Dr Paul Güssfeldt (spelled Güßfeldt in German) (14 October 1840 – 18 January 1920) was a German geologist, mountaineer and explorer.
Biography
Güssfeldt was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, where he also died almost 80 years later. After attending the
Collège Français in his home city, he studied natural sciences and mathematics in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
(where he joined the
Vandalia student corps
Corps (or Korps; "''das ~''" (''Grammatical gender, n''), (''sg.''), (''pl.'')) are the oldest still-existing kind of ''Studentenverbindung'', Germany's traditional Corporation (university), university corporations; their roots date back to the ...
), from 1859 to 1865, and then in Berlin,
Gießen
Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students.
Th ...
and
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
.
When the first expedition was sent out by the German African Society () in 1872, he was chosen its leader. The expedition sailed to the coast of the
Kingdom of Loango
The Kingdom of Loango (also ''Luangu'', ''Luaangu'', ''Lwaangu'', ''Lwangu'', ''Luango'', ''Lwango'', ''Luaango'' or ''Lwaango'' Iko Kabwita Kabolo, ''Le royaume Kongo et la mission catholique 1750-1838'', KARTHALA Editions, 2004, p. 303-313) w ...
, but was shipwrecked near
Freetown
Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
on 14 January 1873 and lost all its stores and equipment. Although Güssfeldt succeeded in establishing a station on the coast, he was unable to penetrate into the interior, and returned to Germany in the summer of 1875. In 1876 he visited
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and the
Arabian Desert (with
Georg August Schweinfurth
Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic Germans, Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa.
Life and explorations
He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Emp ...
).
He made several
first ascents in the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
, including
Piz Scerscen with Hans Grass and Caspar Capat on 13 September 1877 via the north-west spur (the ''Eisnase'' route). On 12 August 1878, Hans Grass, Johann Gross and he first climbed the ''Biancograt'' north ridge of
Piz Bernina
Piz Bernina (Romansh language, Romansh, , ) is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps, the highest point of the Bernina Range, and the highest peak in the Rhaetian Alps. It rises and is located south of Pontresina in the Bernina Region and ne ...
. He made winter ascents of the
Grandes Jorasses
The Grandes Jorasses (; 4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy.
The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by H ...
and the
Gran Paradiso, as well as putting up several new routes on
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...
, including the Peuterey ridge on 15–19 August 1893 (with
Emile Rey,
Christian Klucker and César Ollier). ''Pointe Güssfeldt'' (4,112 m), the highest summit on the
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey is named after him, as is the ''Güssfeldtsattel'', the col between Piz Scerscen and
Piz Roseg also known as the ''Porta da Roseg''. This steep ice slope was first climbed by Güssfeldt with guides Hans Grass, Peter Jenny and Caspar Capat on 13 September 1872.
Güssfeldt explored a portion of the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
, where he discovered a number of
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s in latitude 34° 30' S. He also ascended to the top of the
volcano of Maipo. In 1883 he made the first attempt on
Aconcagua
Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...
by a European. Bribing porters with the story that there was treasure on the mountain, he approached Aconcagua via the Rio Volcan, making two attempts on the peak by the north-west ridge and reaching an altitude of 6,500 metres. The route that he prospected is now the normal route up the mountain.
Between 1889 until 1914 Güssfeldt was invited by the German Emperor
Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
to join him for his annual summer cruise in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, which Güssfeldt was given the responsibility of planning as well. The emperor was fond of Güssfeldt and wrote about him in his memoirs.
[Wilhelm II, ''Aus meinem Leben 1859–1888,'' 1927, p. 238]
Works
* ''In den Hochalpen. Erlebnisse aus den Jahren 1859-85'' (3d ed. 1893)
* ''Kaiser Wilhelms II. Reisen nach Norwegen in den Jahren 1889-92'' (1892)
* ''Die Loangoexpedition'', jointly with Julius Falkenstein and
Eduard Pechuël-Loesche (1879 et seq.)
Sources
*Johannes E. S. Schmidt: ''Die Französische Domschule und das Französische Gymnasium zu Berlin. Schülererinnerungen 1848–1861.'' Herausgegeben und kommentiert von Rüdiger R. E. Fock., published by Verlag Dr. Kovac, Hamburg 2008, (German)
*Paul Güßfeldt: ''Dr. Gussfeldt’s Work in the Andes. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography'' (New Monthly Series), 6, No. 11, 1884, pp. 658–661.
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gussfeldt, Paul
1840 births
1920 deaths
German mountain climbers
German explorers of Africa
People from Berlin
Französisches Gymnasium Berlin alumni
German people of the Franco-Prussian War
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina