Ludwig von Höhnel
Encyclopedia
Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel (6 August 1857, Preßburg – 23 March 1942, Vienna) was an Austria
n naval officer and explorer
. He was trained at the naval academy
in Rijeka
.
von Szek's expedition to Northern Kenya
in 1887-1888. He and Count Teleki were the first Europeans to see Lake Turkana
, which they named Lake Rudolf after the expedition's patron Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
and Lake Stefanie
(named after Prince Rudolf's wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium
). Von Höhnel acted as the expeditions's cartographer, scientist and diarist. Teleki and von Höhnel made numerous observations on the climate, flora and fauna of the territories visited and collected more than 400 ethnographical objects, most of them from Maasai and Kikuyu tribes. Their observations provided important contribution to ethnographical knowledge. The scientific results of the journey were published by Höhnel in several articles and in a book written in German
and translated into Hungarian
and English
, entitled The Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie (1892).
with American
magnate William Astor Chanler. They proceeded inland from the coast, mapping the north-eastern part of the Mount Kenya
massif, the Guasso Nyiro River
, the Lorian Swamp
, the Tana River
, Lake Rudolph and then Lake Stefanie. They were the first westerners in this region to come into contact with the Tigania, the Igembe Meru and the Rendille people. The expedition was eventually stranded in what is now the Meru North District
of Kenya
because of the death of all of its 165 pack animals (probably due to trypanosomiasis
) and the desertion of many of the 200 porters. On August 24, 1893 von Höhnel was gored by a rhinoceros and was forced to leave Chanler and return to Zanzibar
and then Vienna
, arriving in February 1894.
Donau, and traveled to the Mediterranean and along the coast of West Africa south to Cameroon
, then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and to New York and Newport, Rhode Island
. During the trip, von Höhnel met the future US president Theodore Roosevelt
, who was then in his words the 'much feared' police commissioner
of New York. He was then assigned as officer of the deck to the battleship
Tegetthoff
, whose executive officer was Commander Anton Haus
, the future commander of the Austro-Hungarian
navy.
In 1899 von Höhnel became Emperor Franz Joseph's aide-de-camp
and later (1905–09) led an official Austro-Hungarian delegation to Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. He also commanded the Austro-Hungarian cruiser
SMS Panther
in a voyage to Australia
and Polynesia
. Von Höhnel was instrumental in introducing the chamois
into New Zealand
, negotiating in 1905 six does and two bucks from Neuberg
in Austria
. They finally arrived in New Zealand on board the SMS Turakino in 1907. He was the commanding officer of the armored cruiser
SMS Sankt Georg
and the commander of the navy yard in Pula
. In August 1909 he married Valeska von Ostéren and resigned in the rank of captain. He was promoted to rear admiral
three years later, probably in recognition of his duties as the aide-de-camp to the emperor.
Von Höhnel also wrote an autobiography
centered on the turbulent years preceding the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, providing insight into African exploration, the Austro-Hungarian Navy
and prominent personalities of the Habsburg
court, including Admiral Hermann von Spaun
, Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck
, and Rudolf Montecuccoli
. The complete manuscript was in the possession of the family of William Astor Chanler for many decades and was finally published in 2000.
He died in Vienna in March 1942.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n naval officer and explorer
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
. He was trained at the naval academy
Naval academy
A Naval Academy is a national institution that provides undergraduate level education for prospective naval officers.Naval training commonly took place only at sea until the 20th century, even if those ships were permanently moored...
in Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
.
Journey with Teleki 1887-1888
Von Höhnel was the second-in-command of Count Sámuel TelekiSámuel Teleki
Count Sámuel Teleki de Szék was a Hungarian explorer who led the first expedition to Northern Kenya. He was the first European to see, and name, Lake Rudolf .-Early life:...
von Szek's expedition to Northern Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
in 1887-1888. He and Count Teleki were the first Europeans to see Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana , formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake...
, which they named Lake Rudolf after the expedition's patron Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
Rudolf , archduke of Austria and crown prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, was the son and heir of Franz Joseph I, emperor of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, and his wife and empress, Elisabeth...
and Lake Stefanie
Lake Chew Bahir
Lake Chew Bahir or Lake Istifanos, also called Stefanie, Basso Naebor and Chuwaha, is a lake in Southern Ethiopia on the boundary between the Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regions. When the lake is filled, it stretches into northern Kenya...
(named after Prince Rudolf's wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium
Princess Stéphanie of Belgium
Stéphanie was a Belgium princess by birth, and then made Crown Princess of Austria through her marriage to the heir of the Habsburg dynasty, Archduke Rudolf...
). Von Höhnel acted as the expeditions's cartographer, scientist and diarist. Teleki and von Höhnel made numerous observations on the climate, flora and fauna of the territories visited and collected more than 400 ethnographical objects, most of them from Maasai and Kikuyu tribes. Their observations provided important contribution to ethnographical knowledge. The scientific results of the journey were published by Höhnel in several articles and in a book written in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and translated into Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, entitled The Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie (1892).
Journey with Chanler 1892-1894
Between 1892 and 1894 von Höhnel explored the territory in the vicinity of Mount KilimanjaroMount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magnate William Astor Chanler. They proceeded inland from the coast, mapping the north-eastern part of the Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
massif, the Guasso Nyiro River
Ewaso Ng'iro
Ewaso Ng'iro is a river in Kenya which rises on the west side of Mount Kenya and flows north then east and finally south-east, passing through Somalia where it joins the Jubba River....
