Reinhard Maack-one great men in Brazil.

[Cristiano de S.O Campos]

Hi

Now i´m tell the history of Reinhard Maack,
He was cartographer, geographer, paleontologist, engineer of mines, geologist and... veteran of Schutztruppe





REINHARD MAACK was born in 2 of October of 1892 in Herford, Vestfália, in Germany, being son of the secretary of the Railroad, Peter Maack, and of its wife Karoline, been born Klinge. The Maacks descends of Dithmarschen belongs to the old carrying lineage of blazons. Ancestor migrated for Bardowick, where Winkelhof it is property of the family has many centuries. There the father of Reinhard Maack was born. This passed its infancy in Herford, studying during 8 years in the public school Wilhelmsplatz. 1907 it entered the typography of its uncle Wilhelm Maack in Luedenscheid, in order to learn the graphical arts, attending a course simultaneously the school of recorders.


MAACk, the adventurer

Its interests, however, lead-in to a different profession that it would provide to it to know countries distant. It was specialized in Geodesy in the Service of Prussian register . After the first years of improvement, its uneasy temperament impelled it for far. As its petition to take part in the German Expedition to Antarctica directed for Wilhelm Filchner rejected little age had its, it travelled to southwestern Africa in May of 1911, in order to try the luck. It was used by the Geodesic Service of Windhoek, capital of the DSWA. The transference for Samoa required for the distribution director, however, could not be carried through in virtue of the beginning of the World War I.

MAACK,THE SCHUTZTRUPPEN

Consequently, it participated of the World War I in the colonial troops of southwestern Africa until the surrender of the small remaining company of 900 weapons in Khorab, after to have fought during one year against 60.000 of the South African troops . It belonged to the group of the 7 german mens who had tried to cross the African continent in July of 1915 to join the troops of Lettow-Vorbeck in Eastern Africa. It does not fit here to enter in details on the adventurous peregrination of this escape. Four friends again had been imprisoned by the English, being Maack impelled with two comrades, the sergeant Eduard Black and the subordinate officer David Fritz, for the region north of the desert of Kalahari. Trying to get new clothes and the ammunition, English patrols had driven away alone Maack for the south region of the Kalahari, where it remained during 6 months in a solitary eye-d' water in company of a Ovambo and a Xosa, losing of sight its friends. In 1919 it only had chance of reemeeeting one of them, E. Brack, ahead of the Naukluft in the Namalândia (Gross-Namaland). Finally, a wound compelled Reinhard Maack to look medical aid and with the loaned Parole-Permit under the pseudonym of Hans Ritter it arrived at the Swakopmund. There Fritz Brenner was taken care of by the German doctor Dr., which dealt with to the wound and the serious cardiac injury. During this permanence in Swakopmund he had chance to observe, in company of a colleague of the German Colonial Society. the Hofmann, a stranger formation that appeared regularly in the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean, measuring the zenithal distances. Both had arrived at the conclusion to that the northeast of Swakopmund would have to be about a mountain in a distance of approximately 250 km, being registered in the maps as mountains “Messum”. However, the altitude of these rises was indicated only with 1.100 m, fact this that made Maack and Hofmann to conclude that in the direction of such formation on the horizon of the Atlantic it would have to be the bulk highest of southwestern Africa. This could only be a mountain known in that region under the name of Brandberg. A photograph of the Brandberg taken off for Ernst Reuning allowed to this conclusion, having its been altitude calculated for Hofmann in 3.000 m, being based on in the distance indicated.

Brandberg Expedition

In Windhoek a small expedition was organized in order to effect the phototrigonometric survey of the region to the south of the Ugab-Rivier in the limit enters the desert of Namib and the Dornen-Steppe in the Damaralândia, verifying itself the Brandberg as the biggest rise of southwestern Africa. In the first attempt it was not possible to reach the main top, reason for which Maack organized in the end of the year of 1917, together with three friends, one second expedition to the Brandberg. In this trip the survey and for the first time scaled the main top of the highland was concluded, being its altitude determined in 2.606 m, reduced later the 2,586 m through trigonometrical measurements. The map of the Brandberg de Hofmann-Maack still is today considered as the best cartographic representation, indicating exactly the most recent fotogramétricos surveys only small alterations in the internal part of the mountainous bulk, whose necessity of correcão is mentioned for Hofman-Maack. In the return of this Maack scaling it discovered a grotto with prehistoric afrescs that had later gotten great fame.


The White Lady

One is about the grotto with the “White Lady”, on which especially the researcher of pre-history Abbé Henri Breuil published important workmanships. With this afrescs and many others, described for Maack for the first time in 1920, had also occupied the researchers of prehistory Hugo Obermaier, Herbert Kuehn and Leo Frobenius. In the year of 1919, Maack organized its second expedition of research for proper initiative, in order to study and to raise the passage of the Tsondab-Rivier in the way desert it of Namib. In this Maack trip it lived three days dramatical, being delirious of headquarters. After to walk unconsciously, naked, dragging behind itself the one shirt hotentote, arrived in the end of the fourth night of headquarters at the eye-d' water in Ababes, place of departure of the expedition. A rescue group found hotentote Max without sensible the 25 distant km of the eye-d' water, obtaining to reanimate it: one hotentote and two horses had been lost in dunes of the Namib. The results of the expedition to the Brandberg and the trip through the desert of Tsondab are published - 1923 and 1924 - in the Magazine of the Society of Geography of Berlin. For incumbency of the Otavi Company of Mines and Railroads, as well as of the Company Kaoko de Terras and Mines, Maack undertook in the year of 1920, together with the engineer of measurement W. Volkmann, a trip drawn out to the Kaokoveld, in order to measure and to search the rights of mines with respect to the gold occurrence, iron and has covered. In the ending of this Maack trip, as run away prisoner of war, finally it was rehabilitated next to the authorities anglian-south-Africans for the commissioner of the Dr. government Ludwig Kastl, entering the British South Africa Survey Service for Africa of the Southwest. in order to collaborate in the transcription of the German farms of cadrastro for the South African headings of property. In this period it simultaneously gave to lessons of mathematics and mathematical drawing in the gymnasium of Windhoek, revising the results of the research on the art of the bushmen. In the year of 1921 it returned to Germany, passing for Eastern Africa, Arabia and Syrian.



