Heinrich Harrer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heinrich Harrer signs his book Wiedersehen mit Tibet at the 1997 Frankfurt Book Fair
Heinrich Harrer, portrait by Alfred Pirker

Heinrich Harrer (born July 6, 1912 in Obergossen, market town of Hüttenberg , Carinthia , Austria ; † January 7, 2006 in Friesach , Carinthia) was an Austrian mountaineer , explorer, geographer and author . He became known as one of the first to climb the Eiger north face as well as through his book Seven Years in Tibet and its film adaptation . In 1962 he managed the first ascent of the Carstensz pyramid in western New Guinea , the highest peak on the Australian plate . The Heinrich Harrer Museum has been located in Hüttenberg since 1983 .

Life

Origin, youth and studies

Memorial plaque for Harrer at the Grazerhütte on the Tauplitzalm

Heinrich Josef Harrer was the first of four children born to the married couple Josef Harrer and Johanna. Penker was born in Obergossen near Knappenberg. His father was a postal worker, his mother a housewife. Harrer's maternal grandfather came from the village of Penk in Mölltal . In 1880 he settled in Hüttenberg, where he worked as a miner. Harrer's father, Josef, was a native of Styria, and the parents met in Semmering . Harrer's sister Lydia was born in 1921, brother Josef in 1924 and sister Ruth in 1931.

After his father was transferred, Harrer attended elementary and secondary school in Bruck an der Mur , Styria . There he became a member of the German Gymnastics Club. After another transfer of his father (1927) Heinrich moved to the secondary school in Graz . At the age of 17 Heinrich Harrer became a member of the student union Akademischer Turnverein Graz (ATV). As a teenager he discovered his great passion, the sport (alpine and Nordic skiing, mountaineering, swimming, athletics, tennis, handball, from 1955 also golf). At the age of fifteen he made his first attempts at climbing in the Julian Alps . At the age of sixteen he started taking part in ski competitions. In the winter semester of 1933/1934 he became active at ATV Graz, was an academic downhill world champion in 1937, and later (1958) also an Austrian golf champion.

From 1933 to 1938 he completed a teaching degree in geography and sport at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz . He financed his studies a. a. - after a successful ski instructor and mountain guide exam - with holding ski and climbing courses. He founded a ski school on the Tauplitz , where he was also responsible as a hut warden for the club's own Grazer Haus refuge , and also worked in Sexten in the Dolomites .

In 1936 Harrer should have participated in the downhill and slalom at the Winter Olympics. This did not happen because the alpine ski teams of Austria and Switzerland boycotted the competition due to disputes over the professional status of ski instructors. A year later he became national coach of the Austrian national ski team for women.

Attitude to the Nazi regime

It was not until 1996, in the run-up to the film Seven Years in Tibet (1997) , that ORF editor and filmmaker Gerald Lehner found membership cards in American archives. Harrer joined the SA in the underground in October 1933 , almost five years before the " Anschluss of Austria " to the National Socialist German Reich . Harrer himself has always denied this representation. Even before the Eiger expedition, Harrer became a member of the SS (from April 1, 1938, SS membership number: 73,896) and the NSDAP (from May 1, 1938, membership number : 6,307,081), and was then a sports instructor of the SS with the rank of SS - Oberscharfuhrer . Harrer later called these accessions a “stupid mistake” and “ideological error”. Heinrich Himmler was one of his admirers and supporters . Himmler also accelerated the approval process (common for SS men) for Harrer's wedding to Lotte Wegener. On December 20, 1938, the “ Race and Settlement Main Office ” in Berlin granted permission. The SS central administration created an 80-page file on Harrer. Harrer denied - when asked by Gerald Lehner - his acquaintance with Bruno Beger , who, a few years before Harrer, was an anthropologist with an SS expedition in Tibet as the Nazis' “race researcher”. Beger stated, however, that both had known each other for a long time and were Duz friends. Harrer's mountain companion Andreas "Anderl" Heckmair also claimed that Harrer had a red pennant with a swastika in his backpack, but was unable to hoist it on the summit because of the strong wind.

