As of: March 14, 2024, 3:00 p.m
By: Gerda Gebel
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Reinhold Messner's autographs were in great demand after his appearance in the town hall.
© Peter Gebel
The extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner talked about the constant danger to life and feelings of happiness on the rock in the Erding town hall.
Erding – Experiencing a living mountaineering legend live is not something you can easily miss.
So it's no wonder that the lecture by extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner in the Erdinger Stadthalle was completely sold out weeks before the date.
The title “About Life” was cleverly chosen, as it best expresses the main themes: survival and about life.
Even the most famous alpinist of our time started small.
Growing up with eight siblings in Funes in South Tyrol, he made his first mountain tours and attempted climbing in the Dolomites.
There he was able to develop the self-confidence for later expeditions.
“Our mother always had great trust,” said Messner, showing old family photos.
Wonderful film footage of the Dolomites underlined his love for his homeland.
Together with his brother Günther, who was two years younger, he undertook increasingly difficult climbing tours and entered the flow state, “when you become one with the rock”.
The 79-year-old spoke freely about the often dangerous adventures.
“In the great outdoors there is always the danger of perishing,” in contrast to sport climbing indoors.
“The bigger the mountains, the greater the fear, so it takes courage to set off,” explained the extreme athlete.
He completed his “masterpiece in mountaineering” by climbing the three north faces of the Eiger, Matterhorn and Grandes Jorasses in the Alps.
Then he moved to the Himalayas.
There he was the first to climb the 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen, but also experienced the greatest drama of his life.
He died while climbing Nanga Parbat with his brother Günther.
It was clear to hear how the mountaineer is still moved by this tragedy.
But mountaineering involves not only doing but also telling, as Messner said.
In order to make his findings accessible to laypeople, the South Tyrolean founded the Messner Mountain Museum in his homeland.
Here he shows various exhibitions and relics on topics such as the history of climbing, mysterious mountain tribes and mystical mountains at Sigmundskron Castle and five other branches.
But the versatile cross-border commuter also found words of warning for the protection of extreme natural landscapes that should not be sacrificed to unrestrained tourism.
He feels grateful for the numerous local helpers and porters for his expeditions who made them possible.
Messner founded schools, made it possible for girls in Pakistan to attend school and had bridges built.
The audience hung almost breathlessly on Messner's lips as he reported on his later crossings of the Taklamakan desert, Greenland or the Antarctic crossing with Arved Fuchs on the trail of the Shackleton expedition.
The historical images made the almost inhumane efforts clear, but they also showed Messner's motto of always pushing back the limits of what is possible.
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To this day, the workaholic mountaineer never allows himself a break: he has written countless books about his expeditions, sat in the European Parliament, breeds yaks in South Tyrol and gives lectures and seminars.
In Erding, too, the book tables were heavily crowded; the star of the evening patiently signed the books he had purchased and also put his autograph on posters and tickets.
After a good two hours, the enthusiastic visitors of all ages were dismissed, as were Georg Maierhofer and Maximilian Winterer from Neumarkt St. Veit.
The two friends received the cards as a Christmas present and really enjoyed the lecture.
Winterer in particular, as an enthusiastic mountaineer, has been a fan for a long time and was happy to be part of the live performance.
Messner was in Erding for the first time, but his fans won't have to wait long for a sequel.
On April 6, 2025 he will come back to the town hall with his lecture “My Mountain of Destiny – Nanga Parbat”; advance sales have already begun.