Richard Finsterwalder

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Richard Finsterwalder (born March 7, 1899 in Munich ; † October 28, 1963 there ) was a German geodesist and cartographer . He worked as a university lecturer in Hanover and Munich and as the editor of numerous mountain maps.

Life

Finsterwalder studied civil engineering and surveying at the Technical University of Munich , where his father Sebastian Finsterwalder (1862–1951) worked as a geodesist and professor of mathematics.

After his engineering degree in 1922, he found his first professional field of activity as a cartographer with the German and Austrian Alpine Association . In addition, he acquired the title of Doctor of Engineering at the TH Karlsruhe on November 23, 1923 with a dissertation under the name "The Gnomonic Reciprocal Projection and its Practical Application in the Surveying of the Loferer Steinberge". In 1928 he was a topographer and deputy head of the German-Soviet Alai-Pamir expedition . In 1930 he obtained his habilitation with a thesis "Limits and possibilities of terrestrial photogrammetry , especially on research trips". In 1930 he was given a teaching position as a senior assistant at the Geodetic Institute of the Technical University of Hanover , where he was appointed adjunct professor in 1934.

In 1934 he took part in the German Nanga Parbat Expedition in 1934 in the Himalayas . This participation was one of the decisive factors that enabled him to continue teaching at the Technical University of Hanover . In 1940 he became associate professor for photogrammetry and surveying and was then given the full chair of surveying there in 1942. During the Nazi era, Finsterwalder was considered to be " Jewish " because his wife, the daughter of Alois Alzheimer , was considered to be " half-Jewish ". The Nanga Parbat expedition ended in disaster, but was "reinterpreted and used by the National Socialists ... as evidence of the 'superhuman' willingness to make sacrifices of German mountaineers, the achievement of the national goal of the first ascent in loyalty until death." Hitler personally decided to “make an exception” at Finsterwalder so that - in contrast to many others with a similar family background - he could become a professor.

In 1948 he was appointed full professor for photogrammetry, topography and general cartography and director of the institute of the same name at the Technical University of Munich . In 1950 he was instrumental in founding the German Geodetic Commission (DGK) at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . In 1952 he was elected a full member of the Academy. From 1957 to 1960 he was President of the IUGG Commission "Snow and Ice".

Richard Finsterwalder died “suddenly and unexpectedly”, still active as a full university professor for photogrammetry and cartography at the Technical University of Munich.

Together with his father, he is the namesake for the Antarctic Finsterwalder Glacier .

See also: Alpine Club Card

literature

  • Paul Trommsdorff : The faculty of the Technical University of Hanover 1831-1931. Dedicated to the Technical University of Hanover for its centenary . Library of the Technical University, Hanover 1931, p. 69.
  • H (ans) Kinzl : Richard Finsterwalder (1899–1963) . In: Emil Hensler (Red.): Communications from the Austrian Alpine Club . Issue 1/2 from 1964 (full year LXXXIX). Austrian Alpine Club, Innsbruck 1964, p. 3.
  • Kurt Brunner (Hrsg.), Walter M. Welsch (Hrsg.): Hochgebirgs- und Gletscherforschung. On the 100th birthday of Richard Finsterwalder . Series of publications study course surveying, University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich, Volume 62, ZDB -ID 1229938-8 . University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich, Neubiberg 1999.
  • Michael Jung: "Our hearts beat to the Führer with great enthusiasm". The Technical University of Hanover and its professors under National Socialism. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2013, pp. 194–199.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.historisches-alpenarchiv.org/data/dokumente/main/30/00131108_m.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.historisches-alpenarchiv.org/data/dokumente/main/30/00131108_m.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.historisches-alpenarchiv.org/data/dokumente/main/30/00131108_m.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.historisches-alpenarchiv.org/data/dokumente/main/30/00131108_m.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.historisches-alpenarchiv.org/data/dokumente/main/30/00131108_m.pdf
  6. ↑ Michael Jung: “Our hearts beat with enthusiasm to the Führer”. The Technical University of Hanover and its professors under National Socialism. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2013, p. 195.
  7. ^ Kinzl: Richard Finsterwalder (1899–1963) .
personal data
SURNAME Finsterwalder, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geodesist, cartographer and university lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1963
Place of death Munich