TV journalist, Editor www.GalapagosDigital.com, former President of the National Assoc. For a month Carlos provided a fresh diversion for Her Highness' perverted appetite. (Nothing says love like sharing a set of dentures!).

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The two German families got along but kept their distance. Thus in July 1932 she left Marseilles with Paul [sic, Alfred] Rudolph Lorenz, who was her dancing instructor, and Robert Philippson, weakling son of a wealthy German merchant. Months later, an American tunaboat, the "San Amaro" found the mummified bodies of both men on Marchena Island in the northern part of the Archipelago. She claimed to be the "Empress of the Galápagos" and posed with a gun and a whip. As Carlos' blood ebbed away on the white sands, Eloise performed her ghoulish dance of death. They were Dr. Karl [sic, Friedrich] Ritter of Hamburg [sic, Berlin], Germany, and a lovely young woman by the name of Matilde Weyl [sic, Dore Strauch Koerwin] who described herself as Dr. Ritter's “secretary.” They told the Baroness they had every intention of staying put on the isle for a while, even though she had screeched at them: “Go! Hardly had the boat, which brought them to Floreana, disappeared over the horizon when the crazed Eloise showed her true colors. She became involved in one scandal after another until her family finally let her go on the stage as an actress.

They had to wait several months there until they could scrounge up a ship to take them to the Galapagos. Neither Dr. Ritter nor Miss Weyl took Eloise seriously at all. Today, it is estimated that some 300 invertebrates, 24 vertebrates, and 480 or so plants have been introduced, either on purpose or inadvertently, throughout the archipelago. She had with her two German lovers, Robert Philippson and Rudolf Lorenz.

Then she had them tied, still naked, to a make-shift raft and set them adrift without any food, water or medications.

In the meantime Eloise added another shipwreck victim to the list of unfortunates coming into her realm.

Several scientific expeditions arrived in Galápagos in those years. It is the stuff films noirs are made of.

What could have happened to the lunatic blonde with dictatorial aspirations is anybody's guess. As reported in The Wrap, The film is now in post-production and will be released later this year. Primary lover Lorenz had been degraded to servant in favor of Philippson. They never made it to San Cristóbal. It is the stuff films noirs are made of. “I will give you until sunrise tomorrow to leave my island. ©2020 Verizon Media. They established a home with Heinz's son Harry and soon enough gave birth to Rolf, the first Galápagos-born citizen. In August of 1932 Heinz Wittmer arrived with his pregnant wife Margret and his teenage son Harry. Darwin only visited four of the islands -- San Cristóbal, Santiago, Isabela, and Floreana. Reportedly they preferred to work in the nude as they moved lava rocks to build a shelter, planted a vegetable garden and raised chickens. The mystery of what happened to the Baroness and Phillipson was never solved.

She promised a paradise of love and freedom in the sun but now we were her slaves with our lives at stake … In her fanciful paranoia she evolved a fantastic scheme of running off to one of the Galapagos Islands with two men who were devoted to her for the same reasons Adam was to Eve. Things went along fairly nicely for the Baroness as she dreamed of scaling the heights of show business.

She also played her various lovers against one other, and frequently denied visitors access to the island. He had heard the shots, and as he came running out of the foliage, Eloise killed him with four …

All rights reserved. Some thought that Dore Strauch poisoned him because he mistreated her. Among the most fascinating yarns is that of a woman who called herself "The Empress of the Galápagos" and billed herself as a "Baroness." Learn fun facts about what makes the Galapagos Islands so special. Some say she brought Dr. Ritter into her complicated web of lovers. Today is National Voter Registration Day! The trio's wild plan met with a temporary snag when they arrived in Panama. So Lorenz and Philippson played ball with the Baroness; it was their only chance. For the most part life on the lonely island went along all right—as reasonably as any two healthy males could expect. Now they recognized the Baroness was simply out of her mind.

As time went on, life for the two prisoners turned increasingly unbearable. In March 1934, the Wittmers found Lorenz alone and hysterical; he told them that the Baroness and Philippson had left Floreana on an American yacht to seek new shores.

Sharing is caring? See more ideas about Galapagos, Galapagos islands, Island. Dora Strauch finally returned to Germany to publish her version in Satan Came to Eden, while Margaret Wittmer wrote Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galápagos.

So they figured all would blow over if they stayed on their side of the island.

She had been plotting an entirely different set-up from what the two would-be adventurers had anticipated. Her children and granchildren now run a successful tourist fleet. Because the young couple had no idea which of the many islands they had landed on, they could not clue the authorities to the right trail. Along with the other Islands of the Galapagos, Floreana was formed by a Volcano, seeing the way the vegetation has taken over the landscape was a real treat. There were also disputes with the Wittmers and Ritter over the scarce water and other, pettier issues. In October 1933 a handsome young sailor by the name of Carlos Molinas was the sole surviror of a vessel wrecked near Floreana. She first came across Matilde bathing herself in a sort of homemade pool and without any warning pumped the off-guard brunette full of lead slugs. Prior to that, in 1839, he published The Voyage of the Beagle, which chronicled his trip. However, no ship was ever sited near the island on that day and the Baroness and Phillipson never arrived in Tahiti.

Both Lorenz and Philippson looked upon this act as quaint, something of a delightfully eccentric touch. Prior to 1964, no objective scientific studies had been made to reveal the full impact of the invasive plants and fauna that compete against, dominate, or just plain decimate the delicate native and endemic species here. There were four of them, newcomers to Floreana: Mr. and Mrs. Arthur [sic, Heinz] Wittmer, a nine-year-old son who was blind and an infant daughter [sic, son]. While there, Darwin made careful note of the biology and geology of the islands, and collected numerous specimens. She also played her various lovers against … This challenging idyll was shattered with the arrival of the self-described Baroness Eloise Wagner von Bosquet and her entourage of three "companions," Rudolph Lorenz, Robert Philippson, and Felipe Valdivieso. These species were accompanied by a whole host of accidental tourists -- rats and insects stowed away on ships, escaped pet cats and dogs, and discarded fruit and vegetable seeds.

The Empress of the Galapagos Islands, Part 2 July 12, 2011 by Mary Markey The Empress of the Galapagos Islands, Part I June 7, 2011 by Mary Markey Produced by the Smithsonian Institution Archives . In the 1930's Galápagos had a population of only 571 people and the Ecuadorian government encouraged people to settle there. Otherwise I shall shoot you both,” she threatened. A tale of adventure, love or lust triangles, betrayals, violence, perhaps murder?

Central to Darwin's theory was his recognition of the geological age and isolation of the volcanic islands; he was convinced that wildlife on the Galápagos came from mainland South America, changing and adapting over time to fill in specific niches defined by the particular ecosystem of the islands.

Both volumes contain firsthand accounts of the events mentioned above, but the early Floreana history remains, in many ways, a mystery. An Ecuadorian, Manuel Valdivieso, was also part of the retinue although he left a month later telling everybody that the Baroness was "totally crazy."