Gustav Weindorfer

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Gustav Weindorfer (in Australia called Dorfer for short ; * February 23, 1874 in Spittal an der Drau , Carinthia , Austria ; † May 5, 1932 in the Cradle Valley , Tasmania , Australia ) was an Austro-Australian farmer , naturalist, resort operator and ranger .

Live and act

Gustav Weindorfer was the son of the district captain Johann Weindorfer and his wife Pauline geb. Tscheligi. He attended school in Villach and an agricultural school in Mödling , completed his military service and then worked in the wine industry.

In 1899 he emigrated to Australia, where he worked at the Austro-Hungarian consulate in Melbourne from 1901 . In his spare time he worked as a mountaineer and botanist . In 1901 he became a member of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria and in 1903 the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia in Victoria. He lectured, published articles in The Victorian Naturalist, The Leader and The Australasian, and sent plants and seeds to the Natural History Museum Vienna and other collections.

In 1905 he was naturalized . On February 1, 1906, he married in Stowport , Tasmania, Kate Julia Cowle (1863-1916), whom he had met in 1902 at the Field Naturalists' Club . Weindorfer ended his service at the consulate and the couple moved to Tasmania. 1910 they bought in Kindred at Devonport 100 acres (about 40 hectares ) land and farmed it.

The "Waldheim" resort (replica)
Gustav Weindorfer's tomb

Weindorfer first climbed Cradle Mountain in January 1909 and was so impressed by the landscape that he decided to initiate a national park there with accommodation for hikers and mountaineers. He formulated in a declaration This must be a National Park for the people for all time , published articles about the project in the Launceston Weekly Courier and The Victorian Naturalist, and called on the Tasmania government to build an access road to the area.

In 1912 he began building the Waldheim resort , using the local sickle-shaped scaly spruce . Since horse-drawn carts could only drive up to about 14 kilometers to the building, Weindorfer carried parts such as bathroom accessories and stoves to the building site himself. The resort with overnight accommodation for 24 people was opened at Christmas 1912. The motto This is Waldheim, where there is no time and nothing matters was carved into the wall of the hut .

After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, visits to Waldheim decreased. In 1916 his wife died; Weindorfer became more and more isolated and the target of anti-German prejudices. In 1917 he sold his farm in Kindred, left Waldheim and worked as a ranger , giving lectures and making weather records. He was referred to as the Hermit of Cradle Mountain . Together with businessman Fred Smithies, he played a leading role in campaigns that led to the opening of Cradle Mountain Lake St. Clair National Park on May 16, 1922.

Weindorfer suffered from coronary artery disease and died on May 5, 1932 in the Cradle Valley, where he was also buried. In 1938 a granite stone mound was unveiled next to his grave . His property was transferred to the Cradle Mountain Lake St. Clair National Park.

The Weindorfer Memorial Service Committee, founded in 1938, has published the Gustav Weindorfer memorial service, Cradle Valley every year since 1970 .

literature

  • Sally Schnackenberg: Kate Weindorfer. The woman behind the man and the mountain. A biography of Kate Julia Weindorfer wife of Cradle Mountain pioneer, Gustav Weindorfer. Regal, Tasmania 1995, ISBN 0-949457-91-4 .

Web links

Commons : Gustav Weindorfer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ according to other data in 1900
  2. ↑ In this source the date of death May 4, 1932 is given; in this source stated that his body was found on May 6, 1932 next to a motorcycle on the access road to his resort.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Geoff Mosley: A Natural For World Heritage. Environment Center, Sutherland Shire 2013, p. 203 ( online , PDF; 2.4 MB, accessed on March 11, 2016).
  2. ^ Weindorfer Memorial Service Committee on search.archives.tas.gov.au, accessed on March 11, 2016.
  3. ^ Gustav Weindorfer memorial service, Cradle Valley on trove.nla.gov.au, accessed on March 11, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Weindorfer, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dorfer (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Australian farmer, naturalist, resort operator and ranger
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Spittal an der Drau , Carinthia , Austria
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 1932
Place of death Cradle Valley , Tasmania , Australia