Julius von Payer

Julius Payer (portrait as first lieutenant, taken by Fritz Luckhardt , undated, before 1875)

Julius Johannes Ludovicus Payer , since 1876 Ritter von Payer (born September 2, 1842 in Teplitz-Schönau , Bohemia , † August 29, 1915 in Veldes (now Bled, Slovenia )), was an Austro-Hungarian officer, polar and alpine researcher, Cartographer and professor at the military academy, who also made a name for himself as a painter.

With Carl Weyprecht , he led the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition from 1872 to 1874 . a. the arctic archipelago Franz-Josef-Land was discovered. In recognition of these services, Julius Payer was raised to hereditary nobility or knighthood in 1876.

Life

education

Julius was the son of the Uhlan Captain Franz Payer and the Blandine Payer, nee John. His older brother Richard Payer was an explorer in the Amazon . Julius von Payer's training took place first at the Cadet Institute in Krakow and then from 1856 to 1859 at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt . Among his teachers was the well-known geographer and alpine researcher Carl Sonklar . After successful completion, Payer was transferred to the 36th Infantry Regiment on June 15, 1859 as second lieutenant (Austrian: retired ).

Military and alpine research

On June 24, 1859, the Austrian defeat at Solferino , as a result of which most of Northern Italy fell to the Italian Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont . Julius Payer was initially not affected because his regiment was stationed in the Federal fortress Mainz of the German Confederation and in Frankfurt am Main to protect against a feared French attack . The monthly wage of Lieutenant Payer at that time was 36 guilders .

From 1860 to 1866 Payer's regiment was stationed in various locations in Veneto . Payer used this to explore different Alpine peaks every year during his vacation and to report on them in writing. Thirty first ascents in the Ortler , Adamello and Glockner groups are attributed to him.

From 1860 to 1862 Julius Payer was with the troops in Verona and made his first mountain tours in the Monti Lessini and on Monte Baldo from there . In 1863 he climbed the Großglockner from the Tyrolean town of Kals and wrote an interesting and professional report about it, which was published in 1864 with drawings and a map in the journal Geographische Mitteilungen by August Petermann . In 1864 Payer became the commandant of the Lombardo lagoon fort near Chioggia and in September undertook extensive exploratory tours through the area of ​​the Adamello and Presanella groups . When Payer stopped in Trento on his return trip , Major General Kuhn , who was in command there, became aware of the young lieutenant because he had drawn reliable maps of the mountain range while climbing on vacation. Payer later described the encounter with the general as everything that was decisive for his life. In the late summer of 1865, Payer began to develop the Ortler group by mountaineering. Until 1865 he also worked as a teacher of history and geography at the military academy.

In the Italian War of 1866, Payer took part in the 3rd Battalion of the 36th Infantry Regiment. On June 17, 1866 he was promoted to first lieutenant. In the Battle of Custozza on June 24, 1866, he was able to take away an enemy cannon and was awarded the Military Merit Cross on July 18 . Despite winning the battle, Austria had lost the war against Prussia and had to cede Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy , which was allied with Prussia . Therefore the 36th Infantry Regiment was moved from Veneto to the area around Jägerndorf in Silesia .

On the way there, Payer took his vacation in September 1866, which he used to explore the western Ortler Alps ( Trafoier area). In August of the following year, Payer traveled from Jägerndorf via Vienna and Venice to Trento to explore the southern Ortler Alps. Julius Payer almost died when a snow overhang on Punta San Matteo unexpectedly came off. Payer and his guide Johann Pinggera fell 200 meters. Fortunately for her, there was a snow pit there, so both of them got away with life and without serious injuries.

