Messner family broke up due to inheritance dispute
Messner was the first mountain climber to summit all 14 Eight-Thousanders. He managed farms, sat in the European Parliament, and opened museums. Despite all his achievements, Messner goes through a difficult phase privately: His relationship with his children is ruined - there are disputes about his inheritance.
Extreme mountain climber Reinhold Messner is suffering from a bitter dispute with his four children over inheritance issues. "Our relationship is strained," said the 79-year-old alpinist to "Apotheke Umschau" in an interview. "When I distributed my material inheritance to my children and wife, the family broke apart," he added.
"The question of who gets more was in the foreground, and I was at the brink at the age of 75," reported the mountaineer from South Tyrol, Italy. He was disappointed by the behavior of his children. It was one of his biggest mistakes in life to leave the bulk of his fortune to his children in his will before his death.
Messner is one of the most famous extreme mountain climbers in the world. Together with his climbing partner Peter Haberle, he reached the summit of the highest mountain in the world, the 8,848-meter-high Mount Everest in the Himalayas, without the support of oxygen tanks in 1978. Messner was also the first person to climb all 14 Eight-Thousanders in the world.
As aging set limits to extreme physical achievements, Messner realized his museum project, which his daughter Magdalena then continued. Six different locations form a mountain museum. Messner also managed farms. In Sulden am Ortler (South Tyrol), he breeds yaks. For the Greens, he sat in the European Parliament for five years.
As an expert in risk management, he was invited to give lectures. He climbed mountains with business leaders, and even went hiking with Angela Merkel. He also did scientific work, he says. Messner had devoted himself to Yeti research and discovered the snowman to be a bear.
Despite his extensive achievements, including being the first to summit all 14 Eight-Thousanders and serving in the European Parliament, Reinhold Messner's relationship with his children is strained due to inheritance disputes. Regrettably, Messner's decision to leave the majority of his fortune to his children before his death has contributed to international tensions within his family.
