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Hermann von Wissmann (2 September 1895 – 5 September 1979) was a German-Austrian explorer of Arabia.
Von Wissmann was born in Etzweiler the son of the African explorer Hermann von Wissmann (with the same name). He studied in geography in Vienna and then made a name for himself with his research work concerning the problem of hill farmers in Ennstal. Between 1931 and 1939 he launched a number of expeditions, accompanied by Daniel van der Meulen (1894–1989) to South Arabia, an area which would become the main emphasis of his research. He busied himself with the ancient geography and history of this region and developed a chronology for ancient South Arabia. He was in effect the strongest advocate for the so-called ‘Long Chronology’, which maintains that the beginnings of the Sabaean Kingdom date back to the 8th century BCE.
Wissmann, who also explored the south Chinese Province of Yunnan for a while, was one of the last true explorers, working in the style of the second age of discovery: he undertook long journeys by caravan, during which he worked with a compass and a pedometer, recording what he saw with a pencil. Finally, until his retirement in 1958, he was a full professor for geography at the University of Tübingen. He died in Zell am See.
