Willy Häntzschel
Willy Häntzschel (born March 11, 1906 in Postelwitz , † September 18, 1993 in Waltersdorf ) was a German climber and mountaineer who was active in Saxon Switzerland and was one of the best climbers of his time.
Life
Häntzschel was born the son of a shipper and learned the carpentry trade , in which he passed his master craftsman examination in 1938. The loss of two fingers in an occupational accident saved him from being drafted into the Wehrmacht during the war. From 1945 he worked as a freelance carpenter and from 1950 in the furniture industry.
Häntzschel started climbing at the age of 16. But it was not until he was 27 that he completed his first ascent in the Saxon Switzerland climbing area on the escape wall . A total of 21 first ascents are on his account, the last he completed at the age of 45. The first important tour was the Häntzschelweg on Falkenstein, named after him, in 1933.
The outstanding achievement of Häntzschel was the first ascent of the north face at the Schrammtorwächter in the Schrammsteinen . In terms of climbing technology, the north face was one of the “three last big problems” in Saxon Switzerland. Since the beginning of the 1920s, various mountaineers had tried unsuccessfully to climb this steep wall, interspersed with bulging ridges and cracks, including Emanuel Strubich . After several attempts, Häntzschel finally managed to climb the entire climbing route on September 13, 1936 with the help of several support points (a human climbing tree). With today's level of difficulty VIIIb ( UIAA VII), this was one of the world's most difficult routes at the time. Häntzschel had a total of five to secure retaining rings used, the way initially because of the Olympic rings - had the same year the Summer Olympics in Berlin took place - the name Olympia Wall earned. The number of rings, however, also sparked criticism, as the ring spacing did not correspond to the Saxon climbing rules applicable at the time . Two of the retaining rings were then removed again.
After the end of his own career as a first-time climber, Häntzschel was still active as a mentor for younger mountaineers, including Bernd Arnold . In 1988 the Czech climber Petr Prachtel named a route variant on the north face of the Schrammtorwächter in his honor, Hommage à Willy Häntzschel (difficulty IXa).
Before the war, Willy Häntzschel was a member of the Saxon Mountaineering Association . After its re-establishment in 1990, he was made an honorary member.
Important first ascents
- Häntzschelweg on the escape wall (VIIa)
- Häntzschelweg on Falkenstein (VIIb)
- Autumn path on the Hohen Torstein (VIIIa)
- North face at the Schrammtorwächter (VIIIb)
- Jubiläumsweg at the Zinne (VIIc)
- North-east face at the Winklerturm (VIIIa)
literature
- Karl Däweritz : climbing in the Saxon rock. Sportverlag Berlin, 1979.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Däweritz, p. 49 ff.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Häntzschel, Willy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German climber |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 11, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Postelwitz |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 18, 1993 |
| Place of death | Waltersdorf (Bad Schandau) |