Remembering the future: obituaries of Erich von Däniken

The remembrance of controversial figures in academic and religious contexts is shaped by the classificatory frameworks through which they are interpreted and contested. Erich von Däniken illustrates this process. He gained international prominence with Chariots of the Gods?, arguing for the influence of aliens on human history, and became the subject of polarized debate. This article examines how the competing labels that emerged during the six decades of controversy shaped his posthumous memory. It reconstructs von Däniken’s self-positioning and tense relations to adjacent intellectual fields before outlining major strands of academic criticism. Drawing on 181 German- and English-language obituaries, supplemented by a few French and Dutch examples, the study identifies dominant interpretive patterns. It shows the consolidation of controversial themes, such as the ‘conspiracy theorist’ label, and highlights tensions between entertainment value and perceived epistemic risk.