He would later recall: “Looking at the Earth, the Northern Lights, the fragile-looking atmosphere, the sunrises that followed quickly one after another – these images are etched into my memory forever. Following a period of study at the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy at Monino near Moscow, he returned to the East German air force with responsibility for pilot education and flight safety. Zur Geschichte der Kosmosforschung und Raumfahrt in der DDR. Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-360-00848-0, (autorisierte Biographie mit einem Vorwort von Thomas Reiter). Sigmund Jähn, the first German cosmonaut to fly into space, died on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2019, at … Sigmund Jähn, Self: Die Fliegerkosmonauten. Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn was born in Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz, a small village in the Vogtland district of Saxony, Germany, on Feb. 13, 1937. — Sigmund Jähn, the first German to fly in space, has died at the age of 82. Horst Hoffmann: Sigmund Jähn. Sigmund Jähn, who has died aged 82, became the first German in space when he flew into orbit on a Soviet spacecraft in 1978; amid Cold War tensions, his citizenship of East Germany rather than its more technologically advanced western neighbour was a propaganda coup for the Soviet bloc. He was married to Erika. Czech cosmonaut Vladimir Remek had been the first to break the monopoly of Russian and American space fliers which had prevailed to date, when he flew in March 1978. Sigmund Jähn was born on February 13, 1937 in Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz, Vogtland, Germany as Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn. The pair docked with the Salyut 6 space station the following day, bringing fresh apples, lemons, onions and garlic for the jaded palates of the resident crew of Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkov, already two months into what would become a record 139-day sojourn in space. Significantly for Jähn’s mission, the station was equipped with an advanced East German camera built by Carl Zeiss at their renowned Jena optical works. During his week on orbit, Jähn also filmed a small toy figure from an East German children's television show (Sandmännchen) and addressed his fellow countrymen during a live broadcast. He was married to Erika Hänsel and they had two daughters, Marina and Grit. Read our community guidelines in full, Sigmund Jähn shortly after his space flight in 1978, Jähn and his Soviet comrade Vladimir Kovalyonok aboard the Salyut 6 space station, Jähn, right, and Valery Bykovsky after their return to Earth, Richard Waddingham, Norfolk farmer who inspired a project to rescue the county’s ponds – obituary, Hamish MacInnes, climber dubbed ‘the Fox of Glencoe’ for his mountain rescue exploits – obituary, Tuomas Gerdt, won the Mannerheim Cross fighting for Finland against the Soviets – obituary, Paolo Gabriele, papal butler who went to jail for his role in the ‘Vatileaks’ scandal – obituary, George Cockcroft, author who as ‘Luke Rhinehart’ found fame with his book The Dice Man – obituary, Patrick Quinn, who helped to send the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ viral around the world – obituary, Captain Duncan Knight, naval officer who took part in the destruction of two U-boats – obituary, Diego Maradona, one of the greatest footballers the game has ever seen – obituary, David Dinkins, New York’s first black mayor, who struggled to beat the city’s racial divide – obituary, Lord Stoddart of Swindon, who fought EC membership and was expelled from the Labour Party – obituary, Gwyn Jones, Wolves footballer who helped to expose the 1960s betting scandal – obituary, Daniel Cordier, SOE-trained French radio operative who was Jean Moulin’s secretary – obituary, Professor Anne Rasa, scientist who revealed the complex social structure in mongoose colonies – obituary, Paul Callan, flamboyant Fleet Street figure who rode the wave of the new celebrity culture – obituary, Air Marshal Sir John Baird, Surgeon-General who pushed for change in military medicine – obituary, Tony Waiters, Blackpool and England goalkeeper who moved to the NASL and managed Canada – obituary, Albert Quixall, footballer who helped Manchester United to recover from the Munich disaster – obituary, Douglas Matthews, index compiler sought after for the precision and wit of his entries – obituary, Jan Morris, travel writer, historian and author of the landmark memoir Conundrum – obituary, Bill Jamieson, convivial Scots financial journalist of robustly free-market views – obituary, Vincent Reffet, ‘jetman’ who flew alongside an aircraft and jumped off the Burj Khalifa – obituary. Jähn lived latterly in Strausberg in Brandenburg. A founding member and former executive committee member of the Association of Space Explorers, Jähn made frequent public appearances, including in his hometown, where a museum exhibit celebrates his Soyuz 31 flight. . On August 26 1978, Jähn was launched on the Soyuz 31 spacecraft as co-pilot to veteran Russian cosmonaut, Valery Bykovsky, who died earlier this year. Jähn retired in 2002, but remained active in promoting spaceflight in Germany and around the world. He helped establish the Association of Space Explorers, the exclusive club of people of all nationalities who have orbited the Earth. In 1976, he was one of four East German candidates selected for a top secret assignment and sent to the Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City outside Moscow. Besuchen Sie die Gedenkseite von Erika Jähn. In 2001, Asteroid 17737 was named "Sigmundjähn" in his honor. He attended school there until 1951, then trained as a book printer in Klingenthal until 1954. After his spaceflight, Jähn returned to Germany, where he led a newly-created space training center for the East German air force. "The news of Sigmund Jähn's death has touched me deeply," wrote Jan Wörner, ESA's Director General, in a post on Twitter on Sunday. Jähn was a pilot and instructor in the East German Airforce when he was selected for spaceflight training in 1976, as part of USSR’s Interkosmos program designed to take cosmonauts from the Soviet Union’s socialist allies into space. "I am very happy for the chance to be the first German to take part in this manned spaceflight," he said.