Josef Naus (1793–1871) was an officer and surveying technician, known for leading the first ascent of Germany's highest mountain, the

Zugspitze The Zugspitze ( , ; ), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border ...

. Variations of his name are Karl Naus or Joseph Naus.

Life and career

Naus was born on 29 August 1793 in Lechaschau /

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

or, according to other sources, Reutte.''Bosls bayerische Biographie''
by Karl Bosl. Accessed on 9 Apr 2011. He was the son of a judge and came from a family that had probably immigrated from Belgium or the Netherlands to Tyrol in the 17th century. As a young man, Naus studied surveying. He joined the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

in 1813 and did wartime service against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in 1814/15 before joining the Royal Topographic Bureau. In 1820, together with a group of officers and men, Lieutenant Naus was given the task of producing the Werdenfels map for the Topographic Atlas of Bavaria. In the course of this work, on 27 August 1820, Naus made the first recorded ascent of the Zugspitze with his assistant, Maier, and mountain guide, Johann Georg Tauschl. In 1824, Naus became a lieutenant. In 1851, he was promoted to major general and sent to Ulm as commandant of the imperial fortress there. He retired in 1857, but was reactivated in 1866 and appointed as Quartermaster General and head of the Survey Office. He died on 6 September 1871 in Ulm.

Background

In September 2006, the

German Alpine Club The German Alpine Club (, DAV for short) is the world's largest climbing association and the eighth-largest sporting association in Germany. It is a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and the competent body for sport and competiti ...

announced that the first ascent of the Zugspitze could have been made before the middle of the 18th century. The basis of this speculation was the rediscovery of an historic map from the 18th century that depicted the Zugspitze region. On this map routes were marked to the summit region, but not, however, to the actual summit. A chronology with relatively accurate information about the routes to the summit reinforced the surmise. But the map did not indicate whether the mountain was scaled by hunters or smugglers.Deutscher Alpenverein
Panorama – Magazin des Deutschen Alpenvereins
'' 58. Jahrgang, Heft 5. Alpenvereinsverlag, Munich, 2006 (p. 88f, Siehe: Kultur und Medien).

Film

In 2006, Bavarian TV filmed ''Gipfelsturm'' ("Summit Storm"), which portrayed the first official ascent of the Zugspitze by Josef Naus (first broadcast on 8 April 2007). In this historical drama he not only had to contend with nature, but also with the superstitious population. Josef Naus is played by Johannes Zirner. Direction and screenplay were by Bernd Fischerauer.

References

External links

Alpine summits and their first climbers

BR online page on the film about the first ascent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naus, Josef German geodesists 1793 births 1871 deaths German mountain climbers