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Albert Tafel

Albert Tafel (6 November 1876 in Stuttgart – 19 April 1935 in Heidelberg) was a German geographer, medical doctor and explorer. Prof. Dr. med. Albert Tafel was the son of Emil Otto Tafel, architect (Oberbaurat) and Professor at the School of Architecture (Baugewerbeschule) in Stuttgart, and his wife Lina, née Reuchlin.

Albert Tafel
Tafel in 1916
Born(1876-11-06)6 November 1876
Stuttgart, Germany
Died(1935-04-19)19 April 1935
Heidelberg, Germany
Alma materUniversity of Tübingen
Known forExpeditions to Tibet
Scientific career
FieldsGeography
InstitutionsUniversity of Karlsruhe

Biography edit

Following graduation from Dillmann's Modern School he took a journey on foot through the Balkans to Constantinople and Troy. In 1896/7 he served a year in the 26th regiment of the 'yellow dragoons' (gelbe Dragoner) – so called because of their yellow collars and cuffs – in Ludwigsburg. The years 1898–1902 were spent studying medicine in Tübingen, Berlin and Freiburg im Breisgau. Arriving in Tübingen in autumn 1898 he applied to join the student Corps Rhenania and was enrolled the following February. In 1903 he graduated Dr. med. In the course of his studies he travelled to Crete, Albania and Persia, made numerous excursions to the mountains, skiing on the Zugspitze and in the Bernese Oberland on his own home-made skis.

After his final medical exams in 1903, Albert Tafel pursued further courses in geography under Profs. Penk and von Richthofen, subsequently joining Wilhelm Filchner's 1904 expedition to China and Tibet as the party's doctor. It was on this expedition that a severe disagreement arose between the two, which led to a lifelong antipathy, chronicled at length by Filchner in his Feststellungen (publ. 1985). After Filchner's return to Europe, Tafel made further journeys through north China and north-east Tibet, researching in particular the frequently uncertain course of the Yellow River. On his return to Stuttgart in January 1908, he brought back with him extensive geological and ethnological collections as well as his interpreter and Tibetan companion Brdyal Lango.

In August 1909 Albert Tafel married a Jew, Henriette Müller. They lived at first in his parents' house in the Hasenbergsteige in Stuttgart. Brdyal was engaged as a servant. In 1914 he was appointed to a professorship of geography in Karlsruhe, but was unable to take up the post as he was appointed to join the fourth German Turfan Expedition under Albert von Le Coq, the noted archaeologist and explorer of Central Asia in Berlin. His task would be to conduct excavations in the Gobi Desert on behalf of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin.

The young couple had moved to Berlin-Charlottenburg where their children were born: Eleonore (Elinor) on 1 July 1910 and Albert Tobias (Toby) on 20 May 1913. Brdyal again moved with them. In Berlin Albert busied himself with drawing out his maps, cataloguing his collections and making preparations for his new journey to the far east, due to start in 1914. This was frustrated by the outbreak of the First World War, and instead he rejoined his regiment of dragoons as Lieutenant.

 
Albert Tafel ca.1930

He was initially deployed on the Western Front in France, then in Romania and subsequently in 1916 with von der Goltz's army in Mesopotamia. In spite of bouts of malaria and blood- poisoning he remained on active service with Arab and Persian auxiliaries against the British Expeditionary Force. After the war the retired cavalry captain, doctor and geographer saw no possibility of retaining the lifestyle to which he had been accustomed before it and so decided to move to the Netherlands Indies as a doctor, working in Batavia and Timor and subsequently as a doctor in the mines of Pulau Laut.

After the sudden death of his wife on 10 April 1928 Albert returned to Stuttgart. His home in Berlin had already been given up before the war. In 1931 he underwent an operation for stomach cancer – The obituary in the newsletter of his student fraternity the Corps Rhenania refers to an operation in Tübingen surgical hospital to remove a 'malignant tumour'. By 1933 however Albert felt well enough to make another trip to China (Tientsin/Tianjin) to prepare for further expeditions to augment his collections. This time he took his children with him: Eleonore (Elinor) and Albert Tobias (Toby) in order to shield them from Hitler's persecution of the Jews.

