Paul Güssfeldt

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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

When the first expedition was sent out by the German African Society (German: Afrikanischen Gesellschaft) in 1872, he was chosen its leader. The expedition sailed to the coast of the Kingdom of Loango, but was shipwrecked near Freetown 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 and the Arabian Desert (with Georg August Schweinfurth).

He made several

Güssfeldt explored a portion of the Andes, where he discovered a number of glaciers 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 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 to join him for his annual summer cruise in the North Sea, which Güssfeldt was given the responsibility of planning as well. The emperor was fond of Güssfeldt and wrote about him in his memoirs.^[1]

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,
  ISBN 978-3-8300-3478-0
  (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.
• New International Encyclopedia
  (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

External links

• Works by or about Paul Güssfeldt at Internet Archive