Editing Herman Potočnik (section)

== Early life ==

Potočnik was born in Pola (now [[Pula]]), [[Istria]], then part of the [[Austria-Hungarian]] monarchy (now in [[Croatia]]). His family was of [[Slovenes|Slovene]] ethnicity and originated from [[Lower Styria]] (now [[Slovenia]]).

Both of Potočnik's parents were Slovenian. His father Jožef was born in 1841 in [[Zgornji Razbor]] and at the time of Herman's birth he served as a doctor and a navy officer of the [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]] harbour of Pola. His mother Minka was born February 7, 1854; she was a descendant of [[Czech people|Czech]] immigrants, manufacturers of crucibles for glass-making, and a daughter of a well known wine merchant and local councillor Jožef Kokošinek  from [[Maribor]] (born in [[Vitanje]]). In 1866, Herman's father Jožef participated with the [[Battle of Lissa (1866)|second Battle of Vis]], where the Austrian Navy commanded by [[Wilhelm von Tegetthoff]] defeated the [[Regia Marina|Royal Italian Navy]]. Jožef was later a [[general]] in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]].

When Herman's father died in 1894, his mother relocated the family to [[Maribor]].  Herman had two brothers, Adolf and Gustav (who were both navy officers), and a sister Frančiška (Franci).  He spent most of his childhood years in Maribor and, according to oral sources, in Vitanje.

The meaning of his [[German language|German-like]] pseudonym Noordung is still a mystery, but some suggest that he used it to indicate the problems of [[Chaos theory|chaos]] (German: ''Ordnung'', "order"; ''ordunga'' in [[Slovene language|Slovene]] colloquial language). Assuming that the initial "N" was intended as a negation, the name could mean "no order".