Baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

 Karl Klaus (Carl Claus) von der Decken

Von der Decken family

The von der Deckens are a Hanoverian family of German nobility. Since more than 750 years the center of the family is in a part of Lower Saxony at the south bank of the river Elbe called Kehdingen.- History :...

(born August 8, 1833 in Kotzen

Kotzen

Kotzen is a municipality in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Translation:Since one English translation of the German verb "kotzen" is "to vomit" therefore the town was jokingly incorrectly referred to in Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not under the title "Barfburg"...

, Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

; died October 2, 1865 near Bardera

Bardera

Bardera City is an important agricultural city in the Gedo region of Somalia. It is the second most populous town in the Juba Valley, with Kismayo being the largest and most densely populated city in the region, and Garbahaarreey serving as Gedo's capital...

, Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

) was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 explorer of eastern Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 and the first Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an to attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...

.

Following a stint in the military, von der Decken first travelled to eastern Africa in May 1860. There he explored the region around Lake Nyasa

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

, only a year after David Livingstone

David Livingstone

David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...

 had been the first European to reach the area. The following year, von der Decken set out from Mombasa

Mombasa

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

 to survey the Kilimanjaro massif

Massif

In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...

. During the journey inland, he met the young English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

 Richard Thornton (1838-1863) – who had left Livingstone's Zambezi expedition – and invited him to accompany him to Kilimanjaro. When the massif loomed into view, it was the first time it had been sighted by Europeans since Johannes Rebmann

Johannes Rebmann

Johannes Rebmann was a German missionary and explorer credited with feats including being the first European, along with his colleague Johann Ludwig Krapf, to enter Africa from the Indian Ocean coast. In addition, he was the first European to find Kilimanjaro...

 had been the first European to see it in 1848.

Von der Decken and Thornton surveyed the area, accurately estimating Mount Kilimanjaro's height to be around 20,000 feet above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

. However, when their party attempted to climb the mountain, poor weather kept them from gaining any more than a few thousand feet. On von der Decken's return the following year, this time accompanied by fellow German explorer and chemist Otto Kersten, their party's attempt to climb the mountain reached around 14,000 feet. Once again, however, deteriorating weather conditions (and, according to Kersten's account, uncooperative porters) prevented the party from climbing any higher. The expedition was not wholly in vain, however, as close observations of Kilimanjaro's snowcapped summit were made.

In 1863, von der Decken turned his attention away from Kilimanjaro and visited Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

 and the Mascarene Islands

Mascarene Islands

The Mascarene Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Cargados Carajos shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan banks...

 off the coast of eastern Africa. In 1865, he visited Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 and became one of the first Europeans to explore the lower reaches of the Jubba River

Jubba River

The Jubba River is a river in southern Somalia. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south to the Indian Ocean, where it empties at the Goobweyn juncture.-History:...

, on board the small steamship

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 Welf. After the Welf foundered in rapids beyond Bardera

Bardera

Bardera City is an important agricultural city in the Gedo region of Somalia. It is the second most populous town in the Juba Valley, with Kismayo being the largest and most densely populated city in the region, and Garbahaarreey serving as Gedo's capital...

, he and three others in his party were murdered by local tribesmen.

The Legacy

Although von der Decken failed to reach Mount Kilimanjaro's summit, his and Richard Thornton's data ended the debate as to whether there was any settled snow or ice in tropical Africa. During his 1862 expedition, von der Decken also became the first European to record a sighting of Mount Meru

Mount Meru (Tanzania)

Mount Meru is an active stratovolcano located west of Mount Kilimanjaro in the nation of Tanzania. At a height of , it is visible from Mt Kilimanjaro on a clear day, and is the tenth highest mountain in Africa. Much of its bulk was lost about 8,000 years ago due to an eastward volcanic blast,...

, located forty or so miles to the west of Mount Kilimanjaro. These achievements, together with his descriptions of the area – including that of the bird subsequently named after him, the Von der Decken's Hornbill

Von der Decken's Hornbill

Von der Decken's Hornbill is a hornbill. Hornbills are a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in East Africa, especially to the east of the Rift Valley, from Ethiopia south to Tanzania. It is mainly found in thorn scrub and similar arid habitats. It often includes Jackson's Hornbill as...

 – earned von der Decken the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society

Royal Geographical Society

The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

in 1864.