When General Kuhn became Minister of War in early 1868, he remembered Payer and appointed him to the Military Geography Institute , whose director August von Fligely Payer further promoted. To create new maps of the Adamello and Ortler areas , Payer received three mountain-experienced Tyrolean Kaiserjäger , 1,000 guilders and a theodolite . Payer was now on an official mission, had professional equipment and was no longer restricted to a few weeks of vacation, but he remained an officer in the 36th Infantry Regiment. After Payer had completed the surveying work in autumn 1868, the Minister of War released him from his official duties in January 1869 in order to enable him to participate in the Second German North Polar Expedition (1869/70) by Petermann and Koldewey . Kuhn was later one of the supporters of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition by Payer and Weyprecht (1872–1874).

Already at the age of 27, Julius Payer was considered an accomplished explorer of the high mountains , who had both scientific observations in nature and topographical relationships and was also able to put his findings down in writing. In 1868, the University of Halle appointed him a doctorate for his mountaineering research and publications. phil. honorary.

Polar expeditions

Julius Payer (left) with Karl Weyprecht on the title page of the illustrated Wiener Extraablattes on September 25, 1874

In 1869/70, at the invitation of August Petermann , Payer took part in the Second German North Polar Expedition under Captain Carl Koldewey to East Greenland . The expedition left Bremerhaven on June 15, 1869 in the presence of King Wilhelm of Prussia . With the Germania one reached the Shannon Island as the northernmost point . The coast between 73 ° and 77 ° north latitude was measured from the winter quarters at Sabine Island . Payer undertook several sleigh trips to explore the country, especially around the Kaiser-Franz-Joseph-Fjord . As an experienced alpinist, he climbed mountains near the coast, such as an almost 2100 m high summit near the 2320 m high Payer Tinde, named after him . On September 11, 1870, Germania returned safely to Bremerhaven.

On October 15, 1870, Payer was received by Emperor Franz Josef I in Vienna for a half-hour private audience, during which he reported the results of the expedition to the monarch. With the highest resolution of November 24, 1870, Payer received the Order of the Iron Crown III in recognition of his services to science during the Second German North Polar Expedition . Class, combined with the right to hereditary knighthood.

A second expedition took him in 1871 with Carl Weyprecht on the Isbjörn chartered by Count Hans Wilczek into the waters between Spitsbergen and Nowaja Zemlya . The trip was prepared by the great Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition , which took place from 1872 to 1874 with Carl Weyprecht as commander at sea and Julius Payer as commander on land. It led to the discovery of Franz Joseph Land . Soon after his return, many critics had spoken out who doubted the existence of the Franz Joseph Land and also the experiences of the participants during the expedition. On the basis of testimonies, diaries and scientific sketches, Payer was able to refute the doubts to a large extent (the areas of König-Oskar-Land and Petermann-Land that he supposedly discovered during this expedition actually turned out to be non-existent), but it was due to distrust in the officer caste even thwarted his extra-tour promotion to captain . Payer, offended in his honor, took his leave - with a fee of 44 guilders.

marriage

In 1876 Julius von Payer stayed in Franzensbad to relax . There he made the acquaintance of the wealthy Frankfurt banker's wife Fanny Kann , b. Gumpertz (born July 19, 1845). Her father Leopold Gumpertz had an exchange shop on Zeil 61 (address book 1872). Gumpertz took the Israelite oath in Frankfurt in 1839. Fanny Kann was married to the Frankfurt banker (shop: Bleichstrasse 6) Beer Moses Kann , a nephew of Louis Rothschild . Fanny Kann was obviously very taken with the famous mountaineer and polar explorer. She divorced that same year and married Julius von Payer. On November 15, 1877, Payer reported living in Frankfurt. From 1877 to 1879 the couple lived in Frankfurt at Hanauer Landstrasse 15 in Ostend . Two children were born, first daughter Oliva Julia Fanny on May 6, 1877 in Bayonne and son Julius on May 15, 1881 in Frankfurt.

painting

Julius von Payer: Never go back! (1892)