Maack in Brazil

Already in 1923 Maack it arrived at Brazil as engineer of mines for the Company of Mining and Paranaense Settling, working in the river Tibagi and the west of Minas Gerais up to 1926. In 1927 it effected for the Brazilian Company of Mining of Coal of Iron in Rio De Janeiro the cartographic survey of the deposits of coal of Cniciúma and of the ore zone of iron of the peak of Itabira of the Field between Congonhas and Serra of the Mercy. In 1928 it gave examination initial before the Ministry of the Culture in Berlin, registering itself the College of Philosophy of the Friedrich-Wilhelms University, also in Berlin. It attended a course two basic substances, namely, Geography with Prof. Dr. Norbert Krebs and Geology, Paleontology and Mineralogy with professors Drs. Pompecki. the Johnsen and Belowsky, as well as Ore Microscopy with the Dr. Seiffert. At the same time Paul Range registered itself the course of Dr. R. Stappenbeck on Science of the Useful Ore Deposits and the Dr. on Geography of Africa. In 1930 Reinhard Maack he was contracted, through the University of Berlin, for the Agricultural Company of Mining and Railroad Glad Mount to supervise, the exploration of diamonds in the river Tibagi and to effect the measurement of this river and of the Farm Glad Mount. This activity was suspended because of the 1932 revolution and Maack, assisted for the German Association of Research, undertook particular trips of study, carrying through mainly the cartographic survey of the river Ivaí, in 1934. After to have acquired property in the Paraná and to have managed it during some time, returned Berlin in 1936, concluding its studies in 1937 in the Institute of Geography and Geology of the University with Prof. Dr. Norbert Krebs and Prof. Dr. Hans Stille. From 1938 until the entrance of Brazil in World War II, Maack developed its activities as proxy of the firms Otto Wolf and Deutsche Bahnbau A.G in exchange for to export ores of iron and wood of Brazil the importation of locomotives, wagons etc.


In this Maack period it gave continuation to the geographic-geologic research, discovering in the mountain range of the Sea the culminating orographic point of the State of the Paraná for it called “Pico Paraná” in homage our State. It evidenced that the Marumbi peak with 1.505 m (not 1.810m as he was indicated erroneamente until then is not the biggest rise of the Paraná. “Pico Paraná”, scaled for the first time in 13 of July of 1941 for the Maack group is with about 1.922 altitude m the biggest rise of our State and at the same time of Southern Brazil.



Maack in the prison


The research in the Serra do Mar and the activities for the great German firms had constituted the reason of which Reinhard Maack as well as other representatives of important managing German firms and of banks, was withheld e, after six months of arrest in the Prison of Curitiba, interned in Ilha Grande. For initiative of the meritorious Interventor of the State of the Paraná, Mr. Manoel Ribas, Maack was freed in 1944, being requested to place its knowledge to the disposal of the State. Initially he worked as geologist in the Paranaense Museum and later in the Institute of Biology and Technological Research. In 1946 it was contracted by the University of the Paraná as professor of Geology and Paleontology and for occasion of the federalização of this University occupied the chair of Physical Geography in the College of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters. Being land proprietor since 1932 and possessing a Brazilian son, the Brazilian citizenship by means of Title Declaratory; received in 1949.

http://www.loboguara.info/portug/proj_c ... _maack.php


In the dawn of 26 of August of 1969 Reinhard Maack it closed the eyes for the eternity, after to have suffered one heart attack from the myocardium. Many ideas finishes thus one blessed life and accomplishments, one shining career that it began in Herford, the south was extended for distant countries of north and east the west of our policromic planet, ending in Curitiba, after to have lived 46 years in Brazil.



The Brandberg is better known for its rock paintings and carvings, of which the ''White lady'' is the best known. This painting, located in the Tsisab Ravine, is about 2000 years old and can be reached after about 1.5 hours walk. The visit to the painting is best to be done early in the morning or late afternoon to avoid extreme heat of the midday. The ''White Lady'' was presumably painted by San people. Dr. Reinhard Maack discovered the ''White lady'' in January 1918. More than 43 000 individual paintings were located in the Brandberg combining in around 1000 sites.


http://www.topicos.net/fileadmin/pdf/20 ... _maack.pdf

[Chris Dale]

Thank you for posting that very intersting story. It's certainly intersting to read that he tried to reach DOA after the surrender of DSWA. I had heard that some Schutztruppe considered trying to break through, but not that any had actually tried.
Cheers
Chris