Oscar Baumann

Oscar Baumann (June 25, 1864 in Vienna – October 12, 1899 in Vienna) was an Austrian explorer, cartographer and ethnographer.

He attended classes on natural history and geography at the University of Vienna, and in 1885 was part of an Austrian exploratory expedition of the Congo Basin under the direction of Oskar Lenz. However, because of serious illness, Baumann would be forced to leave the expedition prior to its conclusion. In 1886 he conducted ethnographical research on the island of Fernando Po. When he returned to Europe, he received his PhD from the University of Leipzig (1888).

Baumann is best known for his exploration of the interior of German East Africa (present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi), and for producing maps of the region. In 1888, with geographer Hans Meyer, he explored the Usambara region, with designs of continuing on to Mount Kilimanjaro. The two explorers progress was stopped, however, due to ramifications associated with the so-called "Abushiri Revolt" (1888–89). Within a matter of days Baumann and Meyer were captured and held as prisoners. According to the British Rear-Admiral Edmund Fremantle:

'They had been robbed, stripped, and subjected to every indignity, but except that they have lost all, including their instruments and observations, they do not seem much the worse'.

Only after a large ransom was paid to rebel leader Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi were the two men released.

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