Payer studied painting at the Städel Institute under professors Hasselhorst , Lutze and Sommer. He also worked in Frankfurt with anatomy on cadavers and the drawing perspective. At the suggestion of Ferdinand Wagner , he took up the broad brush for the first time and painted oil paintings. Personally, he was completely trapped in love for his sophisticated wife. In 1878 Payer wrote from Frankfurt to his friend, the well-known Africa traveler Gerhard Rohlfs , that if he hadn't been so happily married, he would have gladly taken part in the planned expedition to the "countries to the black guys". Payer continued his education from 1880 to 1882 at the Munich Academy under Alexander Wagner , whose composition and painting technique inspired him. In Munich, Payer created a larger cycle of pictures about the Franklin polar expedition , for which he received the large medal from the Munich Academy. On December 31, 1882, the Payers officially signed off from Frankfurt to Paris .

In Paris, Payer had his studio in the Rue de Martin, where he received influences from Constant, Bonnat , Cabanel, Gallait and Tattegrain. In Munkacsy's studio he learned the effective contrast between bright white and velvety black-brown. In 1884 he lost an eye to an infection . For the rest of his life he blamed his wife Fanny, who improperly dabbed off a trail of blood with cotton balls after the operation . On top of that, he was short-sighted from a young age. For his paintings he received gold medals in Paris in 1887 and 1889, in Munich in 1885, in Berlin in 1888 and in Chicago in 1894.

Monumental paintings of him with arctic themes are in the Natural History Museum and in the Marinesaal of the Army History Museum in Vienna.

divorce

In 1890 Julius von Payer separated from his wife and children who stayed in Paris. Allegedly, Fanny von Payer had a marked tendency towards social life. It should have been very important to her to show the famous north polar explorer everywhere, which Payer evidently displeased. After the separation, Payer returned to Vienna and never saw his wife and children again, even the correspondence soon fell asleep.

In Vienna, Payer moved back into his old apartment at Bechardgasse 14. There, in the former studio of Hans Makart , he opened a painting school for young women. Helene Lillmann from Frankfurt was among his students . Since 1892 he felt sick and suffering from nervous exhaustion ( neurasthenia ). In 1892, however, he also painted his most famous painting, “Never Go Back”. Since 1895 he showed interest in the plans for a German South Pole expedition . In 1898 Fridtjof Nansen visited him in Vienna. He earned part of his livelihood from lectures; so he held their 1228 in 18 years. For Tyrol , Payer worked for the Baedeker travel guide.

Sickness and death

Payer's grave in the Vienna Central Cemetery (As in older literature, the dates of life differ slightly from the actual ones.)

In the 1890s he took his daughter Adele, who came from an earlier relationship, to live with him. Around 1903 it was largely forgotten. Of course, that year he received a grace salary of 6000 crowns annually until the end of his life. He regularly spent his summer vacations in Bad Veldes in the Duchy of Carniola , on Lake Veldes between the Julian Alps and Karawanken . He was a supporter of the spa methods of the Riklische institute with extensive summer baths. On May 26, 1912, he, who had been in excellent health until then, suffered a stroke that deprived him of speech. He was only able to communicate in writing. His loneliness increased after the marriage of his daughter Adele to Oberleutnant v. Manker-Lerchenstein (an ancestor of the director Gustav Manker ). In his last years he lived with a woman from Vienna who had once been a student of his and whom he had introduced to the art of painting in a marriage-like community. Payer died of a heart attack on August 29, 1915 in Veldes. In the last three years of his life, his partner was so absorbed in the care of Payer that she voluntarily followed him into her death. He was buried on September 4, 1915 in a grave of honor in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 32 A, number 37).

reception

Memorial plaque in Payer's birthplace Teplice

The Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition is documented in detail in the marine hall of the Vienna Army History Museum . On display are numerous paintings by Julius Payer, including the monumental painting “Never Go Back ”, which reflects the drama of the situation when the crew wanted to return to the ship trapped in the ice, which would have meant certain death. There are also models of ships on display that relate to the expedition and Julius von Payer's famous “snake”. These are reflections that Payer put on paper shortly before his death and that tell about his life. The pieces of paper were later glued together and resulted in a total of 24 rolls, which were labeled "The Snake" . Several photographs also illustrate what is happening and round off the exhibition.

