Hans Dominik (writer) – Wikipedia

Hans Joachim Dominik , born the November 15, 1872 in Zwickau and died the December 9, 1945 (at 73) In Berlin, is an author of science fiction novels and technical works, a scientific journalist and a German engineer (electrical engineering and mechanical).

At the end of the Thirty Years War, a Croatian called Dumnigk or Dombnigk Settles in Dyrotz in Brandenburg to exercise his profession as a tail and boilers. To meet the needs of the population following the peace of Westphalia, he learns the profession of blacksmith, iron the horses and circles the wheels of the carts, thus opening a whole line of blacksmiths. In 1814, Wilhelm Dominik, the paternal grandfather of the writer, learned the profession of Marshal-Ferrant, then studied pharmacopoeia to become a veterinary of the army, a profession which he exercised until his death in 1883 ^{[ first ]} .

Hans Dominik’s maternal grandfather was the writer Dr. Phil. Friedrich Theodor Leberecht Mügge, known for his historical novels, politically very committed. Theodor Mügge took the cause for the independence of the Spanish colonies of South America and decided to engage in the troops of Simón Bolívar in Venezuela.

Hans Dominik will see in these two paternal and maternal lines the origin of his interest in technique and his taste for literature ^{[ 2 ]} .

Hans Dominik is born the November 15, 1872 In Zwickau, a mining city in Saxony by Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Dominik, bookseller, publisher and journalist, and Hedwig Mügge. In 1873 born Ellen, Hans’ sister. During the economic crisis which shaken Germany between 1873 and 1876, the father of Hans Dominik lost the fortune he had placed in the bank and the family was forced to separate. Hans and his father go to Berlin to settle in the Grandpa Wilhelm, while Hedwig and Ellen leave in the Brandenburg. In 1883, Hans Dominik’s father became editor -in -chief of a new newspaper entitled The German illustrated newspaper ( The German newspaper illustrated ), then creates his own publishing house, the Deutsches Verlagshaus, Emil Dominik & Comp. . The family then rubs shoulders with the Berlin literary circles and frequently receives the visit of the writer Theodor Fontane. Hans Dominik grows like this “Among the manuscripts and printed paper. »» ^{[ 3 ]} .

Hans Dominik was enrolled in a private school in October 1879 and continued his education in 1885 at Kaiserin-Augusta-Gymnasium de Charlottenburg. His bad results in ancient languages ​​oblige his parents to register him in Gymanisium ernestinum of Gotha. It is ultimately at Royal Luisengymnasium from Berlin that he obtained his baccalaureate in 1893. His chaotic education, however, allows Hans Dominik to make significant meetings. On the school benches, Hans Dominik is friends with the young Oswald Villard, the son of the American manufacturer of the train line Northern Pacific , Henry Villard. At the Gotha high school, teaching in mathematics is provided by Kurd Laßwitz, who is considered to be the father of German-language science fiction. Kurd Laßwitz also wrote some technical tales for Hans Dominik’s father’s father. Another marking professor, Arnolf Schmidt, who teaches Hans Dominik foreign sciences and languages ​​and is passionate about terrestrial magnetism. Arnolf Schmidt will then be appointed director of the Potsdam magnetic observatory and will obtain a chair of geophysics at the University of Berlin. Later, Hans Dominik will make this former teacher a character from a novel. The physics teacher at Hans Dominik, Karl Rohrbach, father of the future aeronautical manufacturer Romar-Rohrbach, fascinates the young Hans Dominik for physics and in particular for electricity.

After his baccalaureate, in 1893, Hans Dominik decided to become an electrician engineer, but his parents, who again experienced serious financial difficulties, encouraged him to enter a state engineering school, the only guarantee of having a title and a stable situation. As there is no state sector in electrical engineering, Hans Dominik studies mechanical construction with a specialization in railway technique. In 1894, his father fell seriously ill and Hans Dominik had to interrupt his studies to take care of family affairs. He interrupted his studies in 1898 and became a project manager in a company that electrifies factories.

In 1895, he undertook a trip to the United States. During his second trip to America, he stays a whole year and earns his life as an electricity engineer. In the United States, it accumulates many technical and scientific knowledge, while discovering a country very different from Germany. All these experiences will be reused a few years later in a series of books for the youth entitled: John Workman, the newspaper of newspapers – the sucess-story of a young American newspaper delivery man who ends up becoming a billionaire.

