He was 90 years old Swiss bestselling author Erich von Däniken dead
Erich von Däniken (1935-2026) attracted the attention of a worldwide audience with his books on pre-astronautics - two of which were made into films. Pictured here is Econ publisher Erwin Barth von Wehrenalp in August 1974.
Image: KEYSTONE
Erich von Däniken is dead - the Swiss author and publicist died on Saturday at the age of 90. A representative announced the news and von Däniken's daughter confirmed the death to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The photo was taken in 1984.
Image: KEYSTONE
The Mystery Park in Interlaken, co-designed by Erich von Däniken, attracted around one million visitors from 2003 onwards. The photo was taken in the Orient Pavilion in Interlaken on May 23, 2003.
Image: KEYSTONE
The Mystery Park was closed in 2006 due to financial difficulties. In 2005, von Däniken called for new funds to be raised.
Image: KEYSTONE
Erich von Däniken (1935-2026) attracted the attention of a worldwide audience with his books on pre-astronautics - two of which were made into films. Pictured here is Econ publisher Erwin Barth von Wehrenalp in August 1974.
Image: KEYSTONE
Erich von Däniken is dead - the Swiss author and publicist died on Saturday at the age of 90. A representative announced the news and von Däniken's daughter confirmed the death to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The photo was taken in 1984.
Image: KEYSTONE
The Mystery Park in Interlaken, co-designed by Erich von Däniken, attracted around one million visitors from 2003 onwards. The photo was taken in the Orient Pavilion in Interlaken on May 23, 2003.
Image: KEYSTONE
The Mystery Park was closed in 2006 due to financial difficulties. In 2005, von Däniken called for new funds to be raised.
Image: KEYSTONE
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- Swiss author Erich von Däniken died on Saturday at the age of 90 in hospital in Interlaken, his daughter confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
- With his bestseller "Memories of the Future", von Däniken became known worldwide and helped shape the discussion about extraterrestrial life - his theories remained controversial.
- Born in Aargau, he published numerous books, films and series and built up an international audience over the decades.
Swiss author Erich von Däniken has died at the age of 90, according to several media outlets citing the Keystone/SDA news agency.
Erich von Däniken was 90 years old.
Cornelia von Däniken told the Keystone-SDA news agency that her father had died of old age in hospital in Interlaken. The news of the death of the world-famous Swiss author and publicist can also be found on websites dedicated to Erich von Däniken.
His books were controversial
Erich von Däniken made a name for himself worldwide as a controversial researcher of the gods. His books have sold millions of copies. Erich von Däniken was born on April 14, 1935 in Zofingen in the canton of Aargau and grew up in a strict Catholic family in Schaffhausen.
As a pupil at a Jesuit boarding school in Fribourg, he learned ancient languages. He questioned much of what he read in Latin and Greek lessons in translations from the Old Testament.
With "Memories of the Future" in 1968, von Däniken triggered a science fiction boom and conquered the bestseller lists. With his interpretations of ancient lore, the then hotelier celebrated worldwide success as an amateur researcher. The "New York Times" even wrote of an outbreak of "Dänikenitis".
His first book was followed by numerous other books, documentaries and television series. The hobby researcher von Däniken became an entrepreneur and later set up a foundation.
Managers described him as charismatic and inspiring
Von Däniken's manager Ramon Zürcher described him as charismatic, enthusiastic and always curious - qualities that carried him through life.
And a generous host, they had all visited him: astronauts, cosmonauts, scientists.
He cultivated a friendship with Professor Harry Ruppe, for example, a long-time colleague of Wernher von Braun. Von Braun was the famous rocket builder from Nazi Germany who later moved to the USA and worked for NASA for a long time.
No luck at the Mystery Park in Interlaken
With his mixture of pseudo-science and entertainment, von Däniken reaches an audience of millions. He is ridiculed and revered. In 1973, "Der Spiegel" wrote of the "Däniken hoax", of delusion and business, but also of a "world phenomenon".
Either way, von Däniken struck a chord with the times, somewhere between conspiracy theory and recognized science.
In 1995, von Däniken and his wife moved to Beatenberg in the Bernese Oberland. He moved into an office in Unterseen near Interlaken BE, which became an archive - with thousands of books, relics and documents. All proof of his theories.
However, his theme park in Interlaken had to close in November 2006 after two and a half years due to financial problems. Von Däniken, who was otherwise so spoiled by success, had no luck with the Mystery Park.
No UFO sightings
In 2009, von Däniken began to work as a diligent Twitterer (now X). He also entertained a large audience there. Sometimes pointed, sometimes below the belt, often irrelevant, often about climate change.
Von Däniken advocated the theory that extraterrestrials visited the earth in prehistoric times and influenced human civilization - but he never saw one himself.
