Otto Herzog (mountaineer)

Otto Herzog (born October 5, 1888 in Fürth ; † August 27, 1964 in Munich ), known as Rambo , was a German extreme climber and mountaineer who was one of the best rock climbers in the Alpine region, especially at the beginning of the 20th century.

The trained carpenter and carpenter was the first to use the snap carabiner , which was previously only used as a fire-fighting device, for securing and thereby revolutionizing the safety technology for climbing. He was also one of the first to practice the cable traverse . Otto Herzog was a soldier in World War I and returned with a hand injury; But managed to quickly reach the highest climbing difficulty levels again.

Alpinistic milestones in the life of Otto Herzog:

• 1913: First ascent of the Schüsselkarspitze south face together with Hans Fiechtl . At the time, this tour was one of the most difficult climbs ever and was already approaching the VI. Degree .
• 1921: First ascent of the "Ha-He-Verschneendung" at Dreizinkenspitze in Karwendel together with Gustav Haber. This was the VI. Degree actually achieved. In addition to Wiessner's and Rossi's "Südost" at the Fleischbank and Solleder and Lettenbauer's ascent through the Civetta north-west face, there were three routes with the "Ha-He-intersection" through which the call for an extension of the then five-stage Dülfer scale to assess the degree of difficulty Climbing got louder and louder. Willo Welzenbach then introduced the six-point scale, which made the "Ha-He-intersection" officially one of the most difficult routes across the Alps.

Otto Herzog counts 178 first ascents and 26 absolute first ascents. After his great climbing achievements in the Eastern Alps , he was also active in mountaineering in Montenegro and the Caucasus .

The Herzogkante of the Lalidererspitze in the Karwendel , which he first climbed in 1911, is named after him.

literature

• Fritz Schmitt:  Duke, Otto. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 740 ( digitized version ).
• Uli Auffermann: Otto "Rambo" Herzog, pioneer of the VI. Degree
• Bergsteiger magazine , issue 4/2005, p. 102
• Walter Welsch: The Bavarian . Ed .: Section Bayerland of the German Alpine Club eV Volume 78 , 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-024886-3 , ISSN  1616-6450 , An frontline , p. 45–60 ( alpenverein-bayerland.de [PDF; accessed December 25, 2018]).

Web links

• Otto Herzog in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)