This occasion gave Albert the opportunity to revisit some of the locations of his earlier travels using more modern means. It was during this period in China that he once more fell ill with a tumour on the liver. At the beginning of 1935 he returned to Germany by ship. Any treatment came too late, and he died on 19 April 1935 in hospital in Heidelberg after a further operation.

Expeditions edit

Between 1903 and 1908 Tafel undertook several journeys to Asia, particularly in the north of Tibet. He took part among others in Wilhelm Filchner's expedition through north China, and the eastern and north-eastern regions of Tibet, where his principal interest lay in ascertaining the hitherto uncertain course of the Yellow River. In January [1904?] he left the main expedition to seek out the course of several tributaries, as well as the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Thus he explored parts of Inner Mongolia, the province of Kokonor and the Qaidam Basin – a desert region in the north of the Tibetan Plateau in the Chinese province of Qinghai. He explored the Nanshan Mountains and visited the monastery of Kumbum Champa Ling, where he met the thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatsho. On his return in 1908 he brought back a considerable collection of geological and ethnological specimens. The mineral and animal collections are held by the University of Tübingen; the valuable Tibetan ethnological collection is in the care of the Linden Museum in Stuttgart.

Honours edit

Albert Tafel was awarded the Iron Cross First Class in 1916, and in 1918 the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz) of the Military Merit Order (Württemberg)

Works by Albert Tafel edit

  • Meine Tibetreise. Eine Studienfahrt durch das nordwestliche China und durch die innere Mongolei in das östliche Tibet, Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart/Berlin/Leipzig (in German)
  • Meine Tibetreise. Eine Studienfahrt durch das nordwestliche China und durch die innere Mongolei in das östliche Tibet, 2nd edition in one volume, 499pp, illustrated, Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart/Berlin/Leipzig (in German)

References edit

  • Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon. Vol. 23 (9th ed.). p. 154.
  • Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon. Vol. 9 (9th ed.). p. 175.
  • "Corps-Zeitung der Rhenania zu Tübingen". 27 (Pt 3). 1 June 1935: 51–53. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Sven Hedin (1938). Fünfzig Jahre Deutschland. Leipzig: F.A.Brockhaus. pp. 54, 80–90.
  • Wilhelm Filchner (1950). Ein Forscherleben. Eberhard Brockhaus Wiesbaden. pp. 49, 52, 73.
  • Wilhelm Filchner. "Zum sechsten Erdteil, translated as "To the Sixth Continent" by William Barr, Bluntisham Books, 1994, p.196-214 being a translation of Filchner's Feststellungen, ed. Kirschmer, 1985, his commentary on his lifelong antipathy to Albert Tafel and others": 49, 52, 73. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • "TRIBUS, Veröffentlichungen des Lindenmuseums in Stuttgart Museum für Länder und Völkerkunde". Nr. 7, Oktober 1957,Günther Köhler, Dresden, Albert Tafel zum 80. Geburtstag, P. 167 – 168.
  • Hanno Beck. "Große Reisende Entdecker und Forscher unserer Welt, Callwey Verlag, München 1971, p. 331, Albert Tafel – einer der größten Forschungsreisenden (1877–1935)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • "Das Verbindungswesen in Tübingen. Eine Dokumentation im Jahre des Universitätsjubiläums 1977, p 91, Albert Tafel (Rhenania)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • "Die Stuttgarter Straßennamen". Silberburg-Verlag 1992, Seite 235, Tafelweg in Stuttgart Stammheim.
  • Gertrud Bolay. "Ein Tibeter in Asperg". 100 Jahre Historischer Verein für Stadt und Kreis Ludwigsburg e.V. Ludwigsburg, Erinnerungen aus Stadt und Kreis 1897–1997, Kommissionsverlag J. Aigner, Buchhandlung, Ludwigsburg.
  • Dietrich Schleip. "Ein Stuttgarter in Tibet, Forschungsreisen von Albert Tafel". Seiten 350–352, Schwäbische Heimat, July–September 1999, Part 3, P. 350-352.
  • Frank Raberg (2011). "Württ. Biographien, Band II". Württembergische Biographien. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag: 288.

