying,

“Finite man cannot begin to comprehend an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and infinite God … I find it best to accept God through faith, as an intelligent will, perfect in goodness and wisdom, revealing Himself through His creation … ”
It was surprising to some of von Braun’s associates that in spiritual matters, he would reach so deeply into the realm of the irrational.

Here Ordway seems to misunderstand his good friend. Faith is not irrational; it is the rational step beyond the limits of evidence. Von Braun understood that science can never answer ultimate questions of origins and destiny, not even of purpose for why things are the way they are. Of course von Braun’s “entire work for space was solidly based on the exact laws of natural sciences” (p. 273), Ordway knows, but there are limits to science. When von Braun might say, “It is best not to think, but just to believe,” his belief was not irrational belief in something or anything; it had an object: the revelation of God in the Bible. As a devoted Christian believer, von Braun had confidence in the word of God. Once a person has the settled conviction that the Bible is God’s revelation, yes— it is best just to believe it, especially since its message is not applicable to scientific inquiry. A message like For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16) is not an outworking of natural laws and mathematics. It is a communication from infinite intelligence (and love) to finite intelligence. Responding to that communication is surely the most rational thing a scientist can do.

Von Braun often stressed that “science and religion are not antagonists. On the contrary, they are sisters”  (Hill, introduction). He had no problem with “knowing” and “believing” living side by side; in fact, he thought it most irrational to deny the obvious: “It is as difficult for me to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science” (American Weekly, Jan. 10, 1960). Science can observe rationality and order and design, but the details of the Who behind “the grandeur of the cosmos” requires revelation. That von Braun believed in the revelation of Scripture, including Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, will be apparent from an essay we will quote in its entirety from an Introduction he wrote for a book on creation.

In regards to creation vs. evolution, von Braun opposed the one-sided teaching of Darwinian evolution in the public schools. In 1972, he wrote a letter to the California School Board, which was considering a controversial bill on the teaching of evolution. He used his influence as a scientist and well-known public figure to argue that students need to hear the case for creation:

To be forced to believe only one conclusion—that everything in the universe happened by chance-would violate the very objectivity of science itself. Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye? Some people say that science has been unable to prove the existence of a Designer… They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But, must we really light a candle to see the sun?

Below, we quote these documents, along with other selected writings, since it is always best to read comments in context, and Dr. Von Braun’s own eloquence could only be tarnished by our embellishment.

Later Years

For largely political reasons, the mood of the NASA top brass was changing after the euphoria of Apollo; by the time of Skylab, von Braun’s influence was waning in favor of younger minds and untested ideas. Noting the change, von Braun thought it best to graciously retire rather than to fight (though superiors later acknowledged the wisdom of his advice: he advocated a scaled-down shuttle, rather than an expensive supermodel, and James Webb later admitted this saved the shuttle program from the budget axe). An effusive outpouring of affection from his Huntsville colleagues characterized his retirement party in 1975. Von Braun went to work for a very dear friend, Dr. Henry Ulm, at Fairchild Industries in Virginia. Unfortunately, the career change was short. That year, he was diagnosed with cancer, and in spite of a few promising remissions, it became clear at age 64 his days were numbered. He looked on the bright side. It gave him quality time with his wife and two daughters and son, time he had long missed because of his heavy work load.

Reflecting on his years of building the space program, he asked colleagues whether he had done the right thing, considering all the needs of the suffering around the world. Friends reinforced his own belief that it was worth it. As it did with Morse’s telegraph, new technology brings in its coattails many benefits: jobs, infrastructure, whole towns of supporting processes, including highways, restaurants, churches, schools, and charities. Because of the space program, thousands of people have access to better education and higher-paying jobs, and the spin-off technologies have improved the lives of millions. The cost of the space program, a tiny fraction of what the country spends on entitlements and foreign aid, is more than compensated for by the many benefits that sprang from it, and continue to spring from it, because the legacy of von Braun lives on in the continued exploration of space. Over 100 space shuttle launches gathered valuable scientific data about our world from above, and additional spacecraft have continued exploring Mars and Jupiter and Saturn in ways that would have thrilled von Braun. In 2022, the new James Webb Space Telescope, named after the NASA Administrator in the Apollo days, began looking into the farthest reaches of space.

