Günter Oskar DYHRENFURTH

Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth was a Himalayan expert and geologist. He and his wife Hettie became Swiss citizens in 1932 and won, to the chagrin of the Nazis (they were Jewish), the gold medal in alpinism in 1936 for their Himalaya Expeditions of 1930 and 1934. Günter also participated in the literature competition at the 1936 Games. Their son Norman Günter was also a successful expedition leader in the Himalayas and participated in many mountain films as cinematographer. Günter Oskar became a professor at the University of Breslau (Wrocław) in 1919. With the Nazi takeover, however, he resigned and went back to Switzerland. In 1956 he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany).