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

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

glider

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. She was five times German gliding champion and broke nine FIA gliding world records, four in the D1M class, four in D15 and one in DO. She was also a

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and published writer.

Life

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

Eschershausen Eschershausen () is a municipality in the Holzminden (district), 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 ...

in the district of

Holzminden Holzminden (; ) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden (district), Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

. She studied sociology and German at

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

and received her doctorate in modern German literature from

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research 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 wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

in 1985. She subsequently worked as a

and author on topics including the

Göttingen Seven The Göttingen Seven () were a group of seven liberal professors at University of Göttingen. In 1837, they protested against the annulment of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by its new ruler, King Ernest Augustus, and refused to swe ...

.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 List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany 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 in ...

, 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#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

. 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 #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, 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 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 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

was named Angelika Machinek Weg in her honour.

References

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