ALFONS WALDE (1891-1958)
Ellmauer Halt (2,344 m - 7,690 ft)
Austria
In Büchlach et le Wilder Kaiser, oil on paper, 1925
The mountain
The Ellmauer Halt (2,344 m - 7,690 ft) is an alpine summit, the highest point of the Kaisergebirge, and in particular the Wilder Kaiser range in Austria (Tyrolean Land).
The massif is surrounded by the Chiemgau Alps to the north, the Loferer Steinberge to the east, the Kitzbühel Alps to the south and the Brandenberg Alps to the west.
It is bordered on the west by the Inn.
It is composed of two main links oriented in an east-west axis about twenty kilometers long: the highest, the Wilder Kaiser (literally "Wild Emperor") in the south, and the Zahmer Kaiser ("Emperor Tamed") in North. They are separated by the Kaisertal ("Valley of the Emperor") and are connected only at the Stripsenjoch, at 1,580 meters above sea level.
The first dated traces of the human settlement in the Kaisergebirge are estimated from the 3rd millennium BC. These are the remains of hunters from the Stone Age in the cave of Tischof. Other finds prove the presence of settlements in the Bronze Age in the cavities. The documents relating to the settlement of Kaisertal in the Middle Ages date back to 1430. This is a contract to sell a farm called Hinterkaiser. The name "Kaiser" in this area is older and is already in 1240 in a list of goods Kitzbühel enacted by a certain Gamsgiayt Chaiser.
Tourism development begins in the Kaisergebirge in the second half of the 19th century. Until the end of this century, there are also many firsts. However, it is assumed that the greatest peaks had already been sporadically erected by the natives without this having ever been manifested. Then, until the First World War, the limestone walls of the Wilder Kaiser were the cradle of the Munich climbing scene, where the famous pioneers such as Hans Dülfer completely revolutionized the climbing adventure and athletic. Then, until the 1960s, the fixation techniques of these two disciplines were practically completed. In 1977, the 7th degree of difficulty is introduced with the free climbing of Pumprisse by Reinhard Karl and Helmut Kiene at Fleischbank. In the 1970s and 1980s, a series of sometimes extremely difficult sports routes were opened in the massif.
The artist
Alfons Walde was an Austrian artist and architect, best known for his winter landscapes and farming images, especially skiing and sporting scenes, painted in tempera or impastoed oil paint. Many of his paintings can be seen in the Museum gallery in Kitzbühel.Walde produced his first watercolour and tempera paintings during his school days. From 1910 to 1914 he studied architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna, while continuing his education as a painter. In the Danubian metropolis he moved in artistic circles that included Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, and he became influenced by Ferdinand Hodler.
In 1911 Walde had his first exhibition in Innsbruck, and in 1913 presented four farm pictures at the prestigious Vienna Secession exhibition. From 1914 to 1917 he actively participated in World War I as a Tyrolean Kaiserschütze in the high mountains. After returning to Kitzbühel, he fully devoted himself to painting and participated again in exhibitions of the Secession and the Vienna Künstlerhaus throughout the 1920s. He was active as a graphic artist, and beginning in 1926 designed many posters.
By around 1928 Walde had finally found his own characteristic style, one that gave expression to both the Tyrolean mountain scenery – particularly the living winter landscapes – and its robust people through the use of highly reduced drawings and pastel colouring. Throughout the rest of his artistic career his work stayed with the subject of his homeland, and retained the same distinct native style.
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