The Payerhütte am Ortler in South Tyrol , the Payer Tinde on the Suess-Land peninsula in East Greenland, the Payer-Land in the south of the König-Wilhelm-Land and the Payer Group in Neuschwabenland are named after Payer . He was also remembered when naming Payergasse in the 16th district of Ottakring , Julius-Payer-Gasse in the 22nd district of Donaustadt and the Vega-Payer-Weyprecht barracks in the 14th district of Penzing . There is a Payergasse in Mödling and a Payer-Weyprecht-Straße in Graz.

On August 10, 1973, Austrian Post issued the 100 Years Discovery of Franz Joseph Land postage stamp , designed by Adalbert Pilch after a picture by “J. Payer ”.

The former Leipzigerhütte of the DÖAV - Leipzig section , which is located below the Rifugio Mandrone in the Adamello group and now serves as the research facility of the Museum of Science - MUSE in Trento , is also named after Julius Payer.

Fonts (selection)

• The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition in the years 1872–1874, along with a sketch of the second German North Pole expedition 1869–1870 and the Polar Expedition of 1871 . Time-Life-Edition, Amsterdam 1983, ISBN 90-6182-761-2 (repr. Of the Vienna 1876 edition).
  • The discovery of Emperor Franz Joseph Land. 1872-1874. Edited and provided with a foreword by Detlef Brennecke . Edition Erdmann, Wiesbaden 2017, ISBN 978-3-7374-0039-8 .

Works (selection of paintings)

• Never go back! 1892, oil on canvas, approx. 330 × 460 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum , Vienna
• Polar bear on a floe , around 1890, oil on canvas, approx. 50 × 60 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
• The grave of the machinist Krisch , around 1890, oil on canvas, approx. 50 × 60 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
• Ice landscape with three men , around 1890, oil on canvas, approx. 35 × 50 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
• SMS Admiral Tegetthoff trapped in the ice , around 1890, oil on canvas, approx. 30 × 40 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
• Study for the painting “Never go back” , around 1890, oil on canvas, approx. 45 × 90 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna

literature

Technical literature and non-fiction books

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Peyer, mostly Payer, Julius . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 22nd part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1870, pp. 155–157 ( digitized version ).
• Martin Müller: Julius von Payer. A pioneer of alpine and polar research and painter of the polar world . Scientific VG, Stuttgart 1956.
• G. Hamann:  Payer Julius von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 7, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-7001-0187-2 , p. 374 f. (Direct links on p. 374 , p. 375 ).
• Günter Tiggesbäumker: Carl Weyprecht 1838–1881 . (PDF; 607 kB). In: Polar Research . 51 (2), 1981, pp. 213-218.
• Claudia Ham (ed.): The horrors of ice and darkness. Austria and the Arctic (exhibition catalog) . Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna 1996.
• Andreas Pöschek: Secret North Pole. The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition 1872–1874. Vienna 1999.
• Günther Schefbeck:  Payer, Julius Johann Ludwig Ritter von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 147 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Manfried Rauchsteiner : The Payerschlange. The mysterious notes of an aging genius. In: Viribus Unitis. Annual report 2000 of the Army History Museum. Vienna 2001, pp. 9–40.
• Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Ed.): Frankfurt and the North Pole. Exhibition catalog. Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-285-7 .
• Christoph Höbenreich: Expedition Franz Josef Land. On the trail of explorers to the north. Frederking-Thaler, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-89405-499-1 .
• Helmut Neuhold: Austria's heroes at sea. Styria, Vienna / Graz / Klagenfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-222-13306-0 , pp. 142–159.
• Frank Berger: Julius Payer. The unexplored world of mountains and ice. Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck-Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7022-3441-6 .

