Max Reisch

Max Reisch was an Austrian long-distance traveler, author, researcher and orientalist who in 1933 made the first overland journey by motorcycle to India, and who in 1935/1936 was the first to circumnavigate the world by traversing Mainland Southeast Asia in a car.

Life, work and accomplishments

Max Reisch attended primary and secondary schools in Bozen and Kufstein 1918 – 1924, then finished the HTL Mödling, and was graduated as "Ingenieur" (Austrian title) in Building construction 1931.
Afterwards he studied at the former "Hochschule für Welthandel" Vienna.
He got famous as travel pioneer and long-distance traveler by undertaking expeditions to North Africa, the Near and Middle East, including Palestine, Syria, Iran, Irak, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and British India. Further he drove as pioneer by car into the Far East, crossing Mainland Southeast Asia for the first time ever, going as far as China and subsequently via Japan and the USA around the world.
These travels were performed using expanded serial Puch Motorcycles, a modified Steyr 100 car, and the first European Motorhome, invented and designed by Max Reisch himself.
He also was a pioneer for Rotel Tours and planned or directed travels to the Holy Land, travels via Afghanistan to Pakistan, or Sahara-travels in Algeria.

Travels and Expeditions (a selection)

1930: Solo Motorcycle journey crossing over 12 Alpine passes with a Puch type 175; f. e. over the Stelvio Pass.;
1931: Solo Motorcycle journey to and around the Lake Garda;
1932: North Africa/Sahara-Motorcycle journey, using a modified Puch motorbike Type 250; the two being the first Austrians to travel into the Sahara with a motorbike.;
1933: India-Motorcycle-Expedition, travelling the Balkans, Anatolia, the Syrian Desert and the Iran to the Indian subcontinent as far as Mumbai. Reisch and Tichy were the first motorbikers worldwide to reach India on an overland route coming from Europe.
1935/1936: circumnavigation of the earth by car Reisch was using a Steyr 100 chassis, then designed and expanded for this expedition by Max Reisch himself. Reisch and Hahmann were the first to traverse Mainland Southeast Asia: by car, and completing the circumnavigation of the earth via Japan and the USA back to Austria.
1942/1943: as military officer at the German Afrikakorps under General Erwin Rommel: desert trips in Tunesia, Libya und Egypt, f. e. to the Siwa Oasis.
1952: Arabian Peninsula-Journey.
1955/1956: Journey to the Sinai Peninsula and the deserts of Egypt along the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, using an Opel-Caravan, but with a special Roof tent designed under the supervision of Max Reisch " to the Holy Land, including trips to Petra, and the coast of the Red Sea in contemporary Jordania, accomplished with a Ford Taunus and an early Caravan by the German company Knaus-Tabbert, again with his wife Christiane Reisch.
1962: First group-travel for Rotel Tours to India via Iran and Afghanistan; repeated several times until 1976.
1969: First group-travel for Rotel Tours, route "Trans-Sahara": from Tunis to Tamanrasset, and further to Agadez, Niamey, Porto-Novo, and Accra, repeated several times until 1980.
1972 – 1981: Group-travels for Rotel Tours, tours in South Africa, Scandinavia, Iceland, Indonesia and South America.

Other activities

Together with his elder brother Hans F. Reisch he founded 1946 the Spar (retailer) Austrian branch in Kufstein, and was an executive officer there till 1955.
In 1950 Max Reisch was a Central European Rally Champion and thus the first Tyrolian to win this trophy.
For his work Max Reisch was honoured by Austrian public institutions several times

1954 Grand Gold Medal, Austrian Motor Club;
1971 Honorary Title "Professor" by the President of Austria;
1978 Grand Silver Medal, City of Vienna;
1982 Golden Cross of Merit, Federal State of Tyrol;
1984 Golden Badge of Honour for Cultural Merits, city of Kufstein.

