In the Tracks of Travellers. The Travelogues of Ida Pfeiffer and Ina von Grumbkow.

Abstract

This article deals with the travel books of two women who travelled around Iceland and wrote about their journeys, the German Ina von Grumbkow and the Austrian explorer Ida Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer visited Iceland in 1845 and wrote her observations in Nordlandfahrt. Eine Reise nach Skandinavien und Island im Jahre 1845. Von Grumbkow travelled around Iceland in 1908 after her fiancée, the German scientist Walther von Knebel, and his friend the painter Max Rudloff disappeared without a trace on their expedition in Iceland in 1907. Von Grumbkow did not believe the explorers could vanish without a trace and therefore went to Iceland to search for them or some evidence on their disappearance. After her journey she wrote the book Ísafold. Bilder einer Islandreise. This article focuses on the experience of Pfeiffer and von Grumbkow in Iceland and their descriptions of Icelandic nature and of the islanders and their culture. The advantages of travelogues in cultural tourism are also discussed. Keywords: Travel literature on Iceland, Ida Pfeiffer, Ina von Grumbkow, cultural tourism