What value could anyone put on inspiring a whole generation with the dreams of exploring space? Or taking the world on a great adventure, fulfilling a monumental goal on schedule, in spite of enormous obstacles, during a wartime era when a world was in crisis? For a magical moment, the world stopped its riots and bombings and stared in fixed silence at the image of Neil Armstrong stepping off the ladder onto the surface of the moon. Humanity looked back on the blue gem of earth in its stark contrast to the blackness of space. Yes, Dr. von Braun, it was worth it.

Wernher von Braun wrote two more things in his last year. One was a book co-authored with Frederick Ordway called New Worlds, Discoveries From the Solar System (published posthumously, 1979). It being a secular science book, von Braun did not discuss religion or faith. His attitudes about creation were clearly coincident with today’s Intelligent Design Movement, but beyond that, it is not clear how he felt about Genesis. The book assumes long ages, but interestingly, there are points here and there where he casts a little doubt about what the standard evolutionary theories claim. The other writing was a short introduction to a little paperback book on creation, probably as a favor to the author, Harold Hill, a friend he apparently met at Fairchild. Though the body of the book is eminently forgettable, von Braun’s introduction is not. It comprises one of his clearest statements about science, creation, the Bible, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is quoted in its entirety below.

Von Braun was visited by many dignitaries and friends as his health declined, and his funeral was like that of a head of state, attended by Presidents, astronauts, NASA administrators, personal friends and other German rocket scientists. The accolades Ordway has reproduced in his biography are impressive. The NASA Administrator said he continued in the tradition of Newton and Einstein. President Carter said all the people of the world had profited from his work. Major General John Medaris said, “His imagination strolled easily among the stars, yet the farther out into the unknown and unknowable vastness of Creation his thoughts went, the more he was certain that the universe, and this small garden spot within it, came from no cosmic accident, but from the thought and purpose of an all-knowing God.” Von Braun died as he had hoped, with a clear mind able to experience the transition to the afterlife. According to Ordway, his last credo was, “Thy will be done.”

… yes, on earth as it is in heaven.

______________________________

  Wernher von Braun
1912 – 1977 

  IN HIS OWN WORDS

 

 

“My Faith”
A space-age scientist tells
why he must believe in God.
American Weekly, February 10, 1963.

By WERNHER von BRAUN
Director, Marshall Space Flight Cen-
ter, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Huntsville, Alabama

This was a one-page article written for a magazine included in many American newspapers. This first-generation reproduction was scanned in from the original copy shown at right.

The two most powerful forces shaping our civilization today are science and religion.
Through science man strives to learn more of the mysteries of creation. Through religion he seeks to know the creator.
Neither operates independently. It is as difficult for me to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science. Far from being independent or opposing forces, science and religion are sisters. Both seek a better world. While science seeks control over the forces of nature around us, religion controls the forces of nature within us.
As we learn more and more about nature, we become more deeply impressed and humbled by its orderliness and unerring perfection. Our expanding knowledge of the laws of the universe have enabled us to send men out of their natural environment into the strange new environment of space, and return them safely to earth.
Since we first began the exploration of space through rocketry, we have regularly received letters expressing concern over what the writers call our “tampering” with God’s creation. Some writers view with dismay the possibility of upsetting the delicate balance of the tremendous forces of nature that permit life on our globe.
One letter revealed an honest fear that a rocket would strike an angel in space high above the earth. And one of the Russian cosmonauts stated flatly after his earth-circling flight in space: “I was looking around attentively all day during my flight, but I didn’t find anybody there – neither angels nor God…”
Such shallow thinking is childish and pathetic. I have no fear that a physical object will harm any spiritual entities. Manned space flight is an amazing achievement. But it has opened for us thus far only a tiny door for viewing the awesome reaches of space. Our outlook through this peephole at the vast mysteries or the universe only confirms our belief in the certainty of its creator. Finite man cannot comprehend an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and infinite God. Any effort to visualize God, to reduce him to our comprehension, to describe him in our language, beggars his greatness.
I find it best through faith to accept God as an intelligent will, perfect in goodness, revealing himself in the world of experience more fully down through the ages, as man’s capacity for understanding grows.
For spiritual comfort I find assurance in the concept of the fatherhood of God. For ethical guidance I rely on the corollary concept of the brotherhood of man.
Scientists now believe that in nature, matter is never destroyed. Not even the tiniest particle can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction—only transformation. Would God have less regard for his masterpiece of creation, the human soul?
Each person receives a gift of life on this earth. A belief in the continuity of spiritual existence, after the comparative mere fiick of three score and ten years of physical life here in the endless cycle of eternity, makes the action of each moment like an investment with far-reaching dividends. The knowledge that man can choose between good and evil should draw him closer to his creator. Next, the realization should dawn that his survival here and hereafter depends on his adherence to the spiritual rather than the scientific.
Our decisions undeniably influence the course of future events. Nature around us still harbors more unsolved than solved mysteries. But science has mastered enough of these forces to usher in a golden age for all mankind, if this power is used for good—or to destroy us, if evil triumphs.
The ethical guidelines of religion are the bonds that can hold our civilization together. Without them man can never attain that cherished goal of lasting peace with himself, his God, and his fellowman.

