Wolfgang Güllich

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Wolfgang Güllich in the Ghettoblaster route on the Rabenfels, Frankenjura

Wolfgang Güllich (born October 24, 1960 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein ; † August 31, 1992 in Ingolstadt ) was a German sport climber and expedition mountaineer. In the 1980s he was one of the most influential and best climbers in the then still young sport. Güllich set standards with numerous first ascents of extremely difficult climbing routes , some of which are still only reached by a few top climbers. He was killed in a car accident in 1992.

Life

Wolfgang Güllich, first son of Ursula and Fritz Güllich (senior), started technical climbing with his father at the age of thirteen. From 1975 onwards he climbed almost every weekend in the Palatinate , initially together with his brother Fritz, who was about five years his junior and who had a fatal accident while climbing without a rope in 1978. An encounter with Reinhard Karl , the figurehead of the German mountaineering movement at the time , inspired Güllich to devote himself even more to climbing. His climbing style also changed from the initially technical climbing to the more widespread free climbing .

Over the years, thanks to his talent for movement and previously unknown training methods, he managed to develop his climbing skills to the top of the world. In 1981 he succeeded with Kurt Albert , the sport climbing to transfer to the Alps when he route Locker from the stool in UIAA difficulty climbed VIII.

For years, Wolfgang Güllich set new standards in sport climbing around the world, and for a long time he managed the first ascent of the most difficult route in the world at the time: 1984 Canal in the Back (UIAA X), 1985 Punks in the Gym (X +) and 1987 Wall Street (XI–). The first free solo ascent of the spectacular Separate Reality (VIII + / IX–) route in Yosemite National Park by Güllich in 1986, which follows a hand tear through a six meter long horizontal roof two hundred meters above the ground, is also famous . With the Route Action Directe in the Franconian Jura , he delivered his masterpiece in 1991: It was the first route in grade UIAA XI (French: 9a) and is now a reference for this level of difficulty. He developed the campus board for training this route .

Wolfgang Güllich has developed numerous climbing routes in the Franconian Jura , in other German low mountain ranges and around the globe. He was one of the first to transfer extreme free climbing into the high mountains. In the late 1980s in particular, he devoted himself to combining expedition mountaineering with climbing techniques. Among other things, he and Kurt Albert opened the new tour Eternal Flame (IX-) at the 6251  m high Trango Tower in the Karakoram .

In 1986, together with Andreas Kubin, he published the first detailed textbook on climbing, Sportklettern heute , in Germany. Occasionally he wrote articles with experience reports and weighing opinions on the development of climbing for mountain sports magazines, etc. a. for (the) mountaineer , rotpunkt and mountain ( Alpine Club yearbook ).

With friends (including Kurt Albert and Ingrid riding spit) he made several years a commune in the Moselle Street in Upper Schöllenbach that became the starting point and the opportunity to stay the international climbing scene when they visited the Franconian Switzerland. Sometimes up to twenty guests stayed here to exchange ideas, knowledge and climb together, including famous climbers such as Ben Moon , Ben Masterson, Ron Fawcett , Christian Griffith, Jesse Guthrie , Ron Kauk and John Bachar .

In 1990 Güllich met his future wife Annette, whom he married in 1991.

Grave site in Obertrubach

Wolfgang Güllich had an accident with his car on August 29, 1992 on the A 9 near Ingolstadt and died two days later from his injuries. The police report concluded that he likely fell asleep behind the wheel. He was buried in Obertrubach .

reception

Award

In 1985, Wolfgang Güllich received, alongside Kurt Albert and Sepp Gschwendtner, the Silver Laurel Leaf , the highest sporting award in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Notoriety

Wolfgang Güllich enjoyed great recognition as an exceptional athlete and also achieved a certain degree of popularity beyond the climbing scene. Nevertheless, he remained uncomplicated in handling and free from starry airs . One of Güllich's words became a household word among climbers: "You don't go for coffee after climbing, coffee is an integral part of climbing."

On January 23, 1988, an audience of millions became aware of Güllich when he appeared in a bet on the television show Wetten, dass ..? performed in Basel. One candidate had bet that he could do more pull-ups on one finger than Wolfgang Güllich. The challenger won his bet, but Güllich performed the pull-ups cleaner.

After his death Güllich was in Hollywood known: In the movie Cliffhanger he worked as double of Sylvester Stallone with. Stallone honored Güllich, who died shortly after the filming was finished, with a dedication in the end credits of the film.