, the Lorian Swamp
Lorian Swamp
The Lorian Swamp is an area of wetlands on the Ewaso Ngiro river in Kenya.The swampy zone is long and has a greatest width of , covering an area of .Apart from the Ewaso Ngiro river, the swamp is also fed by wadis from the southwest and the northeast....
, the Tana River
Tana River (Kenya)
The long Tana River is the longest river in Kenya, and gives its name to the Tana River District. Its tributaries include the Thika. The river rises in the Aberdare Mountains to the west of Nyeri. Initially it runs east before turning south around the massif of Mount Kenya. The river then runs...
, Lake Rudolph and then Lake Stefanie. They were the first westerners in this region to come into contact with the Tigania, the Igembe Meru and the Rendille people. The expedition was eventually stranded in what is now the Meru North District
Meru North District
Meru North District is one of the seventy-one districts of Kenya, located in that country's Eastern Province. In 1992, it was split from the large Meru District, along with Meru Central District, Meru South District, and Tharaka District....
of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
because of the death of all of its 165 pack animals (probably due to trypanosomiasis
Trypanosomiasis
Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus Trypanosoma. Approximately 500,000 men, women and children in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa suffer from human African trypanosomiasis which is caused by...
) and the desertion of many of the 200 porters. On August 24, 1893 von Höhnel was gored by a rhinoceros and was forced to leave Chanler and return to Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
and then Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, arriving in February 1894.
Later life
After recovering from his injuries, von Höhnel became an officer on board the corvetteCorvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
Donau, and traveled to the Mediterranean and along the coast of West Africa south to Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and to New York and Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. During the trip, von Höhnel met the future US president Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, who was then in his words the 'much feared' police commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
of New York. He was then assigned as officer of the deck to the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
Tegetthoff
SMS Tegetthoff
SMS Tegetthoff was an Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Tegetthoff class named after Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, a 19th-century Austrian admiral most notable for defeating the Italian Navy in the Battle of Lissa....
, whose executive officer was Commander Anton Haus
Anton Haus
Anton Haus was an Austrian naval officer. Despite his German surname, he was born to a Slovenian-speaking family in Tolmein . Haus was fleet commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in World War I and was the Navy's Grand Admiral from 1916 until his death.-Biography:Haus entered the Navy in 1869...
, the future commander of the Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
navy.
In 1899 von Höhnel became Emperor Franz Joseph's aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
and later (1905–09) led an official Austro-Hungarian delegation to Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. He also commanded the Austro-Hungarian cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
SMS Panther
SMS Panther
SMS Panther was one of six gunboats of the Iltis-class of the Kaiserliche Marine and, like her sister ships, served in Germany's overseas colonies. The ship was launched on 1 April 1901 in the Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig...
in a voyage to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
. Von Höhnel was instrumental in introducing the chamois
Chamois
The chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand...
into New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, negotiating in 1905 six does and two bucks from Neuberg
Neuberg an der Mürz
Neuberg an der Mürz is a municipality in the district of Mürzzuschlag in Styria, Austria....
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. They finally arrived in New Zealand on board the SMS Turakino in 1907. He was the commanding officer of the armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
SMS Sankt Georg
SMS Sankt Georg
SMS Sankt Georg was an armored cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.The Sankt Georg was selected as main motif of a very recent Austrian coin: the S.M.S. Sankt Georg commemorative coin, minted in 14 September 2005. The obverse shows the armored cruiser sailing into New York Harbor on 17 May 1907;...
and the commander of the navy yard in Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
. In August 1909 he married Valeska von Ostéren and resigned in the rank of captain. He was promoted to rear admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
three years later, probably in recognition of his duties as the aide-de-camp to the emperor.
Von Höhnel also wrote an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
centered on the turbulent years preceding the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, providing insight into African exploration, the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....
and prominent personalities of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
court, including Admiral Hermann von Spaun
Hermann von Spaun
Hermann Freiherr von Spaun was a admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He was the Commanders-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from December 1897 to October 1904.-Background:...
, Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck
Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck
Maximilian Daublebsky Freiherr von Sterneck zu Ehrenstein was an Austrian admiral who served as the chief administrator of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1883 until his death.-Biography:...
, and Rudolf Montecuccoli
Rudolf Montecuccoli
Rudolf, graf Montecuccoli degli Erri was chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1904 to 1913 and largely responsible for the modernization of the fleet before the First World War.- Overview :...
. The complete manuscript was in the possession of the family of William Astor Chanler for many decades and was finally published in 2000.
He died in Vienna in March 1942.
Publications
- http://books.google.com/books?id=oc0rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR7&dq=The+discovery+of+Lakes+Rudolf+and+Stefanie&hl=en&ei=X5SuTsewLsrq0gHq19mPDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20discovery%20of%20Lakes%20Rudolf%20and%20Stefanie&f=falseDiscovery of lakes Rudolf and Stefanie: a narrative of Count Samuel Teleki's exploring & hunting expedition in Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1887 & 1888,] translated by Nancy Bell. In 2 vols. (Longmans, 1896). Original in German: Zum Rudolph-See und Stephanie-See, 1892.
- Over Land and Sea: Memoir of an Austrian Rear Admiral's Life in Europe and Africa, 1857-1909, ed. Ronald E. Coons and Pascal James Imperato; consulting ed. J. Winthrop Aldrich. New York and London: Holmes & Meier, 2000. Original in German: Mein Leben zur See, auf Forschungsreisen und bei Hofe, 1926.