A. von Rappard was a scientifically oriented officer in the Schutztruppe (colonial troops) stationed in German South West Africa (now Namibia) during the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1909 he described his journey through the Namib desert to Lüderitz in a paper, "Durch die Namib nach Lüderitzbucht", published in the Deutsches Kolonial Blatt (Vol. 20, pp. 1004-1006) as well as in Petermanns Mitteilungen (Vol. 35, pp. 89-92). The next year he described his exploration of the Tiras Mountains, some 80 km north of Aus, in "Um die Tirasbirge", also published in the Deutsches Kolonial Blatt (Vol. 21, pp. 422-424). The latter paper included a contribution by Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) von Haxthausen.
