Hans Holzer
Hans Holzer (1920-2023) was an Austrian-born writer, producer, and parapsychologist known for his extensive work in the field of the supernatural and paranormal. His interest in these topics began in childhood, influenced by his uncle, and he later pursued studies in ancient history and archaeology at the University of Vienna. After fleeing Austria due to the rise of Nazi Germany, Holzer settled in New York City, where he continued his education, including a master's in comparative religion and a doctorate in parapsychology.
Throughout his life, Holzer investigated numerous haunted locations globally and collaborated with well-known psychics. He authored nearly 140 books, including notable titles like *Ghost Hunter* and *Ghosts: True Encounters with the World Beyond*, the latter of which he considered his most successful work. Holzer also contributed to television, teaching parapsychology at the New York Institute of Technology and hosting a series on the paranormal. A proponent of vegetarianism and veganism, Holzer attributed much of his well-being to his dietary choices. His legacy lies in his commitment to exploring and documenting the mysteries of the paranormal.
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Hans Holzer
- Born: January 26, 1920
- Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
- Died: April 26, 2009
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Hans Holzer was born on January 26, 1920, in Vienna, Austria, and was interested in the supernatural from an early age. The young Holzer had an uncle who passed along his interest in ghosts, fairies, and other aspects of the paranormal to his nephew. Holzer recalled pretending to read ghost stories to his kindergarten friends at age four, but he was obviously making them up since he could not yet read.
Holzer studied ancient history and archaeology at the University of Vienna and graduated from Vienna’s Academy of Journalism. He and his brother left Austria in 1938, realizing the threat to that country from Nazi Germany, and moved to New York City, where he has lived ever since. He also studied Japanese at Columbia University during World War II, and he earned a master’s degree in comparative religion and a doctorate with a specialty in parapsychology, both from the London College of Applied Science. He considers himself an evangelical Protestant but does not attend church.
Holzer became a vegetarian at age eleven after seeing fellow students at a summer school in Switzerland tearing into meat at meals; he became a vegan, refusing to use any animal products, at age forty. He attributes his health at his current age in part to his vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. He was married and had two daughters but later divorced; his former wife illustrated a number of his books.
Holzer has said he he had his first personal psychic experience at about age forty, when his late mother appeared to him in his bedroom and moved his head back onto a pillow from which it had slipped. He was both a writer and producer and appeared in the National Broadcasting Corporation television series In Search Of. He taught parapsychology for eight years at the New York Institute of Technology. He headed the Center for Paranormal Studies, Inc., and lectures on the paranormal. Holzer has investigated so-called haunted locations all over the world. He has worked with psychics such as Sybil Leek and devoted most of his long life to scientifically investigating paranormal and psychic phenomena.
He has published nearly 140 books, not to mention a number of plays, movie scripts, musicals, and documentaries. He also hosted a television show and has written television and film documentaries. He wrote his first book, Ghost Hunter(1963), at the urging of Eileen Garrett, a medium and psychic investigator. His other books include Healing Beyond Medicine, Life Beyond, Hans Holzer’s Psychic Yellow Pages, and The Power of Hypnosis. He diverged into the field of unidentified flying objects with The UFO-Nauts: New Facts on Extraterrestrial Landings. He considers Ghosts: True Encounters with the World Beyond, a compilation of all the ghost cases he has investigated, to be his most successful book, based on sales.