G'day All, Who on earth was Oskar ? This is the question that myself and a colleague are researching. And we would appreciate any help from all you intrepid kayaking historians out there. The bare facts are these: Back in 1932, Oskar left his home in Ulm, Germany, got into his folding kayak and began paddling south. He headed into the Mediterranean, looking for work in Cyprus. Oskar kept going, through the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific, reaching Australia eight years later. A remarkable 50,000 kilometre voyage. His reward was to be interned in a camp for foreign nationals for the next seven years, because by the time he reached Australia, World War Two had broken out and this eccentric German in his canvas and rubber folding kayak was considered a security risk. It is only now, some 12 years after his death, that serious research is under way into his adventure. A treasure-trove of material was bequested to Australia's National Maritime Museum which recently put some of Oskar's mementos on permanent display. Much of this material has still to be sorted through. Oskar didn't simply disappear when he left Germany. He kept in touch with friends, and later sponsors as he paddled along the way. He kept journals; and even more remarkably took 16mm black and white 'moving pictures' of his travels. Much of this footage shows the indigenous peoples he met, and somehow Oskar managed to keep all this film safe and dry in his kayak, and out of the clutches of the Australian wartime government which interned him. We would appreciate help from anyone who may have material relating to Oskar; in particular, his early history. He paddled a 'Pionier' double kayak, and the detail we have on this company is as follows: Pionier Faltbootwerft H Hoeflmayr & Co 13 b Bad Tolz Fernsprecher: Bad Tolz Nummer 212 und 232 Telegram-Anschrift "Pionier" Bankverbindungen:Direktion der Diskonto-Gesellschaft Filiale Munchen v. Stadtische Sparkasse Bad Tolz Postscheckkonto: Munchen 51150 We would be interested in hearing from any of our German PaddleWisers about this company. Do they still exist? Oskar actually paddled four of these kayaks. His correspondence contains many letters between Pionier, and his film supplier Agfa, where he wheels and deals for their support. As one kayak wore out, he was sent another! He also regularly sent back dispatches to a newspaper, the Berliner Lokal Anzeiger. His voyage is well documented and attested, but we would like to fill in the gaps of his early life. >From the film footage, the Pionier was very similar in profile to the Klepper. He named his boats "Sonnenschein' or Sunshine. One of his fellow internees crafted a beautiful model of Sunshine out of copper which is now on display at the Maritime Museum. But his actual boats have been long lost. My apologies for the long post, but I believe Oskar's story is worth telling. We are writing a piece for our local kayak club, and perhaps we can post this to folks who would like to read it. Regards, Peter Rattenbury, Wollongong, Australia. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Feb 04 2002 - 13:21:58 PST
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