Wau Holland passed away (31.07.2001 - 03:10 Uhr)

Wau Holland, co-founder and senior president of the Chaos Computer Club, died in the early hours of last Sunday morning as a result of a stroke suffered in May, aged 49.

As a TAZ correspondent, Wau Holland reported on the emerging computer underground early on in 1983. In February 1984, he gave the hackers the first issue of "Datenschleuder" and later introduced the nascent "Chaos Computer Club" in it. The "galactic association without fixed structures" became famous all of a sudden when it relieved the Hamburg Sparkasse of 135,000 marks with an "electronic bank robbery" in the just-launched BTX system. The two editions of the "Hacker Bible" published by the CCC also contributed to the popularisation.

The word "hacker" appeared in the colloquial language and the bearded, dungaree-wearing Wau Holland embodied this type for many, promoted by numerous television appearances. The fact that the data artist saw himself much more as a critic of insecure computer structures and opaque computer networks was willingly ignored throughout his life.

"With us into the future!" was a slogan co-invented by Wau Holland for the Chaos Computer Club. That future will now have to take place without him.

Source: heise online