Angelika Machinek (17 November 1956 – 12 October 2006) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of gliding ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. She was five times German gliding champion and broke nine

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

gliding world records, four in the D1M class, four in D15 and one in DO. She was also a

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

and published writer.

Life

Angelika Machinek was born on 17 November 1956 in the village of

Eschershausen Eschershausen is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km northeast of Holzminden, and 50 km south of Hanover. Eschershausen was the seat of the former ''Samtgemeinde'' ...

in the district of Holzminden. She studied sociology and German at

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded i ...

and received her doctorate in modern German literature from

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

in 1985. She subsequently worked as a

and author on topics including the

Göttingen Seven The Göttingen Seven (german: Göttinger Sieben) were a group of seven liberal professors at University of Göttingen. In 1837, they protested against the annullment of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by its new ruler, King Ernest Augu ...

.Probst, 2010, p.12 At the age of 14, she started gliding, gaining her pilot’s license in 1973, aerobatic license in 1979 and instructor’s license in 1980. She competed at national and international level, being named German Champion five times, in 1994 at

Marpingen Marpingen is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 8 km west of Sankt Wendel, and 25 km north of Saarbrücken. The municipality contains the urban areas Marpingen, Urexweiler ...

, 1998 at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

, 2000 at

Neresheim Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim an der Brenz, Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen. It's the home of the Neresheim Abbey, which still hosts monks, was ''Reich ...

, 2004 at

Klix KLIX may refer to: * KLIX-FM, a radio station (96.5 FM) licensed to Twin Falls, Idaho, United States * KLIX (AM), a radio station (1310 AM) licensed to Twin Falls, Idaho, United States * Klix (company), a producer of vending machines * Klix air ...

and 2006 at

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

. She won the Elly-Beinhorn Rally in 1998, the first International Hexencup in 2003 and the first International Flatland Cup in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

, Hungary, in 2006. The

FAI Gliding Commission The International Gliding Commission (IGC) is the international governing body for the sport of gliding. It is governed by meetings of delegates from national gliding associations. It is one of several Air Sport Commissions (ASC) of the Fédérat ...

presented her with the

Pelagia Majewska Pelagia Teresa Majewska (26 April 1933 - 12 July 1988) was a Polish aeroplane and glider pilot-instructor, who won many national and world glider records. She was also a social activist. Early life and education Pelagia Teresa Pietrzak was bo ...

Gliding Medal in 2000 for her achievements. Dr Machinek was killed, aged 49, near Echzell in Hesse. She crashed while flying a microlight.

World Records

Dr Machinek has held a total of nine gliding records in three different classes as recognised by the FAI Gliding Commission.

Publications

* Machinek, Angelika. ''B. Traven und Max Stirner: der Einfluss Stirners auf Ret Marut-B. Traven : eine literatursoziologische Untersuchung zur Affinitat ihrer Weltanschauungen''. Göttingen: Davids Drucke, 1986. * Machinek, Angelika. ''Dann wird Gehorsam zum Verbrechen: die Göttinger Sieben, ein Konflikt um Obrigkeitswillkür und Zivilcourage''. Göttingen : Steidl (in collaboration with Göttingen Theatre), 1989. * Wallraff, Günter; Angelika Machinek. ''Wallraff war da: ein Lesebuch''. Göttingen : Steidl, 1989.

Legacy

Dr Machinek was a strong advocate of women’s gliding and a fund to promote women glider pilots was set up as a legacy for her on 6 January 2007. In 2016, a road in Bockenheim was also named after her. In 2017, a path on the

Ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediate ...

was named Angelika Machinek Weg in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machinek, Angelika 1956 births 2006 deaths Dramaturges German women aviators Glider flight record holders Goethe University Frankfurt alumni People from Holzminden (district) University of Göttingen alumni