Climbing the north face of the Eiger (1938)

Mountaineering continued to fascinate Harrer. In March 1938 Austria was annexed by the German Reich. During the university semester break, Harrer met the alpinist Fritz Kasparek while climbing in the Dolomites . On July 9, 1938, immediately after taking his last state examination, he drove to Grindelwald to take part in the first ascent of the Eiger north face . Many experienced alpinists had previously failed there. From July 21 to 24, 1938, he succeeded in taking the risk with Anderl Heckmair , Fritz Kasparek and Ludwig Vörg . The four successful climbers were then received by Adolf Hitler and each received a photo with a personal dedication.

Marriages and private matters

In December 1938 he married Lotte Wegener (1920–1989), the daughter of the German polar explorer Alfred Wegener, who died in the Greenland Ice cream in 1930 . Harrer's son Peter was born in December 1939. Harrer was interned in India at the time. The marriage with Lotte was divorced while he was in Asia; the second marriage with Etta Truxa lasted from 1952 to 1958. Until Harrer's death, there was his third marriage to Carina Haarhaus (1922-2014), whom he met in 1957 at a golf club.

India and Tibet (1939–1951)

In the summer of 1939 an exploration expedition to Nanga Parbat , organized by the German Himalaya Foundation , took place, in which Harrer, under the direction of Peter Aufschnaiter, took part alongside Lutz Chicken and Hans Lobenhoffer (1916-2014). When the Germans were waiting in Karachi at the end of August for the overdue cargo ship to return home, they were detained for the Second World War, which began on September 1, 1939 : first in temporary camps, then after England entered the war on September 3, in the British Detention Center in Ahmadnagar near Bombay ; last they were moved to Dehra Dun at the foot of the Himalayas.

Many of the internees wanted to break out and break through to Japanese lines: Harrer succeeded in breaking out in 1944, the fifth time. The successful fourth escape attempt, which Harrer had made together with the Italian general Marchese (who financed the company) in 1943, ended after a month when the exhausted Marchese refused to march on to the nearest forest (the two marched in India only at night and hid during the day). The inmates were brought back with courtesy and some respect for their athletic performance, but Harrer decided to go his own way after the next outbreak. After the 28 days of solitary confinement, which is usual for the offense, he began to plan it and was financially supported by the older Marchese, who, however, did not want to participate again.

The fifth attempt on April 29, 1944, in a group of seven people, including Aufschnaiter, was successful. This group also included Rolf Magener and Heins von Have , who made it through to the Japanese in Burma via Calcutta in about six weeks , while Harrer and the other escapees wanted to reach the Japanese lines in the east via Tibet , which should be regarded as neutral . Harrer named the German boxer Hans Kopp and a man named Sattler (both from Berlin) as well as Bruno Treipel from Salzburg as partners.

Immediately after the escape, the group had separated, later the five marching towards Tibet found together again rather by chance; Soon afterwards, Sattler voluntarily returned to the internment camp after suffering from a mountain sickness attack. The others marched at times in groups of four, at times in teams of two (Harrer then with Kopp), initially only at night. On May 17, 1944, they crossed the border over the 5300 meter high Tsangtschokla Pass. From then on, for the time being, they also ventured out during the day.

In Tibet, however, it was found that Tibetans were punishable by a criminal offense from selling food to strangers without a permit. You could occasionally buy them at black market prices, but the funds would not have been enough for long. The refugees were referred to the abbot of the nearest monastery, Thuling , who was competent to issue permits , but only did so with the assurance that the foreigners would immediately move to Shangtze (on the border with India).

After Treipel had also moved to India, the trio Harrer, Aufschnaiter and Kopp stayed together until the end of the war (which made reaching Japanese lines obsolete). In the border village of Tradün (to Nepal), up to which they had finally received a provisional permit, they wanted to be forced to emigrate to Nepal, which only Kopp did. He was promptly deported to India a few days later, where the British internment camps were not closed until early 1948, as it later turned out. Harrer and Aufschnaiter planned from now on to reach Lhasa and fled the border village.

Over the course of the entire journey, the two climbed at least 50 passes - none of them less than 5000 meters - and covered around 2100 kilometers on foot. On January 15, 1946, they reached the then "Forbidden City" Lhasa.