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“But I can’t help feeling at the same time that this space effort of ours is bigger even than a rivalry between the United States and Russia. The heavens beyond us are enormous beyond comprehension, and the further we penetrate them, the greater will be our human understanding of the great universal purpose, the Divine Will itself.”
—Dr. Wernher von Braun, This Week Magazine, 01/01/1961.

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Letter to the California State Board of Education
September 14, 1972

Dr. Wernher von Braun wrote the following letter to a Mr. Grose regarding the California school board’s debate on the teaching of evolution. It was read by Dr. John Ford to the California State board of Education on September 14, 1972. With today’s heated debates at public school board meetings concerning the advisability of teaching of intelligent design or alternatives to Darwinism, this letter continues to hold vital significance.
Reproduced from John Mark Ministries.

Dear Mr. Grose:  In response to your inquiry about my personal views concerning the “Case for DESIGN” as a viable scientific theory or the origin of the universe, life and man, I am pleased to make the following observations.

For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without evoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all. In the world round us, we can behold the obvious manifestations of an ordered, structured plan or design. We can see the will of the species to live and propagate. And we are humbled by the powerful forces at work on a galactic scale, and the purposeful orderliness of nature that endows a tiny and ungainly seed with the ability to develop into a beautiful flower. The better we understand the intricacies of the universe and all harbors, the more reason we have found to marvel at the inherent design upon which it is based.

While the admission of a design for the universe ultimately raises the question of a Designer (a subject outside of science), the scientific method does not allow us to exclude data which lead to the conclusion that the universe, life and man are based on design. To be forced to believe only one conclusion—that everything in the universe happened by chance—would violate the very objectivity of science itself.

Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system or the human eye?

Some people say that science has been unable to prove the existence of a Designer. They admit that many of the miracles in the world around us are hard to understand, and they do not deny that the universe, as modern science sees it, is indeed a far more wondrous thing than the creation medieval man could perceive. But they still maintain that since science has provided us with so many answers the day will soon arrive when we will be able to understand even the creation of the fundamental laws of nature without a Divine intent. They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun?

Many men who are intelligent and of good faith say they cannot visualize a Designer. Well, can a physicist visualize an electron? The electron is materially inconceivable and yet it is so perfectly known through its effects that we use it to illuminate our cities, guide our airlines through the night skies and take the most accurate measurements. What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the inconceivable electrons as real while refusing to accept the reality of a Designer on the ground that they cannot conceive Him? I am afraid that, although they really do not understand the electron either, they are ready to accept it because they managed to produce a rather clumsy mechanical model of it borrowed from rather limited experience in other fields, but they would not know how to begin building a model of God.

