Hanns Hörbiger

Hanns Hörbiger, born Johannes Evangelist Hörbiger (29 November 1860, in Atzgersdorf – 11 October 1931, in Mauer), was an Austrian engineer from Vienna who invented the theory of Welteislehre ("World Ice Doctrine", aka WEL, aka Glacial Cosmology)

He first put forward his theory in the 1913 book, Wirbelstürme, Wetterstürze, Hagelkatastrophen und Marskanal-Verdoppelungen (Hurricanes, Sudden Changes In Weather, Hailstorms and Martian Canal Doublings), a collaboration with amateur astronomer Philipp Fauth.

The theory was expanded upon in their 1925 work Hörbigers Glazial-Kosmogonie: Eine Neue Entwicklungsgeschichte Des Weltalls und Des Sonnensystems (Hörbiger's Glacial Cosmogony: A New History of the Development of the Universe and the Solar System'').

Hörbiger's theories were later popularized by H.S. Bellamy, and influenced Hans Robert Scultetus, head of the Pflegestätte für Wetterkunde (Meteorology Section) of the Nazi SS-Ahnenerbe, who believed that Welteislehre could be used to provide accurate long-range weather forecasts.

Hörbiger was an early supporter and financial backer of the artificial language Occidental, now Interlingue