Aufschnaiter became an advisor to the Tibetan government on agricultural and urban planning issues, Harrer initially a translator and photographer for the Tibetan government, later a teacher (for English, geography and mathematics) and finally a friend and teacher of the young 14th Dalai Lama , for whom he also a Repaired private cinema. The two of them enjoyed a warm relationship until Harrer's death.

Because of the Tibetan-Chinese conflict of 1950/51, Harrer fled to India in 1951, initially accompanying the Dalai Lama to the border. From there, Harrer returned to Europe the next year.

Back in Europe (1952-2006)

In 1952 Harrer returned to Europe and settled in Kitzbühel . Later he also lived temporarily in the hamlet of Münichau near Kitzbühel and in Liechtenstein . Many of Harrer's travel stories were shown in the television series Heinrich Harrer reported , which was broadcast on ARD between 1965 and 1983.

As an author, he wrote over 20 books. His best-known work is Seven Years in Tibet , in which Harrer describes his time with Peter Aufschnaiter in Tibet and his acquaintance with the 14th Dalai Lama. He began to write about these experiences in India. The book became a worldwide success (translated into 53 languages, worldwide circulation so far over 4 million) and made him famous. 1997 Jean-Jacques Annaud filmed the book under the same title with Brad Pitt in the role of Heinrich Harrer.

In 1977 he was one of the founding members of the PEN Club Liechtenstein .

Heinrich Harrer died on January 7th, 2006 at the age of 93 in the hospital in Friesach in Carinthia.

Expeditions

Awards (excerpt)

Afterlife

To this day, Harrer is considered one of the pioneers in the spread of Tibetan culture in the West, both in terms of the reception of Buddhism and the political situation in the country. As with other of his contemporaries of alpinism, the problem of the National Socialist past is still under discussion today. His life has been filmed several times .

The Heinrich Harrer Museum has been located in Hüttenberg, his birthplace, since 1983 . His lifelong friendship with the 14th Dalai Lama also led to closer contact between Austria and Tibet, which in addition to Switzerland developed into the center of exile culture in Europe, and the Dalai Lama also made several visits to Carinthia. In 2008 the Tibet Center Institute , Europe's first academic educational institution for Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan medicine , was established in Knappenberg near Hüttenberg .

In 2015, his last house in the Knappenberger Barbara-Siedlung was for sale. It belonged to the community, a cultural use in the vicinity of the Harrer Museum and the Tibet Center was not realized. According to the congregation, the sale is “subject to conditions that the memory of Heinrich Harrer is also preserved.” The income went towards the renovation of the Lingkor prayer path in Hüttenberg .