I have discussed the aspect of a Designer at some length because it might be that the primary resistance to acknowledging the “Case for Design” as a viable scientific alternative to the current “Case for Chance” lies in the inconceivability, in some scientists’ minds, of a Designer. The inconceivability of some ultimate issue (which will always lie outside scientific resolution) should not be allowed to rule out any theory that explains the interrelationship of observed data and is useful for prediction.

We in NASA were often asked what the real reason was for the amazing string of successes we had with our Apollo flights to the Moon. I think the only honest answer we could give was that we tried to never overlook anything. It is in that same sense of scientific honesty that I endorse the presentation of alternative theories for the origin of the universe, life and man in the science classroom. It would be an error to overlook the possibility that the universe was planned rather than happened by chance.

With kindest regards.

Sincerely,

Wernher von Braun

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AN ESSAY ON SCIENCE AND CHRISTIAN FAITH

This untitled essay was written as a foreword to a paperback book* by a friend on the subject of creation, just a year before Dr. von Braun went to be with the Lord.
*Harold Hill, From Goo to You by Way of the Zoo, Logos International (Plainfield, NJ 1976).

Six Apollo crews have visited the moon and returned safely to earth. The Skylab astronauts have spent 171 days, 13 hours, and 14 minutes working and living in space, and all have returned hale and hearty to earth.
Why are we flying to the moon? What is our purpose? What is the essential justification for the exploration of space? The answer, I am convinced, lies rooted not in whimsy, but in the nature of man.
Whereas all other living beings seem to find their places in the natural order and fulfill their role in life with a kind of calm acceptance, man clearly exhibits confusion. Why the anxiety? Why the storm and stress? Man really seems to be the only living thing uncertain of his role in the universe; and in his uncertainty, he has been calling since time immemorial upon the stars and the heavens for salvation and for answers to his eternal questions: Who am I?  Why am I here?
Astronomy is the oldest science, existed for thousands of years as the only science, and is today considered the queen of the sciences. Although man lacks the eye of the night owl, the scent of the fox, or the hearing of the deer, he has an uncanny ability to learn about abstruse things like the motions of the planets, the cradle-to-the-grave cycle of the stars, and the distance between stars. The mainspring of science is curiosity. There have always been men and women who felt a burning desire to know what was under the rock, beyond the hills, across the oceans. This restless breed now wants to know what makes an atom work, through what process life reproduces itself, or what is the geological history of the moon.
But there would not be a single great accomplishment in the history of mankind without faith. Any man who strives to accomplish something needs a degree of faith. But many people find the churches, those old ramparts of faith, badly battered by the onslaught of three hundred years of scientific skepticism. This has led many to believe that science and religion are not compatible, that “knowing” and “believing” cannot live side by side.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Science and religion are not antagonists. On the contrary, they are sisters. While science tries to learn more about the creation, religion tries to better understand the Creator.
Many men who are intelligent and of good faith say they cannot visualize God. Well, can a physicist visualize an electron? The electron is materially inconceivable and yet we use it to illuminate our cities, guide our airliners through the night skies, and take the most accurate measurements. What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the electron as real while refusing to accept God? I am afraid that, although they really do not understand the electron either, they are ready to accept it because they managed to produce a rather clumsy mechanical model of it borrowed from rather limited experience in other fields, but they wouldn’t know how to begin building a model of God.
For me the idea of a creation is inconceivable without God. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be a divine intent behind it all. Some evolutionists believe that the creation is the result of a random arrangement of atoms and molecules over billions of years. But when they consider the development of the human brain by random processes within a time span of less than a million years, they have to admit that this span is just not long enough. Or take the evolution of the eye in the animal world. What random process could possibly explain the simultaneous evolution of the eye’s optical system, the conductors of the optical signals from the eye to the brain, and the optical nerve center in the brain itself where the incoming light impulses are converted to an image the conscious mind can comprehend?
Our space ventures have been only the smallest of steps in the vast reaches of the universe and have introduced more mysteries than they have solved. Speaking for myself, I can only say that the grandeur of the cosmos serves to confirm my belief in the certainty of a Creator.
Of course, the discoveries in astronomy, biology, physics, and even in psychology have shown that we have to enlarge the medieval image of God. If there is a mind behind the immense complexities of the multitude of phenomena which man, through the tools of science, can now observe, then it is that of a Being tremendous in His power and wisdom. But we should not be dismayed by the relative insignificance of our own planet in the vast universe as modern science now sees it. In fact God deliberately reduced Himself to the stature of humanity in order to visit the earth in person, because the cumulative effect over the centuries of millions of individuals choosing to please themselves rather than God had infected the whole planet. When God became a man Himself, the experience proved to be nothing short of pure agony. In man’s time-honored fashion, they would unleash the whole arsenal of weapons against Him: misrepresentation, slander, and accusation of treason. The stage was set for a situation without parallel in the history of the earth. God would visit creatures and they would nail Him to the cross!
Although I know of no reference to Christ ever commenting on scientific work, I do know that He said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Thus I am certain that, were He among us today, Christ would encourage scientific research as modern man’s most noble striving to comprehend and admire His Father’s handiwork. The universe as revealed through scientific inquiry is the living witness that God has indeed been at work.
When astronaut Frank Borman returned from his unforgettable Christmas, 1968, flight around the moon with Apollo 8, he was told that a Soviet Cosmonaut recently returned from a space flight had commented that he had seen neither God nor angels on his flight. Had Borman seen God? the reporter inquired. Frank Borman replied, “No, I did not see Him either, but I saw His evidence.”

