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Erich von Däniken
© Tatjana Ingold
Since more than 30 years Erich von Däniken has been dealing with the evidence that thousands of years ago Extraterrestrials have exerted influence on the development of mankind and that they have left some traces. Concerning this subject he has written 26 books until today. These books have been translated into 32 languages. Altogether, 60 million books have been sold in all the world. To his activities also belong several movie- and TV-films, editorships, numerous articles in magazines, and publishing of CD-ROMs. His "Forschungsgesellschaft für Archäologie, Astronautik und SETI (AAS)" is open for everybody who wants to find answers of the great enigmas of our time together with him. Paleo-SETI is the name of that new science established by him.
Biography
Erich Anton Paul von Däniken was born at April 14, 1935, in Zofingen, Switzerland, as a son of a textile factory owner. He visited the elementary school in Schaffhausen and then the Collège St. Michel (a classical education public school) in Fribourg. Already during his public school time, EvD went into archeology, futurology, space-travel, philosophy, especially religious philosophy, and he concerned himself with electronics, molecular-biology, and mutations of mankind.
In the year 1968 EvD's first book "Erinnerungen an die Zukunft" (Chariots of the gods) was published (filmed in 1969), which set off the world-wide "Dänikenitis" as the New York Times wrote. In this book EvD tries to illustrate the hypothesis of visits of astronauts from outer space on Earth in ancient times with numerous literary hints and archeological knowledge. Also his second book "Zurück zu den Sternen" (1969) became a world-wide bestseller. In 1972 followed "Aussaat und Kosmos" with the subtitle "Spuren und Pläne ausserirdischer Intelligenzen". In 1973 EvD presented the visible objects of his theory in his book "Meine Welt in Bildern - Bildargumente für Thesen, Spekulationen und Erforschtes".
In 1974 he closely and critically investigated Christianity and the Catholic Church, legends of saints, miracles of Lourdes, and many other subjects in his book "Erscheinungen". A further success with a bestseller was made with "Beweise - Lokaltermin in fünf Kontinenten", published in 1977. In 1979 together with Ulrich Dopatka he published the encyclopaedia "Lexikon der Präastronautik". For the first time, a book with direct connections between the relevant circumstances presented by him was published; it has become a standard documentation. In 1993 it was newly edited with the title "Lexikon der ausserirdischen Phänomene", once again in 1997, updated as "Die grosse Erich von Däniken Enzyklopädie". An overall view of nearly all works of Erich von Däniken can be seen in our bibliography.
In the 1980, EvD came in several books to terms with the former presence of gods, went into deal with the old land on the river Nile ("Die Augen der Sphinx"), X-rayed the prehistory of stone-age mounds, menhir s, and megalithic plants with a non-fictional book, and in 1991 he presented his first book for young people "Die Rätsel im alten Europa", and in 1992 he presented the book "Der Götterschock", a documentation about the timeless phenomenon of the worship of deities from the ancient times till the cargo rites of the presence. In 1995 followed a TV-series of 25 parts "Auf den Spuren des Allmächtigen", by SAT.1 (a german broadcast company).
At September 26, 1996, RTL (another german broadcast company) broadcast the film "Ausserirdische - kehren sie zurück?" by and with Erich von Däniken. It was seen by 4.9 million spectators; that was a top result for a broadcast after 10 p.m. Together with RTL Erich von Däniken shot two sequels in the year 1997; they were broadcast in the autumn of the same year and in springtime 1998. The great American TV company ABC was coproducer. Then a new series "Chariots of the Gods" has been shot, supervised by Erich von Däniken and processed like science fiction. It shall be the successor of the well-known "Akte X" ("The X Files") and is broadcast since 2003. A new project is "World of Mysteries" - a film for IMAX .
The books of Erich von Däniken have been translated into 32 languages, and nearly 60 millions have already been sold. An overall view as well as a link to the Swiss National Library that collects copies of all translated books can be found on the homepage of Erich von Däniken.
In the year 1973 the American lawyer Gene M Philipps was so much fascinated by the theses of EvD that he founded a society for prehistoric astronautics (Ancient Astronaut Society) with the goal to discuss the theses of EvD scientifically on a broader grounding. Several acknowledged scientists, as for the example the Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick and the astropysicist Sir Frec Hoyle, paid attention to EvD's theses in their books "Das Leben selbst" and "Evolution aus dem Weltall". In autumn 1985 the first scientific anthology was published about EvD's subjects: "Aus den Tiefen des Alls". Further anthologies followed, and EvD himself served partially as publisher. In 1998 he founded the "Forschungsgesellschaft für Archäologie, Astronautik und SETI, AAS", which continues the work of the Ancient Astronaut Society and publishes the magazine "Sagenhafte Zeiten".
The inauguration of the foundation "Erich von Däniken Mysteries of the World" has gone back to EvD's initiative; its goal was to build an event park, the "Mystery Park", near Interlaken . This goal has been reached meanwhile, and the Mystery Park makes the great enigmas of the world accessible to all visitors and especially to the international youth in an exciting and objective way. For this purpose a joint-stock company was founded, free for everybody wishing to buy shares. The project was realized, and the Mystery Park opened its gates at May 24, 2003. From the very begin it has been a great success.
Awards
- Honorary doctor of the Universidad Boliviana (1975)
- Honorary citizenship of the towns of Nazca and Ica (Peru)
- Honorary member of the order "Cordon bleu de Saint-Esprit" (1987)
- Premio Lorenco Filho in gold and platinum, Brasil
- In 2003 the Ideas-Oscar for the inauguration of the Mystery Park
Memberships
- Association of Swiss Authors
- Swiss PEN-Centre
- Association of Berne Authors
- and many other memberships...
Since 1960 EvD is married with Elisabeth Skaaj. He lives in Beatenberg , Switzerland. He has a daughter, Cornelia von Däniken (born 1963) and two grandchildren. EvD is a hobby-cook, and he loves Bordeaux wines.