External links edit

  • Obituary by Paul Fickeler,, Geographische Zeitschrift, 41. Jahrg., 12. H. (1935), S. 480–484
  • Wilhelm Filchner, Albert Tafel at Wissen.de
  • The American antiquarian and oriental journal. ... v.29 1907.

albert, tafel, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, october, 2014, learn, when, r. This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations October 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message Albert Tafel 6 November 1876 in Stuttgart 19 April 1935 in Heidelberg was a German geographer medical doctor and explorer Prof Dr med Albert Tafel was the son of Emil Otto Tafel architect Oberbaurat and Professor at the School of Architecture Baugewerbeschule in Stuttgart and his wife Lina nee Reuchlin Albert TafelTafel in 1916Born 1876 11 06 6 November 1876Stuttgart GermanyDied 1935 04 19 19 April 1935Heidelberg GermanyAlma materUniversity of TubingenKnown forExpeditions to TibetScientific careerFieldsGeographyInstitutionsUniversity of Karlsruhe Contents 1 Biography 2 Expeditions 3 Honours 4 Works by Albert Tafel 5 References 6 External linksBiography editFollowing graduation from Dillmann s Modern School he took a journey on foot through the Balkans to Constantinople and Troy In 1896 7 he served a year in the 26th regiment of the yellow dragoons gelbe Dragoner so called because of their yellow collars and cuffs in Ludwigsburg The years 1898 1902 were spent studying medicine in Tubingen Berlin and Freiburg im Breisgau Arriving in Tubingen in autumn 1898 he applied to join the student Corps Rhenania and was enrolled the following February In 1903 he graduated Dr med In the course of his studies he travelled to Crete Albania and Persia made numerous excursions to the mountains skiing on the Zugspitze and in the Bernese Oberland on his own home made skis After his final medical exams in 1903 Albert Tafel pursued further courses in geography under Profs Penk and von Richthofen subsequently joining Wilhelm Filchner s 1904 expedition to China and Tibet as the party s doctor It was on this expedition that a severe disagreement arose between the two which led to a lifelong antipathy chronicled at length by Filchner in his Feststellungen publ 1985 After Filchner s return to Europe Tafel made further journeys through north China and north east Tibet researching in particular the frequently uncertain course of the Yellow River On his return to Stuttgart in January 1908 he brought back with him extensive geological and ethnological collections as well as his interpreter and Tibetan companion Brdyal Lango In August 1909 Albert Tafel married a Jew Henriette Muller They lived at first in his parents house in the Hasenbergsteige in Stuttgart Brdyal was engaged as a servant In 1914 he was appointed to a professorship of geography in Karlsruhe but was unable to take up the post as he was appointed to join the fourth German Turfan Expedition under Albert von Le Coq the noted archaeologist and explorer of Central Asia in Berlin His task would be to conduct excavations in the Gobi Desert on behalf of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin The young couple had moved to Berlin Charlottenburg where their children were born Eleonore Elinor on 1 July 1910 and Albert Tobias Toby on 20 May 1913 Brdyal again moved with them In Berlin Albert busied himself with drawing out his maps cataloguing his collections and making preparations for his new journey to the far east due to start in 1914 This was frustrated by the outbreak of the First World War and instead he rejoined his regiment of dragoons as Lieutenant nbsp Albert Tafel ca 1930 He was initially deployed on the Western Front in France then in Romania and subsequently in 1916 with von der Goltz s army in Mesopotamia In spite of bouts of malaria and blood poisoning he remained on active service with Arab and Persian auxiliaries against the British Expeditionary Force After the war the retired cavalry captain doctor and geographer saw no possibility of retaining the lifestyle to which he had been accustomed before it and so decided to move to the Netherlands Indies as a doctor working in Batavia and Timor and subsequently as a doctor in the mines of Pulau Laut After the sudden death of his wife on 10 April 1928 Albert returned to Stuttgart His home in Berlin had already been given up before the war In 1931 he underwent an operation for stomach cancer The obituary in the newsletter of his student fraternity the Corps Rhenania refers to an operation in Tubingen surgical hospital to remove a malignant tumour By 1933 