Hans Haidegger

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Hans Haidegger, Mäusi Lüthi, Hermann Steuri after the first ascent of the Kingspitz north-east face on September 25, 1938

Hans Haidegger (born August 26, 1913 in Bludenz ; † September 16, 1991 in Solothurn ) was a Swiss alpinist and first climber of climbing routes in the Jura and the Bernese Alps .

Life

Hans Haidegger came to Switzerland with his parents when he was six months old. His father, Johann Nepomuk Haidegger, a career officer in the Kaiserjäger army, suffered an eye injury during World War I. After technical training, Hans became chief designer at the watch manufacturer Ebauches SA, later director of a subsidiary and head of the office for automation. He was a tinkerer and inventor who acquired many patents for his company.

He started climbing in the Jura at a young age, where he made a series of first ascents in the highest levels of difficulty at the time, especially in the vicinity of his home town of Solothurn . The alpine historian and climber Claude Rémy calls it "Père de l'escalade dans le Jura".

In the Bernese Oberland in particular, he managed extremely difficult combined walls in the 1930s, including several first and second ascents. He was often accompanied by women, especially Mäusi Lüthi and Lucie Durand .

At the beginning of August 1937, he climbed the Eiger north face alone up to about half the wall height - before the first ascent in 1938 - to explore the route for a possible Swiss ascent. In doing so, he climbed directly to the first Einsfeld, more east than the route usual today. Presumably he reached the height of the so-called death bivouac. A few days later, on 5th / 6th August 1937, he climbed the north-east face of the Eiger with Lucie Durand, because of poor conditions they got off to the Mittellegigrat , otherwise it would have been the second ascent.

Due to the onslaught of Germans and Austrians on the north face of the Eiger, however, he abandoned his plans for a first ascent. In autumn 1938 he opened the northeast face of the Kingspitz in the Engelhörner with Hermann Steuri and Mäusi Lüthi , at that time one of the most difficult rocky routes in the entire Alps.

Hans Haidegger became a Swiss citizen in 1942 and did military service as a radio operator for the transmission troops. He always felt like a Swiss. In 1943 he married Lily Zurmühle from Solothurn, and the marriage produced three daughters, including the lawyer and politician Lili Nabholz-Haidegger and the chemist Eva-Maria Rossi-Haidegger . After marriage, he gave up extreme mountaineering, but remained connected to nature and the mountains throughout his life.

First ascents (selection)

  • July 14, 1935 Lauterbrunner Breithorn north face , second ascent on partly new route. With Fritz Fricker, who fell to his death on the descent.
  • August 18, 1935 Doldenhorn north face. First solo ascent, second ascent.
  • July 5, 1936 Altel's northeast face. With Max Eggenschwiler and Mäusi Lüthi.
  • July 19, 1936 Doldenhorn southeast face. With Max Eggenschwiler.
  • 18./19. July 1937 Schreckhorn Northwest Face . New route with Lucie Durand.
  • July 25, 1937 Balmhorn east face. With Lucie Durand.
  • 5th / 6th August 1938 Wetterhorn north face. (First inspection of leaderless people.)
  • September 25, 1938 Kingspitz Northeast Face . With Hermann Steuri and Mäusi Lüthi.
  • July 28, 1942 Altmann North Face (Bernese Oberland). With Lily Zurmühle.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Claude Rémy: Falaises du Jura. Histoire de l'escalade. Editions ACAJ, Moutier 2006.
  2. ^ Rainer Rettner: Eiger. Triumphs and tragedies. AS Verlag, Zurich 2008.
  3. ↑ Club announcements section Weissenstein SAC September 1988th
  4. ^ Emil Zopfi : "The Eiger was his sanctuary". In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 17, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Haidegger, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss alpinist
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Bludenz
DATE OF DEATH September 16, 1991
Place of death Solothurn