Georg Lahner

Georg Lahner (born January 21, 1873 - † May 17, 1963 ) was an Austrian speleologist.

Life

Georg Lahner's first attempt in 1906 was at the wind hole in the Elmgrube in the Dead Mountains . However, the advance failed due to a lack of ladders. After unsuccessful attempts to find participants in circles of alpine clubs, he managed to find a companion in engineer Julius Pollak in 1909 after driving through the chalk hole . In the same year, Lahner took part in cave research by the “Hades” association in Sesana near Trieste under the direction of Franz Mühlhofer . During this trip, Lahner met his future companion, Ing. Hermann Bock . Together with the grotto secretary Andreas Perko , he made further trips in the Krainer Karst.

Encouraged by his research in the Slovenian Karst, he turned to his homeland. In 1909 he visited the Koppenbrüller cave , where the Lahnerhalle was discovered. During this research he was made aware of the "weather hole" on the Lower Schönbergalpe, later the Dachstein giant ice cave . On July 17, 1910, Lahner and his companions Kling, Pollak, Hölzl, Reisenauer and Polansky managed to descend over a 28-meter-deep ice abyss, which up until this point had prevented any further advance.

The researcher himself reported:

“Using a 30-meter-long rope ladder we conquered the depth of the Eisschrund, discovered the side cave on its bottom, which is now called the Ice Chapel, and at the level of the ice wall on the other side saw an open space, to which the ridge of an ice wall dividing the Eisschrund is dangerous Promised access. We returned full of enthusiasm to discover such a fairy tale world. "

This started the classic time of Austrian cave exploration. There is a detailed report in the book Höhlen im Dachstein by Bock, Lahner and Gaunersdorfer , published in 1913 .

With the help of donations and subsidies, he was now able to start expanding the Dachstein Caves. This work was suddenly interrupted by the First World War. Due to his knowledge, Lahner was appointed as a cave expert by the War Ministry in the Krainer Karst.

Lahner published numerous publications about his research in newspapers, writings and lectures. For years he was the editor of the local journal Mitteilungen für Gekunde , where he and other experts wrote a geology of Upper Austria.

literature

• Roman Pilz: Georg Lahner - ninety years. In: Die Höhle 14. Jg., 1963, pp. 96–98 ( digitized version ).

Remarks

1. ↑ Hermann Bock, Georg Lahner, Gustav Gaunersdorfer: Caves in the Dachstein and their significance for geology, karst hydrography and the theories about the formation of the cave ice . Association for Speleology, Graz 1913.