Gustav Jahn

Gustav Jahn (17 May 1879, Vienna - 17 August 1919, on the Großer Ödstein, Ennstal Alps) was an Austrian landscape painter, poster artist and mountaineer.

Gustav Jahn (1905)

Biography
State Railways Poster

He initially attended the private art school operated by Adolf Kaufmann, then enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts. There, he studied with August Eisenmenger and Alois Delug and was awarded the Gundel-Prize for excellence in 1899. From 1900 to 1904, he once again had private lessons; this time with the genre painter, Franz Rumpler. He eventually combined his interests; specializing in landscapes and genre scenes from the high mountains.

His works were also distributed as prints and posters, with a series for the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways being particularly well known. He also illustrated the catalogs of the Bergsporthaus owned by Mizzi Langer-Kauba, the first of its kind in Vienna.

His true passion was mountaineering; an interest which dated from a very early age. A study scholarship to Rome that he had received in 1904 was used more for climbing than painting. His favorite areas were the Rax and Schneeberg, Gesäuse, Dachstein and the Dolomites. He participated in the first ascent of the Große Bischofsmütze.[1] From 1901, he was member of the prestigious Österreichischer Alpenklub.

Fassa Valley with a view of the Rosengarten Group

He was also a committed skier and ski jumper; winning over twenty-eight awards during the coure of his career.[2] These achievements led to his serving as an instruction officer during World War I; teaching mountain warfare in the Dolomites.

In 1919, he and his climbing partner, Michael Kofler, suffered a fatal fall on the Ödstein.[2] The cause of their fall remains unclear, as it occurred on an easily accessible portion of the trail. He was buried at the Bergsteigerfriedhof in Johnsbach.

References
  1. Otto Laubheimer abgestürzt. In: Der Naturfreund, Year 1903, Nr. 9, 15. September 1903 (VII. Jahrgang), p. 85 f. (Online bei ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/dna.
  2. Kleine Chronik. (…) Tödlicher Touristenabsturz des Malers Gustav Jahn. In: Neue Freie Presse, 21 August 1919, p. 21 (Online at ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/nfp, sowie
    Michael Kofler †. In: Österreichische Touristen-Zeitung, Year 1919, Nr. 9, 1. September 1919 (XXXIX. Jahrgang), p. 132. (Online bei ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/otz.

Further reading
  • Hans Brecka: Gustav Jahn. In: Reichspost, 22 August 1919, p. 01 (Online at ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/rpt.
  • Gustav Jahn †. In: Österreichische Touristen-Zeitung, Year 1919, Nr. 9, 1. September 1919 (XXXIX. Jahrgang), p. 131. (Online bei ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/otz.
  • Hanns Barth: Personalnachrichten. Alpenmaler Gustav Jahn †. In: Heinrich Heß (Ed.): Mitteilungen des Deutschen und Österreichischen Alpenvereins. Neue Folge Vol.XXXV, 1919, ZDB-ID 511820-7, S. 110 f. (Online bei ALO).
  • "Jahn Gustav". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 3, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1965, p. 61.
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