Inheritance dispute continues to smoulder Reinhold Messner: "My children hope I'm going crazy"

Bruno Bötschi

13.8.2024

Shortly before his 80th birthday, he made an alleged inheritance dispute with his children public: Reinhold Messner, former extreme mountaineer.
Shortly before his 80th birthday, he made an alleged inheritance dispute with his children public: Reinhold Messner, former extreme mountaineer.
Picture: Keystone

Reinhold Messner takes another step forward in the inheritance dispute with his family. In an interview, the 79-year-old mountaineering legend makes serious accusations against his son and three daughters.

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  • The former extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner has added to the inheritance dispute with his children.
  • In an interview with the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", the 79-year-old makes serious accusations against his son and three daughters.
  • According to Messner, his children have never dealt with what he has done.
  • He continued: "Now my children are hoping that I'm going mad so that they can incapacitate me and stop me."

Reinhold Messner celebrates his 80th birthday on September 17. However, the South Tyrolean mountaineering icon may not feel like celebrating.

In mid-July, Messner spoke about the inheritance dispute with his four children in an interview with "Apotheken Umschau": "Our relationship is strained."

The former extreme mountaineer has now followed up in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper "La Repubblica" and once again commented on the alleged family dispute, which has recently been played out in public.

Reinhold Messner: "One of my biggest mistakes"

According to Messner, his three daughters and his son had not dealt with what he had done in the past. He continued: "Now my children are hoping that I'm going mad so that they can incapacitate me and stop me."

Five years ago, Reinhold Messner had distributed his material inheritance to his children and his third wife Diane - apparently against the advice of the notary.

Today, Messner believes that this was "one of my biggest mistakes: I left them the majority of my assets in my will before I died".

Simon Messner: "I don't understand the accusation"

Shortly after the interview with "Apotheken Umschau" was published, Messner's son Simon described his father's statements as "a shame and sad" in an interview with "Bayrischer Rundfunk".

He greatly values the legacy he received from his father: Two mountain farms in Vinschgau in South Tyrol, he said. He had always conveyed this to his father. "That's why I don't understand his accusation," says Simon Messner.

In addition, the son - unlike his father - sees no parallel between the transfer of the inheritance and the break-up of the family. This happened step by step and had other reasons. In any case, Simon Messner continued, he still gets on well with his three sisters.

Shortly afterwards, Messner's wife Diane also commented on the current situation within the family in an interview. "I only came into Reinhold's life later, it's not tangible for me," she commented in an interview with "Rai Südtirol".

Reinhold Messner's wife kicked the mountaineer out

In a recent interview with the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", Reinhold Messner also mentions that it was the most difficult moment in his life when his second wife Sabine threw him out five years ago, separating him from his four children. He continues: "She didn't explain why."

However, the South Tyrolean doesn't want to let the family dispute get him down. On the contrary, the headwind has given him wings. A little later, it also becomes clear why Messner is seeking the public eye these days.

His new book, entitled "Gegenwind - vom Wachsen an Widerständen" (Headwind - growing in the face of resistance), will be published at the end of August. According to Reinhold Messner in "La Repubblica", he is someone who is prepared to walk in peace with life and death.

And this despite the fact that he was often discredited as a young mountaineer and repeatedly faced hostility as an opinionated individualist, author and museum maker.

Reinhold Messner is considered one of the most famous extreme mountaineers in the world. In 1978, together with his climbing partner Peter Habeler, he was the first person to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, the 8,848-metre-high Mount Everest in the Himalayas, without the aid of oxygen equipment. Messner was also the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders in the world.


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