Publications (a selection)

Books

Transasien. Brockhaus publishers, Leipzig 1939.Transasia. Blix forlag/ publishers, Oslo 1944.Indien – lockende Ferne. Ullstein Verlag publishers, Vienna et al. 1949.2 Mann und 32 PS. Ullstein publishers, Vienna et al. 1951.Im Auto nach Koweit. Ullstein publishers, Vienna et al. 1953.König im Morgenland. Ullstein publishers, Vienna et al. 1954.Till Kuwait. Natur och Kultur publishers, Stockholm 1955.Auf nach Afrika!. Ullstein publishers, Vienna et al. 1957.Tapis Volants et Pipelines. Calmann-Levy publishers, Paris 1957.Siwa – Sinai und Sid. Kümmerly+Frey publishers, Bern 1958.Mausefalle Afrika: Meine Wüstenfahrten bei Rommel, und wie wir aus Tunis entwischt sind. K. Vowinckel publishers, Neckargemünd 1962.Strasse der Zehntausend: Auf den Spuren Alexanders des Großen. Österreichischer Bundesverlag publishers, Vienna 1962.Die Straße des Glaubens: Auf den Spuren der Kreuzritter. Österreichischer Bundesverlag publishers, Vienna 1965.Karawanenstraßen Asiens. Welsermühl publishers, Wels 1974.Indien lockende Ferne: 13.000 km Pionierfahrt nach Indien. Ennsthaler publishers, Steyr 1983, ISBN 3-85068-131-9.Im Auto um die Erde: Pionierfahrt durch Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam und China, Ennsthaler publishers, Steyr 1984, ISBN 3-85068-176-9.Out of the Rat Trap. Desert Adventures with Rommel. The History Press, Stroud/ UK 2013: ISBN 978-0-7524-9007-6.An Incredible Journey. The lost world of the 1930s circled by two men in one small car. Veloce publishers, Poundbury/UK 2017, ISBN 978-1-78711-165-3.India. The Shimmering Dream, A captivating window to a forgotten world: to India by motorcycle in 1933. Veloce publishers, Poundbury/UK 2018, ISBN 978-1-78711-294-0.

Articles

Between 1932 and 1984 Max Reisch published more than 700 contributions in Austrian, German, Italian, Hungarian, Estonian, British, US-American, Indian and Afghan newspapers and magazines, as well as ca. 30 chapters in books edited by others. See here the detailed list in the "Max-Reisch-Biblio-, Media- und Webografie by Ingo Mörth".

Audio-, Video-, Audiovisual and Internet-Contributions

Max Reisch documented all his travels with photographs. There are also B/W 35 mm films, used during the 1935/1936 world circumnavigation, and B/W 16 mm films used for some travels afterwards.
He published between 1934 and 1984 more than 100 original Radio reports, and from 1961 onwards also ca. 10 original TV-contributions. In addition, after his death 1985 several TV-films were compiled, designed and broadcast using the existing foto- and film-material. See here the detailed list of audio-, video- and web-contributions in the "Max-Reisch-Biblio-, Media- und Webografie by Ingo Mörth"
For recent and still active websites pertaining to Max Reisch see below.

The Max Reisch Collections

Max Reisch Archive

All manuscripts, private texts, all proofs and specimen copies of published texts by Max Reisch, and all photographic and film materials and documents are held by the private Max Reisch Archive, now in Innsbruck, accessible only on request

Collection of Vehicles

The special motorcycles, automobiles, motorhomes and camping constructions, which were used for his travels, were preserved by Max Reisch, and can now be visited in the "Crosspoint Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum" in Obergurgl. Exhibited are f. e.:

Stelvio Pass-Puch 175, used 1930, construction year 1925
Lake Garda-Puch 175, used 1931, c.y. 1926
Sahara-Puch 250, used 1932, c.y. 1929
India-Puch 250, used 1933, c.y. 1933
Transasia-Steyr 100-car, used 1935–1936, c.y. 1934.
"Arabia-Sadigi": Gutbrod Atlas 800 based motorhome, used 1952, c.y. 1950.
"Sinai-Moses": Opel Olympia Caravan with a special Roof tent, used 1955–1958, c.y. 1955.

Asiatika collection and "Orient-Archive"

The exhibition at the Crosspoint Museum Timmelsjoch contains also the so-called "Orient-Archive" of Max Reisch, comprising his extensive library of travel books and of abundant literature on countries he traveled, but also many objects of Asian art Max Reisch collected during his travels.