Henrik Kalte
Henrik Kalte | |
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| Born | July 17th, 1477 |
| Died | September or October 1515 |
| Occupation | Explorer |
| Known for | Discovery and naming of places in western Kivu, specifically Awjofuir Island |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 8 |
Henrik Kalte (1477-1515) was a Kivuian explorer and navigator that is best known for his explorations of western Kivu and the Kivu Ocean in the mid-16th century. Kalte also established the first settlements in the Kivuian Peninsula, including the city of Kalte, which is named after him.
From November 1492 until the death of his first wife in 1507, Kalte kept a journal of his life that was published by his oldest son, Matthias, after Kalte’s death in 1531. His jounal has given historians an extremely detailed glimpse into what life was like in the 16th century. It is still published today as The Journal of Henrik Kalte, there is also a childern’s version titled The Adventures of Henrik Kalte
Contents
Personal life
Henrik Arnold Kalte was born on July 17th, 1477, in the village of Hohen, Kivu. He was the third of 11 children born to sheep farmer Georg Kalte and his wife. Not much is known about Kalte’s life until 1492, when he and his older brother, Ludwig moved to Baihafen (Now known as Buchthafen), there the brothers became apprentices to local shipwright, Wilhelm Bauer.
Some historians think the brothers may have run away from home, and were taken in by Bauer and his wife, who later offered them both apprenticeships under him.
In 1493, Ludwig Kalte, was killed in an accident at the shipyard.
Family
Kalte was married twice; he married his first wife, Apollonia Lehmann, on May 27th, 1494. Kalte and Apollonia had three children, two sons and a daughter. In 1507 Apollonia died in the birth of their second son while Kalte was on his second expedition. More details are known about Kalte’s first marriage, than his second marriage, because of the journal he kept from 1492 until the death of Apollonia.
Sometime in either 1508 or 1509, between expeditions, Kalte married Gisela Richter, with whom he had five children, 3 daughters and two sons.
One of his sons, Gerhardt Kalte, would become the Duke of Sonnenberg after marrying, Elisabeth, the daugther of King Konrad II
Expeditions
First Voyage
As a part of his apprenticeship, Kalte became a skilled navigator, with an entry in his journal saying “I overheard Mr. Bauer today saying that I was one of the most skilled navigators he had ever taught…” After his apprenticeship ended in 1499, Kalte decided that he wanted to become a sailor, he signed on to be a member of Captain Peter Lehmann’s crew, Lehmann was also the father of Kalte’s first wife.
According to the captain's log, after about six months on the ship, Kalte was appointed as the ship’s navigator. The ship’s navigator either died or was killed on the ship’s return voyage. Kalte spent the next two years as the lead navigator, until 1501 when Baron (Kivuian: Freiherr) Friedrich Schulz hired him. Schulz wanted to find a new trade route to Kingdom of Shaoyu, after several of his ships were attacked by pirates near what is now known as the Kalte Islands.
On 22 June 1502, after about a year of preparation, Henrik Kalte led a fleet of five ships from Baihafen, with a crew of roughly 200 men.
In October 1502, the expedition landed on the Kivuian Peninsula near where the present city of Kalte is located, not realizing that the peninsula was connected to mainland Kivu, they named the area Neu-Kivu, meaning New Kivu. From there Kalte begin traveling west along the coast, mapping and naming several rivers, mountains, and small islands.
In March 1503, they discovered Awjofuir Island, meaning “fire island” in Old Kivuian. From Awjofuir they began sailing south, and named several other islands in the island chain that was latter named the Foerstneg Islands.
In November 1504 they began sailing back towards Kivu, and eventually made it back to Baihafen in the spring of 1505. By the voyage’s end, only two of the original five ships returned, and only about 70 of the over 200 crew members survived. It is believed that two of the ships were lost to pirates somewhere in the Foerstneg Islands.
Second Voyage
Third Voyage
Legacy
Henrik Kalte is best known for his discovery of
