August 1977, Outer Space

Later, Kurt Waldheim was not even allowed to enter the United States. As president of Austria, he was internationally isolated because he had tried to cover up his role under the Nazi regime. It was a turning point in Austria’s attempts to come to terms with its past.

But in 1977, Waldheim was still UN Secretary General, and his voice reached into space. On board of the space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, humankind sent all kinds of data and a series of messages to potential alien civilisations. One of those interstellar messages was recorded in German by Waldheim, and translates as ‘Greetings in the name of the people of our planet’.