The German Alpine Club (, DAV for short) is the world's largest climbing association and the eighth-largest sporting association in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is a member of the

German Olympic Sports Confederation The German Olympic Sports Confederation (, DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates back to 1895, the year it was founded a ...

and the competent body for sport and competition climbing,

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

hill walking Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultiva ...

ice climbing Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. ...

, mountain expeditions, as well as

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment ...

. It is an association made up of local branches known as 'sections'.

History

The German Alpine Club was founded as on 9 May 1869 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

by 36 former members of the Austrian Alpine Club around the Ötztal curate Franz Senn. It was founded in order to promote the development of tourism in the

Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Main chain of the Alps, Alpine divide, and down the Liro (Como), Liro River to Lake Como in the south. ...

through the building of

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

s, and establishment of hiking

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

s, and

via ferrata A via ferrata (Italian language, Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other Alpine locations. The protection includes steel fixtures such as ...

s. The association had a large membership from the beginning, attracting 1,070 members in the first ten months. The German and the Austrian societies merged in 1873 to form the German and Austrian Alpine Club (DÖAV). By the late 19th century, the association's policies became increasingly nationalistic and

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. In 1899, the

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

section amended an " Aryan paragraph" to exclude non-Christian members, followed by the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

section in 1905 and the Alpine associations of Vienna in 1907 and Munich in 1910. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Jewish members, including

Viktor Frankl Viktor Emil Frankl (; 26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and The Holocaust, Holocaust survivor, who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's mean ...

and

Fred Zinnemann Alfred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an American film director and producer. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thriller film, thrillers, western (genre), westerns, film ...

, who made up one third of the membership, were banned in most branches. They, in turn, established a separate '' Donauland'' section, insisting on recognition by the DÖAV. The ''Donauland'' members were officially ousted in 1924. Jews were even banned from using the DÖAV mountain huts.Helmuth Zebhauser: ''Alpinismus im Hitlerstaat'', München 1998, . Neueres zum Antisemitismus des Vereins in ''Panorama. Mitteilungsblatt des DAV'' Heft 1/2007, S. 60–62, von Nicholas Mailänder, siehe Weblinks: Donaulandaffäre Following Austrian ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

'' to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1938, the DÖAV, under the leadership of Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was renamed as the ''Deutscher Alpenverein'' (DAV) and was incorporated into the '' Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen'' (National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise) as its mountaineering association. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the DAV was dissolved by the Allied authorities. Its assets were held by the Austrian Alpine Club, acting as trustees. The German Alpine Club was re-established in 1952. It joined the in 1992. After leaving the

Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; ), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for ...

in 2008 due to differences of opinion regarding competitive and recreational sports, the German and Austrian Alpine Clubs rejoined the

in 2013.

Structure

The DAV is an

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

comprising 356 legally independent regional sections with a total of around 1.5 million members. Every branch is a registered

voluntary association A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to a ...

(''

Eingetragener Verein An (; "registered association" or "incorporated association"), abbreviated (), is a legal status for a civil registration, registered voluntary association in Germany. While any group may be called a , registration as confers many legal bene ...

'', e.V.) in its own right and solely responsible for admitting members. The collective body of the branches is represented by the general assembly, association council, and presidium. The primary task of the Club is the maintenance of its

s through its sections which currently provide 325 alpine club huts for hikers and mountaineers as well as 220

indoor climbing A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with manufactured grips (or "holds") for the hands and feet. Most walls are located indoors, and climbing on such walls is often termed indoor climbing. Some walls are brick or wooden constr ...

gyms. The DAV publishes '' DAV Panorama'' magazine,

Alpine Club map Alpine Club maps (, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are especially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers, hikers, and ski tourers. They are predominantly published at a scale of 1:25.000, although some sheets have ...

s and '' Alpine Club Guides'' in cooperation with Bergverlag Rother, organises hill walks and alpine-style tours, makes mountaineering equipment available to rent and arranges collective insurance. It also runs the Alpine Museum on Prater Island in

. In recent years, the Club's policies have shifted towards

habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in ter ...

, with a particular focus on the protection of the fauna and flora of the Alps.

References

Sources

* Anneliese Gidl: ''Alpenverein. Die Städter entdecken die Alpen. Der Deutsche und Österreichische Alpenverein von der Gründung bis zum Ende des Ersten Weltkrieges''. Böhlau, Wien u. a. 2007, .
Rezension
* Holt, Lee Wallace. ''Mountains, Mountaineering and Modernity: A Cultural History of German and Austrian Mountaineering, 1900-1945''. ProQuest, 2008. * Nicholas Mailänder: ''Im Zeichen des Edelweiß. Die Geschichte Münchens als Bergsteigerstadt''. Zürich 2006. * Rainer Amstädter: ''Der Alpinismus. Kultur, Organisation, Politik''. Wien 1996.

External links

Official website of the German Alpine Club

Overview of the structure of the DAV

Official website of the youth division of German Alpine Club (JDAV)

''The Danube land affair of the DuOeAV: The darkest chapter of our club history''
{{Authority control Sports organisations of Germany Alpine clubs Nature conservation organisations based in Germany Hiking organisations in Germany Sports clubs and teams established in 1869 Mountaineering in Germany 1869 establishments in Bavaria Hiking governing bodies Deutscher Naturschutzring