In 1900, after having changed several times, Hans Dominik finally entered Siemens & Halske, in the Department of Lighting and Energy. He carried out in -depth research on the electrification of mines intended for the Universal Exhibition in Paris and became responsible for one year of the Siemens & Halske advertising office. It also improves its income by writing specialized items and advertising brochures for other companies. He left his job at Siemens in 1901 before collaborating in 1905 in the Berliner Tageblatt and at Berlin local index , daily newspapers in which he publishes popular scientific articles and technical tales. He then found a favorable echo with a large audience with stories like ” What the overhead line tells itself »( What the high tension lines say ) or « Memoirs of a pocket watch »( Memories of a gousst watch ). His unusual abilities to expose in a clear and convincing manner, complex technical data is quickly noticed and earned him new publication offers.

His work as a writer really started in 1907, when he wrote utopian stories for The new universe, a yearbook for boys ( The new universe, an almanac for boys ). In 1910, he married Lieselotte Runge who gave birth to his daughter Lieselotte. When the First World War broke out, it was reformed because of persistent pain in the spine. Between 1912 and 1919, he wrote almost a new novel per year for the Berlin edition house C. Duncker Verlag . But his first military novels did not win the expected success.

After the war, from 1918 to 1920, he worked on technical short films and published his first utopian novel, ” The power of the three »( The power of the three ), which first appeared in 1922 as a soap opera in the newspaper The week . The novel is experiencing a draw of 170,000 copies, which is enormous for the criteria of the time. His bookstore successes contribute to making Hans Dominik known in German literary circles, but the galloping inflation which reigns during the Weimar Republic forces him first of all to seek a new stable job. It was not until 1924 that he could work again as an independent writer. His other anticipation novels then appear to the rhythm of a new novel every two years on average.

Hans Dominik is one of the most important pioneers in German science fiction literature. His news of anticipation enjoyed a great success at the start of XX ^{It is} century and are still reissued today. Hans Dominik also wrote technical works and articles with technical and scientific content.

The novels of Hans Dominik published in the 1920s were all imbued with the spirit of the time. At the center of its intrigue, most of the time there are German engineers or scholars who must protect their inventions and their discoveries from the lust of multinationals to dark ramifications or enemy nations. After the German defeat of the First World War, Hans Dominik’s novels symbolically serve as support for the vision of a great German nation. In his youth novels, Hans Dominik thematizes a hypothetical “cultural fight” between Europeans and the other races of the globe. Westerners are fighting in particular against Chinese, Arabs, African or American blacks. In the novel entitled ” The trace of the jingis khan »( SOUTH TRACES DE Gengis-Khan ), published in the years 1922/1923, the protagonists of the novel plead with passion for a return of black citizens of the United States on the African continent.

After the Second World War, his novels were identified with paragraphs deemed problematic by the new Federal Republic of Germany founded in 1949. This work of censorship reduced some of these works of 5/6 of their length. From 1997, the German editor Heyne undertakes a publication of the full text of Hans Dominik’s novels under the direction of Thomas Miehlke.

In the former GDR, Hans Dominik’s works were strictly prohibited. Even under the Nazi regime, one of his novels had had problems with censorship. In 1941, the novel entitled ” The steel secret »( Steel secret ) was prohibited for sale.

Hans Dominik’s commemorative tombstone is located at Städtische Friedhof Zehlendorf, Onkel-Tom-Straße 30, Steglitz-Zehlendorf .

In the Bogotástraße 2a (formerly Herderstraße ) of Berlin, a commemorative plaque was inaugurated the July 2, 1999 . Hans Dominik lived at this address of 1908 until his death. It is Currently ^{[When ?]} The oldest of his grandchildren who lives there.

A single work by Hans Dominik was translated into French, at Fernand Nathan in 1927. This author remains unknown or unknown to the French public, while his novels are regularly reissued in Germany.

