Toni Kurz

The tragic story became well known after publication of Heinrich Harrer's classic 1960 book The White Spider and was more recently covered by Joe Simpson's book (and Emmy-winning TV documentary), The Beckoning Silence, as well as the 2008 German dramatic movie North Face.

In July 1936, Kurz and Hinterstoisser left Berchtesgaden, where they were serving in the military, and travelled by bicycle to Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland to attempt to climb the north face of the Eiger, which at the time was still unclimbed. While on the mountain, they met up with two Austrian climbers—Edi Rainer and Willy Angerer—and the four decided to continue their attempt together.

Toni Kurz (13 January 1913 – 22 July 1936) was a German mountain climber active in the 1930s. He died in 1936 during an attempt to climb the then-unclimbed north face of the Eiger with his partner Andreas Hinterstoisser.

Toni Kurz was born on 13 January 1913 in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany, where he was raised. He completed a brief apprenticeship as a pipefitter before joining the German Wehrmacht in 1934 as a professional soldier. Together with his childhood friend Andreas Hinterstoisser, he made numerous first ascents of peaks in the Berchtesgaden Alps, including some of the most difficult climbs of that time. The two young men climbed the southwest wall of the Berchtesgadener Hochthron in 1934, and the south wall of the straight pillar in 1936. They also made first ascents in the Reiter Alpe on the German–Austrian border, and of the direct southern route up the Watzmannkinder, part of the Watzmann, in 1935.