Otto Krisch
Otto Krisch , Czech Ota František Kříž , (born June 12, 1845 in Pačlavice , Moravia , † March 16, 1874 in front of Franz Josef Land ) was an Austrian polar driver.
Life
Krisch was the son of Antonín Kříž, a spa from Koryčany , and his wife Anna Kleiner from Bregenz . In his youth, Krisch's father worked on manorial estates in Waldburg in Württemberg . There he met Anna Kleiner and married her. The marriage produced nine children, Otto Krisch was the sixth. While his two oldest brothers were still born in Salzburg , Otto was born in his father's homeland. His mother died early and in the second marriage Antonín Kříž married Rosalie Michel, with whom he had a daughter Xaverina.
Otto Krisch graduated from secondary school in Kremsier , where his specialties were mathematics and drawing. For this reason, he began an apprenticeship as a machine fitter in Vienna at the age of 14 . In April 1866, Krisch was called up for military service, which he served in the Navy. During his three years of service, Krisch was promoted three times. In February 1870, Krisch, who had decided to remain in the military after completing his basic service, was promoted to corporal and six months later. As a machine sergeant, Krisch then served on various warships and became a machinist at the Adria steamship company in Trieste after the end of the war . There Carl Weyprecht won him over to participate as an officer in an expedition to the Arctic . The special conditions in the polar region were not known at all at that time.
The wooden schooner bar Admiral Tegetthoff , equipped with a steam engine , cast off on June 13, 1872 in Geestemünde . During the trip, Krisch fell ill with unrecognized pulmonary tuberculosis , from which he finally died on March 16, 1874. His body was buried on March 19 on Wilczek Island in what is probably the northernmost tomb in the world.
Krisch recorded his last ordeal in a diary, which his brother later published and financed a memorial stone for his brother from the proceeds.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Krisch, Otto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kříž, Ota František (Czech) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian polar explorer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 12, 1845 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pačlavice , Moravia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 16, 1874 |
| Place of death | in front of Franz-Josef-Land |