In his German science fiction anthology, published in 1980, Daniel Walther evokes the major role of Hans Dominik in his historical introduction entitled Sf made in Germany , but does not publish any text by this author. In 1988, at the University of Strasbourg 2, Roselyne Bady Tobian, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Neveux, wrote a doctoral thesis on the beginnings of German science fiction: “German scientific anticipation literature between the two Wars: Hans Dominik and nationalist utopia ”.

The works cited below report on the current state of German Bibliographic Research on Hans Dominik, but only the novels and marking news are listed. The complete work of Hans Dominik is estimated at a few thousand articles, news and technical works.

No work of anticipation of Hans Dominik was translated into French, apart from the 1909 novel entitled John Workmann, the newspaper boy , adapted in French for Fernand Nathan editions by Tancrède Vallerey in 1928 under the title John Workmann or the Hundred Millions of the Petit Clear of newspapers .

Science fiction novels [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• (of) The power of the three , 1921, Scherl-Verlag [ The power of the three ]
• (of) The trace of the jingis khan , 1922/23, Scherl-Verlag [ SOUTH TRACES DE Gengis-Khan ]
• (of) Atlantis , 1924/25, Scherl-Verlag
• (of) The fire of the cheop pyramid , 1925/26, Scherl-Verlag [ L’burning de la pyramid de Kheops ]
• (of) The inheritance of the uranidal , 1926/27, Scherl-Verlag [ The inheritance of uranids ]
• (of) King Laurin’s coat (after the Second World War, title: Invisible forces ), 1928, Scherl-Verlag [ The coat of King Laurin ]
• (of) rubber , 1929/30, Scherl-Verlag [ Rubber ]
• (of) Command from the dark , 1932/33, Scherl-Verlag [ Order from darkness ]
• (of) The nations’ competition (1st part of the ‘Prof.-Egggerth series’), 1932/33, Verlag Koehler & Amelang [ Nations airline ]
• (of) A star fell from the sky (2nd part of the ‘Prof.-Eggerth series’), 1933, Verlag Koehler & Amelang [ A star fell from the sky ]
• (of) The steel secret , 1934, Scherl-Verlag [ The mystery of steel ]
• (of) Atomgedwich 500 , 1934/35, Scherl-Verlag [ Atomic weight 500 ]
• (of) Sky , 1937, Scherl-Verlag [ Celestial force ]
• (of) Rays of life , 1938, Scherl-Verlag [ Rays of life ]
• (of) Land of fire and water ( 3 ^{It is} part of the series Prof.-Eggerth ), 1939, Verlag v. Hase & Koehler [ A land of fire and water ]
• (of) Fuel SR (after the Second World War : Flight to the world room or Drive into space ), 1939/40, Scherl-Verlag [ SR fuel ] (after the Second World War : Flight for space or Shipping in space )

Science fiction news [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The news of Hans Dominik appeared in the annual periodical entitled The new universe [ The new universe ]

• (of) The food of the future , 1907 [ The food of the future ]
• (of) The trip to Mars , 1908 [ The trip to Mars ]
• (of) A trip in 1970 , 1909 [ A trip in the year 1970 ]
• (of) A new paradise , 1910 [ New Eden ]
• (of) Hundred years of electrical engineering , 1911 [ One hundred years of electrical engineering ]
• (of) An experiment , 1903 (published anonymously) [ An experiment ]
• (of) New territory , 1917 [ New territories ]
• (of) An expedition into space , 1918 [ An expedition to the universe ]
• (of) Estimate the depth , 1919 [[ Depths’ riches ]
• (of) Future music , 1921 [ Music of the future ]
• (of) Thirty years later , 1930 [ Thirty years later ]
• (of) With the lost team , 1930 [ The lost team ]
• (of) Professor Belian’s diary , 1933 [ Professor Belian’s diary ]
• (of) A free flight in 2222 , 1934 [ A free flight in the year 2222 ]