WERNHER VON BRAUN
Vice President
Engineering and Development
Fairchild Industries
Germantown, Maryland 1976

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How Wernher von Braun Received Christ from a Gideon Bible

Text of an article by William Albert Wilson, translated from the German by Johannes Wendel, Executive Director of the Gideons in Germany. Article dated June 2002. Translation received March 16, 2018.

Im Herbst 1962 hielt ich einen Gideon-Missionsbericht in einer Landeskirche in Morgan County, Alabama. Am darauf folgenden Freitag rief mich Bonnie Holmes, die Sekretärin von Herrn Dr. Wernher von Braun, an. Sie fragte mich, ob ich am Samstag kurz im Büro vorbeischauen könnte, und wollte wissen, ob ich Herrn Dr. von Braun helfen könnte. Etwas in meinem Bericht am Sonntag (sie war in der Kirche gewesen) hatte ihre Aufmerksamkeit geweckt. Ich sah meine Notizen noch einmal durch und schlussfolgerte, dass es meine Aussage über das Ziel des Internationalen Gideonbundes gewesen sein musste – Menschen für Jesus Christus zu gewinnen. Ich sagte, dass ich zur Verfügung stehen würde, wenn es Gottes Wille sei, und bat sie, für mich und ihren Chef zu beten. Ich selbst betete viel. Sie sagte mir, dass es Verwaltungs- und Personalprobleme gab, die er nicht lösen konnte.

In fall of 1962 I held a Church Presentation at a church in Morgan County, Alabama. The following Friday, Bonnie Holmes, the secretary of Dr. Wernher von Braun, called me. She asked me, if I could stop by the office and help Dr. von Braun. Something I said during my presentation the Sunday before (she had been in church) had caught her attention. I looked through my presentation notes and reasoned it had to be my statement on the aim of The Gideons International – to win people for Jesus Christ. I said, I´d be available, if it was God´s will, and asked her to pray for me and her boss. I myself prayed a lot. She told me, there were administration and staff problems, he couldn’t solve.

Am Samstag erhielt ich gegen 15:00 Uhr einen Anruf und wurde gebeten, zu Dr. von Braun zu kommen. Als ich sein Büro betrat, hatte er einen sehr beunruhigten Ausdruck auf seinem Gesicht. Ich fragte ihn, was ihn bedrückte, und er entgegnete, es seien zu viele Dinge, um sie alle nennen zu können! Dann fragte er mich, an welchem Projekt ich gerade arbeitete und ich berichtete von dem Entwurf eines sechsstufigen Freiheitssimulators für die Ausbildung der Astronauten, mit dem sie die Erfahrung der Schwerelosigkeit machen können sollten. Er stellte einige Fragen und bat darum, über den Vorgang auf dem Laufenden gehalten zu werden.