Güllich as namesake

Developed by Wolfgang Güllich Campus board is in French and Italian as pan Güllich referred.

The difficult multi- pitch route WoGü (7 pitches, 9a French), drilled in 1997 by Beat Kammerlander , in the Rätikon massif is named in his honor after the first two letters of Güllich's first and last name. In the northern Franconian Jura an 18 m long route, the WoGü edge , was named after him in the same way.

Commemoration

Güllich's grave in Obertrubach became a place of pilgrimage for the climbing scene .

Memorial stone in Dannstadt-Schauernheim

In June 2006 the German Olympic Society inaugurated a memorial stone in his home town of Dannstadt-Schauernheim , which honors the exemplary sporting approach and pioneering achievements of the climber.

On the 20th and 25th anniversary of his death, companions met at the grave and at the “Oma Eichler” campsite in Obertrubach, which is popular with climbers. The municipality of Obertrubach erected a memorial plaque on the edge of the cemetery in 2017.

Movies

  • 1987: The rock under control . Documentation in the ZDF series Der Sport-Spiegel , 28 min., Director: Hans Henn. With Kurt Albert and Wolfgang Güllich.
  • 1993: Cliffhanger - Only the strong survive . Güllich worked as a stunt double for Sylvester Stallone in this film.
  • 2002: Young dies whom the gods love . Documentation by Malte Roeper and Jochen Schmoll, Bayerischer Rundfunk.

literature

  • Wolfgang Güllich, Andreas Kubin: Sport climbing today . Bruckmann, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-7654-2053-0 (1st edition).
  • Heinz Zak , Wolfgang Güllich: High life: Sport climbing worldwide . Bergverlag Rother , Oberhaching 1987, ISBN 3-7633-7240-7 (1st edition).
  • Tilmann Hepp, Wolfgang Güllich, Gerd Heidorn: Fascination Sport Climbing: A textbook for theory and practice . Heyne, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-453-05440-7 (1st edition).
  • Tilmann Hepp: Wolfgang Güllich - life in the vertical. A biography . Boulder Verlag, Stuttgart / Nuremberg 2004, ISBN 3-00-014938-4 (reprint).
  • Tilmann Hepp, Thomas Ballenberger (Ed.): Wolfgang Güllich - Climbing means being free . Boulder Verlag, Stuttgart / Nuremberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-9811231-0-4 .
  • Wolfgang Albers: As Sylvester Stallone on the wall, as Wolfgang Güllich in the grave . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . July 12, 2007 (travel paper).

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Güllich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Wolfgang Güllich  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ More than a piece of rock . In: Panorama , 4/2016, p. 29
  2. ^ Tilman Hepp: Wolfgang Güllich. Life in the vertical. A biography . 1st edition. Rosenheimer Verlagshaus Alfred Förg, Rosenheim 1993, ISBN 3-475-52747-2 , p. 61 .
  3. ↑ Ed Douglas: Free Wheel Article on Kurt Albert in Rock and Ice , June 2011.
  4. ^ Tilman Hepp: Wolfgang Güllich. Life in the vertical. A biography . 1st edition. Rosenheimer Verlagshaus Alfred Förg, Rosenheim 1993, ISBN 3-475-52747-2 , p. 140 .
  5. ↑ Peter Schindler: Wolfgang Güllich - Permanent Traces . In: Kurt Albert: Fight Gravity . tmms-Verlag, Korb 2005, ISBN 3-930650-15-0 .
  6. ↑ ZDF: Wetten, dass ..? 44th broadcast. January 23, 1988, Basel. In: zdf.de. Archived from the original on February 1, 2005 ; Retrieved April 19, 2007 .
  7. ↑ Editing of the performance at Wetten, dass ..? as a video on YouTube (1:53 min.).
  8. ↑ Commemoration under the Zehnerfelsen: Friends and parents remembered the anniversary of the death of climber Wolfgang Güllich nordbayern.de, September 2, 2012.
  9. ^ Mute emotion at the grave of Wolfgang Güllich: Memorial ceremony in Obertrubach on the 25th anniversary of the death of the world-famous climber nordbayern.de, September 26, 2017.
  10. ↑ Data on the film The rock under control mntnfilm.com
personal data
SURNAME Güllich, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sport climber
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigshafen am Rhein
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1992
Place of death Ingolstadt