Other literary works [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• (of) Technical fairy tales , 1903 [ Technical tales ]
• (of) Scientific chats , 1903 [ Scientific chatter ]
• (of) John Workmann, the newspaper boy. Volume 1: In the realm of the newspaper giant, 1909 (Adaptation Française: John Workmann or the Hundred Millions of the Petit Clear of newspapers, 1928 )
• (of) Buried , 1910 [ Days ]
• (of) Streams , 1911
• (of) Good luck for! , 1912 [ Good luck ! ]
• (of) The Madonna with the pearls , 1912 [ The Madonna with Pearls ]
• (of) Sacred water , 1912 [ Sacred waters ]
• (of) The iron path , 1913 [ The railway ]
• (of) The winner , 1913 [ The winner ]
• (of) The roundabout compass , 1913 [ The compass ]
• (of) South magic , 1913/14 (also published under the title Alpenglühen ) [ South Wonders ]
• (of) Sunken country , 1914 [ Swollen soil ]
• (of) Clearly to the battle , 1915 [ Combat ]
• (of) The Iron Cross , 1916 [ The croix to do ]
• (of) The iron crescent moon , 1916 [ The Iron Moon ]
• (of) John Workmann, the newspaper boy. Volume 2: Hiking years in the west., 1921
• (of) John Workmann, the newspaper boy. Volume 3: New miracles of the large industry., 1921
• (of) John Workmann, the newspaper boy. Volume 4: Teaching and Championship years in the south, 1925 (and complete edition with all 4 parts published)
• (of) Klaus in luck , 1928 [ Klaus the lucky ]
• (of) Modern pirates , 1929/30 [ Modern pirates ]
• (of) Concentrated force , 1941 [ A condensed force ]
• (of) From the vice to the desk , 1938/41 [ From the vice to the office ]
• (of) The eternal heart , 1942 [ The eternal heart ]
• (of) Miracle of the melting , 1943/44 [ Wonders of crucibles ]

Technical works [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• (of) What do you need to know about the steam engine? , 1902 [ What should you know about the steam engine? ]
• (of) Scientific chats , 1902-05 [ Scientific chatter ]
• (of) What do you need to know about the dynamo machine? , 1903 [ What should we know about dynamo? ]
• (of) What do you need to know from nature theory? , 1903 [ What should we know about the natural sciences? ]
• (of) What do you have to know about organic chemistry? , 1904 [ What should be known about organic chemistry? ]
• (of) Calendar for engineers of mechanical engineering , 1905 [ Calendar for mechanical engineers ]
• (of) Calendar for mechanical engineers , 1905 [ Calendar for mechanics technicians ]
• (of) The Wernerwerk by Siemens & Halske A.-G., Berlin-Nonnendamm , 1905/06
• (of) Amusing science , 1908 [ Fun science ]
• (of) A new expressway system , 1908/09 [ A new acceleration system ]
• (of) The age of electricity (Volume 1 The forces of nature, their raising and exploitation , 1914 [ The electricity era ]
• (of) Our air fleet and plane , 1915 [ Our air machines and planes ]
• (of) In the wonderland of technology: masterpieces and new achievements that our youth should know , 1921/22 [ To the wonderful country of technique: masterpieces and new discoveries that our youth should know ]
• (of) The book of chemistry: achievements of natural knowledge , 1925 [ The Book of Chemistry: Discoveries made by the natural sciences ]
• (of) The book of physics: achievements of natural knowledge , 1925 [ The book of physics: discoveries made by the natural sciences ]
• (of) Worlds, works, miracles , 1925 [ Worlds, works, wonders ]
• (of) Triumph of technology , 1927/28 [ Technique triumphs ]
• (of) The rear derailleur of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG, Berlin-Siemensstadt , 1928/29
• (of) Over and underground , 1929 [ On and under the land ]
• (of) The machine tool construction Fritz Werner, Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin , 1929 [ Construction of machine tools ]
• (of) A visit to the cable plant , 1931
• (of) Vistra, the white gold of Germany , 1935/36 [ Vistra, the white gold of Germany ]
• (of) The machine tool construction Fritz Werner, Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin , 1938

Bibliographic references [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• (fr) Daniel Walther (EIFT.), German science fiction. Foreigners in Utopolis , Presses Pocket, 1980, pp. 22-24.
• (in) William B. Fischer: The Empire strikes out. Kurd Lasswitz, Hans Dominik, and the development of German science fiction. Bowling Green State University Popular Press, Bowling Green/Ohio 1984, (ISBN  0-87972-257-6 )
• (of) His dominik, From the vice to the desk , Verlag Scherl, Berlin, 1942. [Autobiography de Hans Dominik]

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