On Saturday I got called at 3 p.m., and was asked to come to Dr. von Braun. When I entered his office, he had a very alarming expression on his face. I asked him what made him worry and he answered there was too much to name it all! Than he asked me what project I was currently working on and I told him about my design from a six-stage simulator for astronauts’ training, so they could be able to make first experiences with weightlessness. He asked a few questions and wanted me to keep him updated.

Dann fragte ich ihn, ob er jemals Gott um Weisheit gebeten habe. Er antwortete: „Nein, ich komme mit meinen Problemen selber zurecht.“ Ich meinte, dass sein Gesichtsausdruck bei meinem Betreten des Büros gezeigt habe, dass er Probleme hatte, die er nicht selber lösen konnte. Aus meiner Tasche zog ich ein Zeugnis-Testament, öffnete es bei Jakobus 1 und las vor: „Wenn es aber jemandem unter euch an Weisheit mangelt, so bitte er Gott, der jedermann gern gibt und niemanden schilt; so wird sie ihm gegeben werden. Er bitte aber im Glauben und zweifle nicht …“ Er sagte mir, er könne sich nicht erinnern, Gott jemals um etwas gebeten zu haben. Ich fragte ihn, ob er den Einen kennenlernen wolle, der die Antwort auf alle unsere Probleme hat. Er fragte: „Kann ich das?“, und ich antwortete: „Ja, ganz sicher können Sie das!“

Then I asked him, if he had ever asked God to give him wisdom. He answered: “No, I handle my problems myself.” When I came into his office, I was sure his facial expression showed that he had problems he couldn’t solve. I got a PWT [Personal Worker’s Testament, a Gideons edition of the New Testament] out of my pocket and read James 1 to him: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting …” He told me he couldn´t remember asking God for anything, ever. I asked him if he wanted to get to know the One who has the answers to all of our problems. He asked: “Can I?” and I answered: “Yes, of course you can!”

Ich führte ihn von dort, wo er war, dahin, dass er die Tür seines Herzens öffnete und Christus bat, hereinzukommen. Ich wies darauf hin, dass er und ich Sünder waren (Römer 3:23), dass wir durch unsere Sünden etwas verdienten – nämlich den ewigen Tod (Römer 6:23a) –, aber dass Gott etwas getan hatte, um unser Problem zu lösen. Er hat für alle, die es annehmen wollen, ein Geschenk bereitgestellt (Römer 6:23b). Er ist bereit, uns ewiges Leben zu geben.

I lead him from where he was to where he opened his heart and asked Christ into it. I pointed out that we were sinners (Romans 3:23), and worthy of something – worthy of eternal death (Romans 6:23a) – but that God has done something to solve our problem. For those who want to accept, he provided a gift (Romans 6:23b). He is willing to give us eternal live.

„Wie bekomme ich ewiges Leben?“, fragte er. Ich blätterte weiter zu Johannes 1,12: „Wie viele ihn aber aufnahmen, denen gab er Macht, Gottes Kinder zu werden, denen, die an seinen Namen glauben …“ Dann schlug ich Offenbarung 3,20 auf und sagte Herrn Dr. von Braun, dass Jesus vor der Tür seines Herzens stehe und anklopfe. Ich öffnete Römer 10,9-10 und ließ ihn die Stellen vorlesen. Ich erklärte, dass wir mit unseren Herzen glauben, dass Jesus am Kreuz für unsere Sünden gestorben ist und dass wir mit unserem Mund bekennen, dass Jesus der Herr unseres Lebens ist.

“How can I receive eternal live?”, he asked. I went on to John 1:12: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” Then I opened Revelation 3:20 and told Dr. von Braun, that Jesus was standing at the door to his heart, knocking. I opened Romans 10:9-10 and let him read out the verses. I explained that we believe with our hearts that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that we testify with our mouths that Jesus is the Lord of our lives.

