Karl Wien

Karl Wien (1906 to 1937) was a German mountaineer born in Würzburg, the son of the university professor Wilhelm Wien, and became a lecturer in the geography department of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He began climbing in the Alps, where with Willo Welzenbach he made the first ascent of the north face of the Grossglockner, and later visited Africa and the Himalaya, including Paul Bauer's 1931 attempt on Kangchenjunga and a 1936 expedition to Sikkim on which he made the first ascent of Siniolchu. In 1937 he was chosen to lead a German expedition to Nanga Parbat; sixteen men, Wien among them, died when a massive avalanche overwhelmed Camp IV below Rakhiot Peak, the worst single disaster on an eight thousand metre peak.