Hermann von Barth is considered to be the discoverer of the Karwendel.
He often visited his family's ancestral home in the district of Eglingen.
Much there still reminds of him.
Hermann von Barth was born exactly 175 years ago.
He is probably one of the most important alpinists of the 19th century.
Was a permanent guest at Schloss Harmating in Egling.
Eurasburg / Egling
- Hermann von Barth: This is the name of the man who was born 175 years ago at Schloss Eurasburg and who went down in the history of alpinism as the discoverer of the Karwendel.
However, his full and correct name is: Hermann von Barth-Harmating.
This shows that there is a second connection between Barth and the area between Loisach and Isar, because Harmating is the name of a small hamlet in Egling with an old castle, the headquarters of von Barths.
And that's exactly where a relative of the great mountaineer and author lives and writes today, namely Albert von Schirnding (85).
An important storyteller and poet of contemporary literature, who was awarded the district's cultural honor prize in 2016.
Both are not related by blood.
"A great aunt on my mother's side married a brother Hermann von Barths," says the classical philologist.
Hermann von Barth stayed in the castle often after the family had sold Eurasburg Castle in 1858.
"There are still a few things from him," says the castle owner.
Von Schirnding shares his passion, mountaineering.
“Even if not to the same extent for a long time,” he says with a smile.
The Barths built the old Kesselbergstrasse
In 1874, Hermann von Barth's “From the Northern Limestone Alps” appeared, which made its author famous at once.
In the - today out of print - reprint of the work from 1984, von Schirnding dealt intensively with his famous relative.
In it he tells of the career of the alpinist and writer, who on the one hand tended to be “breathtaking daring” as a solo singer in the mountains, and on the other hand also showed a “slow and cool” side with scientific exploration.
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Hermann von Barth-Harmating is considered to be the discoverer of the Karwendel.
© MM archive
The foreword reminds us that the Barths are an ancient Munich patrician family, as can be seen in the medallions painted in the palace.
The graves of the Barths with the "speaking coat of arms of the bearded bald head" can still be found today in Munich's Peterskirche and in the Frauendom.
In 1492 Heinrich von Barth had the old Kesselbergstrasse built between Kochel and Walchensee at his own expense, admittedly in his own interest: The family had grown rich through salt trading and silver mining.
The last male descendant died in Romania in 1917, on the battlefields of the First World War.
The Harmatinger headquarters came to the von Schirnding family through inheritance in 1941.
Also read: The Leonhardiritt in Harmating
The last offspring of the family died in the First World War
Hermann von Barth was born into the important von Barth family from Munich in 1845.
After the sale of Schloss Eurasburg, the family lived in Munich and at the headquarters.
In 1863 Hermann von Barth graduated from the Ludwigsgymnasium in Munich, where - another parallel - Albert von Schirnding taught for decades.
Then came law school.
And then the mountains.
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The writer and educator Albert von Schirnding is today's lord of the castle.
© Weber / Archive
Von Schirnding describes it as "the most amazing thing in this life, which is rich in astonishment, that Hermann von Barth's unprecedented achievement was the work of just four summers." Schuster had made.
“Every climbing summer corresponded to a writing winter, in which the experiences were meticulously traced.” The prose that arose in the process brings to mind the contemporaries Karl May and Friedrich Nietzsche: “Something of the spirit and demon of superhumanity can also be found here . “It's a lot about the desire to conquer, the fight with nature.
But there are also quiet passages.
There is a contradiction in the work of the alpinist
In a newspaper article, the Bergjournal of September 21, also published in 1984, von Schirnding comes to the conclusion that there is an "irrevocable contradiction" in Hermann von Barth's life work.
What he was looking for was the charm of unspoiled nature.
"But by opening up the area in two ways - climbing and writing - he of all people, the solicitor of all people, paved the way for the massive alpine tourism of our day."
In 2015 Albert von Schirnding's collection of poems “Höherstieg” appeared in the Toni Pongratz edition.
In the poem that gave the collection its name, the moment of departure is evoked: "Throw away, throw away / what weighs you down / let go, let go / what is yours / give me, give me / your house, your flocks / Forget / Forget your name / Your becoming / Split yourself / with your self / Go away, go away / To no man's place. ”Whoever wants can think of Hermann von Barth.
