Mathias Zdarsky

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Mathias Zdarsky, 1908
Mathias Zdarsky presents his alpine skiing technique, 1905
Mathias Zdarsky's grave in Habernreith ( Lilienfeld municipality )
Monument in Lilienfeld
Nostalgic ski race in honor of Zdarsky - runners in historical equipment at the start

Mathias Zdarsky [ ˈzdarski ] (born February 25, 1856 in Kozichowitz near Trebitsch ; † June 20, 1940 in St. Pölten ) was one of the first ski pioneers and is considered to be one of the founders of alpine skiing technique . He was also active as a teacher , painter and sculptor .

Live and act

Mathias Zdarsky was the tenth child of a sawmill in Kozichowitz. Zdarsky was blind in one eye in his childhood, graduated from the teacher training college in Brno in 1878 and worked as a teacher until 1883. He then studied painting, sculpture and technology in Munich and Zurich. During his studies he made numerous trips along the Danube as well as to Bosnia , Italy and North Africa, where he also made numerous sketches and pictures.

The enthusiastic gymnast was also interested in flying, among other things. During this time of study he bought an agricultural business in Lilienfeld. Encouraged by Fridtjof Nansen's crossing of Greenland , he, like many others, was interested in the centuries-old Nordic skiing technique. However, Zdarsky soon discovered that it was unsuitable for the Alpine region because the tubular bracket binding that was common at the time gave the foot too little support. In 1890 he developed the laterally stable , strongly sprung Lilienfelder steel sole binding , which made the ski steerable because the heel could no longer slip sideways. He also shortened the ski and made it possible for the first time to ski on steep slopes and gates . He patented his binding in 1896 and it became the basis of modern ski bindings . As with the old Norwegian skiing techniques, he only used one ski pole. The “Alpine (Lilienfelder) Skiing Technique” (“Vorlagestemmschwung”) developed by Zdarsky was the first alpine swing technique , which is why Zdarsky is considered to be the founder of alpine skiing.

Even his opponents could not avoid copying his binding and picking out individual elements from his driving technique in order to improve their "plowing technique".

In 1898 Zdarsky founded the Lilienfeld Ski Club and in 1900 the "International Alpine Ski Club" (later renamed the "Alpine Ski Club"), which with its 1889 members was the largest ski club in Central Europe before the First World War . In January 1905 Mathias Zdarsky made the first steep descent. In order to prove the superiority of his skiing technique, he invited friends of the Norwegian as well as the skiing technique he developed to a "comparison run" on the Breite Ries on the Schneeberg , during which the fans of the Norwegian technique had to admit defeat. On 19 March 1905 he organized the Muckenkogel at Lilienfeld under the name race the first door travel of skiing history on which participated 24 participants. The course resembled a modern giant slalom . Both speed and fall-free driving were rated. During the First World War, Zdarsky trained mountain troops in skiing and worked as an avalanche expert. During a rescue after an avalanche in the Niedergailtal he was caught in a secondary avalanche in February 1916 and he suffered numerous broken bones. Zdarsky was able to restore his mobility through an iron will and was still able to ski at the age of eighty. He described the skiing technique he developed in the book "Die Lilienfelder Skilauf-Technik", which appeared in 1897 and was published in a shortened and modified form by 1925 in 17 editions. He is also considered the inventor of the bivouac sack .

In 1931 he was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria , and in 1936 the Officer's Cross of the Austrian Order of Merit . In 1951 the Zdarskyweg in Vienna - Hietzing and in 1977 the Zdarskystraße in St. Pölten- Spratzern were named after him. A memorial in Lilienfeld commemorates him.

In 1981 Zdarsky showrooms were set up in the district home museum in Lilienfeld, and in 1996 they were combined to form the “Zdarsky Ski Museum”. Also in 1981 a town partnership was established between Lilienfeld and the Japanese city of Jōetsu , which goes back to Zdarsky's work: Theodor Edler von Lerch , a student of Zdarsky, brought skiing to Jōetsu as an exchange officer, from where it also spread to Japan. On October 26, 1991 , a town twinning was concluded with Třebíč , to which the place of birth then belonged.

Every year on the Muckenkogel, a nostalgic ski race takes place at the Traisner Hut on a Sunday around March 19 in memory of Mathias Zdarsky, which is the only one in the world under strictly historical conditions like in Zdarsky's time. Historical equipment from head to ski and one-pole technique are a requirement for the participants, the course is set with true-to-original flags and the timekeeping is done by hand. There is also the Zdarsky Inventor's Trail on the Muckenkogel, which leads in a circular route from the mountain station of the chairlift to the Kosteralm and back again and provides information about Zdarsky and his inventions on display boards, as well as the Zdarsky Panorama Trail, which runs from the mountain station to the Traisner Hut the Hinteralpe and back again and gives an impression of Zdarsky's ski world. Mount Zdarsky bears his name in the Antarctic .

Works

  • Mathias Zdarsky: "Lilienfelder Skilauf-Technik", Hamburg 1897.
  • Mathias Zdarsky: "Methodical skiing exercises". In: Alpen-Skiverein (Ed.): "Skisport - Collected Essays by Mathias Zdarsky", Vienna 1915, and in: "Der Schnee", Vienna 1907.

literature

  • Erwin Mehl (ed.): “Zdarsky. Festschrift for the 80th birthday of the founder of alpine skiing February 25, 1936. A contribution to the history and teaching of alpine snow running ”, Vienna: Deutscher Verlag für Jugend und Volk, 1936.
  • Heinz Polednik: "World wonder of skiing - 6000 years of history and development of skiing", Wels 1969.
  • Erich Bazalka: "Ski history of Lower Austria", Waidhofen / Ybbs 1977.
  • Horst Tiwald: "In the footsteps of Mathias Zdarsky", Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-936212-13-9 .
  • Otmar Schöner (ed.): "Mathias Zdarsky and the pioneers in alpine snow", Reichenau an der Rax 2015.

Web links

Commons : Mathias Zdarsky  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mathias Zdarsky - 1856-1940. (PDF; 7.0 MB) In: pdf on lilienfeld.at. Retrieved March 26, 2012 .
  2. ^ State award for Matthias Zdarsky. In:  Neue Freie Presse , February 25, 1931, p. 11 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  3. ↑ Zdarsky's birthday. In:  The snow. Journal of the Alpine Ski and Hiking Association and the New Ski Tourist Club , March 7, 1936, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / sne
personal data
SURNAME Zdarsky, Mathias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian ski pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Kozichowitz near Trebitsch
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1940
Place of death St. Polten