Friedrich Schmiedl (11 May 1902 – 11 September 1994) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n rocket designer; known particularly for his development of

rocket mail Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile. The rocket lands by deploying an internal parachute upon arrival. It has been attempted by various organizations in many different countries, with varying levels of success. It has nev ...

Rocket mail

Schmiedl was born in

Schwertberg Schwertberg is a market town in the district of Perg in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germ ...

in Upper Austria, and from 1924 studied civil engineering at the ''

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ). ...

'' in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

.Schmiedel, Friedrich
Austria-forum, accessed 24 May 2014.
Encyclopedia Astronautica, accessed 23 May 2014. He began experiments with

solid-fuel rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants ( fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persian ...

s in 1918. From 1924 the experiments took place at

Schöckl Schöckl (also spelt ''Schöckel'') is a mountain in the Austrian state of Styria. It is about 14 km north of the city center of Graz, the capital of Styria. There is a cableway to the summit from the nearby health resort of St Radegund.' ...

, a mountain about 15 km north of Graz. Schoeckl 10

On 2 February 1931 he launched a rocket from Schöckl, which contained 102 letters. It was operated by remote control and landed by parachute at St Radegund, a village about 3 km away. More successful launches were subsequently made, to St Radegund and to Kumberg, a village about 6 km away.

Philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

s became interested in collecting letters which had been sent by rocket. Schmiedl envisaged that mail could be sent between towns by rocket; however the Austrian Post Office was not persuaded.Rocket Mail
King George V Silver Jubilee stamps, accessed 23 May 2014.
The Worlds of David Darling, accessed 23 May 2014. He also worked on rockets used to collect meteorological data, and rockets for

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

. The rocket mail launches eventually had to be discontinued: they were mostly financed by special postage stamps, and in 1934 the Austrian Post Office forbade this financing; in 1935 the Austrian government forbade the possession of explosives, so private rocket development could no longer be carried out.

Second World War and after

When the Second World War began, there was military interest in his work; however Schmiedl, not wishing his research to be used for military purposes, destroyed the research documents. After the war he declined an offer to work on rocket development in the USA. Staying in Austria, he worked on boat propulsion. Friedrich Schmiedl died in Graz in 1994. His bequest to the City of Graz was used to establish the ''Friedrich Schmiedl Foundation'', to support new ideas to improve communications in the region of Graz.Ing. Friedrich Schmiedl Foundation
Graz Business Server, accessed 23 May 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmiedl, Friedrich 1902 births 1994 deaths Rocket scientists Postal history 20th-century Austrian inventors