Works

  • Seven years in Tibet. My life at the court of the Dalai Lama. Ullstein, Vienna 1952. (Ullstein 2006, ISBN 3-548-35753-9 )
  • with Heinz Woltareck : My pictures of Tibet. 1953.
  • with Wilhelm Baumann : Escape across the Himalayas. 1953.
  • with Thubten Jigme Norbu: Tibet, lost homeland. 1961.
  • The desire for great adventure. 1968.
  • Impressions from Tibet. Saved treasures. 1974.
  • The last five hundred. Expedition to the dwarf peoples on the Andamans. Ullstein, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-550-06574-4 .
  • I come from the stone age. Eternal ice in the jungle of the South Seas. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1978, ISBN 3-596-23506-5 .
  • Let the gods win. Reunion with Nepal. 1978.
  • The last paradises of mankind. Adventurous journeys to the forgotten peoples. 1979.
  • Under Papuans. People and culture since their stone age. 1979.
  • Secret africa. Pinguin-Verlag, Innsbruck 1979, ISBN 3-524-76027-9 .
  • Hookah-hookah. With the Xingu Indians in the Amazon region. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-548-32013-9 .
  • The Himalayas are blooming. Flowers and people in the Himalayan countries. Pinguin, Innsbruck 1980, ISBN 3-524-76031-7 .
  • Under Papuans. People and culture since their stone age. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-596-23508-1 .
  • Rinpoche from Ladakh. Pinguin-Verlag, Pinguin 1981, Innsbruck 1981, ISBN 3-7016-2102-0 .
  • The last five hundred. Expeditions to the dwarf peoples on the Andamans. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1983, ISBN 3-550-06574-4 .
  • My research trips. Pinguin, Innsbruck 1986, ISBN 3-7016-2242-6 .
  • Borneo. People and culture since their stone age. Pinguin, Innsbruck 1988, ISBN 3-7016-2294-9 .
  • Ladakh. Gods and people behind the Himalayas. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-548-32016-3 .
  • The book from the Eiger. Pinguin, Innsbruck / Umschau, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-7016-2290-6 .
  • On road. Guide for travelers. With the collaboration of Axel Thorer and KR Walddorf. Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 3-7653-0318-6 .
  • Adventure travel to forgotten peoples. The last paradises of mankind. 1990.
  • Tibet and its medicine - 2500 years of healing art. 1992, ISBN 3-7016-2395-3 .
  • Memories of Tibet. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-550-06813-1 .
  • Ghosts and demons. Magical experiences in foreign countries. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-548-35336-3 .
  • Old Lhasa. Images from Tibet. Ullstein, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-550-08435-8 .
  • Reunion with Tibet. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-548-35666-4 .
  • The white spider. The big book from the Eiger. Ullstein, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-548-36229-X .
  • My life. Ullstein, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-550-07524-3 .
  • I think of Bhutan. Herbig, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7766-2439-6 .

literature

Movies

Documentaries

  • Seven Years in Tibet , documentary, UK, 1956.
  • The rich life of Heinrich Harrer , 2 parts, series Bergwelten , TV documentary, ServusTV / OeAV, Austria, 2012.
  • Climbing for the Fatherland , British television film about mountaineering and the hero cult under National Socialism (directors: Kevin Sim, Audrey Salkeld); with Reinhold Messner , Joe Simpson , Heinz Zak and Heinrich Harrer, among others .

Feature films

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Harrer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Holger Kreitling : Heinrich Harrer, a life with Tibet, SS and CIA. In: The world. 5th July 2012.
  2. ↑ cf. Lehner 2006.
  3. ↑ Heinrich Harrer: My life . Ullstein, Berlin 2008, p. 41.
  4. ↑ orf.at
  5. ↑ This corresponded to the Wehrmacht rank of sergeant, an activity which, however, according to his own admission, he never carried out.
  6. ↑ Wiliam Cole, AP: Heinrich Harrer is dead. In: Der Spiegel. January 7, 2006. (online)
  7. ↑ Gerald Lehner: Between Hitler and the Himalaya. Heinrich Harrer's memory gaps . Czernin, Vienna 2007, p. 79.
  8. ↑ Gerald Lehner: Between Hitler and the Himalaya. Heinrich Harrer's memory gaps . Czernin, Vienna 2007, p. 31.
  9. ↑ Gerald Lehner: Between Hitler and the Himalaya. Heinrich Harrer's memory gaps . Czernin, Vienna 2007, p. 49.
  10. ↑ Katharina Irmgard Emma Haarhaus GND 132916770
  11. ↑ Michael Wood, Colby Coombs: Alaska: a climbing guide . The Mountaineers Books, 2002, ISBN 0-89886-724-X , pp. 81 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  12. ^ Heinrich Harrer: Alaska - three first ascents . In: Polar Research . tape 24 . German Society for Polar Research, Kiel May 1, 1956, p. 281 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  13. ↑ harrer-webarchiv.huettenberg.at (PDF; 4.7 MB) / certificate of appointment.
  14. ↑ Harrer-Haus in Knappenberg is sold quietly. In: Kleine Zeitung online, September 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ a b Lingkor should be accessible again in September. In: Kleine Zeitung online, August 22, 2015; Quote ibid.
  16. ↑ Julia Kospach: Truth and Meaning Seeker. In: Berliner Zeitung . January 2, 2007, accessed June 18, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Harrer, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian mountaineer, explorer, geographer and author
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Obergossen, Hüttenberg
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 2006
Place of death Friesach