The scientist Harald Lesch and the mountaineer Reinhold Messner meet for the first time. And the two have more in common than you might think. A conversation about climate change, art and the sinister role of humans.
Interviewed by
Reinhard J Brembeck
One was the first person to climb all eight-thousanders without oxygen and talks about his mountain experiences in lectures, the other is a physics and philosophy professor who presents his knowledge in a rousing, easily understandable manner in improvised television monologues. Reinhold Messner and Harald Lesch have never met and are now meeting for the first time in the mountaineer’s Munich apartment. The initially noticeable uncertainty gives way quickly, because both of them immediately talk about an issue that concerns them like the rest of humanity at the moment: climate change. What they both have in common is their love of classical music. On Thursday, February 9th, Reinhold Messner will appear with the Stuttgart Philharmonic in the Isarphilharmonie as a commentator in, of course, “An Alpine Symphony” by Richard Strauss; On Monday, February 13th, Harald Lesch and the Vienna Merlin Ensemble offer the Vivaldi evening “The Four Seasons in Climate Change” in the Prinzregententheater. It’s no wonder that these two very different naturalists have a lot to say to each other.