Heinrich Harrer
July 6, 1912 — January 7, 2006 — Hüttenberg, Austria
Heinrich Harrer was an Austrian mountaineer, explorer, and author — best known for his memoir Seven Years in Tibet, describing his extraordinary escape from a British internment camp in India and his subsequent years in Lhasa, where he became a friend and tutor to the young 14th Dalai Lama.
Mountaineer, Olympic Athlete, and Early Career
Born on July 6, 1912, in Hüttenberg in the Duchy of Carinthia (then part of Austria-Hungary), Harrer became a celebrated mountaineer in his youth. He was a member of the Austrian national ski team at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, competing in the combined event. His most significant mountaineering achievement came in 1938 when he was part of the four-man team that made the first ascent of the fearsome north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps — the "Mordwand" (murder wall) — one of the most dangerous climbs in Europe. The climb made him a celebrated figure in Central Europe.
Internment, Escape, and Tibet
Harrer was in India for a mountaineering expedition when World War II broke out in 1939; as an Austrian national (and thus subject of Germany), he was interned by the British in a prisoner-of-war camp at Dehra Dun. He escaped in April 1944 with fellow mountaineer Peter Aufschnaiter and the two men spent months trekking through the Himalayas. Extraordinarily, they made it to Lhasa — the forbidden capital of Tibet — in January 1946, becoming the first Europeans in many years to enter the city. Harrer found work in the Tibetan capital and eventually became close to the 13-year-old Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, teaching him about the outside world, geography, English, and Western science, and becoming one of the few Westerners the young spiritual leader trusted.
Did You Know?
The Dalai Lama has said that Heinrich Harrer was one of the most important influences on his understanding of the outside world. In the foreword to the English edition of Seven Years in Tibet, the Dalai Lama wrote warmly of Harrer as a friend who brought maps, films, and news of the modern world to a sheltered young ruler. The two men remained friends for the rest of Harrer's life, with the Dalai Lama describing Harrer as someone who "helped open my eyes to the world beyond Tibet."
Seven Years in Tibet and Later Controversy
Harrer left Tibet in 1950 when China invaded, and wrote Seven Years in Tibet in 1952 — a global bestseller eventually translated into 53 languages and adapted into a 1997 film starring Brad Pitt. Harrer went on to explore New Guinea, the Andes, and Alaska, writing numerous travel books. However, in 1997, documents revealed his membership in the Nazi Party and SS before World War II — facts he had concealed. The Dalai Lama said the revelation did not change his feeling for his old friend, and Harrer expressed regret for his youthful associations. He died on January 7, 2006, in Friesach, Austria, at 93. His memoir Seven Years in Tibet remains one of the most compelling adventure memoirs ever written.