Rudolf Kauschka


Rudolf Kauschka was a German sportsman, tourist, and mountaineer from Czechoslovakia.

Biography

He was born in 1883 in the village of Fukov, which doesn't exist anymore. The area now belongs to Šluknov. In 1895, his family moved into Bílý Potok. Kauschka completed his studies in 1904 and became a customs officer like his father. During that time, he made numerous trips and climbs in the Jizera Mountains and their surroundings. From 1906 to the end of World War II, he was a member of Liberec section of the Alpenverein, making many trips to the Alps. During World War I, he served as a Third Lieutenant in the first unit of mountain guides in the Ortler mountain area. From 1920 until the end of World War II, he and his friends annually visited the Lasörling area in East Tyrol, where he played a role in building the New Liberec Chalet that opened in 1926. From 1919 until the end of World War II, he made many "first ascents" in the Jizera Mountains. In 1924, Kauschka wrote a book Wandern und Klettern. After World War II, he was expelled from Czechoslovakia. Kauschka arrived in Kempten either in 1946 or 1947 and would die there in 1960.

Sporting career

As a luger, Kauschka competed in three European luge championships, winning four medals. His first medals came at the inaugural 1914 championships in Reichenberg, Bohemia where he won the gold in the men's singles and a silver in the men's doubles events. Kauschka followed up with a silver in the men's singles event at Schreiberhau, Germany in 1928, then with another silver in the men's doubles event the following year in Semmering, Austria.

Tourism

Kauschka's tourism achievements were both in sports and in alpine mountaineering.
An example of this was one day, he started with friends at 2 am from Liberec to walk across Jizera Mountains to Sněžka in the Giant Mountains. 17 hours later at 7 pm, they were back in Harrachov after resting on the top of Sněžka for two hours.
In 1922, Kauschka and his friends climbed the Ještěd mountain summit twelve times starting at 7 pm one day and finishing at 5:45 pm the next day. During that day they reached an altitude over 5,000 m high, using over 20 different footpaths.

Ascents

From 1904 to 1928, Kauschka did much climbing, starting with the Jizera Mountains, including being the first to climb Zvon in 1921. He later climbed the Lusatian and Zittauer mountains, Bohemian Paradise and Saxon Switzerland. He was also in the Alps, the Dolomites, Ortler, and Wallis Alps.

Legacy

A rock in the Jizera Mountains, Kauschkova věž, was named in his honor. A summit in the Alps high was also named in Kauschka's honor, the year before his death.

Family

Kauschka's son Manfred was also a climber, doing the first ascent on Kobyla in Příhrazy in 1937 with friends.