With the passing of Erich von Däniken (EvD), I have lost not only a companion on an intellectual journey, but a close friend with whom I shared more than 35 years of personal and intellectual friendship. For me, EvD was – alongside Thor Heyerdahl and Jacques Cousteau – one of the great scientific heroes of my youth. His book “Chariots of the Gods?” awakened my fascination for ancient cultures and their unresolved mysteries. Growing up in the former GDR, his work opened windows far beyond the borders that surrounded me at the time: to Egypt, to the realm of the Incas, and to the enigmas of Nan Madol in the Pacific. His books offered glimpses into worlds that were otherwise unreachable. While I came into personal contact with my second great role model, Thor Heyerdahl, only a few years later, I met Erich already on a lecture in Thuringia in 1992. Our very first encounter in Weimar has remained unforgettable: in a lecture hall filled with more than 500 people, we engaged in a passionate and at times loud debate about the origins of human civilization. We never found common ground on the question of extraterrestrial influences on ancient Egyptians or Sumerians. Yet from the very beginning, we were united by mutual respect and by recognition of each other’s research work – a relationship that endured until the final years. In this spirit, we regularly invited each other as speakers to ABORA and A.A.S. conferences, driven by a shared desire to explore the mysteries of antiquity open-mindedly, interdisciplinarily, and free of ideological constraints. I pay my deepest respect to Erich von Däniken’s life’s work. He continually reinvented himself, absorbed criticism, and tried to place it into broader contexts. Those scholars who criticized or even disparaged him for his fundamental ideas should take his lifelong commitment, courage, and pioneering spirit as an example. I know few individuals who pursued their hypotheses with such intensity, perseverance, and interdisciplinary breadth. Yes—like Thor Heyerdahl and many other great thinkers, Erich sometimes overshot the mark. But this does not diminish his legacy. On the contrary, crossing boundaries is the very nature of pioneers. With EvD, we lose one of the last great trailblazers of twentieth-century thought. He will live on through his books, films, and above all in the memories of his friends. I am convinced that the day may come when his vision of a first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will be fulfilled. We are not alone in the universe. Our dear Erich has now—symbolically—ascended to the gods. May he never be lost in our thoughts, nor in our own research.
Erich and I shared a friendship of more than 30 years in the spirit of transdisciplinarity and the search for our cultural origins.
In this way, we overcame many a "mental barrier" together and were always open to shared jokes and playful banter. This was also true in my Cheops project, which dealt with the earthly use of wrought iron in the construction of the pyramids. Together, we waged many a battle of the gods on Earth, often to the amusement of our guests and fellow researchers.
In his hometown of Beatenberg, near Interlaken in Switzerland, we met regularly for work meetings to discuss joint projects or conference appearances. This picture is from 2023.
I was deeply impressed by Erich's openness, as he changed considerably in his later years. He increasingly attributed greater importance to the role of early seafaring and maritime cultural exchange. In interviews and joint presentations, he emphasized that even prehistoric seafarers made a significant contribution to the spread of cultural achievements.
His successor and new managing director of A.A.S. – Ramon Zürcher – will now continue his work. For this reason, Erich has for years released Ramon from his regular duties to work on ABORA projects and supported him in preparing of new research with me. For this, too, I express my respect and deep gratitude to EvD.