Ludwig Schmaderer

Record of the 1938 German expedition to Nanga Parbat. In June 1938, the vanguard of the German expedition to the Himalayas, after many laborious detours through the labyrinth of the glaciers, had reached Camp IV at 6200m of altitude. A violent storm, which raged for over five days, left the team blocked in camp IV, with food and fuel in decidedly low quantities. They send an S.O.S., which is collected by the aviators in Srinagar, who manage to get food, parachuting them, to the unfortunates blocked by snow. The team, led by Paul Bauer, will still have to retire due to adverse weather conditions.

Documentary film material was produced during the 1938 expedition to Nanga Parbat, led by Paul Bauer. The German Himalaya Foundation had planned a feature-length film with the title Berg im Monsun (Mountain in the Monsoon), once again, edited by Frank Leberecht. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 as well as extended contract negotiations between Tobis and the foundation during 1940 delayed post-production of the film, and it was only in spring 1945 that Tobis could report to the foundation that the film was about to be finished. The impending collapse of the Third Reich that very spring, made impossible its release in theaters.