Gartmann, Heinz

German expert in rocket propulsion during World War II. Briefly worked in America at Wright Field after the war. Prolific writer and advocate of space flight in the 1950's.

Gartmann graduated from middle school in Bernburg (Saale) and studied from 1937 to 1941 at the Technische Hochschule Berlin-Charlottenburg in the field of aeroengine engineering. He started his career as a research engineer at BMW in the rocket development plant at Zuehlsdorf near Berlin. Here Gartmann was a close associate of rocket engine designer Helmut Graf von Zborowski led development of three rocket engines at BMW and made groundbreaking inventions in rocket propulsion technology. Until 1945, Gartmann worked as a group and department manager in the BMW rocket development in Berlin and Munich. He was involved in the development of rocket chambers and the rocket engine for the X-4 anti-aircraft missile. In May 1945 Gartmann was taken to the United States, where he worked 1946 - 1947 for the Air Material Command at Wright Field. He returned to Germany and began publishing popular science books and newspaper articles focusing on space travel. From 1949 to 1960 he was a board member of the Society for Space Research in Stuttgart A co-founder of the International Astronautical Federation, he began publication of the journal Weltraumfahrt in 1950. Author of over ten books, he died in Stockholm in 1960.