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"Few people will have spent as much of their life exploring and climbing mountains as I have." These words by Otto Ampferer in the foreword to "Bergtage" (1930) aptly characterize one of the most important Alpine geologists. Ampferer knew the Alps like no one else: he was a mountaineer and geologist. Born on December 1st, 1875 as the son of a postman in Hötting (Innsbruck), Otto Nikolaus was baptized on December 5th, one day before St. Nicholas Day.
From childhood on, he always had the bright mountain peaks of the Karwendel Mountains in his sights. "The mighty mountains towering above captured my imagination and my wanderlust to the deepest extent." In 1901 his CV showed "numerous mountain climbs (over 600)". The mountain world - he had undertaken geological trips to eastern Switzerland, to Upper Bavaria, to the Salzkammergut, to the northern Limestone Alps, to the Etsch Valley, to the Dolomites, to the Ortler Group, as well as to the Ötztal and Zillertal mountains, whose "scientific and tourist [sic!] exploration" had become a passion for the young Otto. To use his sometimes flowery language, “a vivid goal of his pursuit.” Ampferer had had his doctorate in geology since the summer of 1899. Together with his mountain friend and geologist Wilhelm Hammer, who was the same age, he worked on the rugged skyline of Innsbruck and the Karwendel Mountains between Zirl in the west and Fritzens in the east. They both won a prize given by the University of Innsbruck (1896/97) and received 300 guilders.
“Practice early,” this saying applies to Ampferer’s alpine side. Legendary and often mentioned is the first ascent of the 300 meter high Guglia di Brenta rock pinnacle (also Campanile Basso, 2,883 meters) in the Brenta group (Trentino, Italy), by the "well-known high tourists and members of the academic Alpine club in Innsbruck", Otto Ampferer and Karl Berger, on August 16, 1899. Looking back, he mentions that he had "been into mountaineering in old age "Started around ten years ago", i.e. 1885. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he, along with a handful of like-minded people, was one of the pioneers of mountaineering. In addition to Ampferer, this group included Berger, who was five years younger than him, Heinrich von Ficker, who was born in 1881 and later became a meteorologist, and Wilhelm Hammer, who was the same age. With the latter he not only completed his dissertation, but also climbed the Habicht, a three-thousander in the Stubai Alps (Tyrol) over the northeast ridge on June 29, 1901. It may sound like recklessness. They had “no guidance, no guidance, no experience” (p. 264).
As a 55-year-old, he finds poetic words for his closeness to nature: "I have spent a large part of my life in the forests and have always come to love them. There is no seeing or hearing enough. […] In the forest you should go without shoes. The hard shoes destroy the fine touch and the intimate commitment to the living ground. Often a place in the forest is so sacred by the penetrating light that you have to kneel down or quietly come close again and again." (page 266). Closeness to nature à la Ampferer reads as follows: "The mountaineer throws himself without fear into nature's rough chest, he clutches her rocks, he nestles himself in her most secret niches, he stands in the morning and in the evening as a grain of dust in the sparkling gold frame of the first and the last lights."
In addition to his extensive geological mapping as the basis for numerous printed maps, Ampferer made a lasting name for himself in geological circles, especially through his "undercurrent theory" published in 1906. The young Tyrolean geologist, who in October 1901 applied for an internship at the k.k. Geological Reichsanstalt (today: GeoSphere Austria) in Vienna successfully applied to explain the formation of mountains. His thesis contradicted the contraction theory common at the time, which was also advocated by the doyen of geology, Eduard Suess (1831-1914). Ampferer commented on this in July 1939 in the magazine "Nature and People": "The rejection of my views took place through a quiet funeral on the part of E. Suess and a gross mockery on the part of A. Heim [Albert Heim, Swiss geologist]."
It hit him hard that his ideas were not accepted. "For years to come, I was deprived of any joy in continuing to work, even though I was completely convinced of the vitality of these ideas." More than 30 years later, in 1939, when he received the Gustav Steinmann Medal from the Geological Association (today: DGGV), he summarized the mountain-forming forces he postulated: "The theory of undercurrents [takes] advantage of the free movement of flowing melting and remelting on a large scale. The main movements do not take place in the earth's skin, but underneath it in the hot interior of the earth yourself." In the sense of plate tectonics, which is now recognized, according to which convection currents in the Earth's mantle form the drive for the movement of the continental plates above, Ampferer, together with Alfred Wegener, can be called a pioneer and trailblazer.
Six years after Ampferer, Wegener spoke about "The Origin of Continents" at a lecture on January 6, 1912 in Frankfurt am Main and presented his ideas on continental drift to the experts. Wegener, who died in Greenland in 1930, published his theories in the book "The Origin of Continents and Oceans", which appeared in the first edition in 1915 and the fourth edition in 1929. In February 1941, Ampferer gave an answer to the mechanisms behind the formation of the Atlantic and the drifting apart continents of Europe and Africa in the east and America in the west. The central mid-ocean ridge was already known at that time. He explained its origins with his undercurrent theory. The corresponding illustration, which he drew with his own hand, is still valid today.