Fiction

• Luis Trenker : Heroes of the Mountains. 1st edition. Knaur publishing house, Berlin 1935, DNB 576716111 .
• Christoph Ransmayr : The horrors of ice and darkness . Novel. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-596-25419-1 .
• Fritz Lehner : R . Novel. Seifert Verlag, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-902406-03-8 .

Web links

Commons : Julius von Payer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature and other media by and about Julius von Payer in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
• Literature by and about Julius von Payer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Newspaper article about Julius von Payer in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
• Works by Julius von Payer in the Gutenberg-DE project
• Julius von Payer in the Internet Archive
• Personal folder on Julius von Payer (I) (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)
• Personal folder on Julius von Payer (II) (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)
• Jan Županič, Michal Fiala: Julius Payer . Biography with coat of arms (Czech).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Martin Müller: Julius von Payer. A pioneer of alpine and polar research and painter of the polar world. Scientific publishing company, Stuttgart 1956, p. 1.
2. ^ Johann Svoboda: "The Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt and its pupils from the establishment of the institute to our days." Second volume, self-published, kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1894, p. 370 and p. 383–384 .
3. ↑ Friedrich Jung et al.: “History of the kk 36th Line Infantry Regiment”, self-published, Prague 1875, pp. 834–837.
4. ↑ zs.thulb.uni-jena.de
5. ↑ Julius Payer: The Adamello-Presanella-Alps after the research and recordings of Julius Payer. Supplementary booklet No. 17 to Petermann's "Geographische Mitteilungen", Justus Perthes, Gotha 1865 ( books.google.de )
6. ^ ^{A b c} Frank Berger: Julius Payer. The unexplored world of mountains and ice. Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck-Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7022-3441-6 , pp. 17-19.
7. ↑ Julius Payer: The Ortler Alps (Sulden area and Monte Cividale) based on research and photographs by Julius Payer. Supplementary booklet No. 18 to Petermann's "Geographische Mitteilungen", Justus Perthes, Gotha 1867 ( books.google.de )
8. ^ Martin Müller: Julius von Payer. A pioneer of alpine and polar research and painter of the polar world. Scientific VG, Stuttgart 1956, p. 23.
9. ↑ Julius Payer: The western Ortler Alps (Trafoier area) based on research and recordings by Julius Payer. Supplementary booklet No. 23 to Petermann's "Geographische Mitteilungen", Justus Perthes, Gotha 1868 ( books.google.de )
10. ↑ Julius Payer: The southern Ortler Alps based on research and recordings by Julius Payer. Supplementary booklet No. 27 to Petermann's "Geographische Mitteilungen", Justus Perthes, Gotha 1869 ( books.google.de )
11. ↑ Payer about himself. In:  Teplitz-Schönauer Anzeiger , February 10, 1916, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
12. ↑ Quays. Royal Military schematism for 1869/1870 and for 1871. Vienna, from the kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei
13. ↑ Understanding and experiencing the world. Essays on the history of science and discovery. Günther Hamann on retirement, ed. by Johannes Dörflinger (= Perspectives on the History of Science. 1). Böhlau, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-205-98041-7 , p. 251.
14. ^ Martin Müller: Julius von Payer. A pioneer of alpine and polar research and painter of the polar world. Scientific publishing company, Stuttgart 1956, p. 74.
15. ^ German North Pole Expedition. In:  Wiener Zeitung , October 23, 1870, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
16. ↑ Official part. In:  Wiener Zeitung , December 11, 1870, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).
17. ^ Martin Müller: Julius von Payer. A pioneer of alpine and polar research and painter of the polar world. Scientific publishing company, Stuttgart 1956, pp. 1 and 183.
18. ^ Army History Museum / Military History Institute (ed.): The Army History Museum in the Vienna Arsenal . Verlag Militaria , Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-902551-69-6 , p. 159.
19. ↑ Homepage for Prof. Adalbert Pilch ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. > Postage stamps. Retrieved August 28, 2016. 
20. ↑ Centro studi Adamello “Julius Payer” (in Italian) accessed on November 14, 2017.