Gustav Adolf Haggenmacher

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Gustav Adolf Haggenmacher (born May 3, 1845 in Lauffohr near Brugg , † November 19, 1875 in Afar -Sultanate Awsa , Ethiopia ) was a Swiss African explorer and spy in the service of Egypt.

In 1865 Haggenmacher came - against the wishes of his parents - as an adventurer to Egypt and in 1866 went on to Khartoum . In 1869 he came to Sawakin and Massaua . In 1872 he finally joined Werner Munzinger , the governor of the Viceroy of Egypt in Massaua, and in 1874 was appointed his deputy in Kassala . In 1872, as an Egyptian commissioner, he brought a collection of Sudanese products to Vienna for the World Exhibition (1873).

On behalf of the Khedive he made a trip to the Somal countries and in 1875 a second to Galabat. Officially, he was engaged in geographic exploration, in fact he was gathering information about expansion opportunities for Egypt. In Munzinger's government he became head of the secret service. He accompanied Munzinger on his expedition through the land of the Afar in order to annex the area around Awsa for Egypt. On the run after a lost battle, he perished from exhaustion.

His son Konrad Haggenmacher (the "black Konrad") was sent to Switzerland and Germany for training. Alfred Ilg brought him to Ethiopia; later he worked for the railroad in German East Africa .

Adolf Haggenmacher reported on his trip to Somaliland in Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen (supplementary booklet 47, 1876).

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SURNAME Haggenmacher, Gustav Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss African explorer
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Lauffohr near Brugg
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1875
Place of death Awsa , Ethiopia