Josef Naus (1793–1871) was an officer and surveying technician, known for leading the first ascent of Germany's highest mountain, the

Zugspitze The Zugspitze (), at above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the Austria–Germany border runs over its western su ...

. Variations of his name are Karl Naus or Joseph Naus.

Life and career

Naus was born on 29 August 1793 in Lechaschau /

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

or, according to other sources,

Reutte Reutte (; Swabian: ) is a market town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Reutte district (''Districts of Austria''). Reutte is located on the Lech, and has a population of 6704 (as of 2018). Neighbouring muni ...

.''Bosls bayerische Biographie''
by Karl Bosl. Accessed on 9 Apr 2011. He was the son of a judge and came from a family that had probably immigrated from Belgium or the Netherlands to Tyrol in the 17th century. As a young man Naus studied surveying. He joined the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...

in 1813 and did wartime service against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in 1814/15 he did wartime service against Napoleon, before joining the Royal Topographic Bureau. In 1820, together with a group of officers and men, Lieutenant Naus was given the task of producing the Werdenfels map for the Topographic Atlas of Bavaria. In the course of this work, on 27 August 1820, Naus made the first recorded ascent of the Zugspitze with his assistant, Maier, and

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

, Johann Georg Tauschl. In 1824 Naus became a lieutenant. In 1851 he was promoted to major general and sent to

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

as commandant of the imperial fortress there. He retired in 1857, but was reactivated in 1866 and appointed as Quartermaster General and head of the Survey Office. He died on 6 September 1871 in Ulm.

Background

In September 2006 the German Alpine Club announced that the first ascent of the Zugspitze could have been made before the middle of the 18th century. The basis of this speculation was the rediscovery of an historic map from the 18th century that depicted the Zugspitze region. On this map routes were marked to the summit region, but not, however, to the actual summit. A chronology with relatively realistic information about the routes to the summit reinforced the surmise. But the map did not indicate whether the mountain was scaled by hunters or smugglers.Deutscher Alpenverein
Panorama – Magazin des Deutschen Alpenvereins
'' 58. Jahrgang, Heft 5. Alpenvereinsverlag, Munich, 2006 (p. 88f, Siehe: Kultur und Medien).

Film

In 2006 Bavarian TV filmed ''Gipfelsturm'' ("Summit Storm"), which portrayed the first official ascent of the Zugspitze by Josef Naus (first broadcast on 8 April 2007). In this historical drama he not only had to contend with nature, but also with the superstitious population. Josef Naus is played by Johannes Zirner. Direction and screenplay were by Bernd Fischerauer.

References

External links

Alpine summits and their first climbers

BR online page on the film about the first ascent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naus, Josef German geodesists 1793 births 1871 deaths German mountain climbers