MEMOIR / HISTORY

OVER LAND AND SEA

Memoir of an Austrian Rear Admiral's Life in Europe and Africa, 1857-1909

Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel lived a fascinating life—he was an Austrian subject who achieved distinction as an African explorer, a naval officer, and a courtier. The turbulent years preceding the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918 are revived through Höhnel's vibrant memoir.

An explorer of East Africa in the era of Livingstone and Stanley, Höhnel mapped vast areas of modern-day Kenya and Tanzania, and was among the first Europeans to see Lake Rudolf (today Lake Turkana). While in Africa, he was seriously injured by a charging rhinoceros and was transported back to Europe. There he rejoined the Austro-Hungarian Navy and rose steadily in rank until his retirement in 1909. During this time, Höhnel was given the prestigious appointment of aide-de-camp to the aged Emperor Franz Josef, whom he served (and critically observed) at court between 1899 and 1903.

During the 1920s, under the encouragement of his friend and former travel companion William Astor Chanler, Höhnel wrote his English-language autobiography. This manuscript had been in the possession of the Chanler family for several decades, but was only recently rediscovered. Höhnel's memoirs appear in print for the first time in this volume.

An astute observer of his own life and the world about him, Höhnel provides insight into the nature and perils of African exploration, the activities of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and the limited intellectual horizons of the Hapsburg court.

"...This is a delightful book in every sense, full of fresh and unknown aspects of naval life. Though the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian navy only existed for half a century it created a tradition and a culture that sustained the service through the stress of World War One."
—Andrew Lambert, The Naval Review

"Certainly the footnotes, especially those on the personalities in the Habsburg forces and administration are impeccable and informative. Most of the story concerns the Austrian navy that, somehow, sounds as improbable as the Swiss one. Its status in the empire was apparently low and Höhnel's frank account makes compelling reading for all the wrong reasons: could an armed service of one of the world's great powers really have resembled the cast of a comic opera?"
—International Journal of African Historical Studies (2001)

"Over Land and Sea is an excellent read as a story of African exploration and a worthwhile and well-told depiction of life in the monarchy's navy—and of the life of an officer whose achievements should be remembered as part of the too often forgotten story of the monarchy's role in the wider world."
—Austrian History Yearbook

Ronald E. Coons is director of graduate studies in the University of Connecticut's Department of History. He is the author of Steamships, Statesmen and Bureaucrats: Austrian Policy Towards the Steam Navigation Company of the Austrian Lloyd, 1836-1848.

Pascal James Imperato is Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Preventative Medicine and Community Health at the SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn. Dr. Imperato has lived in East Africa and is the author of 18 books including Buffoons, Queens and Wooden Horsemen: The Dyo and Gouan Societies of the Bambara of Mali.

J. Winthrop Aldrich holds an A.B. degree cum laude from Harvard University where he majored in European History. A career public servant, he presently serves as New York State's Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation. He was the sponsoring editor of The Astor Orphans: A Pride of Lions.