Er fragte dann, ob er Jesus bitten könne, in sein Herz zu kommen. Ich sagte: „Ja, er will in Ihr Herz kommen! Wenn ich zu Ihrem Büro käme und an Ihre Tür klopfte, was würden Sie sagen?“ „Herein!“, meinte er. Ich sagte ihm, er solle Christus bitten, hereinzukommen. Er und ich beugten unsere Köpfe und er betete das Gebet aus dem Zeugnis-Testament. Er bekannte seine Sünden, nahm an, dass Christus für seine Sünden am Kreuz gestorben war und nahm ihn in sein Herz auf. Ich dankte Gott, dass er Herrn Dr. von Braun zu meinem Bruder in Christus gemacht hatte. Wir hoben unsere Köpfe und er sagte: „Preis sei Gott, dass er mich angenommen hat!“ Meine Frage „Hat Jesus Sie gerettet?“ bejahte er und erzählte Frau Holmes, was geschehen war. Herr Dr. von Braun bat uns, niemandem von unserem Treffen zu erzählen. Wir waren einverstanden. Sein verändertes Leben erzählte mehr als wir je hätten sagen können.

He then wanted to know, if he could ask Jesus to come into his heart. I said “Yes, he wants to come into your heart! If I came to your office and knocked on your door, what would you say?” “Come in!”, he meant. I told him to ask Christ to come in. He and I bowed our heads and he prayed the prayer in back of the PWT. He confessed his sins, accepted that Christ died for his sins on the cross, and received him into his heart. I thanked God for making Dr. von Braun my brothers in Christ. We lifted our heads and he said: “Praise the Lord, that he excepted me!” When I asked: “Did Jesus save you?” he confirmed and told Mrs. Holmes what had happened. Dr. von Braun asked me not to tell anyone about our meeting. We agreed on that. The changes in his life told more than we could ever have.

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This is an email chain I had with Wayne Hoover in 2012 upon inquiring about the Wilson story (above).

On 5/3/2012 11:37 AM, Creation Safaris wrote:

Hi Wayne,
Great to hear from you.  This is wonderful information.  There’s a couple in my Sunday school class who are active Gideons who would love to hear this story.  This one is a keeper for the Gideons about the influence of the Bible, is it not?
I’d like to follow up with the folks you mentioned.  Very sorry I missed talking to Al Wilson this side of glory.
I would be very interested in the DVD.  I’ll trade your choice of Illustra video* if you’ll send me the Wilson testimony.
David Coppedge [address and links deleted]

On 4/29/2012 2:09 PM, Wayne.Hoover wrote:

Hi David,Nice to hear from you again, and yes after eight years, we are doing reasonable well, thanks be to God.

In about 1955 Wm. Albert Wilson, American engineer, Christian, and Gideon, gave Wernher von Braun a dignitary Gideon Bible and over a period of the following seven years, when the opportunity arose at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Al would ask von Braun if he had any questions, had he been reading the Bible.

Eventually, on a Saturday morning in about 1962, von Braun called Al to his office and that’s when von Braun prayed the sinner’s prayer, word for word (the one in the back of the Gideon Personal Worker’s testament, similar to the prayer in the Four Spiritual Laws).  Following the amen, von Braun said he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

I spoke by phone with von Braun’s secretary, Mrs. Bonnie Holmes, and asked if she believed von Braun to be a Christian, and she replied that he liked to whistle the tune of “The Old Rugged Cross.”  Also, his favorite scripture verse was Ps. 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

I don’t have information on von Braun’s thinking on creation, except that he was raised in the Luther church in Germany.

A few years ago, the German Gideons invited Al Wilson to their annual convention to give the testimony in person.  I went and heard the testimony in person.  Following the convention which was in Schwerin, several of the German Gideons took Al Wilson and me to Peenemunde for a four hour tour of the facility.  We stood on the place where the V2s were launched against the UK, and we saw the ramps where the V1s were launched.

If you would like, I can send you a copy of a DVD which has Al Wilson’s testimony.  It’s a remarkable testimony because many people consider landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth, to be the most significant technological achievement of mankind in recorded history, and the one person most responsible for that achievement became a Christian, namely, Dr. Wernher von Braun.  His staff refereed to him as the Professor, because in Germany, that is a high title.

