Conrad Haas (1509–1576) was an Austrian or

Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sași ardeleni/transilvăneni/transilvani''; ) are a people ...

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

. He was a pioneer of

rocket propulsion A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to Acceleration, accelerate without using any surrounding Atmosphere of Earth, air. A rocket engine produces thrust by Reaction (physics), reaction to exhaust ex ...

. His designs include a three-stage rocket and a manned rocket. Haas was possibly born in Dornbach (now part of

Hernals Hernals (; ) is the 17th district of Vienna, Austria (). Hernals is in northwest Vienna.Statistik Austria, 2007, webpagestatistik.at-23450. Wien.gv.at webpage (see below: References). It was annexed in 1892 out of the townships of Hernals, Dorn ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

). He held the post of the ''Zeugwart'' (arsenal master) of the

Imperial Habsburg army Imperial Austrian Army may refer to: *Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor (1619–1745) *Austrian Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1745–1806) *Imperial Austrian Army (1806–1867) The Imperial Austrian Army formed th ...

under Ferdinand I. In 1551,

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...

, the grand prince of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

invited Haas to Nagyszeben (),

Eastern Hungarian Kingdom The Eastern Hungarian Kingdom ( ) is a modern term coined by some historians to designate the realm of John Zápolya and his son John Sigismund Zápolya, who contested the claims of the House of Habsburg to rule the Kingdom of Hungary from 1526 ...

(now

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), where he acted as weapons engineer and also he started to teach at Klausenburg (now

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

He wrote a German-language treatise on rocket technology, involving the combination of

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

and weapons technologies. This manuscript was discovered in 1961, in the Sibiu public records (Sibiu public records ''Varia II 374''). His work also dealt with the theory of motion of multi-stage rockets, different fuel mixtures using

liquid fuel Liquid fuels are combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container. It is the fumes of liquid fuels that are flammable ...

, and introduced

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

-shape

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

s and bell-shaped

nozzle A nozzle is a device designed to control the direction or characteristics of a fluid flow (specially to increase velocity) as it exits (or enters) an enclosed chamber or pipe (material), pipe. A nozzle is often a pipe or tube of varying cross ...

s. In the last paragraph of his chapter on the military use of rockets, he wrote (translated):

"But my advice is for more peace and no war, leaving the rifles calmly in storage, so the bullet is not fired, the gunpowder is not burned or wet, so the prince keeps his money, the arsenal master his life; that is the advice Conrad Haas gives."

Johann Schmidlap, a German fireworks maker, is believed to have experimented with staging in 1590, using a design he called "step rockets." Before the discovery of Haas' manuscript, the first description of the three-stage rocket was credited to the artillery specialist Casimir Siemienowicz, from the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, in his 1650 work, ''Artis Magnae Artilleriae Pars Prima'' ("Great Art of Artillery, Part One").

References

*
"Erstlich schöne Racketten mancherley Art"

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

, 30 December 2009, Richard Friebe
''Conrad Haas in: Austrian Space and Rocket Pioneers''. Text by B. Besser, painting by G.Deutsch.
* "The History of Manned Space Flight" - David Baker, Ph.D. - Crown Publishers, Inc, 1982, pp. 8-13 * "Conrad Haas oder Das Spiel mit dem Feuer", a film by Frieder Schuller, 1984 * * Doru Todericiu: Preistoria rachetei moderne. Manuscrisul de la Sibiu 1529 - 1569, Editura Academiei RSR, Bucureşti, 1969 * Doru Todericiu: Preistoria rachetei moderne. Manuscrisul de la Sibiu 1529 - 1569, Editura Academiei, Bucureşti, 2008 *Doru Todericiu, 'Raketentechnik im 16. Jahrhundert', ''Technikgeschichte'' 34.2 (1967), 97–114 {{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Conrad 16th-century Austrian people 16th-century Austrian scientists Austrian soldiers Austrian military engineers Rocket scientists Early rocketry Transylvanian Saxon people People from Hernals People from Sibiu 1509 births 1576 deaths