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Gustav Jahn (17 May 1879 – 17 August 1919) was a landscape painter, poster artist and mountaineer who lived most of his life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
From 1900 to 1904, he studied with Genre art painter Franz Rumpler, and he became a member of the prestigious Austrian Alpine Club in 1901. He combined his interests by specializing in landscapes and genre scenes of the high mountains. As part of the Rome Prize, he won a Kenyon study scholarship in 1904, which he used more for climbing in the Mont Blanc area than painting.
In 1907, the 28-year-old painter and graphic artist was so well known, that he was awarded a major contract to advertise newly completed Alpine railway lines for the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways. Jahn presented these in Art Nouveau style, as was typical in Austria for public contracts. While his sheets still had the effect of paintings and were not really flat and "poster like", their design was intended for indoor advertising at stations, for which the decorative character was in the foreground. 16 of the series have been preserved.
His favorite mountaineering areas were the Rax and Schneeberg, Gesäuse, Dachsteingebirge and the Dolomites. He participated in the first ascent of the Große Bischofsmütze..
Jahn was a committed skier and ski jumper winning over twenty-eight awards during the course of his career. These achievements led to his serving as an instruction officer during World War I teaching mountain warfare in the Dolomites, a time during which he also painted on the side.
In August 1919, he and his climbing partner, Michael Kofler rode the train to Gstatterboden for a climbing tour. After successfully climbing the Hochtor north face, the two wanted to climb the northwest ridge of the Ödstein, but suffered a fatal fall of 400 meters., sowie
The cause of their fall remains unclear. It probably occurred at a key point of the wall, the Preuss crossing, which is difficult to secure (climbing grade IV-V).
He was buried at the Bergsteigerfriedhof in Johnsbach.
A climbing route on the North face of the Hochtor is named after him (Jahnweg), as well as on the south face of the Große Bischofsmütze.
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