Anton Karl Gebauer

Anton Karl Gebauer 1872–1942

Anton Karl Gebauer (born July 16, 1872 in Horní Benešov , Kingdom of Bohemia ; † May 30, 1942 in Velden am Wörther See , Austria ) was an Austrian teacher, Asian researcher, traveler, ethnographer and writer.

Life

School and education

His father, Anton Gebauer, was a cloth merchant and municipal secretary in Horni Benesov, residing at Turnergasse 297 (today Nerudova Street). The father's knowledge and admiration for the sciences were exemplary for the firstborn son; The grandmother's woven goods trade in the markets of Western Silesia aroused the child's desire to travel early on. In 1883 Gebauer left his parents' house to attend grammar school in Olomouc , formerly Olomouc, as a choir boy . After the death of his father, who left his wife with a tiny pension of 18 guilders and a family of ten, he had to forego studying natural sciences; Instead, he attended in order to contribute to the family income, the College of Education in Opava , formerly Opava, and was after the completion (1892) in the years 1892-97 teacher in Franzen (municipality Pölla) in Waldviertel ( Lower Austria ), in Dolni Rakousy at Prague and Floridsdorf (1897–1900) in the north of Vienna. After training in the university's gymnastics teacher training institute (1899), he finally worked as a sports teacher at the newly founded state high school in the 21st district in Vienna-Floridsdorf. His good physical constitution helped him on the sometimes very demanding trips.

to travel

Gebauer himself acquired his knowledge of regional studies, cartography and some Asian languages, including fluent command of the lingua franca of Hindustani , later Hindi . A trip to Egypt to the cataracts of the Upper Nile and Asia Minor (Syria, Turkey) in 1901 he saved himself from his small teacher salary; Two trips to India followed in 1906 and 1910 , which he also financed himself and which he described in his book "Um den Mount Everest" (1925). It was not until his third trip to India, which he began in November 1913, that the circumstances were more favorable, as he was already receiving financial support. At the beginning of the First World War , Gebauer was interned by the English in the camps of Darjeeling and Ahmednagar for five years .

Gebauer's ethnographic reports on previously unexplored regions, especially of today's Shan and Kachin states in the inaccessible region between Myanmar , China , India , Laos , Thailand and Tibet, are vividly written and of geopolitical and ethnological interest to this day. His travels took him to the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra , Salween , Mekong , Irrawaddy and Yangtze River rivers , which flow through steep mountain gorges on the southeastern foothills of the Himalayas and represent almost insurmountable traffic barriers.

After his return to Austria in 1919, he was involved in numerous lectures on Buddhism and Brahmanism in Urania (Vienna) , a popular educational institution, whose scientific director at the time, Friedrich Umlauft (1844–1923), was one of his sponsors, as was the eloquent patron of science, Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein (1840–1929).

Gebauer retired as a senior teacher in 1921 , married on June 12, 1923 and moved to Velden am Wörthersee in 1924 . The couple had a daughter, the future science fiction writer Friedlinde , married. Cap, born in 1924, alias Alexander Robé .

Collections, photographs

During his travels, in recent years with photo equipment, pack animals, drivers, cooks and assistants, he tirelessly collected ethnology , above all weapons, textiles as well as art and handicraft products from the regions he visited. He bequeathed the most valuable part of his collections and the photographs to the Weltmuseum Wien and in exchange to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Munich .

Honors

He received an honorary salary from the Austrian state for his services, and his place of birth made him an honorary citizen . "Gebauergasse" in Vienna-Floridsdorf has been named after him since 1967.

References

1. ↑ The grandfather of the former US Secretary of State John Kerry also came from Horní Benešov
2. ^ "Own biography", Nordmarkweiser 1912; quoted here from the excerpt in "Our beautiful Floridsdorf. Leaves of the Floridsdorfer Heimatmuseums" vol. 1, no. 4 (1967), pp. 77-80
3. ↑ The so-called Stilwell Road from the Second World War , the Indian Assam with south China should connect with its sections Burma Road and Assam road ( Ledo Road remained) remained a torso.
4. ^ Alfred Janata: The ethnographic collections of Anton K. Gebauer . In: Our beautiful Floridsdorf , pp. 97–98

Works

• The northern Shan states and their inhabitants . In: Mitteilungen der kk Geographische Gesellschaft, Vienna Vol. 55 (1912), pp. 434–467
• Around Mount Everest, rides and adventures. Images based on original recordings . Vienna. Leipzig u. a. : German publishing house for youth and people 1925 (second edition 1930)
• On the geography of Giudschou (Kweitschou) . In: Mitteilungen der Geographische Gesellschaft, Vienna Vol, 69 (1926), pp. 75–79
• Dum, the dog. Narration . Frankfurt: Diesterweg 1928 ( Kranz library 148)
• Burma, temples and pagodas. Experiences along the Burma Road . Vienna. Berlin: Bischoff 1943

literature

• Communications from the Geographical Society Vienna 57, 1914; 86, 1943
• Gebauer, Anton Karl. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 415.
• Our beautiful Floridsdorf. Leaves of the Floridsdorfer Heimatmuseum , vol. 1 (1967), issue 4. - Vienna: Museumsverein Floridsdorf 1967, pp. 77–98. - With numerous bw photos and maps.

Web links

• Anton Karl Gebauer in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna