Heinrich Harrer (1912-2006)

Death:  7th January 2006

Location:  Hüttenberg Friedhof, Huttenberg, Austria

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Austrian mountaineer and author, best remembered for his book Seven Years in Tibet which was filmed in 1997 staring Brad Pitt. 

Harrer studied at the University in Graz. He was a keen sportsman and was due to participate in the 1936 Winter Olympics, but the Austrian Alpine ski team eventually boycotted the games. In 1938 he was part of the team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, Switzerland, which is recounted in his book The White Spider. 

As the popularity of the Nazi party grew in Austria he became a member of the SS, which he later referred to as a ‘stupid mistake’. Austria became part of Germany in 1938 and Harrer was took part in a German expedition to the Himalayas. At the beginning of World War Two in 1939 he was captured by British colonial authorities and imprisoned as an enemy alien. He escaped in 1944 and crossed into Tibet where he remained for the next seven years; eventually becoming the tutor of the Dalai Lama. 

Harrer returned to Austria in 1950 after the Chinese occupied Tibet. His book, Seven Years in Tibet, recounts his experiences and has been translated into fifty-three languages. After his return to Austria Harrer continued to climb and ski into his eighties.