Hans Dülfer

Hans Dülfer (1892 to 1915) was a German mountain climber born in Barmen, now part of Wuppertal. He began studying medicine in Munich in 1911, then changed to law and later philosophy, and the nearby Alps drew him to make 50 first ascents, particularly in the Kaisergebirge in the Northern Limestone Alps and in the Rosengarten in the Dolomites. His routes included the Dülfer chimney on the Totenkirchl in 1911, the east wall of the Fleischbank in 1912 and the Dülfer crack on the Fleischbank in 1913. He developed several early climbing techniques, among them the Dülfersitz, a basic emergency abseil, and he died on the battlefield at Arras in 1915.