Walter Schmidkunz

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Walter Schmidkunz (born March 26, 1887 in Kiel , † November 19, 1961 in Neuhaus (Schliersee) ) was a German publisher , alpine writer and journalist. With his popular books, collections and articles, some of them for even better-known alpinists like Luis Trenker , he had a major impact on the public perception of the Alps and mountaineering for a long time .

life and work

Schmidkunzen's father Hans (1863–1934) came from Vienna and was one of the initiators of the "Association for University Education ". Walter's mother Mathilde Porges von Porgesheim came from an Austro-Jewish family, so Walter Schmidkunz initially had Austrian citizenship. He grew up in the spirit of " life reform " and in 1904 was one of the founding members of the Bavarian Wandervogels , for whom he organized mountain tours. He studied at the University of Munich . The enthusiastic mountaineer - allegedly he climbed over 2,500 peaks in the course of his life - founded a publishing house, Die Scholle , in 1910 , in which he published literature for mountaineers and skiers and also took part in the German Alpine newspaper . In 1913 he founded a publishing house named after him and in 1917 acquired the EW Bonsels publishing house. During the First World War he fought as a lieutenant on the Adamello and Ortler fronts .

In 1919 Schmidkunz transferred his publishing houses to the newly founded Dreiländerverlag in Munich . These included the journals Der Winter , Deutsche Alpenzeitung and Das Waidwerk , which he also edited , works by Waldemar Bonsels , but also works by Johannes Schlaf and an early novel by Lion Feuchtwanger . Schmidkunz, who obviously did not know how to handle money, quickly got into economic difficulties. As early as 1919 he lost Der Winter and in 1920 the Deutsche Alpenzeitung . After he founded the cooperative Bergverlag in 1920, but had to give it up in the same year, from then on he essentially worked as a freelance author.

Schmidkunzen's collection Between Heaven and Earth from 1925 marked the beginning of a genre of alpine anecdote books . In 1928 he received the poet's award from the city of Munich and founded the “Society of Alpine Book Friends”. He also became known for his collections on Alpine history, including Alpine history in individual data (1931). He wrote books for Luis Trenker as a " ghostwriter " in the 1930s and also worked on some of Trenker's films ( The Son of the White Mountains , 1930; Mountains in Flames , 1931; The Rebel , 1932). In 1933 he released the influential Young Man in the Mountains from the estate of the fatally injured mountaineer Leo Maduschka . The collection of songs published by Schmidkunz together with Wastl Fanderl and Karl List, Das Lebhaftige Liederbuch , was very widely distributed. Bergvagabunden (1937) is considered Schmidkunzen's most important work for and about the mountaineer and mountain filmmaker Hans Ertl .

Relationship to National Socialism

Schmidkunzen's relationship to National Socialism is controversial. He resigned from the Bavarian Alpine Club section in 1924, probably in protest against the club's anti-Semitism . He was also denounced as of Jewish descent. On the other hand, in 1933, under the title Adolf Hitler's adopted home, he presented a propaganda travel guide to Berchtesgaden full of pathos for Adolf Hitler . From 1940 he published the Munich reading sheets , which he was responsible for in keeping with the Nazi state 's literary policy . The Munich reading sheets consisted of 16 to 30-page booklets and, as a light reading food for soldiers and armaments workers, were circulated in the millions during the Second World War .

After the end of the war, Schmidkunz was initially classified in the denazification process as “minor offense” and sentenced to M 500 fine and one year in prison on probation. He was acquitted in an appeal in 1949. Schmidkunz moved to the Tegernsee and worked there as a cultural advisor for a local council.

Publications

  • Walter Schmidkunz: Cookbook for mountaineers, tourists, skiers, hikers. 2nd Edition. Deutsche Alpenzeitung, Munich 1913.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: The goulash cannon. Soldiers' cookbook for the field. Schmidkunz, Munich 1915.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: About the war in the South Tyrolean mountains (Judicaria, Adamello, Tonale). Mesch & Lichtenfeld, Berlin 1917.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: Dreiländerverlag. Memorandum on foundation and program. (Dreiländerverl.), Munich 1919.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: The skier's language. An etymological trail riding with cross turns and jumps. Bergverlag, Munich 1920.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: Between heaven and earth. Hochalpenverl, Munich 1924.
  • George Ingle Finch and Walter Schmidkunz: The fight for Everest. FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1925.
  • Max Rohrer and Walter Schmidkunz: [Der Bergische Edelbüchler]. Ceremony for the 1st annual meeting of the Society of Alpine Book Friends in Stuttgart. , Munich (1928).
  • Walter Schmidkunz: The Alai Pamir Expedition. 1928.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: People between borders. P. Müller, Munich 1928.
  • Walter Schmidkunz and Mathilde Ade: Christ fairy tales . 3. Edition. Stangl-Verl, Munich (Cop 1928).
  • Luis Trenker et al. : The son of the white mountains. The secret of Zermatt; based on a book by Luis Trenker and W. Schmidkunz. [1930].
  • Walter Schmidkunz: The mountain of the heart. A story. Ges. Alpiner Bücherfreunde, Munich 1930.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: Dictionary of Alpine Terms and Expressions . In: Alpine Handbook . among employees by Georg Blab; A. Dreyer [et al.] Ed. from German u. Austrian Alpenverein, Vol. I, Leipzig 1931, pp. 263-306.
    • Alpine history in detail . In: Ibid., Pp. 307-495.
  • Luis Trenker and Walter Schmidkunz: My mountains. The mountain book. Neufeld & Henius, Berlin 1931.
  • Guido Rey, Heinrich Erler and Walter Schmidkunz: mountain acrobats. Climbing trips on the Montblanc needles and Dolomite towers. 4th edition. Richters, Erfurt 1935.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: The very happy ski area. 1st edition. Richters, Erfurt (1935).
  • Luis Trenker and Walter Schmidkunz: Mountain World - Wonder World. An alpine world history. Henius, Berlin 1935.
  • Ludwig von Hörmann and Walter Schmidkunz: Marterln and grave inscriptions. Selection from the collection of "Grave inscriptions and martyrs". Richter, Erfurt 1936.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: Real wisdom. Richters), (Erfurt (1936).
  • Walter Schmidkunz: Mountain Vagabonds. A Hans Ertl book. Richter, Erfurt 1937.
  • Walter Schmidkunz, Karl List and Wastl Fanderl : The embodied songbook. Richter, Erfurt 1938. Möseler, Wolfenbüttel 1959.
  • Joachim Rohde, Walter Schmidkunz and Fritz Lattke : Alpine trip for four. A fun and adventurous trip into the mountains with Hanni, Fritz and Putzi and the raven Kolk. Richter, Erfurt 1938.
  • Walter Schmidkunz: … There is a life! 580 new, genuine, Bavarian Schnaderhüpfln. Richter, Erfurt 1941.
  • Hans Ertl and Walter Schmidkunz: Mountain Vagabonds. Nymphenburger Verl.-Handl, Munich 1952.
  • Walter Schmidkunz and Carl Gerber: 75 years of printing and publishing house Carl Gerber. Gerber), (Munich (1952).
  • Walter Schmidkunz: The stories of the Christ Child as told by old Barbara. Kösel-Verl, (Munich) (1953).

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schmidkunz, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher, author, journalist and mountaineer
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiel
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1961
Place of death Neuhaus (Schliersee)