Friedrich Schmiedl

Schmiedl was born in Schwertberg in Upper Austria, and from 1924 studied civil engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Graz.

It was operated by remote control and landed by parachute at St Radegund, a village about 3 km away.

More successful launches were subsequently made, to St Radegund and to Kumberg, a village about 6 km away.

Schmiedl envisaged that mail could be sent between towns by rocket; however the Austrian Post Office was not persuaded.

[1][2] The rocket mail launches eventually had to be discontinued: they were mostly financed by special postage stamps, and in 1934 the Austrian Post Office forbade this financing; in 1935 the Austrian government forbade the possession of explosives, so private rocket development could no longer be carried out.

Schöckl, where Schmiedl's rockets were launched