Karl Klaus von der Decken facts for kids

Karl Klaus von der Decken, a drawing from 1874

Karl Klaus von der Decken wearing a Medal from the Order of Saint John

A male Von der Decken's hornbill eating an insect in Tanzania

Karl Klaus von der Decken (born August 8, 1833, in Kotzen, Germany; died October 2, 1865, near Bardera, Somalia) was a German explorer. He is famous for being one of the first Europeans to explore parts of eastern Africa. He was also the first European to try and climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Exploring East Africa

After serving in the military, Karl Klaus von der Decken first traveled to eastern Africa in May 1860. He explored the area around Lake Nyasa. This was only a year after David Livingstone had been the first European to reach that region.

The next year, von der Decken started a trip from Mombasa. His goal was to map the massif (a group of mountains) of Kilimanjaro. On his journey inland, he met a young English geologist named Richard Thornton. Thornton had left Livingstone's Zambezi expedition. Von der Decken invited him to join his trip to Kilimanjaro. When they saw the mountain, it was the first time Europeans had sighted it since Johannes Rebmann saw it in 1848.

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

Von der Decken and Thornton studied the area around Mount Kilimanjaro. They correctly guessed its height to be about 20,000 feet (around 6,000 meters) above sea level. However, when their group tried to climb the mountain, bad weather stopped them. They could only go up a few thousand feet.

Von der Decken returned the next year, in 1862. This time, he was with another German explorer and chemist named Otto Kersten. Their group tried to climb the mountain again and reached about 14,000 feet (around 4,200 meters). But once more, bad weather and unhelpful porters (people who carry supplies) stopped them from climbing higher. Even though they didn't reach the top, they made important observations of Kilimanjaro's snow-covered peak.

Later Journeys and His Death

In 1863, von der Decken explored other places. He visited Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands off the coast of eastern Africa.

In 1865, he traveled to Somalia. He became one of the first Europeans to explore the lower parts of the Jubba River. He used a small steamship called Welf. The Welf got stuck in fast-moving water (rapids) past Bardera. Sadly, von der Decken and three others in his group were killed by local Somalis.

His Legacy

Even though Karl Klaus von der Decken didn't reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, his work was very important. His and Richard Thornton's measurements proved that there was indeed snow and ice in tropical Africa. This ended a big debate among scientists.

During his 1862 trip, von der Decken was also the first European to see Mount Meru. This mountain is about forty miles west of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Because of his achievements and his detailed descriptions of the area, von der Decken received the Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 1864. This is a very important award for explorers. A type of bird, the Von der Decken's hornbill, was named after him. Also, a giant plant called Lobelia deckenii, which grows in the East African mountains, was named in his honor.

Images for kids

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  The steamship Welf (36 meters long) and a smaller boat (9 meters long) during the exploration of the Jubba River

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  Construction plan for the steamship Welf

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  Rest Under a Big Tree

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  Kilimandscharo, a woodcut from 1869 by Ernst Heyn, based on a drawing by von der Decken

See also

In Spanish: Karl Klaus von der Decken para niños