Heinrich Böhm from Austria

I purchased these two photos from the same vendor, but at different times. Only recently, while going through my PWF archive, I started looking closely at the two photographs and I became increasingly convinced that they show the same man. The shape of the nose, ears, jaw and chin appears remarkably consistent, while the differences in hairstyle and moustache could easily be explained by the thirteen years between the photographs. Only the eyes look different to me. When I laid one photo on top of the other - this was the result. Uncanny or what?

Both photographs were taken in a photo studio in Vienna. But they are labelled with two completely different names.

Two different men? Or same man, two different names?

Well, my mind immediately wanted to disappear down a rabbit hole of "Why? When? Was this man leading a double life? Did he have multiple identities? Was he, perhaps, the most wanted man in Vienna?" :-) Fortunately, the genealogist in me managed to grab the steering wheel before things got completely out of hand.

So, let’s take a closer look.

The first photograph bears the name Heinrich Böhm. Whoever labelled it was remarkably diligent: they also recorded his date and place of birth - July 10, 1859, in Wels, Upper Austria. They even noted that the photograph was handed over to the recipient on April 22, 1886, in Vienna.

The second photograph from Vienna is labelled Eduard Pichl from Vienna and is dated September 15, 1899:

So if this was indeed the same man, which name actually belongs to the man staring back at us in the two photographs?

There really was a Heinrich Böhm who fits the information on the first photograph. He was born on July 10, 1859, in Vorchdorf, about 25 km from Wels, in Upper Austria, to Franz Böhm and Antonia, née Helmer. Franz and Antonia also had a daughter, Elisabeth, born in August 1862.

And that is where my trail ends.

Then there is the name Eduard Pichl. That name sent me in a completely different direction. While searching for a possible match in case the man in my photograph had actually been born Eduard Pichl, I came across Eduard Pichl (1872–1955) - one of the most influential Austrian mountaineers and climbers of the early 20th century.

Pichl became particularly prominent during the great era of guideless climbing around 1900. He completed around 60 new routes and first ascents in the Eastern Alps and the Dolomites. His legacy, however, is deeply controversial. Pichl was an outspoken German nationalist and antisemite and played an instrumental role in introducing and promoting the “Aryan paragraph” within the German and Austrian Alpine Club during the interwar period. A tragic and deeply troubling part of his history.

Here are some photos I could find online of Eduard Pichl:

But back to my photographs.

I have two theories now:

Theory 1: These were indeed two different men with very similar facial features. The 1886 photograph shows Heinrich Böhm, born in 1859, and the 1899 photo shows indeed the young mountaineer (and later Nazi...) Eduard Pichl, born in 1872. What makes this theory probable is that this photo is dated July 15th, 1899, which would have been Eduard Pichl's 27th birthday! Coincindence? Also, the handwritings are different. Perhaps if I could compare the handwriting of the dedication as Eduard Pichl to his actual letters in the Austrian Archives, it could probably confirm or overturn this theory.

What speaks against this theory for me is that the young man in my photo does not look identical enough to the photos of Eduard Pichl I found online. And in none of the online photos was he wearing a moustache (which could have been a fashion detail of the era, of course). What do you think?

Theory 2: My favourite explanation for the mystery :-)

The man in both photos was indeed Heinrich Böhm. And besides an absolutely wicked moustache, Heinrich also had a wicked sense of humour.

Why?

Because the resemblance between the man in my photographs and the famous mountaineer Eduard Pichl is uncanny. My theory is that this may have been an inside joke among friends: perhaps Heinrich had his photograph signed “Eduard Pichl” as a joke precisely because he looked so remarkably like him.

Of course, I have no proof of either theory.

And now, more than a century later, the joke is apparently on me.

127 years later, I’m the one trying to make head or tail of it. :-)