Herbert Häussler

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(8 May 1912 – 11 December 1973)

Herbert Häussler (Fancyclopedia 1 and others since had a mistaken single-s Häusler; "Haussler", omitting the umlaut was frequent in English too) was Germany's first fan, among the only three scientifictionists in Continental Europe pre-War. He corresponded with Forrest J. Ackerman since 1935. He was also an Esperantist since the age of 16, which brought the two into contact, after he received SF magazines from an earlier contact and became a Science Fiction League member #952.

During the World War II Häussler was in the Wehrmacht, at the Eastern front, frostbitten in a hospital and finally US captivity; his letter on this to VOM #49 (July 1946) is reprinted in Beyond Fandom. His son (1937–45), mentioned there as died of pneumonia, was actually killed in the Nazi "euthanasia" program as mentally disabled.

Released, Häussler returned to his wife in what was now the Soviet zone; however he managed to maintain correspondence, although limited, to the US and later the West Germany as its fandom grew. In September 1957, he was even somehow able to meet Ackerman in the West on their way to Science Fiction Club Deutschland's first convention in Bad Homburg.

Around the same time, he was active in "Stellaris-Gruppe Saturn" in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now again Chemnitz), the GDR's first sf club infamously suppressed by the authorities. In Sirius 1 (June 1959) he was listed as one of three among "ca 10" members of the "East German branch" of International Science Fiction Society interested in correspondence. In 1962 Häussler published an Esperanto fanzine Kosma informo (sp?), preceding the GDR's first carbonzine Phantopia by almost 5 years.

At the Heicon, which Häussler couldn't attend, Ackerman awarded him with E. Everett Evans Memorial Award, as it was known then, and then brought it East to him. Häussler died rather soon, his health damaged in the war. His wife survived him by two decades and apparently sold his collection piecemeal, with his correspondence lost. However some information was preserved in Häussler's Stasi (secret police) file, including printed matter confiscated from the mail.

Häussler's thoroughly researched biography by Wolfgang Both et al. was published as the issue #148 of SFCD's Andromeda SF Nachrichten (2002, 80 pages, with an introduction by Ackerman; the cover photo shows Häussler posing with his award). This was then variously quoted and summarized, most recently by Hans Frey in Vision und Verfall: Deutsche Science Fiction in der DDR (2023), partly browsable at Google Books.

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

Person 1912—1973
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