Oscar Holderer

Oscar Carl Holderer (November 4, 1919 – May 5, 2015) was an engineer who worked for Nazi Germany during World War II before coming to the United States and working in the Apollo space program.

Early life Oscar Carl Holderer was born on November 4, 1919, in Prüm, Germany to parents Richard and Helene Grawe Holderer.

Career During World War II, Holderer worked for the German military as a low-level engineer under Wernher von Braun. Holderer was part of the second 20, arriving in 1945 as part of the second group.

When Holderer arrived at Redstone Arsenal, he rented a home from Milton K. Cummings' sister for two months. That allowed him time to design and start building a house. Unlike the rest of von Braun's team, he did not build his house on Monte Sano, but instead selected a country spot in northwest Huntsville. He continued to expand his residence over time; by 2008, the property included a house, guest house, large machine shop, and small swimming pool. At Redstone Arsenal, he worked as a mechanical engineer, designer, and fabricator. He designed the wind tunnel used for Saturn V testing and oversaw the tunnel's construction at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Saturn V later powered Apollo 11 on its successful Moon landing. As of 2015, the equipment is still in use. "NASA said, 'If Oscar says it's OK, it's OK,'" recalled Buckbee. He was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2008.