Paul Preuss (climber) - in Commemoration

In Commemoration

Though a Protestant, his life would have been undoubtably more difficult because of his Jewish heritage. In the early 1920s, the German and Austrian Alpine Club became a breeding ground for anti-Semitism. In fact, a predominantly Jewish chapter of the club was expelled in 1924, and at least one of Preuss's climbing partners became a committed Nazi. Thus, for a time, Preuss's name and reputation were actively erased from memory. It was only in the 1970s that his legacy was finally rediscovered.

Piaz, Preuss's friend and one time opponent in the Piton Dispute, erected a memorial in his honor twenty years after his death in the Italian Dolomites, which was a risky endeavor considering the rising tide of anti-Semitism and Fascism in the early 1930s (albeit Piaz was an anarchist who had been thrown into jail several times for his opposition to government in any form).

The Kleinste Zinne now bears the name Torre Preuss (also known as the Cima Piccolissima), home of the Preuss Crack. A chimney on the South East Face of the Grohmannspitze, the Preusskamin, also features his name. In addition, there is a street dedicated to him in Munich.

In a 2010 interview on Deutsche Welle, famed mountaineer Reinhold Messner named him as one his heroes.