Regarding your question of whether the conversion of von Braun was genuine, another source of information is our former pastor, the Rev. Paul S. Beck, who is now Senior Pastor at the Sierre Madre Congregational Church next to Pasadena, CA [link deleted].  Prior to coming to our church, Christ Chapel in Centerville, MA [link deleted] Rev. Beck [link deleted] pastored a church in Huntsville, and one of his deacons worked for von Braun, and also confirms the conversion story.  In fact, the deacon is the one who directed me to Wm. Albert Wilson.  Brother Wilson was in his eighty’s and went to be with our Lord about a year ago.

As a child, von Braun’s dream was to go the the moon.  Following the war, he and a group of German rocket scientists allowed themselves to be “captured” by the Americans because they believed the U.S. would enable them to continue their work here.  Also, enough rocket parts were shipped from the Harz mountains to the U.S. for about 100 V2 rockets to be assembled and tested, and they were the basis of our space program.

When you travel to Germany, be sure and visit the German Gideon HQ in Wetzlar and meet the Executive Director, Johannes Wendel [email link deleted] and ask him to see the original handwritten testimony by Al Wilson.  Perhaps Johannes would scan the handwritten testimony and email it to you for posting on your excellent website.  Also, consider asking if he would give you permission to place the video of the testimony on your website.

Another source of information regarding von Braun is the former Technical Director of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunstville.  Al Wilson gave me an official government photograph of von Braun giving an award to the person whose name escapes me at the moment.  At the time, Al Wilson was his supervisor, and it was arranged for von Braun to make the award.  The picture is in black and white, but it clearly shows not only the stature but also the warmth of von Braun.  That original photograph is also now in the German Gideon HQ in Wetzlar.

The following may be of interest to you.  In about 2003, Pastor Beck, another member from our church, and I traveled to Russia to visit a missionary we support.  On the way home, we stopped in Dresden, Germany to visit a Gideon friend, Mr. Dietmar Erler, who is now on the staff ot [sic] the Gideons.  It turns out that Dietmar’s father, as a young man was in the Luftwaffe service and was stationed at Peenemunde.  When the Allies first bombed the facility, an American bomber was hit, the crew bailed out, and the plane came down in the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea off the coast of Peenemunde.  Dietmar’s father and another young soldier ran out to the plane, climbed in, and one of the artifacts obtained by Dietmar’s father was an American Gideon Serviceman’s testament which he kept for many years and only recently gave to his son.  I have see and held the New Testament in my hands.  It’s now on display at the German Gideon HQ in Wetzlar

Please feel free to use any or all information I have provided if you think it will be useful in furthering the Great Commission.  Please feel free to call or email at any time.  I love your website,

Blessings,

Wayne Hoover  [address and phone deleted]

Hello Wayne,
I had occasion to write some more about von Braun, [link to this bio as of 2012]
and wondered if you were still alive and well.   I know a lot can happen
in 8 years.I never did find that Gideon magazine.  I still have the letter you sent
from Wm. Albert Wilson about VB’s conversion.  Are you confident that is
genuine?  Is it fair to share?

Another question I have is whether von Braun ever gave up belief in
theistic evolution.  I know he wrote about a Creator but it was not
clear whether he gave up on the evolutionary explanation for life’s
development over time.
I hope the Lord has been good to you.
Thanks again,
David Coppedge

On 3/31/2004 8:07 PM, Wayne Hoover wrote:
> Hi David,
>
> Were you able to obtain a copy of June 2002 issue of The Gideon Magazine
> which had the von Braun testimony?
>
> Wayne Hoover [address and phone deleted]
> 3-31-04
>
> On 3-18-04 Creation Safaris wrote:
>
>> Hello Wayne,
>> Great information!  Thank you so much.  It seems like this is a reliable
>> story from what you have provided.  If any doubts, let me know, because
>> I would like to refer to it in my writing if OK.
>> David F. Coppedge