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History
1846Missionary Rebmann is the first European to see Kilimanjaro. Chagga people have been living as farmers on the fertile foothills for many centuries.
1871 Charles New reaches the snowline. He is killed by locals on a second attempt in 1873.
1889Hans Meyer (geographer) and Ludwig Purtscheller (alpinist) reach the highest point on 6 October. They name the summit Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze.
1912The summit of Mawenzi (5148m) is reached for the first time by Eduard Oehler and Fritz Kluten.
1927 Reusch is the first to see the Ash Pit within the inner crater.
1932 First Kibo Hut built. In the following years a Norwegian development project constructs the Mandara and Horombo huts.
1961 Independence of Tanzania, still called Tanganyika, from Britain. The summit is renamed Uhuru (Freedom) Peak.
1978 Reinhold Messner and Konrad Renzler take the most difficult route to date. They climb through the ice cascades in the Breach Wall to the Diamond Glacier.
1980 Rudolf Jauk establishes a world record climbing from Himo (850m) to Uhuru Peak (5895m) in 24 hours. 52km and an elevation of 5045m in one single day.
1989 100 years after the first ascent UNESCO registers Kilimanjaro as world nature heritage.
1993 Adventure sports such as hanggliding, mountain bike, motorbike, etc. are forbidden. Cutting trees is banned.
2004Hanspeter, Stephan, Roland and Renzo enjoy the view from Uhuru Peak on the morning of 4 August.


Symbolic power of Kilimanjaro
"We will light a candle on top of Mount Kilimanjaro which will shine beyond our borders, giving hope where there is despair, love where there is hate, and dignity where before there was only humiliation."
President Julius K. Nyerere, 1961