Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius
1900 - 1974

In July 1928, Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius, often referred to as Max von Korff, was admitted to the Frankfurt section of the German and Austrian Alpine Club after being recommended by Heinz Rödding and the Frankfurt in-house lawyer, auditor and tax consultant Dr. rer. pol. Fritz Amberger. The following year, together with Heinrich Nagel, he recommended the admission of Dr. Hans Eberhard Amendt. Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius was probably first active in the section's ski department. He appeared as a presenter at a social evening in the spring of 1932. Nachrichten-Blatt no. 3 from March 1932 ironically states: "Die unpassenden Worte zur Einführung der Programmnummern fand Max von Korff, der, wie er verriet, eine ziemliche Menge Quasselwasser getrunken hatte." (The inappropriate words for the introduction of the program numbers were found by Max von Korff, who, as he revealed, had drunk quite a lot of chatterbox water.) In the same year, he is also named as a contact person who can provide information on the planned opening of the "Hochfirstschanze" near Neustadt in the Black Forest.

From January 1933, he was treasurer of the section's "Hochturistische Vereinigung" (HTV), which was dedicated to mountaineering. As a rule, members of the HTV did not take on a function immediately after joining this group, so Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius would have been active here at least as early as 1932. In April 1933, he also led a climbing trip to the Taunus mountains, to Rabenstein, Marienwand and Hauburgstein, for the first time. At the same time, he took on another function: After District Court Director Dr. Kurt Albrecht, a member of the section committee since 1925, went to Berlin in April 1933 and therefore gave up his posts in Frankfurt on the Main, Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius took over one of the deputy positions in the ski section under the trustee Albert Kopp. After the dissolution of the HTV, he was appointed administrator for "Bergsteigerische Tätigkeiten (Klettern, Eistechnik, Kurse)" (mountaineering activities [climbing, ice techniques, courses]) by the new section leader Dr. Ernst Wildberger in July 1933.

In the year of 1933, von Korff-Krokisius joined the section management with a clear National Socialist orientation. We therefore assume that he was considered loyal to the Nazi regime. The new section leader Ernst Wildberger, together with Albert Kopp and Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius published a programmatic article entitled "Mountaineering activities" in the section's October 1933 newsletter. The article discusses the reorganization of the section and the orientation of the new mountaineering group:

"Der gewaltige Aufbruch der Nation ist auch an unserer Sektion nicht spurlos vorbeigegangen. Es wurde unter anderem die Sektionsleitung im Sinne des Führerprinzips vollkommen umgestaltet; neue, jüngere Kräfte wurden zur Mitarbeit herangezogen, ein Teil der bisher bestehenden Untergruppen wurde aufgelöst. Dazu gehören auch die Hochturistische Vereinigung und die Schiabteilung. Das sommerliche und winterliche Bergsteigen wird künftig aus Zweckmäßigkeitsgründen zusammengefaßt und in der Bergsteigergruppe besonders gepflegt und gefördert werden. […] Die Bergsteigergruppe verlangt von ihren Mitgliedern volle Anerkennung des Führerprinzips, freudige Einordnung in den Neuaufbau der Sektion, regelmäßige Teilnahme an den Veranstaltungen und tatkräftige persönliche Mitarbeit in Wort und Schrift." (The tremendous upheaval of the nation has not left our section unscathed. Among other things, the section management was completely restructured in line with the Führer principle; new, younger members were brought in to work with us and some of the existing subgroups were dissolved. This also included the Hochturistische Vereinigung and the ski section. Summer and winter mountaineering will in future be combined for reasons of expediency and will be particularly cultivated and promoted in the mountaineering group. [...] The mountaineering group demands from its members full recognition of the leader principle, joyful integration into the new structure of the section, regular participation in the events and active personal cooperation in word and writing.)

When Dr. Rudolf Seng took over as section director, he appointed Albert Kopp and Max von Korff-Krokisius as members of the advisory board responsible for "mountaineering activities" in February 1934. From then on, the latter repeatedly gave lectures in the section, for example on December 18, 1934, a photographic lecture on trips to the Dolomites and on February 22, 1938, another photographic lecture on mountaineering trips by the section's mountaineering group in the Wilder Kaiser and Kaunergrat. At a home evening of the mountaineering group in September 1938, he and Fritz Kempf reported on their second ascent of the Weißseespitze via the north face.

In his function as head of the mountaineering group, he also led numerous hiking and climbing trips, such as the climbing training trip of the mountaineering group to the Spessart mountains on July 26, 1936, and a Pentecost trip to Franconia in 1938. He contributed to the mountaineering training of the members of this group, for example by organizing a rescue exercise together with Rolf Richter in 1937 and organizing a "competition march with Bussole [compass] and map" the following year. He also developed his own mountaineering skills, for example by taking part in the B III instructor course (rock climbing) at the Stripsenjochhütte in the Wilder Kaiser in 1936 and by passing the "Lehrwartprüfung" (instructor exam) in ice climbing in 1938.

In October 1935, the Frankfurt section inaugurated its alpine clubhouse in Oberreifenberg. Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius was already active in the preparations for this house, as he had been appointed by Dr. Seng to the committee for the establishment of the new section home. The members of this committee included Dr. Seng, Max Moritz Wirth, Albert Kopp and Hans Kühnscherf. Eventually, Max von Korff-Krokisius was appointed "Heimwart" (home caretaker), so that from then on he was in charge of this clubhouse.

He wrote numerous articles for the section's Nachrichten-Blatt (newsletter) from 1934 onwards. In particular, he reported on the mountaineering group and its activities such as climbing trips, day trips to the low mountain ranges around Frankfurt on the Main and solstice celebrations. As caretaker of the Oberreifenberg clubhouse, he regularly wrote short news items about this.

In 1939, Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius stayed in Vienna for good, so Dr. Seng relieved him of his posts as a member of the advisory board, head of the mountaineering group and caretaker of the clubhouse in Oberreifenberg. These positions were taken over by the previous deputy leader of the mountaineering group, Fritz Kempf, who had already worked closely with Korff-Krokisius. This marked the end of his work on the board in Frankfurt on the Main after six intensive years, during which he actively helped to reshape the section in line with National Socialist ideology.

In 1940, his wife Margret von Korff-Krokisius, whose address is Kegelgasse 43 in Vienna III/40, became a member of the Frankfurt Section, to which he himself continued to belong. His own affinity with the Frankfurt Section is also expressed by the fact that he sent Christmas and New Year greetings to the Section at the turn of the year 1940/41 and also announced the birth of his first son Volker. According to the Nachrichten-Blatt No. 2 from February 1941, Maximilian von Korff-Krokisius was active in the Wehrmacht with the rank of sergeant at the time. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted to lieutenant in March 1941. After the end of the Second World War, he did not return to Frankfurt on the Main, but lived with his family at his father-in-law's in Kramsach in Tyrol (Austria). However, he remained a member of the Frankfurt section and was awarded the silver edelweiss for 25 years of membership at the annual general meeting in March 1953. From 1953 to 1973, Maximilian Korff-Krokisius was Hüttenwart (hut warden) of the Erfurter Hütte in the Rofan mountains, before his son Falko took over this role and remained hut warden until 2013.