Alexander Burgener

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Alexander Burgener around 1907

Alexander Burgener (born January 10, 1845 in Saas-Fee , Canton of Valais ; † July 8, 1910 at Mönch in the Bernese Oberland ) was a mountain guide pioneer, first to climb several peaks and first to climb new routes in the Alps and the Caucasus . He was also called the king of mountain guides.

youth

Alexander Burgener grew up in simple circumstances in the hamlet of Huteggen in the municipality of Eisten VS in the Saas Valley . He spent his youth as a goatherd and chamois hunter on the Balfrin . At the age of 20 he undertook his first mountain tour as a mountain guide . The emerging tourism mainly brought the daring English to the Alps. The famous English alpinist and author Albert Mummery was also one of his customers.

First ascents

Alexander Burgener has made around 50 first ascents and first ascents in the Alps and the Caucasus, including the Lenzspitze (1870), the Aiguille du Dru in the Mont Blanc massif (1878), the Gestola in the Caucasus (4860 m, 1886), the Zmuttgrat on Matterhorn (1879) and the Täschhorn -Teufelsgrat (1887). In 1899 he climbed the eastern summit of Piz Palüs for the first time via the northwest pillar . There is hardly a known mountain in the Western Alps that he would not have climbed; there were also expeditions to the Caucasus . Alexander Burgener was one of the most famous mountain guides of the Belle Époque .

Tragic ending

On July 8, 1910, Alexander Burgener was hit by an avalanche on the mountain rock at Mönch and killed; Seven mountaineers were killed in the accident, including Adolf Burgener, Alexander's son. His grave is in Eisten .

literature

  • Adolf Fux: Alexander Burgener, king of the mountain guides . 2nd Edition. Rotten-Verlag, Visp 2010, ISBN 978-3-905756-87-6 (= reprint of the Bern, Hallwag edition, 1962 / by the Alexander Burgener Foundation).
  • Albert Frederick Mummery: My mountain trips in the Alps and in the Caucasus . Ed .: Dt. Alpine Club (=  Alpine Classics . Band 9 ). New edition edition. Bruckmann, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-7654-2159-6 .
  • Carl Egger: Pioneers of the Alps. 30 life pictures of the great Swiss mountain guides from Melchior Anderegg to Franz Lochmatter 1827-1933 . Ed .: Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research. Amstutz, Herdeg & Co., Zurich 1946, DNB  57295669X .

Web links

Commons : Alexander Burgener  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Burgener, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss mountain guide pioneer and first to climb several peaks in the Alps
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Eisten , Saas Valley , Canton of Valais
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1910
Place of death am Mönch, Bernese Oberland