however Albert felt well enough to make another trip to China Tientsin Tianjin to prepare for further expeditions to augment his collections This time he took his children with him Eleonore Elinor and Albert Tobias Toby in order to shield them from Hitler s persecution of the Jews This occasion gave Albert the opportunity to revisit some of the locations of his earlier travels using more modern means It was during this period in China that he once more fell ill with a tumour on the liver At the beginning of 1935 he returned to Germany by ship Any treatment came too late and he died on 19 April 1935 in hospital in Heidelberg after a further operation Expeditions editBetween 1903 and 1908 Tafel undertook several journeys to Asia particularly in the north of Tibet He took part among others in Wilhelm Filchner s expedition through north China and the eastern and north eastern regions of Tibet where his principal interest lay in ascertaining the hitherto uncertain course of the Yellow River In January 1904 he left the main expedition to seek out the course of several tributaries as well as the upper reaches of the Yellow River Thus he explored parts of Inner Mongolia the province of Kokonor and the Qaidam Basin a desert region in the north of the Tibetan Plateau in the Chinese province of Qinghai He explored the Nanshan Mountains and visited the monastery of Kumbum Champa Ling where he met the thirteenth Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatsho On his return in 1908 he brought back a considerable collection of geological and ethnological specimens The mineral and animal collections are held by the University of Tubingen the valuable Tibetan ethnological collection is in the care of the Linden Museum in Stuttgart Honours editAlbert Tafel was awarded the Iron Cross First Class in 1916 and in 1918 the Knight s Cross Ritterkreuz of the Military Merit Order Wurttemberg Works by Albert Tafel editMeine Tibetreise Eine Studienfahrt durch das nordwestliche China und durch die innere Mongolei in das ostliche Tibet Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart Berlin Leipzig in German Meine Tibetreise Eine Studienfahrt durch das nordwestliche China und durch die innere Mongolei in das ostliche Tibet 2nd edition in one volume 499pp illustrated Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart Berlin Leipzig in German References editMeyers Enzyklopadisches Lexikon Vol 23 9th ed p 154 Meyers Enzyklopadisches Lexikon Vol 9 9th ed p 175 Corps Zeitung der Rhenania zu Tubingen 27 Pt 3 1 June 1935 51 53 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Sven Hedin 1938 Funfzig Jahre Deutschland Leipzig F A Brockhaus pp 54 80 90 Wilhelm Filchner 1950 Ein Forscherleben Eberhard Brockhaus Wiesbaden pp 49 52 73 Wilhelm Filchner Zum sechsten Erdteil translated as To the Sixth Continent by William Barr Bluntisham Books 1994 p 196 214 being a translation of Filchner s Feststellungen ed Kirschmer 1985 his commentary on his lifelong antipathy to Albert Tafel and others 49 52 73 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help TRIBUS Veroffentlichungen des Lindenmuseums in Stuttgart Museum fur Lander und Volkerkunde Nr 7 Oktober 1957 Gunther Kohler Dresden Albert Tafel zum 80 Geburtstag P 167 168 Hanno Beck Grosse Reisende Entdecker und Forscher unserer Welt Callwey Verlag Munchen 1971 p 331 Albert Tafel einer der grossten Forschungsreisenden 1877 1935 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Das Verbindungswesen in Tubingen Eine Dokumentation im Jahre des Universitatsjubilaums 1977 p 91 Albert Tafel Rhenania a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Die Stuttgarter Strassennamen Silberburg Verlag 1992 Seite 235 Tafelweg in Stuttgart Stammheim Gertrud Bolay Ein Tibeter in Asperg 100 Jahre Historischer Verein fur Stadt und Kreis Ludwigsburg e V Ludwigsburg Erinnerungen aus Stadt und Kreis 1897 1997 Kommissionsverlag J Aigner Buchhandlung Ludwigsburg Dietrich Schleip Ein Stuttgarter in Tibet Forschungsreisen von Albert Tafel Seiten 350 352 Schwabische Heimat July September 1999 Part 3 P 350 352 Frank Raberg 2011 Wurtt Biographien Band II Wurttembergische Biographien Stuttgart Kohlhammer Verlag 288 External links editObituary by Paul Fickeler Geographische Zeitschrift 41 Jahrg 12 H 1935 S 480 484 Wilhelm Filchner Albert Tafel at Wissen de The American antiquarian and oriental journal v 29 1907 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Albert Tafel amp oldid 1154719934, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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