Burkhart Waldecker (August 19, 1902, in

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

– 1964) was a German explorer who, in 1937, discovered the most southern source of the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

in Burundi. Waldecker came to the area to seek asylum from

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

persecution. The true source is near Rutovu, where a pyramid was erected in 1938. Waldecker's name is seen on the plaque, which says in Latin, "Caput Nili," thus ending man's long quest to discover the source. Although the Nile river has various sources, Waldecker found the

's most southern source which is part of the

Kagera River The Kagera River, also known as Akagera River, or Alexandra Nile, is an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: ...

, the other being

Lake Kyoga Lake Kyoga or Lake Kioga (literally 'the place of bathing' in Runyoro language) is a large shallow lake in Uganda, about in area and at an elevation of 1,033 metres. The Victoria Nile flows through the lake on its way from Lake Victoria to Lake ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

further north. The small pipe flowing with the first Nile water appears from the ground below the summit of Mount Kikizi where the pyramid is found. The explorer missionary

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...

tried for many years in the late 1800s to find the source of the Nile without success.

References

External links

*
Britannica.comPanoramio.com
German explorers of Africa 1902 births 1964 deaths {{Germany-explorer-stub