| Herman Sörgel | |
| Birth Date: | 2 April 1885 |
| Birth Place: | Regensburg, Bavaria, German Empire |
| Death Place: | Bavaria, West Germany |
| Occupation: | Architect |
| Known For: | Atlantropa |
Herman Sörgel (2 April 1885 – 25 December 1952) was a German architect from Bavaria. He was known for popularizing the Atlantropa project, a massive construction project which was conceived initially as a solution to Europe's economic and political problems during the early 20th century.
Atlantropa included proposals for dams to be built across the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and between Sicily and Tunisia. The dams would provide hydroelectric power and would be managed by a newly formed independent body with the authority to discontinue energy to any country which threatened peace. Sörgel actively promoted his ideas until his death in 1952.[1]
Herman Sörgel was born in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany, in 1885 to Bavarian parents.[2] From 1904 to 1908 Sörgel studied architecture at The Technical University in Munich.
Some of his publications included:[3]
Sörgel was the originator of the idea of Atlantropa - a utopian project which would include damming the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and the Congo River. The damming, and thus lowering, of the Mediterranean Sea would enable making use of the difference between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic sea levels to generate hydro-electric power. Sörgel's idea to lower sea levels would increase the dry land areas around the Mediterranean and provide overland access to Africa.
Damming the Congo River would have refilled the basin surrounding Lake Chad, providing fresh water to irrigate the Sahara and shipping access to the African interior.[4] [5] Besides creating new bodies of land, the huge amounts of hydro-electric energy that would have been generated could have accounted for 50% of Europe's energy needs at the time. While Sörgel was developing the idea, he never considered seriously how other countries would react or change. For example, the Levant would have increased in area by 50%. [6]
Sörgel died at the age of 67 soon after having been struck by a car while on his bicycle en route to a lecture at a German university in Munich. The accident happened on a road "as straight as a die" and the driver of the car was never found.[7]