Peter Aufschnaiter
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Peter Aufschnaiter | |
---|---|
Kitzbühel, Tyrol, Austria-Hungary | |
Died | 12 October 1973 , Austria | (aged 73)
Nationality | Austrian, Nepalese (After 1952) |
Occupation(s) | Mountaineer, agricultural scientist, geographer, cartographer |
Peter Aufschnaiter (2 November 1900 – 12 October 1973) was an Austrian
Early life
Born in
Climbing
In his early years he began climbing in his beloved
Nazi Party
After the
Capture and Tibet
After several attempts at the Nanga Parbat, Aufschnaiter led a small four-man expedition in 1939, including Heinrich Harrer, to the Diamir Face with the aim of finding an easier route to the peak. Having concluded that the face was viable, they were in Karachi at the end of August waiting for a freighter to take them home. The ship being long overdue, Harrer, Ludwig and Lobenhoffer tried to reach Persia with their shaky car, but several hundred kilometers northwest of Karachi were put under the "protection" of British soldiers and escorted back to Karachi, where Aufschnaiter had stayed on.
Two days later, war was declared and on 3 September 1939, all were put behind barbed wire to be transferred to a detention camp at
Aufschnaiter and Harrer escaped and were re-captured a number of times before finally succeeding. On 29 April 1944 after lunch a group of seven,
Aufschnaiter and Harrer, helped by the former's knowledge of the Tibetan language, proceeded to the capital of
From then on Aufschnaiter played an important role in Tibet. Employed by the government he helped plan a
In October 1950 the advance of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to Lhasa forced Aufschnaiter and Harrer to join the caravan of the Dalai Lama when he retreated to the Chumbi Valley bordering Sikkim and India. Harrer proceeded to India, but Aufschnaiter stayed at Gyantse and left Tibet only 10 months later. Harrer's book, Seven years in Tibet states that, "On 20 December 1950, Peter left Lhasa. Heinrich Harrer had already left for southern Tibet in the middle of November, finally leaving the country in March 1951. But Aufschnaiter wanted to stay in Tibet as long as possible, and in fact remained another ten months. (...) at this time he was on the south-western frontier of Tibet. On the way there he visited the monastery of Rongphu, which the Chinese had not yet destroyed, and from there climbed, alone, as far as No. 1 camp on the northern ascent route to Everest."[4]
He arrived in
Death
Aufschnaiter returned to Austria much later in life and died in Innsbruck in 1973 at the age of 73.[5] He is buried at Kitzbüheler Bergfriedhof, Austria. Only very late in his life, the introverted Aufschnaiter began writing memoirs but did not see them published. After his death, the manuscript was first in the possession of mountaineer
In the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, Aufschnaiter, who was portrayed by David Thewlis, falls in love with the local tailor Pema Lhaki, and marries her.
Filmography
See also
- List of climbers, alpinists and mountaineers
- List of Austrian mountaineers
- List of Austrians
- Heinrich Harrer
- Seven Years in Tibet (book by Heinrich Harrer)
- Lhasa
- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
References
- ^ "::: Peter Aufschnaiter ::: Portrait". Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Magener Obituary THE NEW YORK TIMES Juli 3, 2000
- ^ Magener Obituary TELEGRAPH London 18 May 2000
- OCLC 917234693.
On 20 December 1950, Peter left Lhasa. Heinrich Harrer had already left for southern Tibet in the middle of November, finally leaving the country in March 1951. But Aufschnaiter wanted to stay in Tibet as long as possible, and in fact remained another ten months. (...) at this time he was on the south-western frontier of Tibet. On the way there he visited the monastery of Rongphu, which the Chinese had not yet destroyed, and from there climbed, alone, as far as No. 1 camp on the northern ascent route to Everest.
- ^ a b Peter Aufschnaiter