Hermann von Barth
Encyclopedia
Hermann von Barth was a famous German mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...

.

Hermann von Barth was born on 5 June 1845 at Eurasburg Castle. He initially studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, where he was affiliated to the Corps Franconia. As a junior lawyer he began in 1868 in Berchtesgaden to explore the still largely unconquered Berchtesgaden Alps
Berchtesgaden Alps
The Berchtesgaden Alps are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre...

. From 1873 he studied natural sciences and, in 1876, deranged by fever, he committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 whilst on a research expedition in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. He died on 7 December 1876 in Sao Paolo de Loanda, Portuguese Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

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Von Barth is most well known for his exploration of the Karwendel
Karwendel
The Karwendel is the largest range of the Northern Limestone Alps. Four chains stretch from west to east; in addition, there are a number of fringe ranges and an extensive promontory in the north....

 mountains. In summer 1870 he climbed, alone, 88 peaks (12 for the first time, including the Birkkarspitze
Birkkarspitze
The Birkkarspitze is the highest mountain in the Karwendel range, Austria....

, Kaltwasserkarspitze, Lalidererspitze, Große Seekarspitze, Grubenkarspitze, Dreizinkenspitze, Eastern Karwendelspitze, Vogelkarspitze
Vogelkarspitze
Vogelkarspitze is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany....

, Wörner
Wörner (Alps)
The Wörner is a high mountain in the Karwendel on the border between Bavaria and Tyrol. It is part of the Northern Karwendel Chain that initially runs northwards to the Wörner and then swings east...

, Kuhkopf). In 1871 he switched to the Wetterstein mountains and was the first to climb many peaks there as well. By 1869 he had explored the Allgäu Alps
Allgäu Alps
The Allgäu Alps are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance.-Principal summits:-External links:*...

, climbing 44 summits, 3 of which were previously unconquered. He typically climbed alone. In 1874 he published the book Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen ("From the Northern Limestone Alps"), in which he documented his experiences and tours. The work is viewed today as a classic amongst Alpine literature.

The names of numerous mountain huts, trails, etc., are witness to the services of Hermann von Barth in opening up the Northern Limestone Alps: the Barthgrat (the crossing from the Katzenkopf to the Middle Jägerkarspitze (III
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...

), Karwendel, first conquered by Barth, unaided and alone, in 1870), Barthspitze (Karwendel, named in his honour) and Barthkamin (Risser Falk, Karwendel, first climbed in 1870 by von Barth). The protected climb from the Meilerhütte hut on the Partenkirchen Dreitorspitze
Dreitorspitze
Dreitorspitze is a large and very prominent, multi-peak mountain massif in the eastern part of the Wetterstein Mountains in southern Germany. It is divided into Partenkirchen Dreitorspitze at and Leutasch Dreitorspitze at ; each of which has several peaks...

 is also called the Hermann von Barth Way.

Sources

  • Rudolf Gombart, Paul Martin: Dem Bergsteiger und Afrikaforscher Dr. Hermann Frh. v. Barth zu Hamarting Franconiae München (xx,FM) zum Gedächtnis. Einst und Jetzt 10 (1965), p. 143-145
  • Hermann von Barth: Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen. Ersteigungen und Erlebnisse. Süddeutscher Verlag, München 1984, ISBN 3799162178 (out of print)
  • Hermann von Barth: Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen; Ersteigungen und Erlebnisse in den Gebirgen Berchtesgadens, des Allgäu, des Innthales, des Isar-Quellengebietes und des Wettersteins; Mit erläuternden Beiträgen zur Orographie und Hypsometrie der Nördlichen Kalkalpen, Mit lythographierten Gebirgsprofilen und Horizontalprojectionen nach Original-Skizzen des Verfassers. Eduard Amthor, Gera 1874. XXIV, 637, 22 tables and 5 folding tables with several illustrations, (facsimile) Fines Mundi Verlag, Saarbrücken 2008.
  • Carl Bünsch, Max Rohrer (Hrsg.): Gesammelte Schriften des Freiherrn Hermann von Barth. Alpine Verlagsanstalt, München 1926.
  • Ewald Weiß: "Einsam auf einem Fels zu thronen". Das kometenhafte Leben des Hermann von Barth, Freiherr von und zu Harmating. In: Panorama. 6/2000. Deutscher Alpenverein e.V., p. 42–44, ISSN 1437-5923 - Link
  • "Hermann von Barth (eine Auswahl)": Herausgegeben vom Hauptausschuss des Deutschen und Österreichischen Alpenvereins als erster Band der Reihe "Erschließer der Berge", München 1926

External links


Auszüge aus Veröffentlichungen Hermann von Barths im Netz:
  • Bergruf.de Das vollständige Kapitel Berchtesgadener Alpen aus dem Buch Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen (1874) und mehr
  • Wanderpfa.de Tourenberichte der Allgäuer Alpen aus dem Buch Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen und mehr
  • Im Roßloch - Grubenkarspitze, Dreizinkenspitze, Laliderer Wand und Spitze, Bockkarspitze (aus dem Alpenfreund 1875)
  • Ein Tag auf den Spitzen der Hinterautaler Kette - Birkkar-, Ödkar-, Marxenkar- und Seekarspitze (aus der Zeitschrift des Deutschen Alpenvereins 1870/71)
  • Aus dem Quellen-Gebiete der Isar. XIX. Der Grosse Karwendelspitz. Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen (1874), Gera 1874 S. 420 ff.
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