Von Braun TLS on Religion & God Together with Note on Gravity Research

A fascinating pair of communications from Wernher Von Braun, consisting of a typed letter signed and a short note written on his personal stationery. The typed letter is 4pp, measuring 8" x 10.5", Washington, D.C., dated January 17, 1972, and is written on NASA letterhead. Addressed to Robert E. Leonard, Von Braun discusses the role of religion and God in his life and in science. Signed "Wernher Von Braun" in blue ink. With flattened mail folds, edge toning, and a few spots of soiling. Small holes from a removed staple. Boldly signed. There is a small amount of chipping to the left edge of the last two pages. The letter reads in part:

"By accepting Christ as your Savior, you have taken the most important step of your lives, one that will lead all of you to greater happiness in this world and ultimate in the next…In my early teens, I suffered from a case of supreme arrogance in which I even questioned in my mind the existence of God. I think all of us go through this phase at one time or another. My movement from a position of indecisiveness to commitment was a factor of two kinds of experience: one with science and one with man…While through science man tries to harness the forces of nature around him, through religion he seeks to control the forces of nature within him…Atheists the world over call upon science as their crown witness against the existence of God. But as they try to render proof through scientific reasoning that there is no God, the simple and enlightening truth is that their arguments boomerang, for one of the most fundamental laws of natural science is that nothing in the physical world ever happens without a cause. There simply cannot be a creation without some kind of spiritual creator…"

The second item is 1p, measuring 5" x 7", No place, undated, written in pencil on personal stationery. Addressed to Ernst Stuhlinger and Gerhard Heller of the Research Projects Laboratory. Von Braun writes to his Operation Paperclip colleagues on the status of gravity research and suggests they focus on rockets. Seemingly signed "Bg-2" at the bottom. With a small amount of paper loss at the upper left corner, along with staple and paper clip rust stains. Light toning and minor foxing. Overall, very good. The note reads in full: "Enclosed article by [Hermann] Weyl looks like a pretty intelligent appraisal of today's status of gravity research. (For the time being I suggest we continue to put our money on rockets!) incl. electrical ones."

Von Braun (1912-1977) was the father of modern rocketry, key in the development of the German rocket program during WWII and helping the U.S. in its race to the moon post-WWII. Due to his Nazi affiliation, he was secretly moved to the U.S. after the war as part of Operation Paperclip.

In his early life, von Braun was a nonpracticing Lutheran. However, in 1945 claimed to have surrendered to the Western Allies, rather than the Russians, due to a desire to share rocket technology with people who adhered to the teachings of the Bible. Upon moving to the United States, he began attending church in Texas and converted to Evangelical Christianity. W. Albert Wilson, a former pilot and NASA employee, has claimed that he also talked with von Braun about Christianity while von Braun was working for NASA, and believed that the conversation had a strong impact on von Braun's ultimate conversion. Still, others believe the motives behind the conversion were more likely due to von Braun's own conscience and guilt over his work for the Nazis during WWII.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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