Through the publication of his dissertation, written with Wilhelm Hammer, in Volume 48 of the k.k. yearbook. Geological Reichsanstalt (Rasumofskygasse 23, Vienna Erdberg), he had contact with the institution founded in 1849, which was a leader in geology at the time. In February 1902 he became an intern with an annual salary of 1,200 crowns, today that would be less than 1,000 euros a month. On November 20, 1902, he married Olga Sander, the sister of the well-known Innsbruck geologist Bruno Sander. Otto and Olga remained childless and spent a lot of time together; she also accompanied him on his geological work in the mountains. Back then, people probably didn't take the issue of permanent presence at the office very seriously; The main thing is that the work - in Ampferer's case, mapping work in Tyrol - was right. The young Ampferer also proved to be a keen reviewer of geological textbooks and thereby expanded the library holdings in Rasumofskygasse.
A Viennese residential address, Haizingergasse 49 in Vienna-Wahring, is not found in the "Lehmann" until 1904. From 1910, the Ampferer couple lived at Schüttelstrasse 77 on the left bank of the Danube Canal (Leopoldstadt) and was therefore within walking distance of the Reich Geological Institute. His Innsbruck mountain friend Wilhelm Hammer also found a job here. Both went through a scientific civil service career, including the title of court councilor. Both made it to the top and became directors. Hammer held the highest office of geologist from 1923 to 1935 at what is now the Federal Geological Institute (GBA). Ampferer followed him in the position for the next three years (until 1938). In 1940, already retired, Ampferer became a full member of the Academy of Sciences (Doktor-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2, Vienna Innere Stadt), on whose behalf he and Hammer had already done geological work in Serbia in 1917. A third mountain enthusiast from his youth, the meteorologist Heinrich Ficker, had embarked on a university career with stations in Graz and Berlin and also held a management position in Vienna from 1936 to 1953. He headed the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG).
There are only a few hints that characterize Ampferer's nature. One of the rare sources is the obituary written by Hans Peter Cornelius, where he describes him as a "tireless worker" and explicitly mentions "his lively temperament and his sense of humor." "With how heartily he could laugh at the comedy that people play on each other - not in a sarcastic, bitter way, but with kind understanding!" If you follow Cornelius, Ampferer shows himself to be a person with a rough shell and a soft core. "He was able to turn a very rough side to the outside world, where he encountered dishonesty, falsehood or ill will." At his core he was a kind-hearted person. "Goodness - selfless, childlike, pure kindness of heart filled this rare person - far more than those far away could have guessed."
The workaholic is not only the author of numerous geological maps and scientific publications, he also wrote building geological reports. To the latter, a bon mot as proof of his modesty. For Ampferer, the fee wasn't that important. This led to a “company sending his invoice back with the comment: he couldn’t possibly charge that little.”
The estate of the geologist Christof Exner (1915 to 2007) contained 18 letters and postcards addressed to him by Ampferer from April 1939 to March 1944. Exner, who was born in Innsbruck and came from a respected family of scholars, began writing a dissertation on the eastern end of the Hohe Tauern at the Institute of Geology in 1935. The doctorate took place on March 16, 1939. In a postcard dated April 12, 1939, Ampferer informed Exner that he had also announced his lecture on the results of his dissertation in the newspaper (Neues Wiener Tagblatt, April 14, 1939) in the “Vienna in the Evening” section.
Less than two years later, on February 5, 1941, Ampferer asked him: "Now one more question. Would you be interested in swapping the cannon barrel for the geologist's hammer?" This sentence shows Ampferer's concern for the young Exner, who was in the artillery at the time. Ampferer used his contacts with his Munich geologist friend Ernst Kraus (1889–1970) so that Exner could be transferred to the military geologists in order to avoid direct combat deployment at the front. In later years, Exner described this successful change as “life-extending,” as Wolfgang Frank notes in Exner’s obituary.
In the last letter that Otto and Olga Ampferer sent on March 29, 1944 from their Innsbruck address, Siebererstrasse 4, the tired Alpine geologist paints a bleak picture. "Innsbruck has changed its image significantly since the two attacks. Almost nothing has been built in the destroyed houses because all the manpower is used to build numerous rock and protective tunnels. The blasting has not stopped day and night for weeks. A third of the residents have fled to the countryside. The once lively city seems to have died out." Finally he sums up with resignation: "We old people are pretty much done with life and hardly have any good hopes anymore."
Details and detailed analyzes can be found in the work “The geologists Otto Ampferer and Christof Exner during the Second World War”, published in 2024. It is also proven here that Ampferer and Exner - in contrast to many other colleagues - were not members of the NSDAP or party-affiliated organizations.
Ampferer remained in contact with his former colleagues in Vienna even after the end of the war. In October 1946, the then director Gustav Götzinger signed a "confirmation" regarding Ampferer (number: 1720/1946). Here you can read: "Today he is probably considered the best and most experienced geologist in Austria." There is nothing more to add to this recognition.
Otto Ampferer died on July 9, 1947 in Innsbruck, where he was buried at the Wilten cemetery. Alleys in Vienna, Innsbruck and Graz are named after him. Since 1983, the Austrian Geological Society has awarded the Otto Ampferer Prize to successful geologists younger than 35 years. (Thomas Hofmann, December 5, 2025)