Hugo Zöller (12 January 1852 – 1933) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. His brother Egon Zöller (1847-1891?) was an author and friend of

Karl Pearson Karl Pearson (; born Carl Pearson; 27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) was an English mathematician and biostatistician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university st ...

. Hugo was born near

Schleiden Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 12,998 inhabitants as of 30 June 2017. Schleiden is connected by a tourist railway to Kall, on the Eifel Railway between Col ...

. He studied law and in 1872 to 1874 travelled to countries in

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

region. In 1874 he became a journalist for '. In 1879 Zöller started his travels around the world. The result was a two volume book ''Rund um die Erde'' (Köln 1881). In 1881 and 1882 he travelled across

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and then published ''Die Deutschen im brasilianischen Urwald'' (Stuttgart 1883) and ''Pampas und Anden'' (Stuttgart 1884). By the end of 1882 he worked as a war correspondent in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

during the British campaign there. In 1883 he was ordered to explore territories in

Western Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurita ...

previously explored by

Gustav Nachtigal Gustav Nachtigal (; born 23 February 1834 – 20 April 1885) was a German military surgeon and explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His missio ...

. First he travelled across the

Togoland Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kno ...

, then he went to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

where he in 1884 made a successful ascent of

Mount Cameroon Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous n ...

together with

Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński (14 April 1861 - 1 December 1896) was a Polish explorer of Africa. He was planning to create a Polish colony in Cameroon. Rogoziński was born in Kalisz in the Russian partition of Poland. After a career in the Imperia ...

. While in Cameroon he discovered the Batanga River but soon after this he fell ill and returned to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1888 he travelled to

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

and became the first European to penetrate into inner New Guinea and climb the peaks of

Finisterre Range The Finisterre Range is a mountain range in north-eastern Papua New Guinea. The highest point is ranked 41st in the world by prominence with an elevation of 4,150 m. Although the range's high point is not named on official maps, the name "Mount ...

. During this he also discovered

Mount Wilhelm Mount Wilhelm (german: Wilhelmsberg) is the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at . It is part of the Bismarck Range and the peak is the point where three provinces, Chimbu, Jiwaka and Madang, meet. The peak is also known as ''Enduwa Kombuglu' ...

in the

Bismarck Range The Bismarck Range is a mountain range in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. The range is named after the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. From the 1880s to 1914, this part of the island was a German colony. The highest p ...

. He died in Munich.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zoller, Hugo 1852 births 1933 deaths Explorers of Africa Explorers of Papua New Guinea Explorers of South America German explorers German journalists German male journalists German male writers People from Euskirchen (district)