Paul Graetz (officer)

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Paul Graetz (1909)

Friedrich Paul Graetz (born July 25, 1875 in Zittau , † February 16, 1968 in Travemünde ) was a German officer. Between 1907 and 1909 he managed to cross Africa for the first time in an automobile . His aim was to prove the possibility of a motorized east-west connection in Africa.

Life

Africa Route by Paul Graetz, 1907–1909 (borders from 1912)
Front page of the travel report on Graetz 'crossing of Africa

Graetz ordered a vehicle modified according to his own plans from the Süddeutsche Automobil-Fabrik Gaggenau company in Gaggenau . Unimogs were built here until 2002 .

The vehicle was given 35 cm higher ground clearance than normal vehicles in Central Europe, a 35 hp four-cylinder engine and a 250-liter petrol tank in the rear, as well as another 125-liter tank in the front.

He wrote about his motives:

"My plan to cross Africa in an automobile arose from the intention of testing the automobile as a means of transporting goods and people in Africa, especially in German East Africa, for its usability in the black continent and later introducing it there."

- Paul Graetz : In the car across Africa , Göttingen / Windhoek 2006 [Org. 1910], p. 6.

In June 1907 Graetz embarked Field Marshal with his automobile on the Reichspostdampfer . The car journey started on August 10, 1907 in Dar-es-Salam in German East Africa . Despite many technical breakdowns, evaporated petrol reserves, collapsed bridges and other difficulties, Graetz reached his destination Swakopmund in German South West Africa on May 1, 1909 after 630 days and 9,500 kilometers . The journey took Graetz through Northern and Southern Rhodesia , the South African Republic and the Bechuanaland . At Lake Tanganyika , a small part of the route was covered by ship. At the end of his trip he received a telegram from Kaiser Wilhelm II. "Well done, Graetz".

In 1911 Graetz started a second expedition. He wanted to travel through the African continent from Mozambique via the Bangweulusee in Northern Rhodesia and the Congo to the Atlantic with a motorboat 8.20 m in length . The expedition was accompanied by the French cameraman Octave Fière, who was supposed to capture the expedition in moving images on the boat named after the sponsor “ Sarotti ”. Halfway through the expedition failed after a buffalo attack, Fière died, and Graetz was seriously injured by a broken jaw.

The 45 minute long film recordings that had been made by then were considered lost for a long time until they were tracked down in early 2007 by the Windhoek safari organizer Carsten Möhle in the basement of Graetz's house in Lübeck-Travemünde. The daughter Uta Graetz-Africana, who lives there, found a film role with the silent film made at the time, which is an important testimony to African culture, since apart from these recordings there are only 26 pre-war film minutes from tropical Africa.

In the 1920s Graetz founded the first glass factory in Indonesia .

The asteroid (142562) Graetz , discovered in 2002 at the Trebur observatory , was named in his honor.

Works

  • In the car across Africa . Publishing house Gustav Braunbeck & Gutenberg, Berlin 1910
    • New edition 2006: In the car across Africa ; Facsimile of the 1910 edition - Klaus Hess Verlag, Göttingen / Windhoek 2006. ISBN 978-3-933117-35-9
  • In a motorboat across Africa - from the Indian Ocean to the Congo . Publishing house Gustav Braunbeck & Gutenberg, Berlin 1912
  • In a motorboat across Africa - through the Congo and New Cameroon . Publishing house Gustav Braunbeck & Gutenberg, Berlin 1913
  • Colorful experiences in three continents - memories of an old African . German publisher, Berlin 1938
  • My buffalo fight. Adventure in Africa . Karl Siegismund Verlag, Berlin 1941
  • From the Congo to Sumatra - good friendship overseas . Wolfenbüttel Publishing House 1949

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Otto Meissner : Bwana Tucke-Tucke . In: Hans Otto Meissner, Traumland Südwest . European Book and Phonoclub, Stuttgart 1969, pp. 235-258.
  2. ^ The adventurous car expedition through Africa , In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , May 17, 2009, page V9
  3. ↑ ibid. P. 240
  4. ↑ Lord of the Tucketucke . In: Der Spiegel . No. 27 , 2008, p. 116-117 ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Graetz, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graetz, Friedrich Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Zittau
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1968
Place of death Travemünde