Georg Winkler (mountaineer)
Georg Winkler (born August 26, 1869 in Munich , † August 16 or 17, 1888 on the Weisshorn in the Valais Alps ) was a German alpinist . He came from a respected family in Munich. His father Johann Georg Winkler was a master butcher and ran a pork butcher's shop in the Bavarian capital.
Shortly before his death in 1888 he graduated from the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich .
On his tours in the Alps from 1886 onwards, Georg Winkler was often out and about as a soloist, who succeeded in many first ascents and a few first ascents and who was not afraid of the risk :
"[..] I have long since become clear about movens on my tours and soon realized that it is the danger that, sought out and overcome, affords the man infinite satisfaction and much satisfaction; [..] the danger and the infinite magnificence of the high mountains in their union are what attract us demonically [..]. "
Georg Winkler's extraordinary achievements in connection with his early death in the mountains - he was less than 19 years old - meant that his person was often viewed with a certain pathos in alpine literature .
Alpinistic achievements
Georg Winkler is considered to be the best rock climber of his time, who pushed the performance limit in the rock upwards. He was physically small, but very athletic. Unlike Paul Preuss , born 17 years after him , who was only willing to use technical aids when there was danger to life and limb, Winkler liked to use his stick or the throwing anchor attached to the rope if this made it easier for him to climb. With the throwing anchor he overcame z. B. the clamping block in the summit crack of the Kleine Zinne in the Sexten Dolomites , on which he and his friend and rope companion Alois Zott made the second guideless ascent in 1886.
After standing on Schmittenhöhe and Kampenwand at the age of eleven , Winkler devoted every free minute to the mountains from summer 1884 at the latest. From that year he kept his diaries ("My Hikes in the High Mountains"), which were published in 1906 by Erich König under the title "Empor" at Verlag Grethlein & Co., Leipzig. A detailed description of Winkler's tours, which went beyond the otherwise scarce diary entries, is only known from the Grohmannspitze , which he climbed on September 19, 1887.
His significant alpine time was limited to the years 1884 to 1888 described in the diaries. In this relatively short time he achieved something unusual. In 1884 he stood on the Zugspitze . In 1885 he was traveling in the Allgäu Alps and the Silvretta . In the Wilder Kaiser he climbed the Ellmauer Halt and the Ackerlspitze . In 1886 he succeeded - again in the Kaiser - the first ascent of the death chair . He climbed the Totenkirchl , which was considered to be one of the most difficult peaks in the Northern Limestone Alps , on August 27, 1886 as the third single-handedly. Then he was drawn to the Dolomites . In addition to the successful tour of the Kleine Zinne, he managed the first ascent of the Cima della Madonna with Zott in 1886 .
Over time, Winkler increased the difficulty of his tours significantly. From his former rope partner Robert Hans Schmitt from Vienna the quote has been passed down that he no longer goes with Winkler because he is too daring for him. So Winkler increasingly became a loner. As such, he carried out the second successful ascent of the Dreischusterspitze in the Sexten Dolomites in 1887 , and climbed the Zwölferkofel on a new route.
The first solo ascent of the Winkler Tower, named after him, in the Vajolet Group in the Rosengarten is considered the highlight of his short mountaineering career . On September 17, 1887, he climbed the summit, which was considered to be inaccessible, via a row of chimneys, the key point of which is now rated IV + on the UIAA scale . On the descent, falling rocks severed his rope except for a few fibers. Winkler found the following words about his first ascent:
“The smallest of the 3 towers of Vajolet in the rose garden, 'absolutely unclimbed', as Mr Merzbacher said, is the boldest rock tooth I have ever seen; the smallest pinnacle, Croda da Lago, and all the other dolomite mountains are clumsy figures against this tower; and only the ascent (which I carried out on September 17th) is a delicious conversation that leaves no room for boredom. "
Death in the Weisshorn west face
After his success in the rock of the Eastern Alps, Winkler was drawn to the high regions of the Western Alps. After having successfully passed his Abitur, he set out for Valais , where he climbed the Zinalrothorn solo from the Mountet side on August 14, 1888 . Shortly afterwards, on August 16 or 17, 1888, he was killed while attempting to climb the 4,505 m high Weisshorn over its west face, which was prone to rockfall. Georg Winkler remained missing until the Weisshorn glacier released its remains almost 70 years later. The body was found on July 29, 1956 by Maurice Brandt and his rope partner Voillat and could be identified by means of an invoice issued by the Hotel Durand in Zinal . Georg Winkler found his final resting place in the Ayer cemetery in Val d'Anniviers .
The family grave of the Winkler family is located in Munich's Alten Südfriedhof . Gerorg Winkler is mentioned on the gravestone with the words: Georg Winkler, high school graduate, geb. Aug. 26, 1869, died Aug. 17, 1888, rests in Cinal in Switzerland . The resting place is given with his last whereabouts (Zinal), since the corpse initially remained missing (see above).
Next to the Torre Winkler in the Vajolet group Winkler gorge and Winkler Charter in the Wilder Kaiser and the Winkler fireplace famous key point on the climb to the Cima della Madonna named after Georg Winkler. Winkler is also the namesake for the Winklerturm above Schmilka in the climbing area Saxon Switzerland .
Web links
- Personal folder on Georg Winkler (1) (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)
- Personal folder on Georg Winkler (2) (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)
- Personal folder on Georg Winkler (3) (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual report on the K. Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Munich 1887/88.
- ↑ See personal folder on Georg Winkler (mountaineer) (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline). His biographer gives "150 cm about his height" ( Erich König : Up! Georg Winkler's diary , Verlag Grethlein & Co., Leipzig 1906, p. 4) for his height.
- ↑ See Peter Grimm: Up - much more than just Winkler's diary. DAV Panorama No. 4/2002, p. 71, April 2002, accessed on December 25, 2009 .
- ↑ Erich König up ! Georg Winkler's diary , Verlag Grethlein & Co., Leipzig, 1906, page 8ff.
- ↑ Erich König up ! Georg Winkler's diary , Verlag Grethlein & Co., Leipzig 1906, p. 15.
- ↑ Dietmar Heinicke et al .: Climbing Guide Saxon Switzerland. Band Schrammsteine / Schmilkaer area. Berg- & Naturverlag Peter Rölke, Dresden 1999, ISBN 3-934514-01-4 , p. 216
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Winkler, Georg |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German mountaineer, high school graduate |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 26, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Munich |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 16, 1888 or August 17, 1888 |
| Place of death | Weisshorn (Valais, Switzerland) |