Karl Prusik (1896–1961) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

mountaineer 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 sports ...

. Prusik served twice as President of the Austrian Alpine Club (AAC) and is credited with establishing over 70 ascents and

routes Route or routes may refer to: * Air route, route structure or airway * GPS route, a series of one or more GPS waypoints * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * Route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * ...

. He is also recognised as the inventor of the

Prusik knot A Prusik ( ) is a friction hitch or knot used to attach a loop of cord around a rope, applied in climbing, canyoneering, mountaineering, caving, rope rescue, ziplining, and by arborists. The term Prusik is a name for both the loops of cord used t ...

(sometimes misspelled as ''Prussic''). Prusik was born on 19 May 1896 in

Vienna, Austria 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. ...

. After the

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 ...

, Prusik was a supporter of the then

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 ...

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 ...

(German: ''Deutscher Alpenverein'') led by Arthur Seuss-Inquart. In 1941, at the age of 45, Prusik was called to serve as a lieutenant in the Nazi German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. In 1942, he was promoted to captain and received the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

, 2nd class, for operations behind the Nazi front. In 1947, Prusik became the first Vice President of the Österreichischer Alpenklub (ÖAK.).

Prusik Peak Prusik Peak is an granite summit located at the west end of The Temple in Chelan County of Washington state. Prusik Peak is part of The Enchantments within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and is often the iconic photographic image of both ar ...

in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

is named in honour of Karl Prusik.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Also, a route in the Slovenian Alps was named after Karl Prusik and his climbing partner, Roman Szalay. He died on 8 May 1961 in Perchtoldsdorf, Austria, at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prusik, Karl 1896 births 1961 deaths Sportspeople from Vienna Austrian mountain climbers Austrian military personnel of World War II Austrian prisoners of war